Buying Advice Buying first CUT

Cornfed8 · Dec 1, 2015

I'm a newbie, but I've enjoyed reading all of your posts for quite a long time. I've wanted a CUT for quite sometime and now I'm finally able to purchase one, but I could use some opinions.

My needs:
- road maintenance on a 400ft. gravel road with 200ft being fairly step hill. Potholes and washout are bad and it's traveled on by myself and 9 other neighbors multiple times a day, this is my primary need
- re-landscaping my yard 1 acre yard (minor work for a CUT)
- snow plowing, also a primary need
- clearing brush and downed logs on 30 acres of my in laws property and preparing some hunting areas
- some finish mowing possible, but not necessary

I've looked at a number of machines (JD, Kubota, Bobcat, etc.) and narrowed it down to three I like in my area:
2003 JD 4410 - 850hrs. farm use, 430 loader and 72" belly mower, R4 tires, it's in a bit rougher shape than the others I've looked at with a leaky front axle seal and bent hydraulic lines for the loader, private sale at $15k
2004 JD 4210 - 1200hrs residential use, 420 loader and 72" belly mower, R4 Tires, this thing is immaculate and the owner kept phenomenal notes and care of the machine, dealer sale at $13.5k tax included
2014 Case IH Farmall 30c - 50hrs. residential use bank repo, comes with Farm King Y660 and Case 72" rear finish mower, Turf tires, no loader or belly mower, $13.9k tax included

I was hoping to keep my purchase under $15k so the Case is certainly going to be a stretch. I'll probably sell off the snowblower and the finish mower to get some money for the loader which is going to run around $5.5k. However, I can't find any reviews on the Case. I also thought about purchasing the 30c and trying to sell it to gain a few $$s, but that's a hassle. I plan on keeping whatever I buy for years to come and these tractors will probably see no more than 100-150hrs. of use annually once I get the road in shape. Thoughts???

Thank you!

davesl708 · Dec 1, 2015

Hi. Welcome. Good luck with your choice. A lot of good choices out there. Others on here may know more about your specific choices.

Cornfed8 · Dec 1, 2015

Thank you! This is a great website/forum.

Yes, there are a bunch of options out there and I've tried out quite a few. I narrowed it down but now I'm stuck between these three. I need to make a decision relatively soon so I can plow whenever we get our next snowfall. BTW, all three are hydrostatics.

jaydee325 · Dec 1, 2015

2004 JD 4210 - 1200hrs residential use, 420 loader and 72" belly mower, R4 Tires, this thing is immaculate and the owner kept phenomenal notes and care of the machine, dealer sale at $13.5k tax included

This one is in budget. 1200 hours is not a concern for me considering the apparent care the previous owner has given it. This one would be at the top of my list for those listed. Only you know if this tractor has the capabilities you need.

Cornfed8 · Dec 1, 2015

Thank you for your response! I think I'm leaning towards a 4210 but it's hard to pass up a bigger 50 hour machine. I just don't know much about the Case 30c. I did learn today that I can put a LS LL3105 loader (much cheaper than the Case loader) on the Case and after selling off the other attachments, I'll be within my budget. Again, my knowledge of these Case tractors is so limited so I don't know if it's worth it.

varmint · Dec 1, 2015

I don't know much about the three you've narrowed down to, but a larger, lower hour machine seems logical for your uses, and if you are putting a loader on it, you should be able to set it up SSQA, for a front plow and maybe a grapple or pallet forks. I presume all are 4WD? It's hard to find info on the 30C, likely because not a lot of them were sold? Most likely the dead-beat owner couldn't have done much harm to it in 50 hours, so you should be getting an almost new tractor. I'd install at least one pair of remotes, too, for plow angling or a grapple.

GManBart · Dec 3, 2015

Cornfed8 said:
Thank you for your response! I think I'm leaning towards a 4210 but it's hard to pass up a bigger 50 hour machine. I just don't know much about the Case 30c. I did learn today that I can put a LS LL3105 loader (much cheaper than the Case loader) on the Case and after selling off the other attachments, I'll be within my budget. Again, my knowledge of these Case tractors is so limited so I don't know if it's worth it.

Just FYI, but that Case isn't made by Case, it's made by LS. It's an LS XR3032 with red paint and Case decals....the only differences are cosmetic. LS uses their own loader, and Case/NH use one they source themselves.

As far as the price goes, it doesn't look that good to me. You can buy a brand new XR3032H with loader for $19,500 (around here...prices do vary slightly with locale) before taxes.

The Case/LS has the edge in weight, PTO power, hydraulic pump flow, and a huge FEL advantage (twice the weight, an extra 4-5"). There really isn't much comparison between the two and the Deere won't come with a warranty.

kcflhrc · Dec 3, 2015

If you are open to a new tractor John Deere has 0% financing, and yes it is a real 0% financing. I bought my 3032E, loader, blade and brush hog for $19k delivered. Plus it has a 2 year warranty. If you don't want to inherit someone else's problems it may be a good option. I cant imagine not having a loader, I use that thing for all kinds of stuff.

Cornfed8 · Dec 3, 2015

I've wrestled with the price too, especially compared to a new machine. With the two attachments it's coming with, I'm hoping to sell them off and get an extra $3k at least which, in my mind, brings me down to paying $11k for the tractor. That doesn't seem so bad to me.

That being said, I found a XR3037 to sit on a couple days ago and found that I didn't feel that comfortable. I'm hoping after I drive the Case it will feel more comfortable. If not, looks like I'll get the 4210.

As far as the 3032e, I really hated that it didn't have many options. I looked at that one for a while but it just didn't have the appeal to me. After being on the 4210, I'm pretty confident I'd be getting someone's well cared for machine and not their mess.