Buying Advice How much is too much?

[D2Cat]

The professional salesman will sell the customer what he wants, then be happy to sell him what he needs when he returns!

 

[Fallon]

When deciding on a new tractor purchase we all consider the size of our property, the tasks the tractor will be used for and the attachments it will be running to determine the the specific HP of the engine / PTO.

It also seems like we can get caught up in a value proposition of, "$2k more gets 10 more HP or a bigger / better transmission". But in the end we have to maintain the more expensive and bigger machine and larger usually equates to higher operating and maintenance costs.

I'm considering a 60 HP tractor because it's only 2k more than the exact chassis tractor with a 47 Hp tractor. Overall weight of tractors are only 200 lbs difference. Lifting capacity is the same. I do not need the 13 extra HP nor the extra HP at the PTO. But it seems like the better value is the larger HP.

I heard a salesman once say that most tractor buyers do not buy the tractor they "need" but instead buy the tractor they "want". And that usually means buying over your needs.

How have you determined how much is enough?

I presume you mean a Kubota L4760 & L6060. The only difference is the engine for a few more HP. Possibly slightly bigger tires, but not sure.

Weight is what makes a tractor work. HP just defines how fast it will do it.

There will be 0 difference in those machines pulling a plow, box blade or ground engaging impliment. More HP will only provide more power to the PTO. The most common case is being able to pull a wider mower or go faster in heavy grass.

If as you say you dont need the extra HP for mowing you will find no value & it will burn more fuel.

My L4060 is the same machine. Smaller engine, front axle & tires. But within 300lbs of the bigger machines. I can pull a plow or box blade 85-90% as well as the 60hp machine as I'm traction limited rather than power limited most of the time.

I wish I had more HP for mowing & roading, but that's it. I run an excessively big 8' heavy flail mower on mine too. The rest of the time I'm limited by traction or a rough ride. That's wit a 40hp machine that's probably only a 35hp machine with the lack of oxygen up here in Colorado. That's the same base machine you are looking at with more HP.

 

[Fallon]

Oh, and all of the Grands have the same transmission options. The L6060 isnt a bigger beefier tranny than my L4060.

 

[Richard]

Selling a used tractor is easy. Selling multiple light implements in order to buy heavier, wider implements for a new, heavier tractor requires a lot of time.

I think that is an excellent point. (especially the LIGHT implements description)

We live on my wife's family farm. Place started as 500 acres but, there were a lot of woods. I wasn't here then so I don't know the ratio of woods to fields.

They had an International 444 tractor. I don't know the HP.... let's call it 40.

They used a 5' rotary cutter to cut the fields. Yes, a 5' mower. I might add that without measuring, I'm guessing the place is 50/50 fields/woods with a slight advantage on woods.

Years later, TVA came in, took half the property to install a lake (so now we're surrounded on 3 sides by a lake!) and the farm is 250 acres. This is where I entered their lives.

Still had the IH 444 and a 5' cutter..... I've been cutting this place for years and finally said no more. I have too much life to live to spend all summer cutting the place!

Mysteriously, a IH 986/886 (don't know the number) showed up with a 10' HD Rhino mower....and I was back to cutting.

FIL passed away, his son sold the tractor & mower BUT, kept the box blades, spears, angle blades.... everything else that was used on the tractor.

Since I live here, I decided to buy a larger tractor so bought an IH 1066 which is something over 100 HP at the (drawbar? PTO? one of them) It's much larger than the 444.... and now, none of the old implements fit the larger tractor.

I'm not going to replace those implements to hang off the back, I'll stop at the 15' mower.

My agreement with Jeff above is, had they sized the tractor right decades ago, for 500 acres, we might have things that would easily work on today's tractor. Right now, they're becoming scrap metal.