Buying Advice Help with Tractor purchase - newbie

[sd455dan]

This works well.

Nice mod- I like it! If we end up with a cab tractor some day- will probably add some protection like yours

 

[kminnick]

So, I did some more looking and came up with this list:
Kioti DK50SE w/hst - $19.5
Kub L4240 hst - $19.5
Kub M4900 (900 hrs, shuttle) $17K
Kub L4150 (little rough, needs tires) $13.5
TYM T450 (shuttle, 650 hrs, hyd center & draft, Kubota engine) $17.1K
Kub L5450 (new clutch & 226 hrs?) $21K

I really would like to stay south of $20K delivered. Maybe I should save a little longer, eh? Thoughts?

 

[sd455dan]

To bad on the NH, that sure (seemed) like a screaming deal... Guess it really was to good to be true.

The Kub L5450 with a new clutch sounds odd with those low hours...


Anyway Good luck on your search
buying good used equipment has been some of the best money I have spent.

 

[buickanddeere]

To handle snow. Tire chains and a snowblower will be required . Unless you reside in some location where the snow melts between storms.
Pushing snow into heaps just makes the snow drift back in deeper and sooner.
As for forestry work. All a farm tractor is good for is cleanup after the industrial equipment is finished .
Forestry work will smash , ding and gouge your tractor. Small sticks and limbs will poke up into every linkage, hose, electrical wiring, grill and cover . Sooner or later a valve stem will be torn off . Just had that happen here just by cleaning up after pruning apple trees . Sure glad it was windshield washer fluid spraying out instead of calcium chloride .

 

[noller9]

Yes I have knocked some trees over with a 32 horse Kubota by digging parallel trenches on both sides of the tree and then pushing it over like a hinge. pretty scary biz if you know what I mean

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

So, I did some more looking and came up with this list:
Kioti DK50SE w/hst - $19.5
Kub L4240 hst - $19.5
Kub M4900 (900 hrs, shuttle) $17K
Kub L4150 (little rough, needs tires) $13.5
TYM T450 (shuttle, 650 hrs, hyd center & draft, Kubota engine) $17.1K
Kub L5450 (new clutch & 226 hrs?) $21K

I really would like to stay south of $20K delivered. Maybe I should save a little longer, eh? Thoughts?

I agree with sd455dan on the L5450 sounding odd with a new clutch after only 226 hours.

I'd be torn between the DK50SE and the Kubota L4240. The Kioti is a little more tractor, but the L4240 has the fancy transmission that would be handy. Ask whether the L4240 has any rear remotes on it. They will be expensive to add (probably around $1,000). The DK50SE had one set of remotes standard and, hopefully, whoever bought it had another set or two installed. I've got 2 sets on mine and wish I had 3.

I'd reject the others because of the shuttle shift transmission. Also, I thought the TYM used a Perkins diesel engine, not a Kubota engine, but I could be wrong. And there's nothing wrong with a Perkins diesel, which are great engines.

 

[gladehound]

To handle snow. Tire chains and a snowblower will be required . Unless you reside in some location where the snow melts between storms.
Pushing snow into heaps just makes the snow drift back in deeper and sooner.
As for forestry work. All a farm tractor is good for is cleanup after the industrial equipment is finished .
Forestry work will smash , ding and gouge your tractor. Small sticks and limbs will poke up into every linkage, hose, electrical wiring, grill and cover . Sooner or later a valve stem will be torn off . Just had that happen here just by cleaning up after pruning apple trees . Sure glad it was windshield washer fluid spraying out instead of calcium chloride .

All depends on where you live I guess. Here in the east our snow is generally so heavy that you can make all the piles you want and never worry about drifting even if the snow doesn't melt all winter. Especially if you live in the woods! And I did all my woods clearing with a little 19 hp CUT. It could push over trees up to a foot in diameter after a good rain storm. Not going to get anything done fast with that set up but the areas you want to clear have smaller trees and you fab up a good FOPS on the tractor it can work. I never had any problem. Did have 6 trees fall on the tractor. But that was never a problem, just makes them easier to move. Here's the little 19 hp tractor in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWbpLat51JQ

 

[kminnick]

I agree with sd455dan on the L5450 sounding odd with a new clutch after only 226 hours.

I'd be torn between the DK50SE and the Kubota L4240. The Kioti is a little more tractor, but the L4240 has the fancy transmission that would be handy. Ask whether the L4240 has any rear remotes on it. They will be expensive to add (probably around $1,000). The DK50SE had one set of remotes standard and, hopefully, whoever bought it had another set or two installed. I've got 2 sets on mine and wish I had 3.

I'd reject the others because of the shuttle shift transmission. Also, I thought the TYM used a Perkins diesel engine, not a Kubota engine, but I could be wrong. And there's nothing wrong with a Perkins diesel, which are great engines.

The TYM uses the same engine as the Kubota L4240 (V2203). I believe this model's running gear is the same as the Mahindra 4110 (that's what I'm told).

The Kioti has 2 remotes with the cylinders for center & draft control (!). The L4240 has 1 remote.

Found a Kubota L4330 w/HST & 1 remote. Like the L4240, but not quite as fancy HST (no 'dual-range).

Lastly, I got a quote on a real (i.e. no scam) New Holland TN75 (canopy, Hyd shuttle, 2 remotes, Quick att bucket) delivered for $19K


Is the HST really worth $3 - $5K more?

 

[kminnick]

All depends on where you live I guess. Here in the east our snow is generally so heavy that you can make all the piles you want and never worry about drifting even if the snow doesn't melt all winter. Especially if you live in the woods! And I did all my woods clearing with a little 19 hp CUT. It could push over trees up to a foot in diameter after a good rain storm. Not going to get anything done fast with that set up but the areas you want to clear have smaller trees and you fab up a good FOPS on the tractor it can work. I never had any problem. Did have 6 trees fall on the tractor. But that was never a problem, just makes them easier to move. Here's the little 19 hp tractor in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWbpLat51JQ

Good points from both of you. My neighbor has a CAT 34.5 excavator that I used to run 700' + for power/water lines. It weighs ~11K pounds and has tracks. If you push high enough and in wet enough soil, it's amazing what you can remove. He rents it to me (delivered) for $30/hr. At that rate, it's not worth it to me to buy a BH for my tractor. It is amazing to me to see what a well-designed machine can do with the right weight (it's only 40 HP if I remember right).

Maybe for real 'clearing', I can rent a dozer.

I can see where a grapple will be one of my first implements...

 

[w1ebb]

Many years ago as a teenager, I worked in a large distribution center driving a Caterpillar TC30 forklift. I was offered the choice of gear or hydrostat. I chose the hydrostat. A week later I traded it for the gear forklift. To me, the hst was awkward. It always rolled some, and since I had to catch and lift loaded pallets of product off of buggies moving on a track that circled the warehouse, I was spilling stuff or knocking the buggies off the track. Not good.
On my gear tractor, with what I do, I can set the throttle, put it in the proper gear, let off the clutch, and get comfortable. Unless the hst tractor has a cruise control type apparatus, your foot always has to be on that pedal. I may be wrong about that last part, but it is something to think about.

Good fortune!

Scott