I found myself considering acquiring a newer tractor with a FEL after finding myself borrowing my brothers JD 3520 a little to often. He did not mind but if I find myself asking too often I need my own equipment. He has a nice little tractor but I wanted one to pull a small CASE 200 baler and a wagon behind it. His was too small and too light. I saw a JD 4900 on tractor house with a FEL, belly mower and turf and ag tires for $15,500. I was wanting a tractor in the 35 to 40 HP and 3800 to 4000 lb range. The JD dealer said he could set me up with a new JD somrthing or another for around 23K that was 38HP. When I asked the weight he came back with it weighing less than 3K lbs. This just was the beginning of my newer tractor hunt and did not think too much about it till I had my wife pick up a baler part at the local Case IH, Kubota dealer. They showed her a few Kubotas but the price to weight to HP was a bit pricier than I was looking to spend on a new tractor. They also priced me a new CASE IH 40C with a front loader, HST and ind tires for $24,500 before tax and acted like he was not supposed to go that low even with a cash sale. Went to Craigs list and found a "new" NH 40 Boomer (asking $23k) but was two years old with 5 hrs. The individual bought it and just parked it and the warranty was gone. After that I just stopped by the local Branson dealer to get a price on a new 4020r and the saleman said that with the package deal he could sell me a 4520r for several hundred $ less. He also showed me a 5220r and I got a price on it as well. The price out the lot was $21.4 K with delivery to the house. The 5220r was several thousand more due to the turbo.
This got me comparing prices weights brands warranties and so on. The Case, NH and Kubotas all had Industrial tires and HST. I wanted Shuttle and ag tires. I did one last comparison at the local Mahindra dealer and they had tractors a little smaller and a little bigger than the 4520r. Nice tractors but the smaller tractor was still a bigger price tag and that kinda sealed the decision. My wife said go and buy the Branson and be done with it.
In my research all smaller compact tractor are made over seas mostly in Korea and Japan. The smaller Mahindas are also made in Korea.
The bottom line is that the Branson 4520r was the best value for me when comparing the weight, HP, transmission wanted, weight, agriculture tires, color, cost and weight. Did I mention weight? I did not want a tractor that would be pushed around when baling hay. Now I have to sell my Ferguson TO-30 if anyone is interested. The barn has filled up and something has to go. Now I have a Branson 4520r, Massey Ferguson 135 diesel, Kubota
B7100HST (for mowing), Ferguson TO-30 and my wife's grandpas 1955 Farmall Cub (restored).
Sorry for the long story but you asked.
