City boy shopping for first tractor

[geedub]

Thanks jb. I came to the same conclusion a couple of days ago.


The tractor was sold by then.


I'm really disapointed.

 

[D7E]

I don't see how an innocent comment like that could ever start a debate over brands......

I'm not sure what you mean by "older farm tractors around for less money and more power". Do the tractors you're talking about have 4WD and HST? Are they fairly compact?

I'm talking about early 90's Fwa around 90-100 hp with power shift or standard trannies with shuttles , up to 4 remotes ,2/3 speed pto,good cabs with air con .standards are better avoids unneccesary shifting and running through many foreward gears to find reverse many of the 80-100 hp ,late 80's,early 90's i have bought for less than 10'000 with hours between 4000-6000 hours ,7000 is starting to get high for a ag tractor but i have many as high as 11'000 .

 

[geedub]

D7E, cost aside, do you think the tractors you're talking about will serve our needs as well as a CUT? Here's the specs I started this thread with:

40-50 engine HP
4WD
Hydrostatic
FEL
R-4 tires

Since then I've changed to R-1 tires.

 

[Steve]

Hi,
You might enjoy this page of new shopper tips->http://www.carverequipment.com/tips.htm

Best wishes and Happy Friday,
Steve
Carver Equip
wildtrky25@aol.com

 

[Champy]

Geedub..........I've gone all through the same decision / selection processes last year when I bought my first tractor (JD990). You're doing the right research; asking questions; etc.... and believe me - YOU are the only one who is going to own this tractor - not anyone else on TBN....get what you really want and start using it.

My 2 cents: Drive, drive, drive.....go to dealers and try every model they'll let you on....new, used, doesnt matter. You just need to get some actual seat time to start understanding the small things that could really matter to you later. Some I drove had really nice setups and others had controls (loader joysticks) in very uncomfortable or awkward locations for me personally. I know you want HST for doing tight FEL work, but don't overlook all the other operating ergonomics at the sake of the transmission selection. Shifting and clutch work for me is second nature, all the other controls were learned and having to stand up, reach over your head, turn around sideways, etc... just to find or use controls (FEL; PTO; MFWD; etc) is really going to ruin the experience - even if you have HST. Again DRIVE; DRIVE; DRIVE

My second 2 cents: If you are not really into doing all the maintenance and repairs yourself, you need to shop the dealerships around you for support services as much as for the tractors themselves. Great local support can really change the whole joy aspect of tractor ownership (unless you are into wrenching; welding; fabs). Walk out in their service bays; talk to technicians; "interview" the dealer personnel. These folks are going to be your best friends (other than TBN) if you choose to buy a used tractor - or even new.

Good luck

 

[D7E]

D7E, cost aside, do you think the tractors you're talking about will serve our needs as well as a CUT? Here's the specs I started this thread with:

40-50 engine HP
4WD
Hydrostatic
FEL
R-4 tires

Since then I've changed to R-1 tires.

I am just showing how much more versatile machine you get?

My wife has a kubota and she never uses it anymore ,I find that we mow the lawn and split firewood with a 80hp tractor and the cab is no higher than the cut (hardly) so can clean manure out of stables and many small jobs ,1993,MF 390 FWA ,Loader/bale spear/grapple/bucket,Air con ,Cd player,4 remotes,Single stick standard with electronic range change and left hand reverser,5200 hours and a "Pick up " trailer hook and 3 point and hyd top link and 40 KPH road gear-$8'750 on an auction ,Why are you limited to engine hp ?
It'll do all the jobs a small tractor will but if you ever needed to it will work a big job.
I'm not trying to sell it to you ?

 

[widmn]

A 4410 will do just fine or a 970. I had a 4410 for 150 acres and no problems with bushhoging and clearing land including teh box blade.

 

[gemini5362]

I test drove a couple of HST tractors and they seemed to be slower moving than the equivalent gear tractors. I dont own one so do not know if that is the case or not but It seemed to me that they were a bit slow. I went from a 2 wheel drive massey 65 to a 4 wheel drive 49 horse with a shuttle shift. From the testing I did I was much happier with the gears and the shuttle shift. If you should decide to get a gear unit ( from your posts that seems pretty unlikely) make sure you get a shuttle shift unit. The older tractors without it in my opinion are not worth considering. It is much easier to just move a lever up and down to change directions than to have to shift a gear shifter into reverse then back to the forward gear you have selected. You also have an equivalent number of gear ratios in reverse that you have in forward gears with the shuttle shifter. From what you are saying it seems to me like the 50 horse range should do most of the work. I debated over my 49 horse and a 50 horse model when i bought mine and to be honest I dont know that those extra few horses would have made a difference. the big difference is the 4 wheel drive versus 2 wheel drive. You can do a lot more work with a smaller 4 wheel drive and having the extra traction with the FEL or just anytime makes a lot of difference. I very much agree with the posts about local dealers. I bought my tractor from a local dealer about 10 miles away that had the cheapest price but now is out of buisness. To get my tractor worked on I have to take it 100 miles round trip over the mountains.
The other factor dealing with size. Especially if you wind up buying used. Read some of the posts on here about the cost of getting your tractor picked up and delivered to be worked on. That can get pretty expensive. It is one of the items you need to check on with the local dealership. Up to about a 50 horse tractor you can put it on a 16 or 18 foot utility trailer and haul it with a 3/4 ton pickup. Tractors bigger than that pretty much call for more serious hauling equipment. I had a guy offer to trade me a 100 horse tractor straight across for my massey 65 because he needed something he could trailer and he could not do that with the 100 horse. Good luck with your decision and let us know.

 

[D7E]

I test drove a couple of HST tractors and they seemed to be slower moving than the equivalent gear tractors. I dont own one so do not know if that is the case or not but It seemed to me that they were a bit slow. I went from a 2 wheel drive massey 65 to a 4 wheel drive 49 horse with a shuttle shift. From the testing I did I was much happier with the gears and the shuttle shift. If you should decide to get a gear unit ( from your posts that seems pretty unlikely) make sure you get a shuttle shift unit. The older tractors without it in my opinion are not worth considering. It is much easier to just move a lever up and down to change directions than to have to shift a gear shifter into reverse then back to the forward gear you have selected. You also have an equivalent number of gear ratios in reverse that you have in forward gears with the shuttle shifter. From what you are saying it seems to me like the 50 horse range should do most of the work. I debated over my 49 horse and a 50 horse model when i bought mine and to be honest I dont know that those extra few horses would have made a difference. the big difference is the 4 wheel drive versus 2 wheel drive. You can do a lot more work with a smaller 4 wheel drive and having the extra traction with the FEL or just anytime makes a lot of difference. I very much agree with the posts about local dealers. I bought my tractor from a local dealer about 10 miles away that had the cheapest price but now is out of buisness. To get my tractor worked on I have to take it 100 miles round trip over the mountains.
The other factor dealing with size. Especially if you wind up buying used. Read some of the posts on here about the cost of getting your tractor picked up and delivered to be worked on. That can get pretty expensive. It is one of the items you need to check on with the local dealership. Up to about a 50 horse tractor you can put it on a 16 or 18 foot utility trailer and haul it with a 3/4 ton pickup. Tractors bigger than that pretty much call for more serious hauling equipment. I had a guy offer to trade me a 100 horse tractor straight across for my massey 65 because he needed something he could trailer and he could not do that with the 100 horse. Good luck with your decision and let us know.

Thank you ....At last someone who sees sense in the shuttle shift much faster and HST's are "Lazy",Even on modern combines ,It is convenient but has "no" torque and if you put them side by side ....I really do not see it as an advantage ,.....Absoluteley will not take tough conditions the same as gears ? And absolute proven fact.....Big machines use more fuel as hydro's than gear drive ?

 

[geedub]

D7E, thank you for your opinions. I like getting a variety of view points and that's why I like forums.

I would like to clarify a few points that you've made. It seems that either you don't think our needs call for a CUT, or you don't think CUT's are good values in general. If you aren't sure about what our tractor will be used for you can check out my first post in this thread.

Besides recommending a much larger tractor you used a 1993 as an example which cost you $8,750 and had 5200 hours. I've been looking for a tractor with under 1000 hours and would prefer something with much less. Spending less than our $18K budget would be nice, but don't you see any advantage in newer machines? If you didn't gather from my first post, we are novices (see thread title), and we prefer to spend more $ up front and avoid repairs as much as possible. A newer tractor like the one you recommended would be way over our budget.

After advising against any CUT, and against a newer tractor you now say that HST has "no" torque and will not take tough conditions. These last statements almost seem to be intended to start an argument. I don't mind someone questioning the wisdom of HST like gemini5362 did, but he didn't exaggerate and he admitted that he has never owned an HST tractor.