Bx1500 or hold out for a bigger unit?

[deathtoblackberries]

Wife hates the idea of new tractor with a passion

I'm conflicted, financial disagreements have led to many a divorce. On the other hand it would be a LOT more expensive to hire landscapers to do the work. A used tractor in your price range that's worth buying seems unobtainable.

 

[Sparkynutz]

Eh. She'll come around. She just wants a new car soon and she thinks the tractor will prevent that. We've been together around 17 or so years and I've always provided everything she's ever asked for and then some. She knows I deserve and work hard for my toys. She has been a stay at home mom for the past 10 years and looking to get a job to get out of the house this fall when my daughter goes to the school a block from our house with my son so they can walk. As long as the work hours are while kids are in school any money she makes will go towards extras and not childcare.
I have a pretty big lawn roller and dethatcher already. It probably wouldn't take a whole lot to start an llc lawn care on the side to help offset the tractor cost. I need to look more into insurance coverage for that tho.

 

[deathtoblackberries]

I have a pretty big lawn roller

Your lawn roller is minor, I'll show you a big lawn roller soon.

 

[Sparkynutz]

Mine is 46" wide x 3ft tall steel and fills with water. Does The Job Fairly well.
If I want bigger my uncle has one 7ft wide x 3-1/2ft tall 3/8" thick steel with a rack on top with about 500lb of steel weights stacked on it. It needs to be mostly drained of water or its just about impossible to get onto trailer to haul it. Works great on my grandparents and uncles 5 and 7 acre lawns tho. My uncle tipped his atv over driving too fast on a slope with it last year when he tried to turn too fast.
What's yours? A steam roller would be nice.

 

[deathtoblackberries]

36 inches in diameter? **** what does it weigh 1500 lbs okay Sparky you win. Breaking news, GPS satellites had to be re-calibrated today after Sparky rolled his lawn and squashed WI.

 

[Sparkynutz]

They take a while to fill. No idea what they weigh but are a bugger to start and stop rolling. They both look goofy but work well. Just hard to pull. I'll post pics sometime. I've been thinking of getting a plug aerator to use after rolling because it's probably too packed down after rolling. .
I use my small one empty to pack down snow in winter on my kids atv trails because they have no power or traction to go through snow unless it's packed down first and I don't have a plow yet.

I just did the math. Mine is about 200 gallons or about 1600lb of water plus about 100lb in material.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

I've bought and sold or traded many Kubotas with some being after just a few months. Like the L3240 (To big at the time) and a BX2350 (To jerky stop in reverse) and a Gehl Skid Steer (Slid sideways down my yard in snow) and a Kubota Z121? (Sold property where I used it) there is no issue any more than selling a car or truck. You have a loan which you are obligated to pay off. You sell or trade, get your money and pay off the loan. I still haven't paid off the loan on the Z but family I sold it to knows I will. I have Farm Bureau Home owners and vehicle insurance and always use it to cover Kubotas I use on my property but buy KTAC on Kubotas I'm using also at other locations. My agent faxes Barlows my proof of insurance and it's done.
To get the best value for the financed 0% dollar then one should pay the least money down required The 60 months no money down or 84 months with 20% down are great savings. There is sometimes a rebate back for cash payers but not always for those that are going to say there is no such thing as 0% interest. The dealer makes the same profit whether he promotes financing or full cash sale when he/she sales Kubotas equipment on their lot or special ordered.
If you want a true what's a good deal price call Barlows and get your delivered to your door price and then check your dealers from that price. All dealers pay the same price for the new Kubotas. Expenses are deductable for business use but not for home use. Farm use usually doesn't require paying state sales tax but home use does unless you buy from out of state and the out of state dealer will not charge slaes tax, usually.

 

[Sparkynutz]

I spent some time at my grandparents today and talked about tractors. My grandpa just had a big tree taken down and his lawn is a complete mess. They used a 44" bar and barely got through at the base of the tree. His big 50hp kubota left some pretty serious ruts just trying to move the biggest chunks of wood. He plans on chaining the big stuff to the back and dragging it to the fence line because it's just to big to make firewood out of easily. He said he wished he had a smaller tractor but still has a few times like this he needs one that big. I told him I'll come fix his ruts with my little tractor after I get one and he just laughed. I don't think he took me serious. Their lawn is a bumpy nightmare to mow and they complain about it every year. It would be nice to fix it for them even if he wants nothing to do with a small bx. He mentioned getting 2 sizes up from that. I'm not even sure whats after the b series.

Yesterday my uncle spent the day cutting up all the branches and loading the brush on a trailer. My grandparents said that while he was there he mentioned it would be nice to have a small tractor to do a few things around his house. I'm not sure what he needs that his skidloader wouldn't do but I guess I'll have to hit him up next week to come along with me to a dealer sometime.

My wife and I talked about it more and came to the conclusion that in order to make it worthwhile I would need to have atleast 2-1/2 weeks of use out of the tractor every year of the loan to break even cost wise of just renting one. Granted the tractor would still be worth something at the end of 7 years but only if I sold it. The majority of things I want a tractor for are just wants with the exception of finishing my yard and garage this summer. That will easily be 3-4 weeks if I use only that and no skid loader. On the otherhand I could get by the same as I always have without a tractor using shovel, wheelbarrow and borrowing skidloader for the big stuff.

I've always dreamed of owning my own tractor someday but also want to get the house payed off sooner too so it's a hard decision. Owning a tractor most likely won't save me money, only make tasks easier and allow a few projects I otherwise wouldn't take on.

I wonder what my uncle thinks. He talked about a backhoe one time many years ago. Maybe I can talk him into a bx23s and split the cost 50/50. He's in his 60's with no kids and went through a pretty nasty divorce last year so I don't know what kind of funds he has if any. He's kinda like a dad because we do stuff together a lot. I gave him a hard time after the divorce asking if I was going to inherit his stuff now when he dies someday. He just laughed but he didn't say no so I wouldn't be surprised. So going in on a tractor with him wouldn't be much risk other than trying to decide where it's stored or who writes the check.

 

[Sparkynutz]

I just did some major calling around to rental places and just for the heck of it some john deere and kubota dealers. Most were insane expensive with 8 hour daily or 40 hour weekly limits.
One kubota dealer tho surprised the heck out of me.
I can rent any unit I want for 4% of msrp as my monthly rate and if I decide to buy it's applied to purchasing it.
They also have a sole rental unit bx25 with loader and bh for $109 for 4 hours, $200 for day, $275 for weekend Friday through Monday morning unlimited hours or $575 for a week.
At the weekend rate it doesn't even pay to buy one yet. That's smoking cheap and even with 3 or 4 weekends I should be able to get 90% of my projects done even the ones I wanted a bh for.
I won't have a backup mower or heavy snow remover when I could use one but I can make due without that and save boat loads of cash in the long run.
Maybe someday I'll buy a tractor but I can stop my search knowing exactly what I'll be using this summer with absolutely no risk making the wrong decision on unit to buy.

 

[Teachu2]

I just did some major calling around to rental places and just for the heck of it some john deere and kubota dealers. Most were insane expensive with 8 hour daily or 40 hour weekly limits.
One kubota dealer tho surprised the heck out of me.
I can rent any unit I want for 4% of msrp as my monthly rate and if I decide to buy it's applied to purchasing it.
They also have a sole rental unit bx25 with loader and bh for $109 for 4 hours, $200 for day, $275 for weekend Friday through Monday morning unlimited hours or $575 for a week.
At the weekend rate it doesn't even pay to buy one yet. That's smoking cheap and even with 3 or 4 weekends I should be able to get 90% of my projects done even the ones I wanted a bh for.
I won't have a backup mower or heavy snow remover when I could use one but I can make due without that and save boat loads of cash in the long run.
Maybe someday I'll buy a tractor but I can stop my search knowing exactly what I'll be using this summer with absolutely no risk making the wrong decision on unit to buy.

Excellent thinking!