Best tractor for the money

[EddieWalker]

Tractor dealers are nothing like car dealerships. They are usually a family business run by the owner, who is there every day and usually the one you end up talking to. Some are wonderful people, others don'e seem to care what you think.

I found my Kubota dealer to be extremely self important and dificult the deal with. My John Deere deeler had a good attitude, but wasn't willing to deal on the sale of a tractor and equipment. I went with another brand because I can walk into his office, he knows my name, knows my land and knows what he sold me and what we've done to it.

This is important to me.

Car dealers are fine for warantee work, but you have to jump through hoops to get things done, and when the warantee is up, I've found better service and price from my local mechanic than the dealership.

It really comes down to who will take care of you the best after the sale. A really good way to find that out is to talk to people who have already bought tractors from the different dealers and see what they think about dealing with them.

 

[keeney]

Its very easy for the buyer to destroy the relationship with the dealer as well. Imagine what a dealer must feel about how important the buyer thinks of himself when the first thing the buyer says to the dealer is "I need 30% off your asking price, because I'm an important customer". Why would a dealer want to work hard to make a sale where he doesn't make any money and his ego gets hammered?

 

[Todd_C]

There are a lot of opinions and a lot of good advice on this forum. I was looking at the three same tractors several months ago. I thought I had narrowed my choice to the GC2300, but after listening to every tractor owner telling me to buy a tractor bigger than what I thought I needed, I decided on something else.

I did not buy the GC2300, but I still like it. I ended up at a dealer that sold both Massey and New Holland products. I purchased a TC30 which is bigger than what I thought I needed. Two months later, I have taken the TC 30 places where the smaller sub-cuts would have gotten stuck because of ground clearance.

I am not telling you to buy a TC 30, but do consider a larger tractor before making your final decision. The price difference between a TC 30, 1428, JD 790, or a similar Kubota may not be much more. In return you will have more 3pt capacity, FEL capacity, and larger implements. Just my 2 cents.

 

[John_Mc]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Must confess I'm confused. I would think tractor sales and car sales are somewhat alike. What I think you're saying is that a good service dealer is not a good service dealer if I buy the tractor from another dealer. ... All the dealers want as much service as they can get. Service is competitive. )</font>

This may vary depending on where you live, but let me relate to you my experience shortly after buying my NH TC33D:

I shopped around and found the lowest price I could, and brought that back to my local dealer. I could not get him to match it, but he was willing to come within a couple percent. Since he was local, I paid the extra and got it from him. They have an excellent reputation for service. The other dealer is too far away to make service practical, and does not have much of a service department anyway.

3 days after I bought the tractor, I backed up over a rock and hit it just the wrong way. It flipped up between the rear wheel and the chassis and hit the hydraulic filter, snapping off the filter and breaking the fitting that the filter mounted to. Since this was a hydrostatic transmission, I was stuck... couldn't move at all, and the tractor was stranded in the middle of a field, sitting in the drainage swale I was in the midst of making. It was 6 PM. The dealership was closed. I left a message on their answering machine describing the problem and asking them to call me back on when they could get here to fix it. Told them I needed it ASAP. I was out all the following morning. Came back at 1PM and was a bit peeved at not having a call waiting on my machine from them. Called to see what the story was. Turns out they had stripped a part off of one of their new tractors, dug up the guy who had made the delivery three days earlier to find out where I was, then sent up a mechanic to fix it. They had fixed the tractor while I was out.

This was just as things were beginning to heat up for the farmers around this area, so they were pretty darn busy, but not totally swamped. They worked me in much more quickly than I expected. Would they have done the repair if I'd bought somewhere else and then called these guys? Sure. Would they have sent up a mechanic to repair it less than half a working day later, when they already had a busy shop? I really doubt it. This is the kind of thing people are getting at when they talk about building a good relationship with a dealer who has a good service department.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Perhaps I could see a little help from your buying dealer on later implement purchases but that's about it one would think.)</font>

My dealer is also a big Woods implement dealer. Since I bought my tractor from them, I get 20% off any Woods implements I buy from them. Yes, I might be able to negotiate something off the sticker anyway, but that's automatic, with no hassles, and there stock prices are pretty similar to other Woods dealers in the area. It's already saved me more than the "extra" I paid for the tractor.

Hope this sheds some light on the whole "pick a dealer you like/trust/good service" recommendations.

John Mc

 

[btolle]

Speaking of dealers, I went into the local Kubota dealer a couple of days after I got my B7510 to pick up a spinner knob. They had them on the counter so I picked one up and put on the counter in front of the parts man (who happens to be half owner of the dealership). It was marked $6.95. He shoved it back across the counter and said, "Here, take it as a gift for buying a tractor from us".

A small item, but a big deal for me to be treated that way. You can bet they will get all my parts business.

BTW, it was this same parts man who told me not to buy Kubota orange paint because it is so expensive. Told me to go to auto parts store and buy Chevrolet orange engine spray paint for about half the cost of the Kubota paint.

With that attitude I know having satisfied customers is more important to them than making an extra buck.

Bill Tolle

 

[Elwood]

I have been to the JD, Kubota and Massey dealers and was treated very well at all of them(even got a free hat at Kubota). I went to the local Mahindra dealer and I doubt if I would go back. I priced the Mahindra 2015? and the price was 2000.00 higher than the JD 2215. I asked about a mid mount mower and the guy told me nobody around here uses them and if I did want one the price would be 2200.00. I also told him his price was not comparable to the other brands I have looked at and he shrugged his shoulders and told me "thats as good as it gets here". Maybe this guy was having a bad day and I should not use this as a factor for the dealership. After reading some of the posts about a big enough tractor, I am second guessing myself. I kinda like the 790 JD or the L2800. Need to do some more thinking

 

[KiotiJohn]

Since you mention 5 acres, I would want a larger tractor than any of these mentioned because they can't carry large mowers and it will take quite a while if you have to mow most of that acreage. Clearance is pretty low. I'm not sure if you know what not having position control means, but without it, getting your implement to stay right where you need it is an art in itself. With position control, you put the lever to where you want the implement, and the valve returns to neutral automatically, keeping the implement where you set it. Without position control, you have to return the lever to neutral when you get to the position you want. Not always accurate to what you need. On the ones with a limited 3pt hitch, you'll have difficulty, at times, finding implements that will fit on the hitch as some will be too long, or too high to clear ground. I think you should consider a larger framed CUT with higher clearance and greater capacities for that land. Of course, I don't know what you'll be doing, and the smaller models CAN do a whole lot, but I think they're better for small estates of not greater than 2 acres. M-F should have good resale also by the way. John

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( A small item, but a big deal for me to be treated that way. You can bet they will get all my parts business )</font>

My local NH dealer has done a few things like that for me.. Hats, and some assorted bolts/nuts, and pins I needed.. even gave me a new toplink.. Course it was a big tractor purchase.. ( 7610s). The basic concept is the same. A good dealer wins over their customers by things other than the bottom line..

Soundguy

 

[KiotiJohn]

I hope the new members who have had good experiences with their dealers will add them to my Good Dealers? thread so others may look through the list and maybe find someone close to them who is good. We sure hear enough about bad ones! John

 

[Acre Garden]

It is 2015 and I would like an update, because I am threw with my YM1610D. I want a new tractor.
I am looking for FEL and BH attachment

Best for the buck.

Thanks all!!