How to convince the wife to let me get one

[cartod]

Tell her your old back is not going to be able to keep this property up by itself. You need a friend that picks things up and puts things down.

 

[3930dave]

If you haven't already, get some commercial quotes on the work you need done. $ dataset #1.

Build up some real world examples of how tractors retain their $ value over time. $ dataset #2. If your wife is only familiar with road going passenger vehicles, then she is conditioned to think of a $25k vehicle being worth pretty much nothing inside of a decade - you need to help her understand the Tractor Retained Value story.

The $ data is the relatively easy part....... For the Needs vs. Wants vs. How We Spend Discretionary Income discussion, you're going to need your A game !

As useful as they are (and, to be fair to your wife, if you haven't spent time around working tractors, you don't really appreciate what they can do), unless you run a farm, a tractor is more a discretionary item, than a Must Have To Live item.

She knows you better than we do. Perhaps you have a history of buying tools and not using them ? If so, be honest about why you believe a tractor is different. If you know another couple that recently got into the tractor habit.... have her talk to them (esp. the other lady, on their own) about how useful it is.

Good luck.

Rgds, D.

 

[CobyRupert]

Tell her it will be worth almost as much after five years.

Exactly. Your not spending the money, just moving it. Instead of sitting in stocks or a bank account and being represented by some ink on a statement, it's sitting in a hunk of iron in the shed, and can
grade gravel drive way
s�now removal
landscaping mulching
complete driveway and backfill
grass to cut
s�mall tree stump removal
etc...
It's not like a buying groceries, where once you spend the money it's gone. You still have the money!

 

[GPintheMitten]

The abide by her decision could go the other way too. Neither is a good way to run a partnership.

I think it depends on how much discretionary income you have and if other needs or wishes are still on the table.

But we are tractor guys ... and mostly guys here so man rules do apply.

My advice... consider a BX or a smaller B. Unless a cab with heat and AC is really that important.

Look for low hours used.

Document that tractors hold their value or most of it. I bought my brothers used B6200 for retail price after an ebay auction did not quite make his price. I did. I used it for about 3 or 4 years and sold it to a dealer for what I paid for it.

I would consider admitting to your wife that you dont really NEED it but you want it and would enjoy it and getting things done without risking damage to your back.
I bet you could get a nice fun tractor that you would enjoy and be proud of for about half that amount and do something nice for her with some of what is leftover.

 

[LiveRoll]

Get her involved with the purchase, Take her to the dealership with you, let her drive it, showing her how easy it is to operate it and the things she can do with it around the yard, and sometimes when needed in your absence. You may just end up having to try the whole procedure over again so you can get a tractor for yourself, after she claims the first one as her own...

Good luck and Happy Hunting

Cheers

Roger

 

[Gary Fowler]

If you are looking at a tractor with backhoe, you may want to reconsider your needs there and just look at a tractor with FEL. Backhoes for 2 acres can be rented for a day or so to rework all of your woodlot much cheaper than the $7K+ cost of ownership. TLB's are nice and I have one, but everyone needs to practically evaluate the need and justify the cost. In my case, I was needing a smaller tractor to get into some tight spots that my large 70HP just couldn't go and I found the slightly used B26 TLB for about what I would have spent on a tractor with FEL. You may be able to do the same thing with a used tractor and please the wife (well maybe not please her, but have here consent to the cost) at the same time while getting a TLB that you want/desire/need.

 

[xtruckerbob]

For me it was easy. She had a John Deere 160 and I still use my G 3200 ( 1983 model with maybe 3000 hours) and we mow 8 acres every week from mid March to mid November. We were also digging a pond with our L2600 and she wants to help so when I said YOU need a new BX 2760 with loader mmm and box blade she was ready that day. So let her go and test one and maybe get her involed in the yard work. My wife now even help work the our acre garden. We have a L2600 2001 model RTV900 2007 model G3200 1983 model and BX 2760 2014 model and none have ever been to the shop for repairs. The pro are they last for ever cons they no reason not to do what has to be done.

 

[GPintheMitten]

Craigslist ads sampling

John Deere 4300 Compact Tractor

NEW HOLLAND TRACTOR TC29D

 

[paulfun9]

Justifying the cost always seems to work best for me.

 

[Rod in Forfar]

I have found the most effective way to pave the way for a new purchase is to:

1. Launch into a month of two of compulsive searches of want-ads. Wild goose chases soften wives up quite effectively.

2. At "random" intervals mention how current equipment is hazardous and how, for example, a ROPS and seatbelt might very well extend our time on the farm. It does your cause no harm if wife's co-worker has had a husband badly chewed up by a poorly-equipped tractor.

3. Make it clear over time that a used machine with similar features costs half the price of a new one.

4. Build flower beds and stone walls where a loader would really help.

5. Cut trees with her there to watch for safety. She'll approve a logging winch very quickly, then operate it for you.

6. Work up the garden and plant it, whether she wants a garden or not. For some reason this tactic is very good for boat purchases.

7. For woodworking tools, plan the project in detail with her. Even install the widget, if necessary. Look at it compulsively for several days, then pronounce that that piece of trim is wrong for that project. She'll agree, and allow the purchase of a 200 dollar shaper cutter to make 8' of trim. Honest.

 

[DeereMann]

+1 :thumbsup:

Heck with that, there's tools for that..and I'm not it

Get what you want.

I don't know why some folks have to justify things so much...You only live once, then your dead for a looooong time.

If it makes you happy, and makes your life easier working around home, and you can afford it.......what the heck?

If you get one it won't take your wife long to see that this is different than your cub cadet, that does what? drag a garden cart around?

You will use it for everything...Shovels are for cleaning out your bucket...

 

[Kubotafan]

So a few days ago, I tell her im going to place the order and she goes "okay well how much is it..." and thats when it went down hill...
apparently her thought was that it was like our previous tractor $2k.

And you actually told her what it cost????? I saw where another poster once said, "When I am gone I hope my wife doesn't sell the tractor for what I said I paid for it."!!!!!!!!

 

[newbury]

Aaah, the subterfuges we engage in to get along with the better half. Let them know upfront that you DON'T know the exact price but you can't reasonably complete a project they want done without tool X. Be thrifty in buying tools. After you get a track record of tools and completed jobs it becomes easier. Renting and showing proficiency in using a tool often leads to purchase if there is a continued need.

 

[Egbert]

In all fairness, I have about 110 acres so it's easier to justify big $$ toys. Having said that, my wife is the one who pushes me to buy good equipment - to spend more up front, rather than get something less than I need or want. She almost had a bulldozer on the place but it was ME that just couldn't get around the price tag. Gotta love her

 

[skyhook]

In all fairness, I have about 110 acres so it's easier to justify big $$ toys. Having said that, my wife is the one who pushes me to buy good equipment - to spend more up front, rather than get something less than I need or want. She almost had a bulldozer on the place but it was ME that just couldn't get around the price tag. Gotta love her

Women like that are hard to find.
Mine is the same, she's alway's said, If you want it,, get it.
I'm just waiting for when it's her turn.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Whenever I ask my wife about buying something, she says " you always get whatever you want anyway so why are you asking me for". So I usually just show here what I bought when I got to pick it up.

 

[Katahdin]

Unfortunately, you will never convince this type of wife. You can only "rub-her-nose-in-it" after the tractor is purchased and your wife concedes that the menial labor and upkeep of the property is so much easier than it was before.

 

[GPintheMitten]

I remember a classified ad for a motorcycle once. After all the details about the bike it said:

"Please buy my almost new motorcycle. Apparently do whatever the F you want meant something different to my wife than it did to me."

 

[kw22614]

Grow a pair! (and buy her some NICE jewelry!) :laughing:

 

[RaydaKub]

My wife had used my little STX38 to mow our hill and knew how precarious it was with the bagger attached. I found my BX on eBay and got it for about 3-4 thousand less than at a dealer.
I got laid off last summer and with 2 kids in college, I knew the investment in it could be recouped if things didn't work out. After having it for 3 years, I had gotten the bigger projects done and offered to sell it. She could see the value of it and wouldn't let me even think about it again. The labor savings is just so well worth it. I also have 2 acres and I love the size of the BX for it.