Buying Advice Do I go NEW offbrand or used name brand?

[glkingar]

In addition to talking to the sales people I like to talk to the service people since they are who you have to deal with after the sale. I look at if the shop area is clean and organized or cluttered etc. Do you see the mechanics moping around? You get the idea.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Gerry

 

[Diamondpilot]

You need a tractor that you can depend on. Just when you need it the most is when it will break down new or used. You need a dealer network and replacement parts fast. You can't wait to have parts shipped in from India when you have hay down. IMO don't go off brand. It will come back to bite you in the *****.

Any brand can break down. My uncle has a JD that has been in the shop 3 times and my Jinma not once. Both are 2003 models with about 800 hours. Just saying nothing is fool proof.

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

I have a few days off in the next couple weeks. I hate salesman so everytime I go to a stealership I just drive around the lot in my truck and crawl under a tractor I like to see if it might have leaks and any other damage.
I guess I'm just gonna go to the various dealers close by, (NH & Deere) and see the vibe I get from their customer service by goin in and talking to them.
Too bad the dealership down the road had to switch fro Deere to McCormick, but then again why even consider a dealer that had to drop a brand because of under the table deals to high dollar crop growers :/

Why not look at the McCormick?

Dont get me wrong, JD makes nice stuff but so do the others. I will agree JD parts and dealer network are tough to beat but in my part of the country Case rules what the real farmers use. Down at my Dads its New Holland. Good dealer can go a long way.

Chris

 

[Martian]

Any brand can break down but not every brand has the dealer network to fix it, or their dealer network is a PITA,which is usually more common with the less common brands - but as mentioned there is no trouble free tractor, all will have problems one way or another. I would be a little worrisome of the McCormick dealer you have with Deere just shutting them down but I would still be considering a good used vs a off brand new as about equal in terms of price, features and dealer network. The main difference will be comfort and dealer network and you have to decide what works best for you in those situations.

 

[JJZ 109]

I have a new to me kubota m6040 (my first off brand)

Really? When did Kubota become an "off brand"?

 

[Martian]

Really? When did Kubota become an "off brand"?

Kubota still may not be as recognizable as a Deere but in no way is Kubota an off brand. They are an extremely large tractor/engine manufacturer. I would say they are #2 too Deere in Compact/Small Utility brand recognition to Deere and in the top 5 for everything with Deere, Massey, Case and NH being all right up there with it - at least in these parts anyway. Kubota is very large anyway you put it though - don't have any exact numbers but they are a very large company.

It's like saying a Toyota is an off brand just because we are more used to the more American car counterparts.

 

[JJZ 109]

It's like saying a Toyota is an off brand just because we are more used to the more American car counterparts.

Good comparison. It just struck me as funny that one of the top selling, most commonly seen brands in the country is being referred to as an "off brand".
Don't get me wrong, I had a Deere before this Kubota and I like both brands just fine. I'd just never seen Kubota put in that light on this forum.

 

[Martian]

Good comparison. It just struck me as funny that one of the top selling, most commonly seen brands in the country is being referred to as an "off brand".
Don't get me wrong, I had a Deere before this Kubota and I like both brands just fine. I'd just never seen Kubota put in that light on this forum.

I would say there is more Kubota owners on this forum than any other brand!

But generally speaking if you go to Used Tractors For Sale at TractorHouse.com: John Deere Tractors, used farm tractors and farm equipment, tractors for sale, Case IH, New Holland, Agco, Kubota and click on the different HP classes and next to the brand name it will show how many are for sale, Deere is 1st in every category with Kubota being 2nd in under 40HP, in 40 to 99HP they are 4th with Deere having nearly 3000 used for sale then New Holland being next with around 900 and MF being right with them and Kubota having 700. But from there Kubota drops way off as they really don't make any tractors over 100HP. Deere stays category leader by about 2000 tractors again for the next to categories though. I always found that interesting. Those are just used tractors for sale but they do give you a fairly accurate idea. But in no way does that show Kubota as being small to have being one of the top 3 tractor manufacturers would be pretty big in my book.

 

[Illinoisdmax]

Good input everyone, thanks.

 

[slowzuki]

I'd look at good second hand brand name units. Its a business venture, the off-brands don't hold resale well and if you want to back out early you can take a major loss. Certain models are popular and hold resale well for years. The mentioned NH's are some of those, Kubota M9000's hold really well around here, Deere's too, newer NH's too (same of the red versions of NH's sold as Case).