Help! Tractor buying advice for new land owner

[Reg]

Brilliant. Thank you. I need to be looking for a SCUT with good lift capacity. Now I just need to figure out how much one of my typical trees weigh uncut for dragging, and cut for lifting with the bucket. the JD dealer said that the 2320 could only lift 800 lbs. Not sure if he was trying to upsell me or not as that sounds like not very much when thinking of fresh fallen trees. Not like I can rent a 2000 series JD and give a tree a try. I'll look on YouTube see if anyone with that size scut is dragging a tree or lifting big rounds to get an idea of what they can do.

Thanks again!

With all due respect - I think you need to get AWAY from that JD dealer if you want to preserve any sense of VALUE.

Those are homeowner scale driveway status ornaments, contract built tractorettes that won't last any better just because they have the ANSI standard JD green & yellow color paint on them. You might as well find out which Korean company is currently building them and buy the "off brand" from the same production line.

Yes, there will be upsell - You define a price bracket, they show you something, you ask about capability, they say next model up, you ask about hydro, they say that the current quote is for a gear drive - FEL and Hoe not included (add about 50%).

Try the JD build and price thing on line some time - wheels and tires are extras (-:

 

[jenkinsph]

I would pick the equipment sized for the job at hand, you can have a 1/2 acre lot and not be able to handle the task with a small tractor. A 2305 backhoe would be fine for working flower beds but useless for digging stumps.

As Reg mentioned you can buy a good used unit to fix up your place and sell it when done for close to the same thing you paid for it. Then buy an estate mower for long term. One of the good things about good used tractors is they seem to hold their value once the initial depreciation is considered. The cost of having a used 110tlb for two years should be minimal.

 

[SrChf]

As Reg mentioned you can buy a good used unit to fix up your place and sell it when done for close to the same thing you paid for it. Then buy an estate mower for long term. One of the good things about good used tractors is they seem to hold their value once the initial depreciation is considered. The cost of having a used 110tlb for two years should be minimal.

THAT is some sage advice. I love it. Your like the 3rd or 4th person that has mentioned a used JD110TLB. I will really look into that.

What is the best online resource(s) for finding used gear like this?

 

[powerstroke444e]

What is the best online resource(s) for finding used gear like this?

I would look at the jd110 or a kubota tlb like L35,l39 or maybe as small as a B26 you should be able to find something with 3-600hrs in your price range and get a nice set of tools with it.
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I like sticking to name brand machines myself but that is just me as I have always been able to get good money out of name brand equipment when I am done with it. Off brand stuffie something I dont see everyday or something sold by a dealer/person:confused2: that has not been around very long, has always seemed to come back and bite me, but that is just me and no agreement on mine is better or worse just is the way I do it.

Good luck on the search
and FYI in an average year I rent 8-10differant machines, because its cheaper than buying.:thumbsup:

 

[3rdlittlepig]

Interesting thread! Keep us posted as to your research and decision SrChf!! I am in a similar situation as SrChf ... I have 6 acres (3 1/2 wooded, 1/2 young brush and 2 cleared w/home). I'd love to post some pics and get advice as to best equipment (rent vs hire vs buy)... So my question to the experienced users on this site is should I just post specific questions to other threads or start a SPECIFIC one for myself? Knowing that 80% of the info I need is probably already posted somewhere on this great forum already (just not in one consolidated thread)?

 

[TripleR]

Interesting thread! Keep us posted as to your research and decision SrChf!! I am in a similar situation as SrChf ... I have 6 acres (3 1/2 wooded, 1/2 young brush and 2 cleared w/home). I'd love to post some pics and get advice as to best equipment (rent vs hire vs buy)... So my question to the experienced users on this site is should I just post specific questions to other threads or start a SPECIFIC one for myself? Knowing that 80% of the info I need is probably already posted somewhere on this great forum already (just not in one consolidated thread)?

I would think maybe a separate thread with pictures, specific tasks etc. Terrain can really influence a recommendation as some are more stable than others as well as the type and size of brush and trees, gullies etc.

 

[Localmotion]

SrCHF - I think you've got some great advice here, especially from Mark V and Reg...

If you really have to have a new tractor - shop around and choose something suitable to your average use. Hiring may seem expensive now - but just think how gutted you'll be to spend all your budget on a green tractor only to find you still need to hire something else in 6 months? Better to choose something cheaper and keep a bit of budget in reserve.

If you really want a branded tractor - consider second hand / private purchase. Unless you are on very good terms with your dealer, it is unlikely they will give you that "special deal"! When farming in the UK I used to trade very regually with our Case dealer, but only on new machines not second hand. Then when I came to Spain I purchased a second hand New Holland from a dealer here, and now remeber why I never used too!

Reading your replies I think you are on the right thought process - but rememmber it is only a small plot - I like a lot of Gary Fowlers advice but must say that four tractors to manage 42 acres is crazy - we used to run two 100hp Case tractors to manage 450 acres of mixed farm. Also please save your money and forget the telescoping link arms unless you are looking at a 100+hp tractor lifting a really large implement - it can take a while to get used to hitching up, but once you get it you'll hitch up first time everytime without having to move the implement!

My final word - enjoy. If a brand new JD is what you really want, then go for it and enjoy it - just don't kid yourself that you needed it! :laughing:

Also it would be great to see some pics from yourself and 3rdlittlepig! :thumbsup:

 

[3rdlittlepig]

Seems like everyone loves pics! Here are a couple. I will add plenty when I start a new thread ... I don't want to take away from ScHrf thread. I will posted new thread name here when I start it.
Pics 1-4
Im in Raleigh, nc area.... So mostly pine trees. Very dense wooded area .... And has gradual slope down (about 10' every 100 feet).

 

[SrChf]

After looking at some used JD110's, the 26k to 36k pricetags for used...and reading all your inputs, I have finally had a moment of clarity here:

My cleared acre is pretty much done as far as the big stuff is concerned. a few more stumps would be nice to remove, but those 'could' be cut to the quick then stump treated to accelerate decomposition.

The pioneering-into-the-forest-with-a-JD110 project is a 'nice to have' future operation that I, frankly, don't realistically have the time for anyway when I face the facts...and look at my unfinished basement and dreams of a Olde Galleon sailing ship wet bar (different forum) I still have a full time job for at least another year before I retire from the Military, while the immediate acre of ruts, weeds, mud, hills, bellies, bad/incorrect drainage is an immediate NEED that sounds like could be solved with a 19 to 25 HP TLB and a rear box grader and a separate riding lawn mower (once I actually have grass).

In hindsite, I should have just asked what the best unit/implement set would be for this 1st acre and come back once I was ready to forage into the wild back 4.0.

I guess I had just hoped there was some company that had truly designed an all-in-one, do everything TLB that can to heavy, medium and light duty/high finesse work...without crushing the lawn...all for under 25k.

Reality is to face, as head is to wall >> :mur:

Alright...so...opinions fellahs. Hit me with them. What TLB's have you own(ed) (or rented) that you loved that can do my 1 acre nicely who's new sticker price does not exceed my budget. If I find a late model, low hours used one, all the better. I'll put the money I saved into my sailing ship bar

Oh, and I will get the wife to take some pics. Dont expect much. Lookin at 3rdLittlePigs - I'm jealous already. Nice plot dude!

 

[Western]

SrChf, also I would thank you for your service, with all the Mil. folks in my family, you'd of thought I would catch that..duh

My Brother in law, recently retired MCPON :thumbsup: "Ask the Chief" is a household phrase, both in and out of the Navy".

Just a thought.
I would buy a he## of a yard mower and rent a tractor for the "fun" stuff. On 5 acres you could save allot of money, on your own time. If it cost $100 a day to rent a tractor and you rent one for 20 days over several years or whatever, that is only 2k + gas as needed. Then "size don't matter", rent what you need at the time for the job your doing. If for some reason you get "called" back, your not tied to tractor payment, (situational change).

Then use the extra cash for the retirement party

 

[Gary Fowler]

In reply to local motions statement about having 4 tractors for 42 acres, that is what happens when you dont buy what you want or need in the first place. The first tractor my brother in law bought was a 750 JD with turf tires and 2 wd. It would pull a 4 foot BH but get stuck on a wet lettuce leaf. 48" at a time took forever to get across the 42 acres with a mower and much of it has wet spring feed areas that were inaccessible. to this tractor. Then I bought a used Yanmar 4220 4 wd with FEL which had plenty of power for a 6 foot BH but my BIL was still stuck with the 750. He muddled around with it for over a year and then bought a brand new New Holland T2030 with 4WD, FEL and Cab which is what he should have bought in the first place. So he now has 2 tractors. My old Yanmar operater station is so cramped that I can barely get on and off and I am always hanging up on knobs or levers and it gets awful hot on it without a canopy even. It also doesnt have an ROPS on it which we really need in the area of hills and ditches we have. So a couple years went by and after the wife asked me why I dont get a cab tractor for myself, who could argue with that.
So I went looking for a CAB tractor for myself that was big enough to do anything that might come up which is where the forth tractor came to be. Rather than sell the other ones for half of what we paid for them, we still use them occassionally. My BIL usually leaves the post hole digger on the 750 and it pretty much sets under the shed till we want to put in a new corner post or plant a tree or such task. He uses his NH to mow and move hay for his cows. I still use the Yannie when I need a small job or to get under low hanging trees to mow. It wont start at all in cold weather since it has no glow plugs so any winter work gets done with the NEW LS with Cab.
As for not needing telescoping lift arms, whoever said that you can do it easily by yourself is a better person than me. I dont have a good back so I cant lug and pull on equipment very much, so telescopic is the only way to go if you are working alone hooking up heavy equipment. Even a 800# bush hog is too much to man handle and while you can do it, when bother with getting on and off the tractor half a dozen times trying to get just right with the angle and distance to get one lift arm on and not the other and have to struggle and pry. Just get a tractor with telescoping lift arms and be done with it. IF the tractor is a SCUT, I could understand as you arent going to have anything hooked to it that weighs more that a couple hundred pounds, but you dont have to get into 100 HP to have an implement that weighs more than you can move. My 7 foot BH weighs close to #1500 and you arent going to move that with a pry bar.
ANYWAY, that is the explanation for how we have 4 tractors. One would work more than 42 acres on its own now, but I am not a borrower and neither is my BIL. We like to have our own stuff to play with and if we break it, we may help each other fix it, but we seldom borrow, so we stay good buddies that way. We do have a shared piece or two of equipment like the 2 row cultivator that gets used once a year to row up the garden and I have an 8 foot disc that he can use if he wants to disc up, but we both have our own equipment for every other task which is how it should be if you want to stay friends especially if you are relatives.

 

[SrChf]

Your broinlaw is Joe Campa?! Wow. That's one great Chief, that guy.

I dunno where you live that rentals run 100/day but here to rent anything that can do any significant amt of work I'm out $500 to $1000 a weekend.

That's what started this whole quest. The realization I could end up spending on rental what would cost me to
own. If I could get a skid steer or say, a terramite for 100 a day, no doubt that would be the answer but nothing like that here. Where do you live?

 

[Gary Fowler]

We have hired out quiet a bit of dozer work and around Bismarck, I get a D6 dozer with operator for $80 per hour. Back hoe $60 and dump truck is $40 when rented with the Back hoe. We have had ponds dug, thorn trees uprooted, stumps removed and hills levelled for building sites. Same price per hour. I do expect his prices to go up with price of fuel rising every day though, as he is already charging $30 per truck load more for crushed slate.

 

[LHS Inc]

Great recommendations all, thank you!

In summary: Don't insist on the big three. Check the less known off brands for more bang/buck. Don't fall for pretty paint colors - it'll get scratched up anyway. Continue renting till the big stuff is done. When I do, get one with a loader, backhoe and grading box minimum. Maybe a forklift for the logs. Buy a small used riding mower for the grass cutting. ( I noticed the big three charge 2200 to 2700 for a mower deck - for which I could get a decent, new riding mower from sears with! and have an easier time mowing, and not rut up the yard).

So, assuming used or new main or off brand, what other make/model numbers would be a good fit for the lighter, long term "estate maintenance". Keep in mind, I do intend to take down a tree or two every so often, say - every quarter, over the next 5 years. So I need something that can dig up those stumps, grade over the stump hole, negotiate well through the woods, drag the tree to a gravel road, and once bucked into bucket lengths, lift, haul and stack the logs for lumber, wood projects or firewood. My goal is to eventually have those 5 acres fairly cleared save for the best, prettiest trees. Like I said, I would eventually spend the same amt over time if I rented a big machine once a quarter ($4000 yr x 5 years = 20k) so I cant shake the idea of buying something that can do it, albeit slower, now.

Another problem I am having out here weighing into my decision - it friggin rains every 3 or 4 days here, almost without fail, so by the weekend when I am free to have delivered a weekend rental and do some work, the soil is nearly always too saturated to do anything with. If I owned the gear, I could bang out a few hours after work on days that occasional days the ground happens to be workable to at least make some headway.

Talking about renting in general, I came to the same conclusion as to renting the machine in advance and getting screwed by the weather man one more time. Thats when I finally got my own tractor and attachments and I can get the job done at a moments notice when the weather is favorable.

As far as what to purchase shop around. I deal with my local Kubota dealer for grass cutters but ended up driving another 10 miles to the local JD dealer and getting a JD because it fit me better as far as comfort and controls. It helped too that the tractor I purchased was the same model that I rented. I knew exactly what I was getting in power and performance. Best wishes on finding the tractor made just for you.

 

[Western]

LOL no not Joe Campa, I may have put the Wrong rate ,he retired Master Chief. Barret (last name) Lives in Norfolk.

I live in Texas, Dallas/Ft Worth area

I can rent 35-45 hp Tractor with an implement and bucket for less than $100 per day w/ trailer.

Skid steers and the like are of course higher, as is other large specialty equipment.

I only have 15 acres now and a 35HP Kioti w /FEL, box blade, shredder (bush hog), tiller, disc and fertilizer spreader. My place was 95% Oak trees and I have cleared maybe 4 acres, all with my tractor, except larger stumps, Those I hired a dozer operator for a day.

In the 90's I had 376 acres, and 2 tractors, one large Case 2290 and a John Deere 950 (smaller), Again I did most of my own work, but hired out a dozer for the large "stuff". Had pretty much the same implements, but on a larger scale.

Renting was just an Idea, sometimes in can be a better choice depending on the job at hand. I paid $23k for my tractor and implements in 06, bought at the same time. Technically I could have gotten everything I've accomplished for less than half of that if I had hire it out, but then I have a tractor "thang"

 

[Localmotion]

Thanks for the explanation Gary - makes perfect sense!

I must admit I also used to be a horder of machines - but didn't count them as part of the business as they didn't often go to work!

Regard the link arms - I still beg to differ that it is difficult to hitch up a 3-point linkage without having to man handle the implement. That said, I can see that there are reasons why some people may need them - another idea is to get seperate link balls and quick hitch arms..? Just a thought - but of course it all adds to the final bill!

Out of interest what is the price of fuel there at the moment? Here (Spain) I just paid 1.03€ per litre (approx $6.75 per gallon) for a can of red (rebated) diesel. Normally I buy in bulk, but even that is 0.97€ /litre for 1000L at the moment...

 

[SrChf]

Out of interest what is the price of fuel there at the moment? Here (Spain) I just paid 1.03€ per litre (approx $6.75 per gallon) for a can of red (rebated) diesel. Normally I buy in bulk, but even that is 0.97€ /litre for 1000L at the moment...

Diesel right now in MD is around $4/gal. $3.99 down the street from me - but the jacklegs at my local rental place charged me $7.80/gal to top off the machine I rented a while back - so, they must have thought I was from Spain. :laughing: This also adds to my frustration with renting, tempting me even more to buy.

 

[SrChf]

LOL no not Joe Campa, I may have put the Wrong rate ,he retired Master Chief. Barret (last name) Lives in Norfolk.

I live in Texas, Dallas/Ft Worth area

I can rent 35-45 hp Tractor with an implement and bucket for less than $100 per day w/ trailer.

Skid steers and the like are of course higher, as is other large specialty equipment.

I only have 15 acres now and a 35HP Kioti w /FEL, box blade, shredder (bush hog), tiller, disc and fertilizer spreader. My place was 95% Oak trees and I have cleared maybe 4 acres, all with my tractor, except larger stumps, Those I hired a dozer operator for a day.

In the 90's I had 376 acres, and 2 tractors, one large Case 2290 and a John Deere 950 (smaller), Again I did most of my own work, but hired out a dozer for the large "stuff". Had pretty much the same implements, but on a larger scale.

Renting was just an Idea, sometimes in can be a better choice depending on the job at hand. I paid $23k for my tractor and implements in 06, bought at the same time. Technically I could have gotten everything I've accomplished for less than half of that if I had hire it out, but then I have a tractor "thang"

The 'MCPON' is ever only one person - the Master Chief Petty Officer Of The Navy. The most senior enlisted person in the Navy at the time. Works in the P-gon. Official function is to be the 'Senior liason between the Chief of Naval Operations and the Enlisted ranks. Bit of a Rockstar in our world. Joe Campa was our last one. Great guy. Rick West is our current one. A 'Master Chief', generically speaking, as you probably know, is any E-9 (highest rank in enlisted community) but within that rank, they can fill many different billets, with varying levels of responsibility (and prestige) up to MCPON.

What I could do with a $100 tractor rental in my area! You have encouraged me to look around...or move to TX. My wife is from there - I know this because she reminds me nearly everyday - mostly when its cold/rainy, or the extreme opposite, too hot and muggy - which for this area, is pretty much 80% of the year. Can you tell I hate the weather here?

 

[Western]

Chief,

Thanks for the explanation, I was wondering where the name came from (Joe Campa). My Brother-in-law certainly didn't have that job

Gets pretty darn hot here too, not much of the cold and rainy either. Much cheaper to live here though, no doubt about it.

My wife prefers it here in Texas also and for an "Army brat" that says allot. She has lived from stateside, Okinawa, you know the drill.

 

[Missouri Pioneer]

I second Gary Fowler's suggestion to look at LS tractors before you buy.