Buying Advice Help me spend money on a tractor

[WinterDeere]

I have used JDQA, Global (with a spring-loaded pin) and skid loader QA, and they are listed in my order of preference.

Great post, from someone who has actually used all three. So many making passionate arguments for one or the other have only ever used one of these three, mostly JDQA and SSQA.

Watching videos on YouTube and reading posts by others who've used both, I see your comments echoed. Most seem to prefer JDQA, if they had their choice, but all agree it's not really that important which standard you get. Lots like to argue for the commonality of SSQA in borrowing implements from friends or neighbors, and I guess if you have a friend or neighbor with whom you'll be actually sharing implements (I've never seen that happen), you'd do well to just get whatever they're using.

 

[chim]

Three tractors I've had with loaders. As mentioned, whether you have multiple things you want to attach makes all the difference:

Kubota B7500 - Pin on bucket. Didn't have anything other than the factory bucket that I wanted to use, so it was fine. I did have a homemade "extendobucket" for mulch that simply bolted to the existing bucket.

Kubota L3200 - Pin on bucket. Made brush forks, home-brew ratchet rake. Both fastened to the bucket and worked OK, but it did take more effort than QA. Downside was that with attachments made to fit on the bucket I couldn't rent or borrow other implements that were made for a standard QA.

Kubota L4240 - QA bucket. Made brush forks, snow plow and working on a couple more QA tools. Next will be remote operation of the QA latches.

Unless you're certain you won't ever want to attach anything other than the factory bucket it wouldn't be a bad idea to go with QA.

 

[rScotty]

Good post, rScotty. I'd extend that to say any quick-attach bucket system is going to be superior to a pinned bucket. In this day and age, I wouldn't even bother looking at new tractors with pinned buckets. We can argue JDQA vs. SSQA, both have their pros and cons, and their champions and detractors. But a removable bucket is key to being able to quickly change implements, or even to just quickly drop the bucket for zooming around the yard with a spreader or aerator, without removing the whole loader.


Interesting. I'm sure you experienced this, no reason to doubt it, but I wonder if this is more a "case by case" issue. I tested Deere 2-series vs. Deere 3-series, and there's no doubt that the 2-series has better ergonomics and visibility, despite being the smaller of the two. I bought the 3-series, because I wanted the extra lift capacity for moving logs, but I was really wishing it felt and drove as nice as the 2-series.

We kind of got hung up on the various QAs available. I wouldn't base my tractor choice on the QA. All of them work.

Just for a point of reference, I'd consider your $4100 you are facing for repairs on a ten year old tractor bought new and only 875 hrs use on horse property chores to be excessive. I'd have expected no repairs at all unless it was abused or ran over a fence post or similar. Expected Maintenance costs are a little different. We all have them, and I'd have expected about $1000 in the first ten years .... depending on new battery or not.

I think you can expect to do better on your next tractor. This one was frankly too lightly built for an 18 acre horse farm. As to whether you are being lowballed on trade in, I'd expect that as you describe it and with a loader and average condition you can expect about half what you paid for it selling it yourself. And a little more than that as a a trade in. If trading to the original dealer I'd expect him to be responsible for this latest repair. Let him decide whether to use it as a teaching job for a new mechanic (its perfect for that) or just reduce the price to a customer. There is always someone who will buy for less and fix a known and diagnosed problem themselves.

BTW, doing a job yourself usually saves about 75% over shop cost. So if a shop can do a job that they charge a customer $2000 for, a customer doing it himself and considering his time as free can ballpark figure on doing that job for $500. I had a shop for years.
Luck,
rScotty

 

[mo1]

Great post, from someone who has actually used all three. So many making passionate arguments for one or the other have only ever used one of these three, mostly JDQA and SSQA.

Watching videos on YouTube and reading posts by others who've used both, I see your comments echoed. Most seem to prefer JDQA, if they had their choice, but all agree it's not really that important which standard you get. Lots like to argue for the commonality of SSQA in borrowing implements from friends or neighbors, and I guess if you have a friend or neighbor with whom you'll be actually sharing implements (I've never seen that happen), you'd do well to just get whatever they're using.

There are a lot of other QAs out there that I have not used so I can't comment on them, such as Bush Hog QA, Westendorf QA, Deere's original 2xx series utility tractor QA, and the now no longer offered Deere 600/700 QA. You can buy new basic attachments like buckets, pallet forks, and bale spears with any of those QAs from a fabricator but coming across anything used somewhere in a QA other than skid loader, Global, Deere 100-400 QA, or Deere 500 QA is pretty sporadic.

I can't say I have ever borrowed a tractor loader attachment. I could see perhaps if you wanted to rent something expensive and unusual for a one-time use such as a hydraulic broom, anything you'd rent is generally skid loader QA. However a lot of that stuff also takes a skid loader's hydraulic system which has way more flow than the tractors that typically use skid loader QA.

 

[Williy]

You can spend your money on this GEM!
4 wheel drive and 4 wheel brakes and check out
about the pollution part

5D Keyline - Deutz-Fahr America

deutz-fahramerica.com

willy

 

[2manyrocks]

What was the earlier problem that resulted in a $1,400 repair bill before this most recent problem with the HST seal and hoses?

 

[TheMan419]

Don't know if you've seen this, but it's definitely worth watching.
I've had my 2032R for only 2 years, but have done a lot of work with it. Don't under-estimate the 2 series; they underwent a major upgrade back in 2017, when John Deere came out with the Gen 2 series 2R's.
head to head comparison of a JD 2r vs 3e

If you buy a new John Deere, you can get 0% financing which includes insurance on the tractor, and also includes 0% on any JD implements you buy at the same time.
They also off a 3 or 5 year extended warranty for a very reasonable price, which includes transport to and from the JD dealer and all parts and labor, with no co-pay. Of course I bought it, and therefore have never needed it.

Yes we have a good JD dealer here. They are, of course, a multi dealer organization and I am about smack in the middle of their territory. I will look at the 2 series JD as well. Thanks for the tip.

I like the Yanmar's: WARRANTY:
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willy

No dealers near me. I need shop support as I am not able to do my own repairs.

 

[WinterDeere]

I will look at the 2 series JD as well.

The "2R series", not just "2 series". The E's are just a Economy line aimed to keep Deere competitive with off-brands, and the D's are manual gear variants. The R's are vastly more capable than the E's, in every series level.

I'm also a big fan of the 2R series, in fact I hemmed and hawed for at least a week between the more ergonomic and comfortable 2R versus the heavier 3R. In the end, because lift capacity was a real issue for me, I went with the 3R. But if I had unlimited garage space, I'd probably own both, and use the 2R every chance I had. It's a great little machine.

 

[TheMan419]

The "2R series", not just "2 series". The E's are just a Economy line aimed to keep Deere competitive with off-brands, and the D's are manual gear variants. The R's are vastly more capable than the E's, in every series level.

I'm also a big fan of the 2R series, in fact I hemmed and hawed for at least a week between the more ergonomic and comfortable 2R versus the heavier 3R. In the end, because lift capacity was a real issue for me, I went with the 3R. But if I had unlimited garage space, I'd probably own both, and use the 2R every chance I had. It's a great little machine.

which would you prefer... the 2R or the 3E?

 

[rScotty]

Yes we have a good JD dealer here. They are, of course, a multi dealer organization and I am about smack in the middle of their territory. I will look at the 2 series JD as well. Thanks for the tip.


No dealers near me. I need shop support as I am not able to do my own repairs.

Yes, Yanmar has a 10 year Limited Drivetrain Warranty.

The oher side of that coin is that drivetrain failures are very rare. In 50 years and lots of tractors we've not had any. And only a handful of problems of any kind.

So the need for shop support may not be as important as other things.

rScotty

 

[WinterDeere]

which would you prefer... the 2R or the 3E?

2R every day. I wouldn't even look at anything with an E at the end, for my needs. Honestly. The non-removable loader of the E's would kill any thought of ever buying a 3E, for my varied uses.

The 2R is a nice tractor, I actually like the operator station, visibility, and ergonomics of the 2R better than my 3R. If I needed something bigger than the 2R, and couldn't afford a 3R, then I would probably be shopping used tractors or other brands.

That said, we all have different needs and priorities. Check out both, get educated on the differences, and decide what works for you. With the 3E, you keep the parts availability, dealer support, everything else that comes with buying a Deere. That's worth something, especially if you like to use a dealer for maintenance or repairs.

 

[TheMan419]

2R every day. I wouldn't even look at anything with an E at the end, for my needs. Honestly. The non-removable loader of the E's would kill any thought of ever buying a 3E, for my varied uses.

The 2R is a nice tractor, I actually like the operator station, visibility, and ergonomics of the 2R better than my 3R. If I needed something bigger than the 2R, and couldn't afford a 3R, then I would probably be shopping used tractors or other brands.

That said, we all have different needs and priorities. Check out both, get educated on the differences, and decide what works for you. With the 3E, you keep the parts availability, dealer support, everything else that comes with buying a Deere. That's worth something, especially if you like to use a dealer for maintenance or repairs.

Nope. No E for me. Did not realize the bucket was non removable. If I buy a new one it will have a removable bucket. A set of forks would be so so handy.

 

[WinterDeere]

Nope. No E for me. Did not realize the bucket was non removable. If I buy a new one it will have a removable bucket. A set of forks would be so so handy.

That's fine, but just to be clear, I think you can get a JDQA bucket with the 3E. It's probably an added-cost option, I honestly don't remember anymore, but that's not what I was saying. What I was referring to there is that the entire loader assembly on the E's is not easily removed from the tractor. It comes factory or dealer-installed, old-skool bolt-on job. With the R's, you can remove the entire loader in 2-3 minutes, and re-install just as quickly. With the E's, it looks like loader removal would be a several-hours job, and would require you to add your own hydraulic quick-disconnects, etc.

I remove my loader at least a half-dozen times per year, usually for fertilizing, seeding, aerating, various lawn chores where I want to zoom around the lawn and landscape obstacles at a speed that's not comfortable to do with the loader installed. That pretty much killed the 3E for me.

 

[TheMan419]

That's fine, but just to be clear, I think you can get a JDQA bucket with the 3E. It's probably an added-cost option, I honestly don't remember anymore, but that's not what I was saying. What I was referring to there is that the entire loader assembly on the E's is not easily removed from the tractor. It comes factory or dealer-installed, old-skool bolt-on job. With the R's, you can remove the entire loader in 2-3 minutes, and re-install just as quickly. With the E's, it looks like loader removal would be a several-hours job, and would require you to add your own hydraulic quick-disconnects, etc.

I remove my loader at least a half-dozen times per year, usually for fertilizing, seeding, aerating, various lawn chores where I want to zoom around the lawn and landscape obstacles at a speed that's not comfortable to do with the loader installed. That pretty much killed the 3E for me.

Ah I get it. In the 7 or so years I have had the Boomer I have never removed the loader. It has a system where it is supposed to be a quick easy take off put back on. The bucket is pinned though.

Just found there is a dealer that sells Kioti and Mahindra not too far away. So getting quotes from him too.

 

[WinterDeere]

Ah I get it. In the 7 or so years I have had the Boomer I have never removed the loader. It has a system where it is supposed to be a quick easy take off put back on. The bucket is pinned though.

Just found there is a dealer that sells Kioti and Mahindra not too far away. So getting quotes from him too.

Oh, okay. In that case, the 3E might actually be an option for you, as that was truly one of the biggest issues with it for me.

Hopefully you have local dealers for each of these brands, who will allow you a little seat time with each. I love my 3033R, but as I think I said previously, I really liked the the 2032/38R's as well. I spend a lot of time running my tractor around the yard, picking up branches, doing small tasks, and the on/off as well as the bucket visibility of the 2R is better than the 3R. I actually liked the loader controls on the 3E, but the fixed loader frame took it off the table for me.

 

[mo1]

The "2R series", not just "2 series". The E's are just a Economy line aimed to keep Deere competitive with off-brands, and the D's are manual gear variants. The R's are vastly more capable than the E's, in every series level.

I'm also a big fan of the 2R series, in fact I hemmed and hawed for at least a week between the more ergonomic and comfortable 2R versus the heavier 3R. In the end, because lift capacity was a real issue for me, I went with the 3R. But if I had unlimited garage space, I'd probably own both, and use the 2R every chance I had. It's a great little machine.

All 2 series machines are 2R models, there are no 2Ds, 2Es, 2Ms, or any other letter. That is the same with anything 7 series and larger, there are only "R" variants.

The only "D" suffix Deere currently sold in the U.S. is the 3D, although Deere used to sell 5Ds and 6Ds here in the past. There are also a lot of other Deere tractors other than the 3D that use a gear transmission- some 3Rs and 4M/4Rs as well as all of the 5 series and larger ag tractors that don't have an IVT.

The "E" series Deere machines do have fewer frills than the M or R series in that same series. They are mostly intended to compete against the more basic machines from CNH and Kubota rather than the off-brands, according to all of the literature Deere publishes, and also the feature list and price are more consistent with those units than the off-brand Asian or ex-Soviet Bloc units. Maybe people buying compact tractors would look at both a 1023E and a 1025R or a 3E and 3R but in the ag tractor realm, that is not true. The vast majority of 5 series machines Deere sells are 5Es as most who are looking to spend much more on a utility tractor will just go buy a 6 series machine rather than a 5M or 5R. Ditto with somebody getting a >130 HP unit where the units available are the 6M and 6R, they largely get a 6M rather than a 6R as the 6Ms are less expensive.

 

[WinterDeere]

Good info, mo1. It should also be noted that in the 2-series, there are two separate frame sizes. My dealer used to call them the "little-2" and the "big-2". I haven't kept up with the latest, but when I was shopping in 2019, the 2032R amd 2038R were a completely different tractor than the smaller 2025R. Also, while there's no 2E, there is a 1E and a 3E. I don't think the OP is shopping 6-series.

 

[Williy]

I believe that Yanmar is making the 3E series tractors for JD??

willy

 

[mo1]

Good info, mo1. It should also be noted that in the 2-series, there are two separate frame sizes. My dealer used to call them the "little-2" and the "big-2". I haven't kept up with the latest, but when I was shopping in 2019, the 2032R amd 2038R were a completely different tractor than the smaller 2025R. Also, while there's no 2E, there is a 1E and a 3E. I don't think the OP is shopping 6-series.

My point was that what features are present or lacking in a D, E, M, R, etc. version of a specific series of tractor has little correlation to what the same "trim level" tractor in a different series has or lacks for features, and that in some cases people are not even comparing the different trim levels in the same series, they are comparing one trim level of one series to a different trim level in a different series. That was in reply to your original quote of "The R's are vastly more capable than the E's, in every series level." I used the ag tractors as my example because they are a good example of this and I am much more familiar with them than the compacts.

 

[WinterDeere]

I believe that Yanmar is making the 3E series tractors for JD??

willy

Interesting. I know my 855 (1986) was a Yanmar, and I think even my 750 (1978) may have been, although that’s too far back to remember now. My 3033R was built here in the USA by Deere, but still uses a Yanmar diesel engine.

Yanmar has made some great tractors over the years, and for those willing to spend the time to cross-reference, can even open a cheaper parts channel (versus Deere dealer) for maintaining your Yanmar Deere’s. But I didn’t know that relationship was still active, beyond the engines.