Buying Advice Good deal?

[Tnrazorbacker]

New to the tractor market

I have the opportunity to pick a used tractor and I'm pretty excited about the deal. Tractor runs well and looks really good, always kept indoors and looks it. Several included implements. Seems like a good deal to me but given I'm a greenhorn wanted to get some impartial opinions before diving in.

Specs and included implements:

2005 Massey Ferguson 1533
480 hours
Synchroshift trans
Loader
Rear finish mower
Rear box blade
Plow
$12,500
See attached pics

I don't need some of these attachments so figure I can sell to make some money back. The seller wants to sell it all together.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance

 

[grm61]

It looks good in the pics and the price to me sounds fair.
The big question is, what do you need the tractor to do?
Is this the right sized tractor for your needs?

 

[Wagtail]

G'day Mate and welcome to TBN from Downunder.

Enjoy the site.

Here's some specs on it: TractorData.com Massey Ferguson 1533 tractor information

 

[Tnrazorbacker]

It looks good in the pics and the price to me sounds fair.
The big question is, what do you need the tractor to do?
Is this the right sized tractor for your needs?

It will be 90% mowing about 4 acres. Will also have a pretty long gravel drive to maintain. There's a wood thicket in the back I will likely try to clear some down the road. The wife says she wants a garden so will probably use for that too. I was originally looking at subcompacts but thought the larger tractor would be a bit more versatile.

 

[Tnrazorbacker]

G'day Mate and welcome to TBN from Downunder.

Enjoy the site.

Here's some specs on it: TractorData.com Massey Ferguson 1533 tractor information

Thanks

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

For gear drive and pin-on bucket.... :thumbdown:

 

[Infinite Wisdom]

What would this package cost new? Not retail price -- Negotiated bottom line price?

Establish the above and then adjust to a fair used value from there.

New compact tractors have increased in price significantly over the past 3 - 5 years in my opinion. Therefore clean used units, of the better regarded brands, have held their value pretty well.

 

[bspeedy]

I'm not far from you in SC so I feel that prices are comparable in our area. The finish mower and box blade are MF brand and are good quality. Not sure who makes the MF mower, but it may be Woods. Mower would be worth 1000 and blade worth 450 or so. Plow is a cheapie tractor supply brand or something like that. Worth 50 bucks. So, that's 1500 for implements. That puts you at 11 grand for the tractor. I think that's a good deal, but not a steal. If everything is as nice as it looks, has been kept inside, and will do what you want - I'd buy it and never look back. I don't agree with the poster that downed the package based upon lack of SSQA and gear drive. Going from NO tractor to THIS tractor is a huge step forward. You can always add SSQA later on. I prefer gear to HST, but I don't want to get an argument started on that.

Keep in mind that the resale value of MF in our area is not quite as high as Kubota, JD or NH. That doesn't mean it isn't a good tractor, just a point of information. Parts are somewhat harder to come by as they can only be obtained from a dealership. JD, NH, and Kub are all available online from several sources. Never found a good online source for MF. Again - just a bit of info.

I'd buy this machine any day over a SCUT. Much more capability for the same money. For your mowing, you'll like the 6' mower.

Good luck.

 

[Tnrazorbacker]

For gear drive and pin-on bucket.... :thumbdown:

Yeah I've seen a lot of debate on the HST vs gear drive topic. Everything else being equal I'd rather have the HST too. I don't plan on doing much FEL work, mostly mowing relatively flat open pasture. So I figure I can make do with a gear drive. Just may be a bit more comical watching me learn.

 

[Tnrazorbacker]

I'm not far from you in SC so I feel that prices are comparable in our area. The finish mower and box blade are MF brand and are good quality. Not sure who makes the MF mower, but it may be Woods. Mower would be worth 1000 and blade worth 450 or so. Plow is a cheapie tractor supply brand or something like that. Worth 50 bucks. So, that's 1500 for implements. That puts you at 11 grand for the tractor. I think that's a good deal, but not a steal. If everything is as nice as it looks, has been kept inside, and will do what you want - I'd buy it and never look back. I don't agree with the poster that downed the package based upon lack of SSQA and gear drive. Going from NO tractor to THIS tractor is a huge step forward. You can always add SSQA later on. I prefer gear to HST, but I don't want to get an argument started on that.

Keep in mind that the resale value of MF in our area is not quite as high as Kubota, JD or NH. That doesn't mean it isn't a good tractor, just a point of information. Parts are somewhat harder to come by as they can only be obtained from a dealership. JD, NH, and Kub are all available online from several sources. Never found a good online source for MF. Again - just a bit of info.

I'd buy this machine any day over a SCUT. Much more capability for the same money. For your mowing, you'll like the 6' mower.

Good luck.

Thanks- very helpful. I actually have a Massey dealer just up the road. I could literally walk to it. Pretty spoiled where dealer options are concerned here. Virtually every major brand is sold within a short drive from here.

 

[TheMadOne]

Keeping in mind that I'm closing on my first tractor this weekend, these are my thoughts on the tasks you outlined, and should be taken with several grains of salt.

You specify mowing 4 acres as 90% of what you want to do. This is a pretty large tractor for mowing a yard. It's pretty heavy and may leave ruts. It also would be a bit of a bear to maneuver around any obstacles in the yard.

It's gear driven, which, even though I went with hydro for myself, is a good call for mowing wide open spaces.

It's a good size for maintaining a driveway.

Probably overkill for a home garden, but no real harm can be done using a larger tractor. You may just end up with a larger garden!

The only other thing I want to comment on is that you said you would sell the extra implements to get some money back. My question is, why sell them when your list includes uses for all of them?

Mowing=Finish Mower
Driveway=Box Blade/Loader
Garden=Plow

I'm not seeing any implements that you wouldn't need, so why sell them and have to spend more down the road to buy replacements?

 

[bspeedy]

Agree. Keep implements and make sure you don't need them. For the record, I mow my yard with a 40hp tractor with ag tires and no ruts. Our ground is sandy clay and doesn't hold water and rut like northern soil.

If you drive a standard shift car or truck daily, the gear drive tractor will be second nature. So many people make such a big deal about that...