Anyone have an opinion on which tractors have the most online and aftermarket parts availability. I have a Massey 1455v that needs a ball joint. $163 from the dealer.
For something such as a ball joint, you may find that it's not a Massey-specific part; I do that with lots of stuff: get the specs (thread sizes, etc.) and see what else may fit.
Most brands have good online parts availability. You just have to search by OEM part number.
For your massey go to AGCO Parts Books and click guest. Then type in your model number and search. However the prices will be only slightly different than your local dealer and you have to pay shipping. Shopping for tractor parts is not like a car where you just need a year, make and model. Tractor parts are sold by part number, you have to reference the parts manual to determine the correct part number.
For a lower priced part you will need to look to the aftermarket. The agricultural aftermarket does not support compact tractors very well due to the low amount of usage they see. The compact tractors with the best aftermarket support are Ford and JD. Unless it is engine parts then Kubota wins. I would not go and try to find a ball joint that might fit your tractor from an automotive store. The taper and distances on a ball joint are very finicky. If you get the wrong one it could destroy the hole that it goes in and that part will be much more than $163.
The tractors with the lowest cost part due to deep aftermarket support are the Ford and Massey utility tractors from the 60's-early 90's. However these are not as nice as compact tractors to use. I rebuilt the engine on my Massey 20C (an industrial 245) for under $1500, I cannot buy the pistons for a 1455V for that cost. Brakes are $150, I have a friend that is a mechanic and he was grousing about having to charge a customer $1300 for a brake job on an Allis Chalmers compact made by Hinomoto, he did not even mark up the cost of the parts. The Hinomoto parts prices are absurd.