Advice on first tractor

[TheDingy]

Stay as far away from Mahindra as you can. Stick to your larger name brands. They may be more expensive but will save you money in the long run. We made the mistake of going from a New Holland to a Mahindra last year and it now must be replaced. This is not due to the tractor, but the dealer network. The dealers of these smaller tractors just don't have the staff to keep up with what you will need.

 

[newbury]

And note that dinghy has posted about 13 times since March because he had a very bad experience.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I would second the Chinese route. I have a Ford 861 Power Master and needed something 4x4 and with a loader. Looked at all the name brands and for a 25-30 HP tractor I was near 18k. I bought a Jinma 254 28 HP tractor back in July 2003 brand new for $9500 and that included a 5' King Kutter Finish Mower all brand new from a dealer 45 minutes away. I have not used the Ford 5 times since getting the Jinma even though the Ford is about double the HP the Jinma just plain out works it. The King Kutter Mower was junk and replaced it with a 6' Caroni 3 years later but the tractor has been great.

To date the only thing on the tractor that has broke or needed replace that was not my fault was the Thermostat, Starter, a Hydraulic Line, and the Horn Button. It turned 570 hours yesterday. I take A+ care of the machine and it lives in the barn but work it very hard doing bush hogging, logging, snow plowing, ect. Its not a glorified lawn mower.

One thing about a tractor with a FEL. Make sure it has power steering. They drive fine with no load in the bucket but once loaded you will have to get arms like Popeye.

Another thing on HP rating. All are not on the same playing field. For example some rate on engine, some rate on draw bar, and other rate on pto. Most rate on peak HP. That means if it hits 28 HP for 1 second its a 28 HP tractor. The thing that turned me on to the Chinese tractors was they rate at a 12 hour minimum HP. So a 28 Hp tractor rates at 28 HP minimum over a 12 hour run. It may and many times does hit more. A dealer I know puts all the tractors on a PTO Dyno and says they average 31 HP on the PTO Peak which is much above the competition for a HP class.

Parts are easier to get than for my Ford. There are 4 very well stocked Chinese tractor dealers who have everything you need down to crate engines. They have web sites and always answer the phone. There are many fly by night operators which I would stay away from. When I need parts they are cheap and to me in 2-3 days via UPS. For example my starter was 1/4 the price of a friends John Deere's 30ish HP tractors Starter.

Sorry for being long winded.

Chris

 

[Mech]

My John Deere 790 is a Yanmar. I had a Yanmar 1610D before that for about 3 months. Remember these Yanmar's are around 30 years old and you can have no idea what they have been through or how they were maintained and hours on the meter is meaningless. Mine had 10. A good honest, and close dealer is key and safety equipment like a ROPS are a good idea. Refurbished in my opinion is many times bull. Often means new paint. Many of the dealers who post in the Yanmar forum have good reputations and you can post there to ask questions. Just be careful. See the tractor, if you don't know anything about engines and tractors take someone that does.

 

[BungeeII]

DP, I'll come pick up that hard-to-get-parts-for good-for-nothing 861 for you and get it out of your way. Wouldn't want you to be burdened with such a nuisance machine.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I could not sell the old girl. Something about old tractors and the guys that love them. I really do like it, just not the right machine for me. She lives a easy life now sitting in a 65 deg heated garage. Kind of a shame. Had to put all new wheels and rubber on it about 8 years ago due to rot from the calcium then just realized it was not the right machine for the job.

Chris

 

[BungeeII]

Not to hijack the thread, but I just put an electronic ignition on my 860 and am having the most fun I've had since owning it. I can't wait for the soil to dry a bit more, I have ton of box-blading to do. Mine has a 730 loader and power steering. I've had the loader off once and boy that thing felt like a Cadillac.

I'm hoping to fall into a good deal on a 661 to put landscape tires on.