1 tractor rest of forever -- what brand?

[Sid Post]

That's astonishing ! Any more of that, and their sales are going to crash, fast and hard. That's highway robbery, no other way to put it.

(Disclaimer: I still use a 1971 MF135 for most of my work, mowing and brushhogging).

Yep, too many retirees from Dallas and Austin driving $100K pickups and $30K golf carts have really hurt the 5 Kubota dealers within an hour's drive of me.

One dealer is reasonable to me today. The other 4 are like used car dealers during COVID charging over MSRP for used vehicles and developed very bad business practices.

I was looking at Land Pride land planes and the 7' Kubota/Land Pride was $900 more than a heavier built 8' unit painted black at the New Holland dealer.

 

[Carl_NH]

To the OP why not keep the Mahindra and buy a smaller tractor for the wood lot work 25 HP with minimal electronics like the Kybota 2501 or get a lightly used 2012-13 pre emissions tractor,

Having two is tter than one!

 

[stevem5215]

Personally, I think it really depends on your use. You can have a machine that it is inexpensive like we did with the 2004 Chinese Farm Pro 2420. We only used it for grass cutting duties and kept it inside the whole time. This was a decent method to cut grass with and was very inexpensive for the 15 years we had it. I would recommend that as well.

 

[livemusic]

The Massey's are often overlooked. My new tractor is a Massey and I am super pleased with it. A 260x series Massey is a ton of tractor for small operations at a good price with proven tech.

Personally, I would avoid John Deere today. They have gone all corporate and don't support small operators very well today IMHO. Locally, the JD conglomerate goes from mediocre to terrible support depending on the branch.

I was burned pretty hard by Kubota during COVID so, I'm not buying any more of their tractors. $642 shipping for a $63 part for my L-4600. My last trip for parts was for a PTO shaft for the mid-mount mower deck of my B-2601. The quote was over $2,000 for the PTO shaft alone while an entire mower was only $3200!

I was in the market for a Kubota M5-111 but, bought my nicer Massey with a superior loader and transmission for $20K less. Having owned it for nearly a year, I am tickled to be in a RED tractor today and away from the Kubota dealer for this Ag tractor.

Those kinds of stories are sickening. How the heck did they justify $642 shipping?

 

[livemusic]

To the OP why not keep the Mahindra and buy a smaller tractor for the wood lot work 25 HP with minimal electronics like the Kybota 2501 or get a lightly used 2012-13 pre emissions tractor,

Having two is tter than one!

In the upkeep department, two is not better than one. Twice the odds that something will go wrong.

In the end, this may be what I do, research will take awhile. Believe me, I look at tractors online alot, lol. Ideally, one machine that does it all is a plus. But that might not be possible or practical.

 

[Jstpssng]

Years ago I needed a speedometer cable for my Yamaha Maxim. Special ordered, payable in advance. Not only did they charge me shipping but also tacked on a stocking and handling charge of a comparable amount.

I thought that was bad, but $642 is criminal, or at least it should be. What did they do, have somebody swim over from Japan with it?

 

[rScotty]

SNIP

Or putting motor oil in the hydraulic system or using 0W-20W for your car in the engine?

I don't understand that comment. JD commercial equipment (yellow paint) uses motor oil in their hydraulic system.
And 0W-20 is a common engine oil spec these days.
What's the point?

 

[livemusic]

Years ago I needed a speedometer cable for my Yamaha Maxim. Special ordered, payable in advance. Not only did they charge me shipping but also tacked on a stocking and handling charge of a comparable amount.

I thought that was bad, but $642 is criminal, or at least it should be. What did they do, have somebody swim over from Japan with it?

These examples make me think that the way to handle ordering parts these days is to get an invoice or purchase order, some kind of paper trail for it. Not just a verbal communication of the price. I don't understand how some of the people who work in these places can live with themselves.

 

[wolc123]

In the upkeep department, two is not better than one. Twice the odds that something will go wrong.

In the end, this may be what I do, research will take awhile. Believe me, I look at tractors online alot, lol. Ideally, one machine that does it all is a plus. But that might not be possible or practical.

I disagree here. If you put all your eggs in one basket, odds are that you will drop it. I can’t imagine having just one tractor. That sounds way too stressful for me.

 

[Jstpssng]

These examples make me think that the way to handle ordering parts these days is to get an invoice or purchase order, some kind of paper trail for it. Not just a verbal communication of the price. I don't understand how some of the people who work in these places can live with themselves.

There was no question of the cost in my case. I had to pay everything up front. I never could understand how they could charge a restocking fee for something which I ordered and prepaid, but at the time they had it and I needed it.