Buying Advice Another first time buyer!

Alasdair · Feb 9, 2011

Hello all,
My wife and I are planning our first foray into tractor ownership. :thumbsup:
We have 28 hilly wooded acres on Cape Breton Island. 12 x 24 in Cape Breton Around 4 acres are cleared and need cutting. We plan to clear another couple for garden and pasture and keep the rest wooded as our fuel supply - we would also like something which will help us put a wood road into the rest of the land.
We have a lot of building and gardening plans! We built a cabin last year, began a house this year and I hope the future holds a garage and a small barn. I guess you could call us homesteaders or hobby farmers (although I'm not sure either label really fits.)
We also live in a snow belt (I enjoyed a snowday from work today - which allowed me to discover how little I know about tractors!) Our driveway is a hill around 200 yards and one of our priorities would certainly be snow removal!
We are lucky we have great neighbours who have their own machines - one has an older JD tractor backhoe another a JD with several attatchments - FEL, 3PH, BH, winch, snowplow, rear grader - (is it OK to covet your neighbours' tractors?) These guys have enabled us to get a foothold here and have often helped us out for little or nothing but we can't always rely on their charity and sooner or later we will need our own machine.
Like everyone else we are scraping along financialy and on top of the building projects (we're building the house as we can pay for it) there's not much fat to skim.
I'm looking for pointers on what kind of machine would be most useful (and realistic) for us. I can see it's easy to look for too much, snowremoval, grasscutting, groundwork etc. etc. At the moment I am imagining a 4WD compact tractor with frontloader and snow blower but perhaps I am asking too much from a smaller machine. What do you all think?
We're not in a huge rush to buy but if we know what to look out for we can shop around for a deal.
Alasdair

tk1469 · Feb 9, 2011

My recommendation is: Go with a Kubota 4WD. They are built to withstand almost anything you can dish out. Go with something in the L series - if you have extra money - go with the "Grand L" (aka: 40) series. The Grand series allows you to put a mower underneath the tractor - unlike the native L series. If you plan to do a lot of loader (FEL) work - definitely go with the Hydrostatic (HST) option. The cruise is good for those cases where you want to maintain steady RPM's over a long time - like brushhogging. Speaking of brush hogging - you'll need enough HP to run those units. I would suggest you look at something in the mid to high 30 HP range. Good Luck.

coyotebaker · Feb 9, 2011

I am a big fan of ford tractors...so you could start with an old 8n in good shape and not to expensive...many good deal available...good Luck from new Brunswick

nybirdman · Feb 9, 2011

Have to say having used 8n,9ns...for years on the farm,can't recommend them for first time users.Manual shift,clutch,bad gearing,lack of FEL in most cases,don't start well in the cold,lack of live PTO ect.Used may-be but something a little more modern.

flusher · Feb 9, 2011

Alasdair said:
Hello all,
My wife and I are planning our first foray into tractor ownership. :thumbsup:
We have 28 hilly wooded acres on Cape Breton Island. 12 x 24 in Cape Breton Around 4 acres are cleared and need cutting. We plan to clear another couple for garden and pasture and keep the rest wooded as our fuel supply - we would also like something which will help us put a wood road into the rest of the land.
We have a lot of building and gardening plans! We built a cabin last year, began a house this year and I hope the future holds a garage and a small barn. I guess you could call us homesteaders or hobby farmers (although I'm not sure either label really fits.)
We also live in a snow belt (I enjoyed a snowday from work today - which allowed me to discover how little I know about tractors!) Our driveway is a hill around 200 yards and one of our priorities would certainly be snow removal!
We are lucky we have great neighbours who have their own machines - one has an older JD tractor backhoe another a JD with several attatchments - FEL, 3PH, BH, winch, snowplow, rear grader - (is it OK to covet your neighbours' tractors?) These guys have enabled us to get a foothold here and have often helped us out for little or nothing but we can't always rely on their charity and sooner or later we will need our own machine.
Like everyone else we are scraping along financialy and on top of the building projects (we're building the house as we can pay for it) there's not much fat to skim.
I'm looking for pointers on what kind of machine would be most useful (and realistic) for us. I can see it's easy to look for too much, snowremoval, grasscutting, groundwork etc. etc. At the moment I am imagining a 4WD compact tractor with frontloader and snow blower but perhaps I am asking too much from a smaller machine. What do you all think?
We're not in a huge rush to buy but if we know what to look out for we can shop around for a deal.
Alasdair

What's your budget for the tractor? For the implements?

Alasdair · Feb 9, 2011

We're planning between 10-15k CAD Although less tractor means more house for us at the moment!

nybirdman · Feb 9, 2011

Talk to your neighbors that have tractors:they should be able to steer you to a dealer or dealers they trust.Stop in to the dealers and tell them about your projects and plans.They may have something on the lot or may take one in trade.New owners,I would reccommend a 4wd,HST type tractor,any brand as long as it can be serviced local.
a couple sites to look at www.tractordata.com,www.eqiptmenttraderonline.com,ww.machinefinder.com

TripleR · Feb 9, 2011

Good information over all and find myself in agreement with nybirdman. Sit down and write out your needs such as, at least for me, 4WD, FEL, HST, 35HP to 50HP or so, diesel, 540 live/independent PTO, good 3 point hitch, ability to wide stance or good wide stance anyway for hills.

I have used 2WD tractors and we still own some, but for hill use, I really don't find them safe. I kept one on our hill farm for several years and finally took it to another farm and left it. It is a great flat land farm tractor, but sucked in the hills. This is especially true for a new owner.

I obviously like Kubota, but we own JD, Case, Massey Ferguson and some old Fords, so I would not hesitate to buy a good used tractor from any of the top brands. My brother is a mechanic and since I am not, we don't buy anything very old without having him check it out. The last used tractor I bought, I got from our local dealer where it had been service since sold new and I got all of the service records. There had been no repairs done on it and the owner traded it in for another one just like it only without the cab, go figure.

Good luck and keep researching all of the forums. When you think you have it arrowed down, come back for input in case there are any known problems with that model.

flusher · Feb 9, 2011

Alasdair said:
We're planning between 10-15k CAD Although less tractor means more house for us at the moment!

Hmm- 4WD CUT with FEL for $10-15K Canadian--I'd say look for a used CUT around 30 hp pto in the $8-10K range and use the rest of your budget to get an aftermarket FEL. Koyker makes nice FELs

Koyker Manufacturing - Loaders

Something like a 2000-05 L-series Kubota would do what you want and fall within your budget.

silvertramp · Feb 10, 2011

I have a similar property with 4 long driveways. I've got a Yanmar 276D that does it all. (4x4, loader, 12 speed powershift, 27 hp) I've got a 5' bush hog & boxblade, & a 6' scraper blade & rake. I paid $6k us for the tactor loader.
I also have an '83 chevy plow truck, chained on all 4. IMHO that old truck will move alot more snow faster than the tractor. Not even close.

Alasdair · Feb 12, 2011

Thanks for all the great advice!

After a little more research and discussion with neighbours I am leaning towards a larger machine
TripleR pretty well hit the nail on the head with his prescription -

"Good information over all and find myself in agreement with nybirdman. Sit down and write out your needs such as, at least for me, 4WD, FEL, HST, 35HP to 50HP or so, diesel, 540 live/independent PTO, good 3 point hitch, ability to wide stance or good wide stance anyway for hills."

SilverTramp - I understand your point but we get a lot of snow - my neighbour who has been pushing snow has nearly run out of places to put it!
I think a snowblower is the way to go in our neck of the woods!

Kyle241 · Feb 12, 2011

Alasdair,

It sounds like you are doing similar things that we are in Ontario. We actually have entertained moving down East for some time and renewed the idea again last night. For your needs and budget, I would look for a good used machine 4w in the 30-40hp range if you can. The makes I would stick with are Kubota (I'm bias), MF or Deere just for quality reasons. No experience with Ford. I agree with hydrostatic, it's simple and great if you do a lot of FEL work.

As for attachments, a bush hog, boxblade and snowblower would be in order. The latter to do your driveway as the FEL could do it but with a lot of snow, it would be a beast to do. Other less important would be backhoe (for me it's very important), rototiller - note you may want to get a plow & disc instead and possibly forks.

DAY · Feb 12, 2011

I'm new here, but been tractorin' for awhile. Get some seat time in that neighbor's machine- the one with the FEL- and see how you like what it can do. Then visit dealers, and see how they treat you. That's important, because they will wind up as your new best friend!

TripleR · Feb 12, 2011

Alasdair, I think you are well on your way to making a good choice in equipment. We don't usually get much snow here, but it if we did, a snow blower would definitely be something I would want. I can get by with a BB or back blade and my FEL, but it is not ideal for a lot of snowfall.

Very good advice from DAY, I encourage any new buyer to spend some time on a tractor even if they have to rent one in order to get a baseline feel for it. You will then be much better able to compare.

I have been operating tractors for over fifty years and still have a lot to learn and have to do a lot of research before buying. I have gotten some really good advice from TBN members on my last two purchases.

Alasdair · Feb 12, 2011

I'm new here, but been tractorin' for awhile. Get some seat time in that neighbor's machine- the one with the FEL- and see how you like what it can do. Then visit dealers, and see how they treat you. That's important, because they will wind up as your new best friend!

That sounds like good advice and I have an offer to use it if I need.
I have driven a couple of compacts and excavators but am far from being competent (or even confident) when it comes to operating machines - better with boats than wheeled things!

Alasdair · Feb 16, 2011

I'm thinking of checking out this machine at the weekend -

" 135 MF diesel tractor with loader, power steering - front and back PTO - one owner, really good condition. Loaded tires. Used daily on horse farm - no field work - 2800 hours with regular maintenance. Price $6900. Snow blower, 6"6" - $900. "

I have posted in the MF area but no one has commented. Obviously it is impossible to comment acurately on a machine that you have not seen/used but could anyone pass an opinion on the price/model - I understand from my internet searches that they are one of the "classics" of their time, but what should I be looking out for when I go to view etc.

I am sure that all this info is on the forum somewhere but sometimes it's easier and quicker to ask those in the know than to search yourself!

Cheers,
Al

TripleR · Feb 17, 2011

The MF diesel is a good little tractor, but it is hard to tell about the price as they vary from region to region, it would not sell for that price around here.

There has been a lot of debate on the utility of a 2WD w/FEL. My father in law's first tractor was a MF 375 with FEL and he traded it off pretty quickly for one with 4WD which we still have.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/195800-front-end-loader-4-wheel.html

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/182437-front-end-loader-2wd-tractor.html

bironacad · Feb 17, 2011

Welcome to the forum. I joined recently as I was looking at getting a new tractor (bought a New Holland). The information that is so readily available here was indispensable for me and my purchase. From my experience I was glad that I made a bargain with my self to try all the major brands and then when I thought I was getting close got more info from the forum. I also got valuable information from dealers on different ways to tackle problems. I have a back/neck challenges and continuously looking over my shoulder would be a pain so I was looking for a front blower when a dealer suggested a pull behind which was $4000 cheaper, this would not be everyones first choice but it worked well for me. Another thing I took a friend with me when available that made the looking and trying more of a event and he would see things that I missed and this made for great road trip discussions. This you may not want to do as you may get to many wants for your wish list, I went to a landscaping show. At the show they had attachments and implements that I didn't even now existed, lol. I ended up getting a bigger tractor because the chipper I wanted needed more PTO HP. That would be another thing, it has been suggested to list all that you will need to do before looking I would also suggest looking at what attachments are required and how much tractor is needed for those attachments. Front and back hydraulic outlets, pump capacity........

Patience, try stuff, talk, listen, try.......... take your time and enjoy.:thumbsup:

Good Luck and again welcome.