Help for City Boy

[Maury]

I feel fortunate to have found this site. I am about to buy my first tractor and I would definitely appreciate the help and suggestions of some experienced veterans. After some preliminary visits to dealers, I believe I am interested in a John Deere, Kubota or New Holland. Because of that, I will place this request on all three boards.

I have 4 acres in the Texas hill country. About a third of it is flat and the remainder is hilly and has some gullies (arroyos) for water run off. There are a number of trees but most of the land has natural grasses, which I hope to cut infrequently with a rear mower. The land has its share of rocks and some small cedar stumps (about 6 in. hi and 6 in. in diameter). I would like to have a front-end loader, to use basically as a power wheelbarrow.

Besides my own ignorance, I am concerned about ground clearance in general but particularly stability on the hilly sections.

What model and size would you recommend?

Another question is should I get attachments like the FEL, rear mower and rake, etc from the dealer or can I get a better value from Tractor Supply or similar non-OEM?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Maury

 

[thcri]

Maury,

FEL is a must for what your telling me your going to use your tractor for. As far as John Deere, Kubota or New Holland they are all good tractors. If I was you, I would go out and visit your local dealers and get comfortable with the tractor you you like best along with the dealer you trust the most. No matter which brand you end up with you will have a good rig. But you will find no matter how good your rig is, it is no good without good dealer support. A lot of the guys here set out to buy a particular brand and ended up with something different after they test drove them and got to know dealers. Test driving these rigs are part of the fun of owning a tractor.

Now for the size. I would at least go with a Class ll tractor. I would also go for the largest horse power in the class ll available. Since you listed this in New Holland it would be the New Holland TC33D. Since you listed yourself as a City Boy which we would never call you that you may want to think about Hydro-static trannsmission. But you may find yourself comfortable with a standard. The other implements can be added later fairly easy but the FEL is your best price at purchase of tractor usually. I would also stick with 4 wheel drive.

Hope this helps and you will get a lot of information from others here.

murph