Green vs. Yellow (Ag vs. Industrial?)

[riverland]

I'm new to TBN and am about to purchase my first tractor. A local equipment rental place has offered me a used (~1500 hrs) 2004 JD 110 TLB for about $18K. He is throwing in the 3pt arm kit. We own 250 acres, about 30-40 is pasture, the rest is wooded and/or mountain with old logging roads. We plan to have sheep, a few horses, and maybe a few cows, as well as to plant but only for our family and friends not as a commercial operation.

Things we plan to do with a tractor (not necessarily in order):
- Bushhog (including hills)
- Clear land
- Cut a 1/4 mile driveway and maintain it
- Trench for water lines and electric
- Put in Septic system
- Clean up logging roads to make them usable
- Dig a pond
- Maybe hay the pasture
- Plant a small orchard

Here are my questions:
- Does an industrial tractor have any downsides for use doubling as an Ag tractor (e.g. is it geared lower, making mowing less efficient, etc.)?
- How concerned should I be about R4 tires on hills?
- What's your opinion of the 110? What should I look for on a used rental model?
- Any other info you might share from your experience and wisdom

Sorry for the long PM but my eyes are bloodshot reading on the Internet and trying to figure out what makes the most sense for our family. I've test driven some Kubota's (M5000), Mahindras (55Hp and up), and read about Kioti's and others. I test drove the 110 for sale and it seemed nimble enough but not very fast. Any sage advice you could share with us would be greatly appreciated.

 

[LBrown59]

I would not want to buy anything from a rental yard where stuff has been road hard and put away wet.

I'm new to TBN and am about to purchase my first tractor. A local equipment rental place has offered me a used (~1500 hrs) 2004 JD 110 TLB for about $18K. He is throwing in the 3pt arm kit. We own 250 acres, about 30-40 is pasture, the rest is wooded and/or mountain with old logging roads. We plan to have sheep, a few horses, and maybe a few cows, as well as to plant but only for our family and friends not as a commercial operation.

Things we plan to do with a tractor (not necessarily in order):
- Bushhog (including hills)
- Clear land
- Cut a 1/4 mile driveway and maintain it
- Trench for water lines and electric
- Put in Septic system
- Clean up logging roads to make them usable
- Dig a pond
- Maybe hay the pasture
- Plant a small orchard

Here are my questions:
- Does an industrial tractor have any downsides for use doubling as an Ag tractor (e.g. is it geared lower, making mowing less efficient, etc.)?
- How concerned should I be about R4 tires on hills?
- What's your opinion of the 110? What should I look for on a used rental model?
- Any other info you might share from your experience and wisdom

Sorry for the long PM but my eyes are bloodshot reading on the Internet and trying to figure out what makes the most sense for our family. I've test driven some Kubota's (M5000), Mahindras (55Hp and up), and read about Kioti's and others. I test drove the 110 for sale and it seemed nimble enough but not very fast. Any sage advice you could share with us would be greatly appreciated.

 

[johnk]

I would not want to buy anything from a rental yard where stuff has been road hard and put away wet.

I'd have to agree w/ Lbrown. You have to visulize wwhom was using that rental equipment. I cant seem to even touch on the abuse that equipment has taken...

 

[LBrown59]

I'd have to agree w/ Lbrown. You have to visulize wwhom was using that rental equipment. I cant seem to even touch on the abuse that equipment has taken...

Mutiple users are always harder on equipment.

 

[riverland]

What are your thoughts about the industrial vs. ag tractor? I've heard some say industrial tractors are geared lower and aren't really suitable for typically ag applications (e.g. bushhogging). Another TSN guy said that the manual for the 110 says any implement on the back has to weigh at least 1250 lbs due to how the tractor is designed (e.g. for the backhoe) and you can't fill the back tires for similar weight distribution reasons.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. We've got an equal amount of digging/clearing/earthmoving to do as we do bushhogging, putting up fence, etc. and I'd love to hear recommendations for alternatives if the 110 TLB isn't the best or right choice.

 

[deere5105]

I was able to briefly use a 110TLB that a neighbor had rented for the weekend. I used it to dig up a couple of old stumps. There were some that I managed to get up and some I didn't that I thought I should have been able to. The machine only had 400 hours on it and it looked like and operated like it had several times that many. Got to checking the hydraulic fluid and it wasn't even on the stick. Tractor even started running hot. I promptly returned it. I am sure the unit in good shape is handy for certain applications, but in my opinion I would rather have a ag tractor and for the uses you listed.

 

[CurlyDave]

This stump took about an hour to get out, when I first got the machine, probably half an hour today.

The root ball is heavy enough that it would tip the tractor forward when I carried the stump down the gravel driveway. It is a little hard to see, but my ground is very rocky and the roots are intertwined around a lot of football-volleyball sized rocks.

My manual is in Oregon and I am in CA, but I think the top speed of a 110 TLB is 13-14 mph. Don't know have fast the Ag tractors are.

The yellow machines are built for moving dirt. Day in, day out, move dirt for years. The green ones can be used to move dirt, but are built more for ag use. Move dirt every day for a year and they will not last as long.

 

[mjncad]

I'd be leery of buying any used and abused rental yard machinery. You may end up with a money pit that will divert much needed funds from what you really want to do.

 

[shane]

Would the yellow even have a rear pto? Maybe, but I have never seen one.

 

[CurlyDave]

Would the yellow even have a rear pto? Maybe, but I have never seen one.

JD 110 TLB has a rear 3-PT.

You have to take off the hoe to use it, but it is there. I think there is also a PTO.