30k tractor budget

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

Labor costs strongly influence tractor prices.

Parts support networks also influence tractor and equipment prices. The South Korean tractor brands don't have the same parts infrastructure in place that Deere and Kubota have.

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

A pull type cutter is a lot less maneuverable than a fully mounted or semi-mounted cutter, just to warn you.

What is semi-mounted?

 

[jeff9366]

And thats what confuses me when im searching, the big frame compacts overlapping with smaller utility tractors, i mean i would say it would be better to have a utility tractor, it just doesnt make sense to pay so much more for a compact style tractor of the same power. And every make seems like they have multiple series of tractors in the same hp range so its trying to find out which one is right and should i be paying more for the same hp for some reason.

The fundamental importance of TRACTOR WEIGHT eludes many tractor shoppers.

The most efficient way to shop for tractors is to first identify potential tractor applications, then, through consulataton, establish bare tractor weight necessary to safely accomplish your applications. Tractor dealers, experienced tractor owners and TractorByNet.com are sources for weight recommendations. In your case a bare tractor weight of 3,700 pounds to 5,000 pounds seems appropriate. I would consider a 50-horsepower/4-WD tractor, which will weigh about 3,700 pounds bare tractor weight, suitable for working ten to twenty acres. A tractor with a bare weight of 5,000 pounds is suitable for actually working 20 to 40 acres of farm acreage. Working acres, not total acres.

Bare tractor weight is a fundamental tractor specification easily found in sales brochures and web sites, readily comparable across tractor brands and tractor models, new and used. Shop your weight range within tractor brands. Budget will eliminate some choices. Collect a dealer brochure for each tractor model in your weight range.

Tractor weight largely defines tractor capability in pulling applications.
Heavier tractors are built with thicker steel and thicker axles to withstand the stress of heavier applied loads.

Heavier tractors have larger diameter, greater breadth wheels/tires, creating a larger tire "patch" in contact with the soil. Rear tires are often ballasted internally with liquid, placing weight directly over the tire tread. Larger wheels and tires and a longer wheelbase permit heavier tractors to bridge holes, burrows, ruts and tree debris, increasing ground speed and reducing operator perturbation. Larger wheels and tires increase ground clearance, lengthening the period which row crops may be implement cultivated.

Heavier tractors have FEL lift and Three Point Hitch lift in proportion to weight.

When considering a tractor purchase, bare tractor weight first, tractor horsepower second, rear axle width/rear tire spread third, rear wheel ballast fourth. Ample tractor horsepower is needed for PTO-powered implements such as Bush Hogs and snow blowers, but remains subsidiary to tractor weight in defining tractor capability.

 

[Hall00]

Round bales and goats work if you use a sheep/goat round bale feeder. They have a lot of small bars to keep them off of it. If you feed goats round bales with a cattle or horse round bale feeder the goats will waste about 50% or more of the bale from climbing on it and bedding in it.

 

[jmerchant05]

Round bales and goats work if you use a sheep/goat round bale feeder. They have a lot of small bars to keep them off of it. If you feed goats round bales with a cattle or horse round bale feeder the goats will waste about 50% or more of the bale from climbing on it and bedding in it.

Yeah ive seen quite a few different designs that work well for goats. I saw i really like that was homemade, it expanded to load a round bale and had a trough to catch hay that falls off and as the bale is eaten it collapses in on the bale. But thats something im going to be looking more into.

 

[mo1]

What is semi-mounted?

The cutter uses the lower two arms of the three point but not the top link. It uses a set of tail wheels attached to a hydraulic cylinder to lift the cutter. This results in a cutter that doesn't put all of the weight on the 3 point but isn't as long as a drawn cutter attached to the drawbar.

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

And thats what confuses me when im searching, the big frame compacts overlapping with smaller utility tractors, i mean i would say it would be better to have a utility tractor, it just doesnt make sense to pay so much more for a compact style tractor of the same power. And every make seems like they have multiple series of tractors in the same hp range so its trying to find out which one is right and should i be paying more for the same hp for some reason.

Yes it is confusing. It took me two years of study and research to unravel the ball of yarn all this is when you first get into it. What's so different about the way tractors are sold from every other type of equipment out there is depending on the options, you can purchase a bigger tractor with more horsepower for less then you can a smaller tractor with less horsepower. So let's unpack this a little bit.

Lets' take the MX5400 for example. They offer a two wheel drive version of that tractor that is around 22K MSRP without a front end loader. However, you can not get an HST, it's only offered with an 8 speed partially synchronized gear drive transmission so they're selling weight and power without efficiency. If you want the HST they make you take MFWD and charge $7K more for it. So they're selling efficiency at a premium because they gave you all the weight and power as standard features.

Now let's take a John Deere 3R series as another example. That is Deere's premium medium size compact tractor line so they offer all those tractors with best in class transmissions, ergonomics, weight and efficiency. So they're selling power at a premium because they gave you all the efficiency, weight and comfort as standard features.

Each manufacturer offers a different set of standard features and premium features within each class of tractor that they sell. It will make it easier to wrap your brain around it if you can make a distinction between what is standard and premium.

 

[LD1]

I believe after looking ill be really leaning towards the MF 2606h or 2607h, i cant believe they are at the price points for the amount of tractor you're buying. At about 32-34k i think they may be close enough cash could talk. If not i could be there after another week or 2. Now if tax returns dont come out like im calculating i may still be looking at used but come about February ill be getting something or ordering one way or another.

The Workmaster and deere 5000 series are both comparable to the MF2600 line. They are a true small utility.

The Boomer is more akin to the kubota MX line and the deere 4000 series which are the larger compacts. They are lighter, have smaller front wheels, Usually a HST option.

Foy haying and handling round bales regularly....I think you are on the right track looking at the utilities.

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

The cutter uses the lower two arms of the three point but not the top link. It uses a set of tail wheels attached to a hydraulic cylinder to lift the cutter. This results in a cutter that doesn't put all of the weight on the 3 point but isn't as long as a drawn cutter attached to the drawbar.

Interesting. Any chance you would have some pictures of this?

 

[Jchonline]

Theres actually a lot of goat farmers using round bales, for the same reasons im sure, not having to keep up with throwing square bales out so much. Now what size they do im not sure, they may use any of them. I wouldnt really need to use over a 4x4 or 4x5 right off the bat until i get more land and the herd grows but i want to be able to safely maneuver any size id like.

Now i dont have enough land to benefit from doing my own hay right now but i also dont want to have to go buy another tractor once we do get more land and if i decide to. Between that, bush hogging, the heavy work to be done with clearing out woods on our hilly terrain, gravel, etc. Thats mostly where my 50hp minimum comes from. If i was staying at 14 acres, feeding square bales, and knocking down the grass id of stuck with a mid 30hp just to run a bigger mower.

And thats what confuses me when im searching, the big frame compacts overlapping with smaller utility tractors, i mean i would say it would be better to have a utility tractor, it just doesnt make sense to pay so much more for a compact style tractor of the same power. And every make seems like they have multiple series of tractors in the same hp range so its trying to find out which one is right and should i be paying more for the same hp for some reason.

As mentioned if you are bailing hay rounds, the MX isn’t enough tractor. The M7060 is ok for smaller rounds, but no one actually bales those in TX. You need 100HP or so for a full baler. You arent going to be bailing large rounds with a 50HP small ag utility tractor.

The MX series transporting large round bales will be sketchy across a pasture, but can be done. It isn’t something I would do multiple times a day.

You mention 50HP for logging, but you do realize HP has nothing to do with what a tractor will lift and carry. You need to look at tractor weight, FEL lift capacities, and rear ballast. The first 2 are based on they specific machine, the last you can play with.

You are correct that you should go utility tractor, no reason not to…they are made for the lots of work you intend to do.

 

[mo1]

The Workmaster and deere 5000 series are both comparable to the MF2600 line. They are a true small utility.

The Boomer is more akin to the kubota MX line and the deere 4000 series which are the larger compacts. They are lighter, have smaller front wheels, Usually a HST option.

Foy haying and handling round bales regularly....I think you are on the right track looking at the utilities.

Do note that there are multiple lines of NH Workmasters of differing sizes. The small framed utility versions are the 50/60/70 and the 55/65/75. The 50/60/70 is open station only and with a simple two-range four-speed mechanical reverser transmission. The 55/65/75 uses a different, slightly larger engine and can be had with cabs and a hydraulic reverser. The 50/60/70 is best compared with open station Deere 5E 3 cylinders with the TSS transmission and the 55/65/75 best compared with the Deere 5E 3 cylinders with the PowrReverser transmission.

Yes it is confusing. It took me two years of study and research to unravel the ball of yarn all this is when you first get into it. What's so different about the way tractors are sold from every other type of equipment out there is depending on the options, you can purchase a bigger tractor with more horsepower for less then you can a smaller tractor with less horsepower. So let's unpack this a little bit.

Lets' take the MX5400 for example. They offer a two wheel drive version of that tractor that is around 22K MSRP without a front end loader. However, you can not get an HST, it's only offered with an 8 speed partially synchronized gear drive transmission so they're selling weight and power without efficiency. If you want the HST they make you take MFWD and charge $7K more for it. So they're selling efficiency at a premium because they gave you all the weight and power as standard features.

Now let's take a John Deere 3R series as another example. That is Deere's premium medium size compact tractor line so they offer all those tractors with best in class transmissions, ergonomics, weight and efficiency. So they're selling power at a premium because they gave you all the efficiency, weight and comfort as standard features.

Each manufacturer offers a different set of standard features and premium features within each class of tractor that they sell. It will make it easier to wrap your brain around it if you can make a distinction between what is standard and premium.

Hydrostatic transmissions are noticeably less efficient than gear transmissions. I think you meant to say "features" rather than "efficiency" above.

Interesting. Any chance you would have some pictures of this?

Do note there are other semi-mounted implements that attach differently. A semi-mounted implement simply doesn't carry all of its weight on the 3 point hitch and instead uses a tail wheel. There are a lot of plows in particular which are semi-mount and they use all 3 three-point links but have a tail wheel and a cylinder to raise the rear of the plow.

 

[cjoffutt]

Parts support networks also influence tractor and equipment prices. The South Korean tractor brands don't have the same parts infrastructure in place that Deere and Kubota have.

Generally I would agree with this, but even our local Deere dealers are having issues getting parts. Our in town dealer is part of a 8 location group, they currently have parts on backorder for the last 3 months with no ETA for Gators. And not electronic parts, run of the mill brake hubs, axles, etc.

But overall, yes, Deere and Kubota have a more reliable parts infrastructure. However, the couple times I've needed parts for my Kioti NX5010 I haven't had any issues (all parts I broke being stupid).

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On topic, I only paid 31K for my NX5010 HST non-cab 2 years ago. No idea what they currently cost since I haven't had a reason to price them, but should be close to the OP's budget.

 

[LD1]

Hydrostatic transmissions are noticeably less efficient than gear transmissions. I think you meant to say "features" rather than "efficiency" above.

Its all in how you define efficiency. OR rather what is the efficiency you are trying to measure.

Efficiency putting power to the ground? Efficiency putting power to the PTO? Fuel efficiency? OR rather efficiency simply meaning how quickly you can accomplish the task at hand.

Everyone always raves about how skidloaders are the most efficient at doing loader work and zeroturns are the most efficient at mowing your yard....and both of those are HST

IF you are plowing a 25 acre field...then yea gears are gonna be the most efficient. IF you are mowing a pasture, and doing tedious loader work, then a HST might be the most efficient machine overall

 

[IndyJay]

...On topic, I only paid 31K for my NX5010 HST non-cab 2 years ago. No idea what they currently cost since I haven't had a reason to price them, but should be close to the OP's budget.

I bought a DK4510 earlier this year. The tractor with loader was $22,368 and that included add-ons like RV antifreeze ballast, telescoping link kit, rubber floor mat, and 2 rear remotes. By the time I added 3rd function and a 72" grapple I was still only at $26,549+tax. I "think" it would have only been another $1,000 to get the DK5010 with the same options. I could have added a 6ft rotary cutter and still been under $30,000 but bought a Land Pride RCD1884 84" dual spindle cutter at another dealer.

Before looking at Kioti I had pretty much settled on a Massey MF2850 with just a loader at $32,250 but a friend recommended that I take a look at Kioti. I was really surprised what I could get for the price point that I had set for myself. I am ~60 hours into it and have been very pleased with the tractor.

 

[mo1]

Its all in how you define efficiency. OR rather what is the efficiency you are trying to measure.

Efficiency putting power to the ground? Efficiency putting power to the PTO? Fuel efficiency? OR rather efficiency simply meaning how quickly you can accomplish the task at hand.

Everyone always raves about how skidloaders are the most efficient at doing loader work and zeroturns are the most efficient at mowing your yard....and both of those are HST

IF you are plowing a 25 acre field...then yea gears are gonna be the most efficient. IF you are mowing a pasture, and doing tedious loader work, then a HST might be the most efficient machine overall

Efficiency means the percentage of the power/work/energy you get out of the machine vs. what went into it. Typically with tractors this is hp-hrs/gallon.

How quickly you can get something done is speed, not efficiency. One other very common incorrect usage of "efficiency" is to confuse it with total consumption. A big truck that has 25% better ton-mile/gallon efficiency than a small car is often called "less efficient" due to higher fuel consumption.

 

[LD1]

Efficiency means the percentage of the power/work/energy you get out of the machine vs. what went into it. Typically with tractors this is hp-hrs/gallon.

That makes a HST pretty efficient at alot of tasks. If it can get the job done 25% faster by using 10% more fuel....in the end you use less fuel to get the work done. Got it

 

[IndyIan]

Yeah the tn75d i worked with was straight shift, using the loader was a task in itself to learn for anything past scooping dirt and dumping it. When i got my rk25 with the hst and loader, oh man the difference lol. But although a luxury id like that is probably out the door to get more power for the same money.

I wound up looking on fastline, tractorhouse and some other website, theres a ton of tym and mahindra in that price range lol, but for that much tractor for that much money id rather go with something i can be more sure of. I did see obviously some mx series in that price, the MF 2606h, mcCormick x1.55, new holland boomer 55 and workmaster 60, ls mt350e, and even the jd 5045e fell in at 35k or under. The lowest being the ls at 24,800. Im not sure which would be the "top rated" option, jd obviously has the name, im just use to NH from petsonal use and my inlaws are ford/nh people, ls is basically the same thing, and not much knowledge of the others.

What i also wonder is how much wiggle room there could be on pricing, i know right now isnt ideal but may if things get better or given ill be paying cash maybe more give than normal.

The JD 5045e is made in Pune India, maybe they've got the bugs worked out now, but in 2011 when I was looking they had some issues and lots were for sale with ~100hrs on them... To crude for hobby farmers and not reliable enough for a small farmer.
I think in the compact tractors sold here, only Kioti, Kubota, LS, Branson, actually make their own tractors. The rest sell other Japanese or Korean brands repainted.
In the basic utility tractors I think JD, MF NH, Case, all get theirs from China or India, and the fancier ones start to get made by either the selling manufacturer, or again are Japanese or Korean tractors repainted. I assume JD, MF NH, Case, have decent parts supply for all the tractors they sell but it would be interesting to test the parts guy at a dealership with a trial run.
JD sold 22 thousand 1050's built by Yanmar in the 80's, I wonder how many front axle parts they have in stock today?

 

[jmerchant05]

The Workmaster and deere 5000 series are both comparable to the MF2600 line. They are a true small utility.

The Boomer is more akin to the kubota MX line and the deere 4000 series which are the larger compacts. They are lighter, have smaller front wheels, Usually a HST option.

Foy haying and handling round bales regularly....I think you are on the right track looking at the utilities.

I did look at those, i really would of liked a NH since im more familiar with them and know theyre a good tractor even though its not much experience. But the workmaster 60 and 70 and the 5065e and 75e which are closest to the 2606h and 2607h are more expensive and less weight.

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

I think you meant to say "features" rather than "efficiency" above.

No I meant what I said.

How quickly you can get something done is speed, not efficiency.

I think you're splitting hairs here. What I stated would be accepted as correct by the standards of the nomenclature used to describe what it is that I am talking about within the context of tractors and equipment.

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

Do note there are other semi-mounted implements that attach differently. A semi-mounted implement simply doesn't carry all of its weight on the 3 point hitch and instead uses a tail wheel. There are a lot of plows in particular which are semi-mount and they use all 3 three-point links but have a tail wheel and a cylinder to raise the rear of the plow.

I just learned something new. I never knew this until you pointed it out. Thanks!