2015-The Red, Green and Orange struggle.

[cl604]

Hello all,
I have been reading this and many forums over the last few months in the hopes of purchasing a tractor for our new plot of land. I have never driven a tractor, but the wife grew up on dairy farm. Her family still in dairy busines.
First, the wife and I have 1.5 acres of land, most level ground. The front 1/4 has about 20 trees on it, and the back half no trees. The wife and I love to work in the yard. Lots of landscaping to do!
I have done extensive searches on all the SCUTs. I first looked at JD, the 2305 seemed nice, and our state fair (Texas) are running an AWESOME sale on them. But when I measured the ROPS, found that I couldn't get it in the garage- was told from wife's family JD is not what it used to be. So I had to cross that one out, unless I was going to build a shed and lots of expensive parts.
Next I looked at the Kubota 2350 (have 2 dealers in the area- one I didn't like and the other was quoting me 15,880 for everything and 0 percent financing). Sweet deal!
One day two weeks ago, my wife find a nice deal on a 20 ft magnolia tree. When I got the shovel out, and started digging the hole, I found out quickly- I was out of shape, and the soil was pretty darn hard. It took me almost 4 hours to dig a 4 foot/4 foot hole for the tree.
I scratched the BX2350, and started to look at the BX24/25 - backhoe was going to be needed- especially if we were going to be putting in another 10 trees. The kubota dealer gave me a quote of 18,820. Not too bad.

To make the long story short, I was talking with one of my brother-in-laws, and he said that you should look at a Mahindra's. The local dealer can't keep these tractors in stock and talked with a mechanic and says he really hasn't seen many problems with them over the last couple of years.

The wife and I looked at a 2015 4wd gear drive yesterday. I was pretty impressed with the all metal tractor. We got a quote 18,909. This included the following:
2015 gear- 11,300 (includes FEL)
60 " Bush hog finish mower- 1,659
Bush hog 665H 5,950
Includes free delivery- about 30 miles from the house.

Since there isn't many places on the net that talk about this tractor, and I see that there are a few dealers on the board. I have a few questions:
1. Is this price about right?
2. Any serious problems with this tractor?
3. What else would I need with this tractor before I take the plunge? ie: cover?
4. Without the HST, do you think that I am doing the right thing?

Thanks.

 

[rback33]

Is the backhoe a subframe mount? Do you know why he is steering you towards the Bush hog over the Mahindra 'hoe?

 

[LBrown59]

Hello all,
I have been reading this and many forums over the last few months in the hopes of purchasing a tractor for our new plot of land. I have never driven a tractor, but the wife grew up on dairy farm. Her family still in dairy busines.
First, the wife and I have 1.5 acres of land, most level ground. The front 1/4 has about 20 trees on it, and the back half no trees. The wife and I love to work in the yard. Lots of landscaping to do!
I have done extensive searches on all the SCUTs. I first looked at JD, the 2305 seemed nice, and our state fair (Texas) are running an AWESOME sale on them. But when I measured the ROPS, found that I couldn't get it in the garage- was told from wife's family JD is not what it used to be. So I had to cross that one out, unless I was going to build a shed and lots of expensive parts.
Next I looked at the Kubota 2350 (have 2 dealers in the area- one I didn't like and the other was quoting me 15,880 for everything and 0 percent financing). Sweet deal!
One day two weeks ago, my wife find a nice deal on a 20 ft magnolia tree. When I got the shovel out, and started digging the hole, I found out quickly- I was out of shape, and the soil was pretty darn hard. It took me almost 4 hours to dig a 4 foot/4 foot hole for the tree.
I scratched the BX2350, and started to look at the BX24/25 - backhoe was going to be needed- especially if we were going to be putting in another 10 trees. The kubota dealer gave me a quote of 18,820. Not too bad.

To make the long story short, I was talking with one of my brother-in-laws, and he said that you should look at a Mahindra's. The local dealer can't keep these tractors in stock and talked with a mechanic and says he really hasn't seen many problems with them over the last couple of years.

The wife and I looked at a 2015 4wd gear drive yesterday. I was pretty impressed with the all metal tractor. We got a quote 18,909. This included the following:
2015 gear- 11,300 (includes FEL)
60 " Bush hog finish mower- 1,659
Bush hog 665H 5,950
Includes free delivery- about 30 miles from the house.

Since there isn't many places on the net that talk about this tractor, and I see that there are a few dealers on the board. I have a few questions:
1. Is this price about right?
2. Any serious problems with this tractor?
3. What else would I need with this tractor before I take the plunge? ie: cover?
4. Without the HST, do you think that I am doing the right thing?

Thanks.

Take a look at the MF G series with the 72 month o percent financing.

 

[boxygen]

As others will surely confirm, the 2015 is an awesome tractor. I've never even heard of a serious issue with a 2015, and many dealers will confirm that. I also question why the non-mahindra brand backhoe. Not that it isnt a good unit, but the BH mahindra builds for the 2015 is a serious digging machine and will definitely outclass anything in that HP range. It could be that the machine wasnt ordered with a backhoe and they can only offer the bushog because they have one in stock. They may not be able to offer you the their best price if they have to order the backhoe, pay freight..etc, etc. Sometimes the best deals are based on what they already have in stock, especially in these times where freight today is more than freight 2 months ago, so I wouldnt necessarily question your dealers motives but I would ask the question. Also, I would make sure it is a subframe mount, not a 3pt mount. Another consideration if you plan on financing is that from my experience, most of the time you cannot finance an attachment that is not built by Mahindra. And then their is the question of warranty, if failure occurs on the tractor while using a bushog brand backhoe, will Mahindra honor it? Ive heard different things, be sure to ask.
The price they are offering seems very fair. Goodluck.

 

[cl604]

I will ask about the subframe mount- I dunno.
I was told from the dealer that the Bush Hog was just as good as the Mahindra BH, and about 500 dollars cheaper and would be about 4 months for the Mahindra BH too. I will ask about the warranty coverage and financing.
Many thanks for the head's up on these issues. When I get an answer- I will post.

 

[rback33]

I will ask about the subframe mount- I dunno.
I was told from the dealer that the Bush Hog was just as good as the Mahindra BH, and about 500 dollars cheaper and would be about 4 months for the Mahindra BH too. I will ask about the warranty coverage and financing.
Many thanks for the head's up on these issues. When I get an answer- I will post.

Four months for the Mahindra hoe is a crock. I have at least 9 of them out back in the yard. Nothing wrong with the Bush hog hoe so long as it's sub-mounted.

 

[DavesTractor]

Most people are happy with the gear drive tractors, unless or until they spend some time on a hydro. Then the majority want the hydro. There are exceptions. The 2015G is a really reliable, fairly simple tractor that has been in production for years. The current backhoe for it is a 1710C. It is a sub-frame quick attach backhoe and normally retails for $6000 +/- depending on the dealer and freight, etc. We have at least 5 in stock in California, and KMW has a good supply also.

On the small hydro tractors, I really like the 2415HST.

 

[cl604]

Just got a note from the dealer, and I guess I was mistaken on the time frame for the backhoe. I have absolutely no experience with tractors, so simple is VERY GOOD! On the other hand, the wife know more about them than I.

From what I have seen on this board, from experience to honesty, I have FOUND A GREAT TRACTOR! I just want to make sure that I don't get myself in trouble a couple of years done the road.

Thanks for the quick replies! I am trying to learn as much as I can- as fast as possible!

On the MF, I wasn't treated very well at the local dealer, they weren't interested in spending the time talking with me. Don't know if I caught them on a bad day or not.

 

[driver444]

My 2015 gear drive has functioned flawlessly for the 2 years I've had it. Had one small issue with a cooling hose, but that was my fault and I fixed in in 20 minutes. No warranty issues.

Once in a great while I wish I had a live PTO (as on the hydro models) for when I need to change direction while brush-hogging, but most of my propoerty is straight passes, so it's not usually an issue. That's not enough to make me buy an HST. Not that there's anything wrong with them. It's just my personal preference.

I have a Woods B-70X subframe backhoe. It runs off the PTO instead of the tractor's hydraulics. That's been real good to me too.

All in all, I'd buy it again. It's way more tractor than you'd expect for 20 HP.
One thing to add.. If you're not going to have the hoe on it most of the time, and plan on doing loader work, LOAD THE REAR TIRES.

 

[cl604]

Thanks driver444!
I will definitely note them down!
BTW, I talked with the dealer and since I wont need the tractor for another month, I am going to get a Mahindra BH.
BTW, from what I heard- the Bush hog backhoe is a sub frame mount. But as boxygen stated about warranty issues, I think I am going to stick to all Mahindra- and get zero percent across the board!