Looking to buy my first tractor

Torvy · May 3, 2023

RB5 said:
I looked at Branson hard before I bought my Deere. One of the main reasons I went with Deere is the Branson dealer was way too far for me to get service. The Branson I looked at seemed pretty heavy and had lots of steel. It looked to be a good machine. There was this big package sale with attachments, and I almost bit. I also thought the Deere felt better when I was in the seat, but that is subjective to whoever is sitting there and how tall they and all that. I did think the Branson looked like a good tractor. I have multiple Deere dealers within 30 to 45 minutes of me. That Branson dealer is an hour and a half or more drive.

I couldn't get the guys at (the big corporate JD dealer up this way) to give me the time of day. Big Tex is 80 miles from my place, but was much more responsive. I had two other TYM dealers closer, one just didn't feel up to the task and the other has new employees who were horrible at follow up. Since I am not making a living with my tractor, I am willing/able to wait to get it fixed.

2manyrocks · May 3, 2023

I don't know what's up with dealers that won't talk to potential customers. Must be nice to have the luxury of not caring whether they make a sale or not.

RjCorazza · May 3, 2023

I fired my local dealer many years ago for too many mistakes. I am not a demanding customer, but I do have some minimal expectations. I now drive about an hour for a top notch dealer that is very responsive and competent in sales, parts, and service.

RB5 · May 4, 2023

Torvy said:
I couldn't get the guys at (the big corporate JD dealer up this way) to give me the time of day. Big Tex is 80 miles from my place, but was much more responsive. I had two other TYM dealers closer, one just didn't feel up to the task and the other has new employees who were horrible at follow up. Since I am not making a living with my tractor, I am willing/able to wait to get it fixed.

Dealers are very important. In my area the Deere support seems much better that other brands. I looked at New Holland, Kubota, and a few others. I can see why you went with Branson.

FERLING · May 4, 2023

c5fire said:
Hi just joined the group, I’m looking for opinions on what tractor to get I’m thinking that a compact is what I need. I’ve got a little over 20 acres in north east Texas a lot of timber on the property a lot of down trees needing cleaning up and piles to burn.

I’m planning to do a lot of heavy lifting in addition to a good bit of dirt work. That said I require a front end loader, a box blade and eventually like to get a grappler and a brush hog and I’m sure other implants down the road. I’ve gone to several of the local tractor dealers just looking and having no real ideas on what to get.

For the little bit of research that I have done I like a lot of the standard options the new Summit tractor offers. I know it is not a well established company and only time will tell.

One thing I would prefer is that the tractor not need DEF because of the added complexity of them and from what I’ve heard they can be more finicky. I’ve been advised to stay away from the tractors with regin systems.

Additionally I would like to stay under 25k

Thanks in advance.

Look up New Holland Workmaster 50 specifications. Buy what ever equals. Weight of tractor and lift capacity are the main

factors and of course 4x4 drive. Anything less and you won't be happy. Your $25,000 needs to be closer to $35,000.

Torvy · May 4, 2023

RB5 said:
Dealers are very important. In my area the Deere support seems much better that other brands. I looked at New Holland, Kubota, and a few others. I can see why you went with Branson.

Thanks. I got a legacy TYM from Big Tex. They used to be TYM and then switched to Branson and now that TYM bought Kukje (Branson) they are back to TYM (though TYM has retained all legacy models for both brands). Clear as mud!

I think Deere is much more focused on big AG. We're only about 100 miles apart. My son works in Forney, so we head that way every so often to grab a bite with him. I tried multiple Deere locations (all owned by same big group). Glad yours is better.

RB5 · May 4, 2023

Torvy said:
Thanks. I got a legacy TYM from Big Tex. They used to be TYM and then switched to Branson and now that TYM bought Kukje (Branson) they are back to TYM (though TYM has retained all legacy models for both brands). Clear as mud!

I think Deere is much more focused on big AG. We're only about 100 miles apart. My son works in Forney, so we head that way every so often to grab a bite with him. I tried multiple Deere locations (all owned by same big group). Glad yours is better.

United Ag and Turf bought all of them a few years ago. Nothing I can do about that. So far I have been happy with my purchase and I still smile whenever I get on it. It does what I need. Not sure if that would be the case if the dealer were farther away. I did notice some difference in the Deere dealers even under the same brand. One of them never had enough people to show me a tractor. I quit going to that one. They told me they were trying to hire more people. I'm south of Forney a ways.

Fastowl · May 5, 2023

More than a decade ago I was in your shoes. Trying to figure out what I needed, wanted and could afford. I had lived on a smaller place back in the 80's (50 acres) and had bought a used Yanmar 25 hp, 4 wd with a front end loader and shredder. The machine ran great but it could not do squat to help clear cedar in the Texas Hill Country. Fast forward. We moved to the big city in the 90's got rid of the tractor, but eventually bought a large ranch on the west side of the Texas Hill Country about 12 years ago. Surprisingly very little cedar on this new ranch (to us) but loaded with mesquite.

Asked around about what to do. People were (and still are) using dozers to clear and rake. Some suggested that more were going to skid steers/Bobcats. In our neck of the woods, if you use a dozer on our thin soil you may clear the brush with a dozer but you also tear up the soil and bring a ton of rock to the surface. So I started off with a new Bobcat S650. It works fantastic for what I intended. I have a shear, a grapple, bucket, pallet forks, auger with a rock bit and a hay spear that I have added over the years. Extremely versatile for what we need. Cleared and stacked about 300 acres of mesquite and other brush over a 2 1/2 year period working random weekends. Now working on another 150 acre piece.

But I needed a tractor as well for other stuff (shredding, road maintenance, disking, etc.). Bought a an old 50 HP JD 2240 (1980 vintage) 2 wd for that stuff. Out here the only dealers within about 100 miles are JD and Kubota (the Bobcat guys carried Kioti for awhile until they split the sheets). Anyway things went well for a time, but it got to the point with the old JD (it had over 4000 hours on it) that I was spending more time fixing it than working with it (I still have it parked in the barn). The boss agreed that I could get a newer, lightly used 'new' tractor. I got a 2018 JD 5075e (75 hp) in 2019 with 139 hours on it. 4 wd, FEL and open cab with a sunscreen. My Bobcat has a cab with AC/Heat (I am worried about hitting a bee/wasp nest clearing land here) the tractor is used in more 'civilized' portions of the ranch (less chance of chasing up bees, etc.) and I can pick and choose time of day more easily to reduce the need for an AC cab. Plus a cab in a JD is expensive.

Anyway, my point is that even though the JD is 75 hp and plenty heavy it is not near as versatile as the 72 hp Bobcat regarding brush and tree removal. I take out mesquite with trunks as large as 30" diameter (although the majority are in the 6-10" range, but often multiple trunks). I cut them at the base and immediately spray the trunk with my built in sprayer. If I had tried to dig them out with any equipment to get the bud zone of the roots out of the ground the trailing roots would just be tearing up soil for a 20 foot radius. I am not trying to create a space to grow crops; I am trying to get more grass for livestock.

Overall I find a skid steer much more useful for all around work around the ranch. There are things that a tractor is better suited for IMO such as shredding, box blade work on roads, plowing, disking, etc. but for everyday use in moving feed, using it as a forklift, digging, grappling up brush and trash as well as cutting trees, the skid steer is much more practical, maneuverable, etc.

My Bobcat is a wheeled version with foam filled tires (too many things here to puncture tires). The foam tires makes for a rough ride. When I bought it new in 2011 track skid steers were still not very common. If I had to do it today I would get a tracked version for the better traction and smoother ride. The tracked versions are a bit more expensive but I think they are worth it.

Just like anything there are often multiple tools to do a job, some are better at certain tasks than others. I like all of my tools but as my ranch boss says 'the Bobcat is more like a Swiss Army Knife, it can do all kinds of stuff'. You are in East Texas in the Piney Woods so the situation is a bit different but to some extent clearing brush is clearing brush. A lot depends on your objective. Are you clear cutting or trying to be selective? If the latter, you need maneuverability.

Finally, and it has been addressed numerous times, you need to have good dealer support. I'm 50+ miles from the nearest JD and Kubota dealers and 75-80 miles to the nearest Bobcat dealer. It's a pain to haul equipment in for repairs and servicing. But it needs to be done. I am assuming that whatever you do you have (or have access to) a suitable trailer and truck to haul this stuff. As many have commented, dealer access (assuming they are good) is a huge plus. The newer brands popping up may be enticing but notice the comment above about Kioti parting ways with Bobcat a few years ago. You may find yourself traveling quite a bit further for service and parts if situations change. And I assure you that you will tear things up and need repair.....

ljjhouser · May 10, 2023

Seems like here most all of the JD dealers are owned together and have the same name.
In 2017, we had saved 20K looked to find a used 50hp tractor. I saw an ad for a New Holland used tractor that was about 15 years old for 15K. It was at the JD dealer in neighboring state. We pulled up and parked and went in. It was a very nice place. Went to the desk in the center of the showroom floor - there was a lady typing on a computer - the receptionist. She never said hello, or can I help you. Finally, I asked if I could speak with a salesman. She pointed to a young man leaning against the window staring at something. So my wife and I went over to the window. He said NOTHING. I said "We are looking for a 50 hp New Holland." He replied "don't think we have anything like that." I then asked him - isn't that a New Holland Boomer in the front lot that was advertised for 15k. - reply, I guess it is
He never moved, didn't say hello, Nothing. I asked him if we could look at it. He replied OK, but did not move. I asked him if he had a key to it. Yep, I do. Still looking out the window.
We went back outside to look at it. As I got closer, I could seen it was faded out paint, every tire was rotten. I got on it and pushed the clutch peddle. It was frozen and the return spring popped of onto the ground with the clutch peddle remaining all the way down. What a piece of junk.

On the way back home, we stopped by the Kubota dealer. The manager greeted us. Then told us that he didn't have what I was looking for on the lot. Then he said - take a couple minutes and I will show you what we do have.

He show me a L4701. Perfect. But I knew what it cost -$30k. I said - there is no way I am going to save 30K for that tractor. He said, If you give me your 20K down, the financing would be around $200 - how would that sound. I bought a new tractor. And still have it.. It is still perfect.

However, even though I have no interest in JD, I understand why others may. I also understand that the compact and sub are Kubota's strongest part of the market.
If I were a farmer and needed larger tractors or combine equipment, it would be JD. They have farm services and are setup for in the field repair services.

I suppose it is difficult to expect any service when spending your 30K when the salesman is waiting for the 3 mil sale.