Buying Advice Disappearing Tractor Brands

[Qapla]

Another thing to keep in mind ...

many of the "new" tractor owners are those who have recently bought and moved to acreage. That means many of them are used to living in a city or urban area, That means that "local" carries the idea that it is within 10-15 minutes or less.

People have become used to a convenience store on every corner and a Walmart, Home Depot and Lowe's within minutes of them.

To those of us who have lived in the country (on acreage) for many years, or even our whole life (sometimes multiple generations) know that "local" has a different meaning. I know that for us, when we got a Walmart less than 30 minutes away, that was a big deal.

We consider a tractor dealer to be "local" if it is within 1- 1.5 hours away. That may seem like a long way, but tractor dealers are not like Walmart or minute markets. They serve a large area from their location and those of us who have long lived on acreage understand this.

Once you load the tractor onto the trailer and hitched it to the truck, going 30 minutes, 1 hour or even a bit longer is not that big of a deal. After all, some of us haul them further than that to get from one piece of acreage to another.

All I am trying to say is, if your dealers are more than 10 minutes from home, don't get discouraged ... they serve larger areas then other types of businesses.

As for the original question, I still maintain - avoid Farmtrac and Montana.

 

[Bill Williams]

Thanks for all the thoughtful replies. I think that my best course of action is to buy used as many of you have suggested. I have noticed that there is a large number of low hour machines and high hour machines and few in between. Actually I am quite surprised at the number of low hour machines. I also am looking at frame and tire size since there seems to be an overlap in stepped up lawn care/estate oriented tractors models and general purpose tractors which many of you have commented on. Is there much of a difference in Ag tires versus R4 in terms of traction? I need traction.?

 

[TripleR]

Thanks for all the thoughtful replies. I think that my best course of action is to buy used as many of you have suggested. I have noticed that there is a large number of low hour machines and high hour machines and few in between. Actually I am quite surprised at the number of low hour machines. I also am looking at frame and tire size since there seems to be an overlap in stepped up lawn care/estate oriented tractors models and general purpose tractors which many of you have commented on. Is there much of a difference in Ag tires versus R4 in terms of traction? I need traction.?

You can literally spend days reading on this subject.

We own tractors with Ag, Industrial and Turf and all have their use. For traction, Ag is the hands down winner especially in mud or in soft ground or that has already been worked.

 

[Builder]

Thanks for all the thoughtful replies. I think that my best course of action is to buy used as many of you have suggested. I have noticed that there is a large number of low hour machines and high hour machines and few in between. Actually I am quite surprised at the number of low hour machines. I also am looking at frame and tire size since there seems to be an overlap in stepped up lawn care/estate oriented tractors models and general purpose tractors which many of you have commented on. Is there much of a difference in Ag tires versus R4 in terms of traction? I need traction.?

Then you want R-1's. I have 3 tractors, 2 with R-4's, 1 with R-1's. The r-4's are a good all-purpose tire and they are tougher, too. R-1's have paddle-like bars on the tires that power through soft dirt or mud. Jury still seems to be out on snow, but R-1's are better in DEEP snow.

I think you're on the right track buying a brand name used over a new "fringe" or chinese brand.

 

[Builder]

Here's my $.02. I purchased a used compact utility tracotr a couple of years ago and got a Deere. My friends purchased a new Montana a few years before so I learned by what they went through. My friend can do more maintenance than I can so I wanted a dealer close by. His dealer was a little farther away and then closed down. I'm guessing he can get parts but he will have to work harder at it than I will. Deere was within 15 miles, Kubota and New Holland were about 30 miles away so that made a difference. I would expect parts to continue to be available for quite a while from any of the top brands. I also got what I consider a great deal on a lightly used tractor (3 years old with 80 hours). I got a more power, a FEL, a rear blade, and a backhoe for what I would have paid for the smaller model with just a FEL if I purchased new. I found there are some great deals on low hour machines. It seems tractors are either low hours or very high time with little in between. Low hour demos machines are from dealers or someone who got it for a specific job and is done with it. I also scouted the local dealer to see if I liked them. I watched them with other customers and got a feel for the place. It made a difference to me. So I just put a list together that made sense for me. Local dealer (as local as possible), an established brand with on-going parts availability, a dealer I liked, and a low hours used tractor with extra attachments. Your list may be different based on your priorities, but taking small steps to understand what I wanted ended up being a good way for me to go and I am still happy with my purchase.

A great first post. Very revealing & informative. My experiences were similar.
I bought an '05 "Challenger" brand tractor ~3 years ago. What a deal I got. A 48HP CUT tractor with ~150 hours with 4WD, Cab w/AC, loader all in great condition for $14,000. The down side was that Caterpillar started Challenger about 10 years ago, but then sold it to AGCO. AGCO then proceeded to phase out Challenger tractors under 75HP, including mine.

I was lucky to sell it for $19,500 to someone who really wanted it, but I always had in the back of my mind that parts would be difficult to get in the future. I replaced it with a larger M series Kubota which I have no doubt will be easier to get parts/service for.

Some guys won't hesitate to buy a Chinese, gray market or discontinued brand because they can get it cheap. I never liked doing that because of parts issues & diminished resale value in case you want to upgrade or sell.

 

[foggy1111]

I recently went through a tractor replacement exercise. Mostly I needed to upgrade for better loader performance and wanted a hydro tranny for use with my new grapple....and some more hydraulic options.

I can afford a new tractor....but I only put 100 hours or so on a tractor each year....and I want good value in a machine (OK....I admit it...Im tight ). I priced a new JD tractor equipped like I wanted.....but my dealers were simply too proud of the color. I decided I would rather own more implements that pay for the 'new" in JD tractors.

I shopped a couple other brands that are trying to gain market share via some pretty attractive prices (Bobcat & Yanmar/CC)....but had a hard time warming up to their products....and parts and service are considerably farther away from me. BUT...similar equipment (to JD) from these other brands was 40% less!! :shocked: Yikes! (Seems its hard to have your cake and eat it too. )

In the end, I chose a lightly used Deere in the same price area as the other new brands......as the parts and service are readily available and the quality met my expectations. Also, used green paint is easy to sell if you ever want to make a change. :thumbsup:

I bought a new grapple and a new stump grinder and still have lots of spending money for more implements if I need em. And.....you couldn't tell my used tractor from a new one. :2cents:

Check Tractorhouse.com for price comparisons....IMO.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

When buying something that may be around another 50 years with a few years and 100's of hours on itcan mean nothing but more money in the pocket long term.

If the next generation is not as tractor loving as many of us one wonders if there will not be a glut of new like tractors going to market over the next 20 years.

 

[Bill Williams]

I hope all of you are having a Merry Christmas. I think that you all have saved me some money and hopefully some wear and tear on my high mileage high hour body.

 

[goatman 1]

Bill, depending Where you are located in Western NC, your decision on brand, whether new or used, might logically be influenced by the availability and quality of local dealers. Where I live in WNC, an hiur to an hour and a half is the norm. I also agree to stick with the well known brands. I have had Kubota and John deere, and excep for the high priced green parts, service and dependability are similar. A good used tractor will service you probably for the rest of your life. If you need to chat, 828-494-3584

 

[Builder]

Check Tractorhouse.com for price comparisons....IMO.

I've bought/sold at least 20 pieces of equipment on that website. Very good sell/buy tool.