buying a rental

[design]

Monday I will be renting a B21TLB. The machine has 700 hours and is 2 years old. The equipment rental company is also willing to sell the tractor. What is a reasonable price for a B21? What should I look for while using the tractor? Have there been any weak areas with the B21?
I need the tractor for snow removal, 2 long dirt driveways that need to be cleared. I will also use this for landscaping and light logging. I would like to clear another .5 to 1 acre of the land we own.
Driving across our yard without ripping up the grass is important. The loader is a need the BH is a "nice to have"
I am also considering a L2650 and a L2900, both GST transmissions, just loader and no BH. The L series have turf tires, and B21 has R4's.
Thank you for any input.
Design

 

[SteveM]

Check out machinefinder.com and ironsearch.com to get comparables. If it is not too beaten (rental) it may be a good deal for you, my recollection is that these machines are quite expensive, so be prepared for a pretty stiff price.

 

[PILOON]

Rentals can suffer a lot of abuse as most users are inexperienced operators.
That being said you could still get a heck of a deal since the machine enjoys full depreciation and every hour has been revenue to the rental shop.
A well run rental will rotate stock when the earnings gets to about 150% of the costs and probably sell at cost.
This way they always have new gear (low maintainance+warrantee) .

For what it is worth, I'd hire the local Kubota mechanic to come along for an inspection. He'll cost you perhaps an hr or two at shop rates but is in the best position to evaluate the machine.
Also, since he is factory trained you can use his findings to negotiate any needed abnormal repairs from the price asked.

 

[RobJ]

700 hours and 2 years old isn't really that much. But here is how I look at rentals(abused machines and the like). I take into consideration it's general shape, runs ok? Probably looks a little rough. Then factor in the price. Could be cheap, saved me the up front money. Then lastly I factor my use. I bought a sorta rough tractor but it'll have real light days in my hands and not many hours a year. So the heavy wear my tractor has seen basically will go to zero pulling a finish mower over 1.9 acres every couple weeks, yearly ATV trail cleanup and an annual 3 mile parade.

Well this makes sense to me anyway. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[design]

The rental shop is asking about $13K with loader, BH and 3pt hitch arms.

This seems like a good price. Some of the hydraulics are not as strong as they should be. The engine seems to run fine and the HST seems to run fine.

Anything else to look at prior to submitting a counter offer?
Design

 

[PILOON]

Re hydraulics
They may just have lowered the pressure for rental usage.
I ahve known that to be a standard practice with some rental places.
If that is the case generally the pressure relief valve can be reset to proper specs.
It is usually part of the loader control valve block.

Good luck!