Buying Advice Buying tractor need advice

[TideTractor]

Lots of information out there and many different opinions. Ive been looking around reading and talked to a dealer or two over the last 2 years however still dont really know what would be the best way to go.

Currently im a novice concerning tractors. My grandpa had a farm in SW Alabama and used a 8n but wouldnt let any of us mess with it. After he died that was it for the place. Right now I live on 40 acres in SE Mississippi (Lucedale) 10 acres cleared 2 of which is the "yard" i cut with a Zero turn rest is pasture type grass which i intermittently beat back with the zero turn but it takes quite awhile. Land is flat , dirt here is sandy loam. Other 30 acres is wooded which i plan to eventually clear off some of it or at least make some trails through it. Also have a 700ft gravel driveway. Mechanically dont know much concerning tractors and dont have that much free time to tinker on them as i spend a lot of time with my day job which isnt agricultural.

Nearby dealers:
Deer /Kubota few more havent looked to hard

My applications:
-Mowing 8-12 acres pasture land - land is flat here
-Discing/plowing 1-2 acres for tabel garden dirt is sandy loam also growing corn for animals
-Gravel drive maintenance 700ft
-Clearing some paths in the woods

Main questions
-How much should the tractor weight
-How much HP
-Do i need a FEL
-Used or new
-4wd needed/nice or just a sales gimmick
-Geared or HST
-Green vs orange vs whatever other color (have no inherent strong preference personally
-Plus whatever else you guys think i should consider. Im sure i havent thought of plently of things i should list here

 

[JPB7745]

I think the very first thing is to set a budget and then go from there. Know what you can afford and shop around in that price range, having more tractor than needed is nice but not always needed. 4 wheel drive will be helpful trust me. I would never buy a tractor without a FEL unless i had another tractor available, I am assuming this will be a utility tractor and will serve many needs. Green tractors have some special attachments that are not universal and only work with green equipment. Orange and others work with universal adapters that can equal cost savings. I prefer HST because I am not plowing or mowing large acre tracts. Good luck any tractor is better than no tractor.

 

[jeff9366]

TideTractor

I live on 40 acres in SE Mississippi (Lucedale) 10 acres cleared, 2 of which is the "yard" i cut with a Zero turn. Rest is pasture type grass which i intermittently beat back with the zero. Land is flat , dirt here is sandy loam. Other 30 acres is wooded. I plan to clear some of it. Also have a 700ft gravel driveway.

Main questions:
-How much should the tractor weigh?
Minimum 2,700 pounds. 4,000 pounds better. ((Bare tractor weight.))
You pay for every pound.

Selling a used tractor is easy. Selling multiple light implements in order to buy heavier, wider implements for a new, heavier tractor requires a lot of time. Depreciation on implements is generally greater than depreciation on a tractor.

-How much HP?

I spend a lot of time with my day job which isnt agricultural.

How much time do you want to spend mowing?
Tractor PTO horsepower determines how wide a Bush Hog tractor PTO can power. Could be 35-horsepower, could be 60-horsepower.
MOWING CALCULATOR: Mowing Calcuator | How many acres can I mow in an hour

-Do I need a FEL?

-Gravel drive maintenance 700ft
-Clearing paths in the woods

YES
Very near 100% of compact tractors are sold with factory FELs.

-Used or new?
You do not want to devote time to repairs, so NEW. Got $40,000?

-4wd needed/nice or a sales gimmick? ((Man, are you N-E-W!))
4-WD without question. You will be operating over rough, sometimes wet ground, pulling heavy implements sunk into the ground.

-Geared or HST?
For the applications you have listed, HST is preferable. 90% of new compact tractors are sold with HST.
Other family members can operate HST.

-Green vs orange vs whatever other color (have no inherent strong preference personally)
A quality dealer, reasonably close, available for coaching, is important for tractor neophytes. Most new tractors are delivered with a glitch or two requiring correction. My Kubota dealer is six miles away. I feel my local dealer continues to add value to my equipment after seven years. Dealer proximity is less important for those experienced with tractors and qualified to perform their own maintenance.

Kubota has 50% of USA compact tractor market. Deere has 20% of USA compact tractor market.
All compact tractors sold in the USA are primarily assembled from imported components.
Loaders, Backhoes and ROPS are often USA manufactured.
Not much demand for Loaders and Backhoes outside N. America. ROPS are too bulky to import efficiently.

Kubota and Kioti produce all components in their own factories.

Korean origin tractors Kioti, LS and TYM/Branson sell for about 15% less than equivalent Deere and Kubota machines.
LS and TYM badge and paint private label compact tractors for other tractor brands.

TRACTOR BRAND LONGEVITY: https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums...defunct-tractor-manufacturers.html?highlight=

My applications:
-Discing/plowing 1-2 acres for tabel garden dirt is sandy loam also growing corn for animals.

A one acre kitchen garden will require 30 hours per week of maintenance.
I suggest a 1/8 acre kitchen garden, which will feed a family of four with lots of surplus to give away.
Where I live near Gulf of Mexico the only low maintenance Summer vegetables are Okra and Eggplant.

For anything less than five acres a once-and-done PTO-powered Rototiller is far less bother at soil preparation. Tillers require very little horsepower to operate. Tillers have short learning curve relative to plows (long) and Disc Harrows.
VIDEO: compact tractor tiller - YouTube

 

[dodge man]

I just bought a JD 2025R and the only big selling point of JD over Kubota is the autoconnect mowing deck. I you are keeping the zero turn that's not a concern. In JD I'd look at either the 2 or 3 series. In Kubota either the larger B or an L series. The mowing 8 to 12 acres is what a bigger tractor will help with making go faster. The more HP you have the larger brush hog you can get. It also starts costing more money.

 

[Milo]

......-Used or new?
You do not want to devote time to repairs, so NEW. Got $40,000?

Jeff makes good points, only thing I might suggest is that you don't have to spend $40K, you can get a pretty decent setup for $25K which was the price range I had in mind when shopping Kioti and Kubota. Of course $40k or even more will get you a bigger, heavier, more powerful machine but all that extra mass is not always your friend such as when working in woods on trails, or on soft areas, or sometimes even fitting the thing in your garage.

 

[TideTractor]

Thanks for the info so far

Im considering L3900 or l4700 from kubota not sure what JD equiv would be. Also not sure if i need less or more tractor.

Also i guess i need box blade, disc (dont know how large i could pull), bushhog (size?) And some kinda grapple. What implements/brands are good and or higher quality?

I was thinking of trying to grow 1 arce of field corn have seen some guys around here plant it and thats about after discing fields several times prior to planting. Im sure theres more to it

Garden is a pain right now I got a BCS tiller and maintain about a half acre garden grow a bunch just about everything for my family and a few others. I love that BCS have the plastic mulch layer flail mower for cover crops and tiller obviously. Do any of you guys know if there are plastic mulch layers for the smaller type tractors? This year i will say planting on plastic mulch with drip has made my maintenance much less but still extensive

 

[jeff9366]

Are there plastic mulch layers for lighter tractors?

BUCKEYE TRACTOR CO: Buckeye Tractor Co -- Online

 

[jeff9366]

Im considering L3900 or l4700 from kubota not sure what JD equiv would be. Also not sure if i need less or more tractor.

What implements/brands are good and or higher quality?

Kubota owns 100% of Land Pride. If you finalize your basic implement needs within Land Pride brand at the same time as you decide on your Kubota tractor model you can negotiate an attractive price on the tractor + implement package and use Kubota's 0% financing for everything, if desired.

After you have your tractor implements are pretty much MSRP. Sometimes with freight additional.

L3900 and L4700 are both discontinued Kubota models. Are you buying used?
Post only accurate information here. Garbage in, garbage out.


The fundamental importance of TRACTOR WEIGHT eludes many tractor shoppers. Heavier tractor weight is more important for most tractor applications than increased tractor horsepower. Bare tractor weight is a tractor specification easily found in sales brochures and web sites, readily comparable across tractor brands and tractor models, new and used.

 

[shooterdon]

Went through this a few months ago. Bought an LS XR4140, with Cab, HST, filled tires, larger turf tires, radio and third function. $31k. It comes standard with telescoping 3PH arms, rear mounted lever to raise/lower 3PH, two rear remotes and draft control (if you want to plow may be nice to have). It is a lot of tractor for the money. Tractor is 4400+ lbs bare weight. With filled tires and ballast, I am at about 6000 lbs.

A/C and heat is nice...but you will not need the heat.

6 year warranty. 2 year bumper to bumper. Best lift capacity in its class.

Saved about $8k over the green or orange options. The JD loader QA is not SSQA so that was a negative for me anyway. If money did not matter, I would have bought a new Kubota Grand L60 series and built a new pole barn to house it. L60 would not fit in my current building. But if money did not matter, I would hire the work done....LOL.

My only regret is that I should have got more HP as we get a lot of snow here. Have not run it yet with the blower so it may be OK...just need to see it in action.

Good luck.

 

[TideTractor]

L3901 an L4701 arent made anymore? i dont follow real close but i had been rrying to decided between them or sometime that size