1 tractor rest of forever -- what brand?

[Sid Post]

With all this sidetrack, I wonder where the OP is with their choice and if we have helped at all ...

 

[Coffee drinker]

If he wasn't confused when he started he should be by now.

 

[daugen]

well said coffeedrinker.

I was not referring to JD's Quick Hitch, which I think is proprietary to their subcompacts and compacts.
I thought their "regular" hitch for larger tractors was the one that seemed simpler, smaller and tougher.
but then I haven't run a Deere since the B I grew up with. I'm with you Carl, as a teenager here in New Hope pulling a two bottom plow in the front fields in the 60's, smelling that wonderful dark musky smell of freshly turned over earth. More recently pulling a disc in NC, the smell wasn't the same, soil was sandy and didn't smell as much.

one tech achievement JD had that might sway someone, perhaps like me with bad arthritis who finds pto connectors to be greasy and difficult, the ability
to have the pto automatically hook up seemed like a very cool idea. I always wondered if it worked, and how many were wrecked by trying to connect at wrong angle.

many of us have found that one tractor is not enough, you need a big one and a smaller one. If you want to work in the woods, having a giant cab tractor actually is a liability. So no matter what, you may have to compromise. Mowing is easy, anything will do that, even the really old stuff.
but if you want to do woodlot work, what a difference I found going from a 3 ton tractor to a 5 ton. The power and stability and FEL lift was at another level.
Sometimes that extra weight makes it safer. Just not by running your R1's over your wife's favorite mint patch...

if you like tractors, hard to have just one...

 

[Sid Post]

For me, the worst was trying to buy "one tractor" in the middle. My L-4600 was too big for some things and too small for others. It was actually dangerous for most of my loader lifts which were not on even flat land. And mowing around obstacles left a lot to mow with something else.

I added a B2601 first and it is a much better mow and chore tractor. Easy to use in barns, around parked vehicles and implements, etc. The rear mounted finish mower was a real game changer for me too, not so much a fan of the mid-mount mower. Then I added the Massey 5711D which is on another level for loader work plus, the rotary mower work is super nice with the cab and all that PTO HP, along with other stuff like running a 150 Gallon 3-pt sprayer, tiller, etc.

The OP seems to be sort of in this position as well with a tractor too big for some stuff and, just right for other things. A solid smaller tractor is likely a sweet spot for them assuming 2 tractors isn't one too many!

 

[tradosaurus]

The Dodge pickups both have 250K on them right now. The Honda is at 135K, the Tacoma is at 120K.

If you live in the city and don't travel much, then ~10K miles a year is plenty but, in my case working as a Software/Electrical/Systems Engineer I routinely had >100K miles a year for several years between business commitments and personal travel.

With housing costs increasing, a lot of people in the suburbs are "normal people" commuting a lot of miles routinely. This isn't the 80's when everyone traded cars routinely and considered 100K miles the End Of Life. The number of Japanese cars around where I live with >200K miles is really surprising.

I have yet to see an EV with >100K miles on it. I have seen several with 60K~80K which were salvaged due to failed batteries here in Texas due to the exorbitant costs of a new battery pack.

If I lived in an urban area in a warmer part of the country, I could see a good EV as a viable option. However, commuting from the suburbs where mileage adds up quickly along with problematic charging access is a factor. Being able to put that coal-fired electricity pollution in someone else's backyard is advantageous but, when I can buy a good Economy gasoline sedan for half the cost, I still think that it is a better option.

In terms of "no experience", while I am not a fan to say I have no experience is simply wrong. Just because I don't currently own one and won't buy one does not mean I have no experience. I spent a lot of time in Europe where various EV's were common along with Mercedes and BMW sedans, typically diesel, with >300,000Km on the odometer. And, I will add that my friend "circle" has 3 Tesla's in it and one person is building a solar array to power a Model 3.

Hybrids are where I think technology is sufficiently developed and good enough to go mainstream for most normal people who live in urban areas and don't do many long distance (>200 miles) drives.

Finally, the failure in the marketplace of EV cars speaks for itself. Ford and General Motors have both taken huge financial losses and backed off the EV push. Even Billions of Federal Tax Dollars couldn't sway enough people to make EV automobiles a good choice for most "normal" people.

If you want to be an early adopter, don't let me stop you! I think I will wait until we have infrastructure support and better lifecycle costs before I jump on the EV bandwagon for "normal people" living a normal lifestyle. If I was in downtown Los Angeles, Phoenix, Dallas, Atlanta, or similar massive urban gridlock areas, I think there is MORE merit to owning something like a Tesla 3.

In the meantime, I will take the lower tire costs and lower insurance costs and apply that to subsidizing the gasoline or diesel pump charges for my vehicles. I did turn down an offer of a Tesla 3 with 30K miles on it for $15K plus fees/taxes. Even at that price, for my lifestyle, it simply costs more than something like a Honda Accord 4-cylinder. My Honda Accord "sport" 4-cylinder with the 6-speed manual averages 35MPG driven somewhat aggressively in East Texas so, maybe not as Earth-friendly as a Tesla Model 3 on a Solar Array but, a heck of a lot more practical and sensible for most "normal" people.

When your vehicles hit 300,000 miles then come back and defend your original statement. If you would have said 150K miles I would have agreed with the statement. My 2014 F250 has 170K miles but 125K of those miles were from the first owner.
Did you know that in 2023, 20% of all cars in the US were leased?
You can play word games all day long but you have no first hand experience with EV's.
EV's have been out a while so I don't consider myself an early adopter.
Don't know where the ICE or EV market place is headed but I'm fine with my EV purchase.
For $15K you should have jumped on that Tesla 3 if it was in good condition.

 

[Blue Mule]

I would guess that Kubota is the most popular compact tractor these days. Thinking that it and John Deere are 1 and 2? So, I have a Mahindra but I might sell it in order to get exactly what I need in a tractor. Primary needs are pasture clipping 7 acres and use in a 50-acre woodlot for managing trees and trails. Was thinking that JD or Kubota would provide...

- parts availability
- dependable
- design
- performance
- ease of maintenance
- resale ability down the way
- plenty of dealers

If you could find exactly what you want in a tractor, what brand would you buy? Being as dependable as possible, easiest to maintain, parts availability and ability to resell down the way are very important in this discussion. Easiest to maintain probably No.1 because I am age 70 and do maintenance and repairs that I can but I am not the type that relishes tinkering, lol, plus, I work alone mostly. Buying used would be great if one is found but not averse to buying new if have to. Should be my last tractor.

Doesn't have to be JD or Kubota but that's my thinking.

TIA!

When I was shopping compacts a couple years ago I made sure to visit every brand I could in person and actually put hands on the tractors. Price and design are the two things that made me cross Kubota off the list.
I ended up buying from New Holland, which is a brand that I see all the time in my area, which also has multiple dealerships not that far from me. I felt like that was the best policy. The NH also had the most bang for the buck. Standard rear remotes, the most lift capacity, cruise control, on and on and on.

Passed 200 hours on it recently and so far it's been flawless, other than the loader bucket being floppy which is just a poor design I think, not necessarily a problem with this tractor.

 

[bearthebruce]

so far it's been flawless, other than the loader bucket being floppy which is just a poor design I think,

We have the LS MT125 - and its bucket kept drooping... There is a failure in some of the LS and NH tractors - not sure yours is one - where the curl cylinders leak internally causing bucket droop. Not sure if that is what you meant by "floppy". Another member on this forum let me know about the droop issue on our loader. Might want to check it out while it is still in warranty. They replaced ours at no cost.

 

[Jstpssng]

With all this sidetrack, I wonder where the OP is with their choice and if we have helped at all ...

I can almost guarantee that he won't be buying an electric tractor.

 

[BackRoad]

This is about as close as you will find to a FOREVER tractor...

 

[Coffee drinker]

Forever and beautiful.