Anyone have any input on Farm Pro 2420 tractors?

[Gater]

I've never owned a tractor before...I've used a John Deere 160 for the last several years to mow 3 acres. I've acquired some additional land and in the immediate future I'll want to finish mow about 5 - 6 Acres and brush hog and additional 10 or so.
After the sticker shock of the New Holland/Kubota/Long and John Deere dealers set in...I came across the Farm Pro ads (amongst others) and the 2420 (2 wheel dr; 2 cyl; liq cooled diesel) plus 5' finish mower and 4' brush hog seems to fit the bill and the price sure seems right (about $4,400 for the package from a dealer that is about 15 miles from where I live in upstate NY). I did some checking with a few dealers in my region about the availability of parts and it appears that most common items are readily available. Besides the locals giving me a hard time about not buying a "name brand" I'm just wanting to sort out what some of the other negatives might be. I'd consider a used tractor but it seems that nothing decent can be had for less than $5,000; plus that leaves open to the possibility of buying someone else's junk. Also, I have a difficult time considering an 8N, 9N, 600, ect... when those run about $2,000 - $3,000 (in my area) w/o any attachments.

Your wisdom and experience would be appreciated!

In case anyone is interetsed a link for these tractors is www.farmprotractors.com/fp2420.html

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Setting aside my personal bias against 2wd tractors and against gear transmission tractors, I would say that the unit will do what you need to do. From the standpoint of budget, there is nothing close to this unit in a new machine that I know of. And budget seems to be your primary concern so that said, I think you are on track.

Personally I never recommend gear drive tractors to new owners and I also believe that mowing is done faster with tractors that have HST transmissions, but the reality is that I learned on gear tractors and people have mowed with gear drive units for 50+ years. I would not recommend you consider a FEL with that tractor, and I would say that a 20hp tractor is on the light side for a 60" finish mower so don't try mowing when it is wet and don't let the grass get too long or you may find the engine bogging down badly.

But purely from the standpoint of will that tractor mow, the answer is yes, and from the price, there is little competition for you to consider.

 

[rockyridgefarm]

I had a similar sized Yanmar that was 4WD. I was told to use it in 2WD as much as possible. I tried , but it was all it could do to pull the cutter. You will be very slow going with that setup. I do not think it is safe to compare these to much heavier older 2WD tractors that had so muxh traction.

 

[rockyridgefarm]

Have you compared the "bargain" tractors, the NH TC30, Deere 790 and Kubs. There are also bransons, etc. They are more than the Jimmas, but have better service and resale. Most are 4WD and more than 20 Hp so that is a big reason why they are higher.

 

[Charlie_in_TX]

First a comment about Jinma/Chinese tractors. The tractors have a few problems inherant to them. They are known. A good dealer will fix them before you get the tractor. Further, it can be difficult to find a mechanic to work on them. Be prepaired to work on it yourself. Not trying to scare you off just want you to go into it knowing what to expect.

20 hp is less than what I would want for 15+ acres. Mowing 5-6 acres with a 20hp and 60in finish mower will take most of Saturday, every week. During the growing season, that 20 hp will need to hog the 10 acres every other week to keep up. So you hog 5 acres on one Sunday, the other 5 the next. You have eat'n up most of your weekend and still haven't spent time with the family (likely the reason you are buying the land).

I think you need something closer to 30hp with a 6ft finish mower and a 5ft hog. With this setup you can finish mow the 6 acres in a couple of hours. But the real benifet is the hogging. It will have enough power to hog the 10 acres once a month (or a couple of times a year) and do it in a day.

I luv my HST tractor, but I think it is more important for you to get enough hp than the right tranny. Further, It is much cheaper to get the right tractor 1st than get the wrong tractor/implements and have to replace it with another tractor/implements later.

So my recomendation, as a minimum get a 28hp Jinma, 4x4, 72in finish mower, 5ft hog and FEL. This may be closer to the sticker shock number ($10k?) but as I said earlier, it is cheaper to spend the $10k now than to spend $4400 now, take a loss on it selling it next year for next to nothing, and spending ($11k, inflation) next year.

 

[SteveM]

I have 40 acres, mixed use, and I am always on a shoestring budget. You are trying to do something with far less money than it really takes, so you have to make sacrifices. In your current suggestion, the sacrifices are :

1) The Farmpro will give you some minor headaches, guaranteed. It will spring a hydraulic leak, dash wiring will short out, or some other (kind of) minor problem. Assuming your dealer has service capability, this should not be a show stopper. However I think overall there will be less mechanical headaches than buying a 30-50yr old vintage farm tractor - provided that dealer helps you out.

2) The Farmpro is small for your land, and things will take a long time. It will spin that mower adequately, but tall wet grass will bring you to low gears.

3) The resale of Chinese tractors is poor. Often new tractor buyers end up selling after 2 yrs for a variety of reasons - you will take a hit if you do this.


But in the end, accepting these sacrifices, I agree with your choice. I own a grey market 80's jap tractor, and a 47 Ford 2n. I love them both for different reasons, but both require tinkering and home repair, and I dont think anyone should buy an antique as their first and only tractor.

Good luck with your purchase

 

[rockyridgefarm]

One note on "sticker shock" If you do get back to looking at bigger sticker machines, try finding a fairly new used big three tractor. You'll see, if you can find one that there is almost no savings buying used. They don't depreciate like a car, so if you do go new, you don't have to worry about throwing money away. You could sell it later and lose almost nothing. That, combined with extremely competitive financing makes new big three (and many almost big three options) very attractive... On top of tthere are tqo and three year warranties, compared to 6 months parts only...

 

[SPIKER]

resale prices are very good now for the china tractors, especially the JINMA based as the END USERS and the tractors ahve made more of a name for themselves. resale on 2 year old machines ahve brought as much and in a few cases more than NEW costs! (due to people NOT knowing where to find them and not researching enough to know who little you can get a NEW one for in most cases.) this you have done. so don't worry about the resale as much as others may want to scare you...

mark M /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( was all it could do to pull the cutter. You will be very slow going with that setup )</font>

How do you figure that.. My yanmar 1700 is probably lighter, and a tad less HP than that machine, and I pulled a 4' finish and rotary mower with it. I even pulled a heavy 8x8 pasture drag harrow with it.. -0- problems..

If he has hills or lotsa mud and knee deep sand.. I'll agree that 4wd would be a better choice. but 2wd pulls fine... My 1966 IH cub weighs a whole lot less than that tractor.. and gets around my mostly flat horse farm fine..

I also agree that it doesn't have the weight/size advantage of the vintage 2wd tractors.. but it also has a diffy lock.. where my old 8N only had steering brakes to lock the axles..

For everyhting he has posted for intended noncomercial use.. etc.. sounds like he is on the right track.. especially at that price.. hard to beat.

just my .02$

Soundguy

 

[rockyridgefarm]

Read the line I wrote BEFORE where your quote starts.

I figured that because I experienced that.

 

[Gater]

Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to provide input on my contemplated tractor purchase so far (more is welcome). A little update; I went to the local dealer - Steve @ Winkler's in Holley, NY - a real decent gentleman who spent almost three hours with me on "tractor 101" and I'm happy to say that I got on a few of the tractors (first time I ever drove a tractor) and drove em like an old pro (gound the gears, stalled em out, got stuck in a ditch...only kidding!) I test drove a 2420 and 2425, an 8N, 9N and Ferguson something or other. Yup, the 2425 had noticeable more power and traction than the 2420 (the 2425 w/loader and 6' finish mower was about $9,900...I seem to recall that a New Holland w/25 hp, 6' finish mower and FEL was about $18K and change).
However, I was more intent on comparing the 2420 to the older Fords and Ferguson. Let me begin by saying that this guy keeps his machinery in A-1 shape (that's based upon his reputation and my insight after speaking to him and testing the tractors) so my little comparison (which in my mind was comparing to relatively sound older tractors) noted that the 2420 (even with only 3 hours on it so, it;s not broken in) seemed to have a bit more power than the older tractors both on dry ground and in some tall grass (6 - 7") and pulling a 5' finish mower. The "live" PTO (I think that's what you call it) on the 2420 was handy compared to the older ones w/out it. I was disappointed with the 2420's use of fiberglass wherever it could. Overall I was satisfied with the 2420 and am more comfortable with that over the older tractors. Now back to my intended use (revisions) - I'll be mowing about 12 - 14 acres, no brush hogging (all I have is grass, I'll have the tall grass bush hogged by a neighbor and keep it mowed thereafter). The land I want to "maintain" is all flat; the rest of my acreage is leased to farmers) so I kind of sum it up by saying that all I really need is a big mower; but I also want the versatility of a tractor for some attacments down the line(a post hole digger and small cultevator which I plan to occassionally use). So, I'm getting ready to purchase the 2420...any final thoughts?

 

[SPIKER]

GATOR:

why do you want to MOW 12~14 acres? I have about 4 acres and I spend most of my summer free time mowing and such... 14 acres is ALOT of mowing! maybe see if one of the locals will put 10 in HAY and just keep the mowing to the 3~5 acres right close to house barn ect. anyhow if you plan on NOT getting a FEL (loader) then the 2 wheel will be ok, bar in mind that I BELIVE (not 100% sure) that they do not have power steering on the 2 wheel drives. and you will be limited to the 4~5' range of mowers for that size. maybe try for the next size up and you should be able to finish mow with a 6' mower...
\
It seems the dealer knows his stuff run it by him for sure first...

Mark M /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Soundguy]

Yeah.. I did read it.. and I don't see why a similar sized yanmar in 2wd would have a problem pulling that setup.. unless as I said.. it is through knee deep sand or mud, or 3' tall brush...


Soundguy

 

[rockyridgefarm]

I Think you are going about this all the right way Good job!

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I seem to recall that a New Holland w/25 hp, 6' finish mower and FEL was about $18K and change).
)</font>

I just got a quote on that setup (24D) for under $15K with 4WD and Hydrostatic...

 

[SHIFTY]

For that much mowing a 84" rear discharge finis mower will save you alot of time,possibally look into a 35-45 hp machine with gear drive for maximum pto HP. inma does make a 454 45 hp tractor which will give you plenty of bang for the buck for an economy tractor,Come on by to take a look

 

[SHIFTY]

I can get you into a 37 hp Century with HD front end loader with rebates and current incentives below 15k as well