Help with cheap tractor purchase

Anonymous Poster · Apr 16, 2002

Newbie here, just bought house with three acres of land, about 1.5 acres mowed, the rest meadow. It is an old house so we have to put quite a bit of time and money into the house. I have read many posts on great tractors, but the reality is we don't have 4000 or 5000 to spend.
My question is this, in the basement, bargain, budget tractors, is there one better than the other. I'm talking the $1500 range

Please don't berate me for this. I understand that it may only last for a few years and not be durable enough for much more than mowing right now. I understand that. Hopefully in a couple years we can go out and get something nice.

Any help would be great.

And to my brother... have you bought your BX22 yet... I have work for it!!

Golfgar4 · Apr 16, 2002

Are you planning on needing the tractor for just mowing the 1.5 acres, or do want to do more with it? If it's just mowing the 1.5 acres, I would think that you could find a resonable, good quality lawn tractor, such as a John Deere for that kind of money. I think I just saw an add in our local paper for a John Deere rider (not sure which model) for under $2K. The advantage of this is that it should last you more than just a couple of years, and then when you are ready to move up to something larger, the resale value is better than one of the bargain basement units. Just my $0.02.

exeter_acres · Apr 16, 2002

I would love to do a bit more with it... plow a little snow, aerate (sp?) the lawn, yada, yada..... and maybe try and get through the meadow once or twice a year, but I do understand that for the money we are able to spend right now I am limited.....

Calpyro · Apr 16, 2002

Go the Yanmar section and ask the same question. There are many people out there that are in the same situation who have bought Grey Market Yanmars, myself included. For a budget price, you can get a nice compact tractor for all of the tasks that you spoke of.
Thanks,
Cameron

RanchMan · Apr 16, 2002

I went to JD's website and they currently list their LT133 on "sale" for $1799 - of course, this is from the mfg., so you may be able to do better.

Here's the link to the details on the JD site...

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://products.deere.com/webapp/commerce/command/ProductDisplay?prnbr=SKU18749&prmenbr=8416&PrevCatRef=247189&PrevCatcgnbr=LT&path=HO&pcat=8543>John Deere LT133</A>

Thomas · Apr 16, 2002

Sears has a nice lawn tractor for about the price you are seeking.One good thing about a Sears they seem to be open 7 days a week,also parts are good and you can do it yourself when it comes to repairs.

Bird · Apr 16, 2002

Another thing I like about Sears is that most of their products include an owner's manual that has an illustrated parts breakdown, and of course you can order parts on the Internet./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

kbarrett · Apr 16, 2002

$1500 will buy you an older premium tractor easily. I just sold my 1992 Ingersoll with less than 200 hours for $1400.

Or

Don't hesitate to shop at sears. Their quality is improving. Consumer Reports rates them well (somewhat better than even some premium brands) and as mentioned before,
parts (if needed) are readily available.

This one fits your price range and is on sale through 4/20.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.sears.com/sr/product/summary/productsummary.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0759312087.1019013597@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccjiadcelkkiijhcehgcemgdffmdfin.0&vertical=LAWN&bidsite=CRAFT&pid=07127246000>http://www.sears.com/sr/product/summary/productsummary.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0759312087.1019013597@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccjiadcelkkiijhcehgcemgdffmdfin.0&vertical=LAWN&bidsite=CRAFT&pid=07127246000</A>

s1120 · Apr 17, 2002

Does it have to be new? Can you repair something older? If so you can get a good deal on an older Garden tractor. Like these......

I got then bolth for under $1000 each. All told, with the two tractors, with all the attachments I have, and repairs I have just over 2 grand in the two.