Buying Advice Questions about potential purchase, not sure where to start

[careyo63]

My YM2000 same Hyd. pickup screen was in bad shape also. You could tell the Screen had been replaced on it. And was still bent up! Without much doubt looking at the seam and how thick it was compared to the new and Org.. I found out doing Maint.. Old Hyd. fluid was Whale oil basiacly esp. from Japan so I'm sure that had a lot to do with it. I replaced the Filter with a new Org.. I gladly waited the a couple days before refilling it! The bottom of the Hyd. oil pan had at least 1" of Crisco oil looking sediment on it! And it Stank scraping it all out!!
Lived in Balt. Md. so I know what a fresh fish market smells like!

 

[fattylumpkins]

After seeing pics of the property, I'll double down that you don't need a tractor. From what I can assess, you want a tractor. And this is a tractor site, so of course, we are going to encourage you to get one. I'm seeing some tricky areas, of slope and open rock, that someone with little experience should not tackle. But pros, with the right equipment could make short work of, and then you are good to go as having defensible spaces, to immediately enjoy and build upon.
Sorry to be the contrarian here.
Edit,.... and what ever amount of fill dirt you think is enough.... double that, and know where it is coming from.

I agree with your observation. I work very hard to keep my space in nice condition- but also work 10 hours+/day during the week in an office. As a result, I’m faced with constant maintenance to keep up versus executing projects that I aspire to achieve. If that means I want a tractor, and don’t need one, you are right. My time is very valuable to me, I don’t mind spending it working outside in the evening nor weekends on it, it just feels inefficient. Does that make sense?

Either way, it’s a solid reminder to not rush a decision just because it’s on my mind. Thank you!

 

[airbiscuit]

After seeing pics of the property, I'll double down that you don't need a tractor. From what I can assess, you want a tractor. And this is a tractor site, so of course, we are going to encourage you to get one. I'm seeing some tricky areas, of slope and open rock, that someone with little experience should not tackle. But pros, with the right equipment could make short work of, and then you are good to go as having defensible spaces, to immediately enjoy and build upon.
Sorry to be the contrarian here.
Edit,.... and what ever amount of fill dirt you think is enough.... double that, and know where it is coming from.

I'll predict, that if you do get a tractor, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it. You have plenty of area where it is safe to operate, and you can keep civilized. Of course, you won't be going up and down the steep slopes, but I don't see why you need to.
It's hard to overstate how many uses we have for a loader and a bucket. Who uses a wheelbarrow anymore?
I'll say it again, she will get a lot of work done with a tractor and loader, a rough cut mower and a rear blade. Not to mention the fun she (and her Dad) will have

 

[Yander]

.. and attach a snow plow or forks? C’mon, there’s a reason QA tractors are bought more, and bring higher resale, than pinned bucket tractors. Very few users want to be hammering pins out and back in every time they want to change attachments, and then fabricating their own attachment mounts to fit on some odd old pin arrangement no one uses anymore.

I’d guess if you can’t afford the machine you want, and this is the deciding factor, then you do what you have to do. Or if you absolutely know you won’t want to change FEL attachments, dedicated bucket-loader scenario, then go for it. But I’d never buy a pinned bucket machine, if my intent was to have it be a multi-purpose user, changing between different attachments at-will.

Maybe the people who have never owned both just don’t get it. I’ve owned both, and would never go back. Pinned buckets are obsolete tech for the single-tractor household, IMO.

Our larger tractor has SSQA so I know how it works.

You're comparing your old Yanmars to the new SA series Yanmars. No hammering of pins. No tools required.

Educate yourself on the new equipment and stop misinforming people.

My 8 year old grandson has removed the pins with no tools.

I have forks for my Yanmar. They make every front attachment you could want. As I said I can convert to SSQA and still be cheaper than a JD.

 

[ning]

I agree with your observation. I work very hard to keep my space in nice condition- but also work 10 hours+/day during the week in an office. As a result, I’m faced with constant maintenance to keep up versus executing projects that I aspire to achieve. If that means I want a tractor, and don’t need one, you are right. My time is very valuable to me, I don’t mind spending it working outside in the evening nor weekends on it, it just feels inefficient. Does that make sense?

Either way, it’s a solid reminder to not rush a decision just because it’s on my mind. Thank you!

I don't *need* a tractor either.
All the maintenance I use my tractor for, I could easily find someone else willing to do it.
It would cost a lot of money, though; over the last seven years, likely close to what I've paid for my tractor.
I think I'm coming out ahead, and doing this work gives me great personal satisfaction.

 

[California]

FWIW I've never had a need to take the loader off either of my old Yanmars.

One is a semi-permanent mount. The other comes off complete, easily. But I've only taken it off to see how that works.

I use clamp-on forks occasionally on the front bucket of either tractor, but less than once a year.

3-point forks for the back, in contrast, are used frequently.

Fattylumpkins, maybe these photos are typical of how you would use forks.

1) Typical rear forks use, apple harvest time.

2) I built this rear forks assembly (blue) from scrap on hand. Here I'm fetching an implement, an old back blade, to take it to my shop. (I modified the back blade to fit on the quick hitch). Using the blue forks was faster than mounting the implement temporarily just to transport it. Just pick it up and go.

 

[DK35vince]

Stick with Kubota or Yanmar. JD is over Priced for what you get unless you get an older model that was built 100% by Yanmar. Those are harder to find because people don't want to part with them.

I had one (John Deere 850).
Was it better built or more reliable than my current tractor = NO

 

[DK35vince]

.. and attach a snow plow or forks? C’mon, there’s a reason QA tractors are bought more, and bring higher resale, than pinned bucket tractors. Very few users want to be hammering pins out and back in every time they want to change attachments, and then fabricating their own attachment mounts to fit on some odd old pin arrangement no one uses anymore.

I’d guess if you can’t afford the machine you want, and this is the deciding factor, then you do what you have to do. Or if you absolutely know you won’t want to change FEL attachments, dedicated bucket-loader scenario, then go for it. But I’d never buy a pinned bucket machine, if my intent was to have it be a multi-purpose user, changing between different attachments at-will.

Maybe the people who have never owned both just don’t get it. I’ve owned both, and would never go back. Pinned buckets are obsolete tech for the single-tractor household, IMO.

I added hydraulics and hydraulic cylinder to my SSQA.
I can change from bucket to forks to stump bucket, Etc. and never leave my seat. Its great.
I do have to leave the seat for my snowplow to hook up the hydraulic lines to the snowplow. (takes about 1 minute)

 

[tacticalturnip]

@Yander doesn't the SA series have it's own proprietary Quick Attach system?

I wouldn't consider that pin-on.

I've got to say, for these smaller machines John Deere's quick-attach is my favorite.

 

[Runner]

@Yander doesn't the SA series have it's own proprietary Quick Attach system?

I wouldn't consider that pin-on.

I've got to say, for these smaller machines John Deere's quick-attach is my favorite.

Me just being lazy old me, I would like it if there was some way for the pins on the JD hook and pin setup to automatically latch itself so I wouldn't have to drag my butt out of the seat when hooking up to bucket, forks, etc. I know it wouldn't be too hard to design such a connector, and even make it so you could set it up to either lock or not, depending on how you have it configured.