140 acre farm, used tractor, skidsteer?

[sandman2234]

To work a 140 acre farm, maintaining roads, mowing, etc, a new 30 hp CUT is not what I would want to be sitting on. If I had to choose just one tractor, and that had to do everything, it would be at least 60 or 70 hp, with a loader on it. The times it took way too much time to manuever in a small area, or the jobs it wouldn't do because of being too big, would long be offset by the seat time it takes to mow and maintain as much property as that.
As far as the financing goes, money is money and if you tie it into your mortgage, you will probably get a better interest rate. To offset the long term added cost, make "equipment payments" to your mortgage company to pay that part off early and you will save money over a separate equipment loan. However, I don't think I would include the machinery as part of the collateral of a long term loan, or have it written in that it can be sold after xx years of good payment records if the bank really needs the collateral.
You can probably buy all of that equipment, and implements for the cost of one new tractor and when one breaks, you just get on another and continue the job at hand. The broken tractor can be repaired when the job is done, and parts have arrived. (no down time!!!).
The difference (~$20k) in the bank will draw enough interest to help upkeep the older tractors, that were build to last, instead of spending it on a warranty that runs out in a couple of years on a new tractor.
Everybody has their different ideas on how to spend your money, but I just thought I would add my $.02 worth to the growing pile of change.
By the way, my 2555 cost me $3500 as a price comparison on the used tractor market.
David from jax

 

[rox]

One advantageof having multiple tractors is the ability to leave attached an implement that you use the most onto one of the tractors. it is a real PIA everytime my hsuband has to take off the sprayer and put on the rototiller etc. if the tractors appear to be good, and the implements all fit on the tractors I would be inclined to buy the equipment. That is what we did when we bought our olive farm. We bought the 2 tractors, one isn't much of a tractor it's small but it does work, and the bushhog, rototiller and two big pto sprayers, plus other implements. it was a good decision on our part and we were lucky because we never even sat on a tractor much less bought one so the guy we bought them from as part of our farm purchase surely knew much more than we did. We did put 1,300 Euros into it this last summer but that is the way it goes... All the equipment does work as it is supposed to, if you ahve the same dieal I woud be inclined to go with what he is offereing, for the right price of course.

 

[john_bud]

With respect.. that's a very generalized statement.. to the point that it may be simply incorrect.

Age alone is not a good determining factor for wear on a machine. Age alone does not account for corrective measures and maintenance and repairs performed during that time frame.

I will site 2 examples.

I know a fellow that bought a vintage tractor.. it was in a warehouse stored.. new from the 70's still in a shipping crate from the manufacturer... He bought it and assembled it. Tractor would have been about 25+ years old.. and had but a few minutes ont he time clock... Worn out? Yeah right.

I maintain and care for my antiques.. My 1975 ford 500 is in better shape than much of the road construction equipment that my day job uses.. and the bulk of it is only 3-10 ys old.

Use and maintenance makes a huge difference.

A good owner can keep an older tractor working like new.

An abusive owner can absolutely ruin a brand new tractor in about 1 hour.
I've seen it happen.

Refurbshing my ford 5000 took me 2-3 months, of casual night and weekend sweat equity... and less than 600$ worth of parts .( mostly bolt on stuff.. new wireing, chaseing a few leaks.. getting charge system working. a bit of welding and tin work.. some nut/bolt issues.. linkage adjustments.. and servicing... Muffler.. some gromets.. etc.. lots of cleaning.. and paint supplies.. belts.. etc.. )

Here's a before and after.



Soundguy

Now cut the guy some slack. He did have to rebuild the engine in his Dozer, the engine in his dump truck and who knows what else. A new 75 hp tractor with a loader and 4wd would be sweet and would give maximum use with minimum fuss for the next 10-15 years. (but cost a bunch more)

On your pictures, I could only see that one was wet and the other was dry....just kidding! It shows your high standard of work. But that was a mechanically good tractor to start with. You only put $600 into it, heck -- I have $300 in grade 8 bolts alone on mine!

jb

 

[EddieWalker]

Hi Soundguy,

The funny thing is, is that I was thinking of you when I wrote my post, but I expected you to disagree with me on my suggestion that he get a 4wheel drive tractor and not bother with the 2 wheel drive ones. hahahaa

Oh well,
Eddie

 

[Soundguy]

That's my point.. age alone was not a good determining factor. heck.. the 5000 was a tad beat up and ugly looking when i got it.. but was a diamond in t he rough.

I'd hope to get way more than 10-15 ys out of a new utility/AG tractor.. closer to double that.. minimum. My 5000 is setting at 32ys right now.. and she pulls that 10' mower just dandy... No more blowby than my 7610s has...

soundguy

Now cut the guy some slack. He did have to rebuild the engine in his Dozer, the engine in his dump truck and who knows what else. A new 75 hp tractor with a loader and 4wd would be sweet and would give maximum use with minimum fuss for the next 10-15 years. (but cost a bunch more)

On your pictures, I could only see that one was wet and the other was dry....just kidding! It shows your high standard of work. But that was a mechanically good tractor to start with. You only put $600 into it, heck -- I have $300 in grade 8 bolts alone on mine!

jb

 

[Soundguy]

I personally like BIG 2wd tractors.. perhaps even dualy rears. But then.. i live in a pancake-flat state. I can buy more 2wd tractor hp than i can 4wd tractor hp.... and when you don't need traction.. ya might as well have hp. That is.. the 15 ' batwing mower pulls much better with a high hp 2wd tractor on my flat land, than it would with a lower hp 4wd tractor on my flat land. I do realize that 4wd can be usefull or mandatory if ya got hills or lots water / mud.

I figured you were hedging me out (grin) I felt I couldn't let you down when ya rattled my chain.. so I had to shoot a response off.

Besides.. everyone knows I'm a 2wd antique no power stering ford guy... so my comments are deffinately biased!

Soundguy

Hi Soundguy,

The funny thing is, is that I was thinking of you when I wrote my post, but I expected you to disagree with me on my suggestion that he get a 4wheel drive tractor and not bother with the 2 wheel drive ones. hahahaa

Oh well,
Eddie

 

[john_bud]

That's my point.. age alone was not a good determining factor. heck.. the 5000 was a tad beat up and ugly looking when i got it.. but was a diamond in t he rough.

I'd hope to get way more than 10-15 ys out of a new utility/AG tractor.. closer to double that.. minimum. My 5000 is setting at 32ys right now.. and she pulls that 10' mower just dandy... No more blowby than my 7610s has...

soundguy

I didn't mean that he would ONLY get 10-15 years. Rather, the first 10-15 years all you need to do is fill the tank and change fluids/filters & grease. (waxing is optional....) That's my idea of minimum fuss. After that you may need breaks, clutch, tires or other wear items. Maybe not, all depends on your driving style, uses and the unit.

jb

 

[drssg]

I struggled with the decision of new vs. used for quite a while. The turning point for me was when I visited a friend that rebuilds tractors on the side, and he had a brand new John Deere in his barn!

I asked him why he would pay for a new tractor when he had five other ones already. He said he was just tired of dealing with it. He wanted something that was safe and reliable, that his wife could turn the key and it would start.

I decided that's what I want, too (for me and the wife). I think it comes down to a personal decision, involving mechanical aptitude and money.

 

[napabavarian]

It seems that the most important thing is your mechanical ability, if you can fix them when the break and they are in reasonable shape then try to figure out the market value at auction of the individual components, subtract the cost of having an auction, cost to transport off the property, and a little for the effort on his part to line everything up, then make him an offer.

The bottom line is that this has more to do with him than you, if he is willing to accept an offer that is very good for your pocket book then buy it, if not then let him deal with it.

Use the equipment and decide what what you do and don't like about it, what physical size and HP feels good to you. This will give you time to look at new tractors for a longer peroid of time and make a much better and more informed decition when the time comes to pull the trigger on a new(er) piece of equipment, then you can sell what you don't need, or keep it as you see fit.

With some seat time you will have a much better understanding of what works for you, and having little or no experience isn't a great way to walk into a $30,000 deal, you may even find that you don't need another tractor, or be able to wait for the right lightly used tractor to come arround instead of going brand new.

Best of luck!
Karl

 

[art]

The equipment that is on the property would be the best place to start looking for machinery. Although the horsepower the 495 may seem small it has can do a lot of utility work that might come in handy with that much property. You might be suprised by what it can do but no mater what it can't run a ten foot mower but it can run a six foot all day long. It also might prove to be more used then the larger because they are a very economical tractor to run and you have enough jobs that might need to be done that if the price is right that might be the bargin buy.