Buying Advice First Tractor purchase advice

grm61 · Mar 29, 2016

airbiscuit said:
Did you get a chance to look at this?

New Kioti NX451 hst walk around from Barrett's Equipment - YouTube

I think it will come with telescoping links and stabilizers, fixed drawbar, lots of gizmos on their cruise, pretty good hydraulic flow. I think it will be good to look it over good and do a good test drive, to see how you like the "feel"

Did I mention that it is fun to go looking at tractors? Plus you notice different things each time. For example, how do you like their bucket level indicator?

View attachment 462947

link no work

cat fever · Mar 29, 2016

CobaltSky said:
Thanks Fallon.

I did test drive an L series in Kiowa. Nice tractor.

People don't understand the winds here until they live here! That blizzard last week almost blew us into New Mexico... I even had a ton of snow in the attic. It somehow worked its way into the roof vents on the north side. I decided then and there a cab was no longer optional.

First, I'm glad things worked out for your new baby and wife. (The firemens hands being so cold probably made the baby cry.

)

It sounds like you have made the choice to go with a cab. Excellent decision, I started out looking for a 35-45 hp open station tractor. Ended up with the 66 hp cab model. I can only say I (wife) made the best choice even though it was more than I planned on spending. I have not looked back one time thinking I spent too much. Having heat/air cond. stereo- - -yup made the right choice. (and no bugs)
Good luck shopping, while I think you'll be happy with whatever brand you go with, I am very happy with my Kioti.:thumbsup:

airbiscuit · Mar 29, 2016

grm61 said:
link no work

Fixed.

New Kioti NX451 hst walk around from Barrett's Equipment - YouTube

CobaltSky · Mar 30, 2016

airbiscuit said:
Did you get a chance to look at this?

New Kioti NX451 hst walk around from Barrett's Equipment - YouTube

I think it will come with telescoping links and stabilizers, fixed drawbar, lots of gizmos on their cruise, pretty good hydraulic flow. I think it will be good to look it over good and do a good test drive, to see how you like the "feel"

Did I mention that it is fun to go looking at tractors? Plus you notice different things each time. For example, how do you like their bucket level indicator?

View attachment 462947

Yep, I watched that today. I wish there were more NX videos. If I buy one, I'll have to make one

vanguard · Mar 30, 2016

I've read every word of this thread, good stuff. I've had my tractor for about 1 1/2 years and don't consider myself an expert. Having said that, I thought I might chime in with the kind of stuff I would have liked to have been told when I was buying.

1) Dealer support is huge. I'd pick a kioti over and ls or an ls over a kioti if I thought one dealer was going to be easier to work with than the other.

2) At 45hp I don't need all of it for many tasks (I mow a lot). However, there have been a few jobs, like grading the driveway with a land grader, when I used every one of them. Sounds like you'll have a lot of driveway to maintain and I suspect you'll be happy you didn't go too small.

3) My deal thinks a cab "steals" 5-10 hp and most people say the same about HST. If you're getting both I wouldn't be too shy about 50 hp. You're getting 35 acres, there is nothing unreasonable at all about a tractor that large for you.

4) I have a flail mower and a finish mower. I personally don't rate it as high as the folks around here seem to. I attach the finish mower 99% of the time and use the flail when I have to. If I was you I'd strongly consider a bush hog. It's probably the best fit for your use case.

5) You'll probably end up with a riding or zero turn mower for those areas close to the house, around bushes, etc. After that you'll be in a nice spot where the tractor does the big areas and the mower does the fine ones.

Fallon · Mar 30, 2016

HST is 15% less efficient than gears, but so worth it. The motor on the A/C compressor is a couple HP & if you fire up a lot of electronics I could see being close to 5hp, but not 10.

TJP89 · Mar 30, 2016

CobaltSky said:
Yep, I watched that today. I wish there were more NX videos. If I buy one, I'll have to make one

Member ErictheOracle has a Kioti NX6010 and has a massive collection of videos (most of the NX videos on youtube are his). He has a 100+ page thread in the Kioti Buying/Pricing section (My NX6010) about his adventures clearing land in MN. The vast majority of problems are induced by the over-use of the tractor, but he has torn apart almost everything on his save the engine and tranny (though that may be next). If you want info on the NX it is pretty well discussed in the Kioti subforum here. If you search for NX on youtube you'll find Eric's stuff there too.

The NX price sounds high. If you can get it down to 30K, that's reasonable. I'd have to take a close look at the LS and Kioti too make an informed decision, but that's your job, not mine. As I said before, I think both are good. I am biased though.