I need to buy a tractor!

Ghostbrigade · Aug 23, 2005

You go OrangeAl, I work for an Australian owned company, we get to work everyday to " Increase Shareholder Value"
I do love the JD 3320 but for $4000.00 less the Kubota B7800 will do the same job. ( and dare I say maybe even better) I still have not decided which tractor to buy. But I have driven Nissan Pathfinders for over 14 years and never ever had any problems. I have no issue buying foreign goods as I make a good living in the US selling Australian wines. The first 10 years the US dollar was kicking the snot out of the Australian $ since our distributors paid in US dollars it was very profitable to the company. The last few years the tables have turned and we are no longer as profitable in the US as we once were. The company instituted " Financial Rigour". But we did not have to lay a bunch of people off.
I guess we are way out of tractor territory at this point. I will let you know on my final decision. Still hoping someone might give me a Mahindra as a gift though.

RedRocker · Aug 23, 2005

( My thoughts , just buy something that has the company at least based in the U.S.A.. keep as much money here as we can...I know it sounds hypocritical since I own a Mahindra 2015, but it was a gift...JohnJ )

Now now, you know deep in your heart you should sell the gift tractor and follow your own advice, you'll respect yourself in the morning. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Kyle_in_Tex · Aug 23, 2005

( as JD is quite a bit more expensive then Kubota)

For the most part, I agree with you. Here's my 2% Yes, I agree that buying product produced by a workforce with a high standard of living is not so bad. However,

My JD was a bit cheaper than a comparable Kubota.

( Remember, corporation have no loyality to the workforce. They will do whatever will generate the most profit and return to their shareholders.)

While you are right about many corporations, many people don't remember that during the great depression, JD did not repossess machinery when farmers couldn't pay. Maybe a couple of board members had a few scruples I don't know. Maybe they realized the nation had to eat. It is a shame that most corporations are beholden to stock prices and that they don't put the $ into research and development like they used to...Kyle

OrangeAlex · Aug 23, 2005

( You go OrangeAl, I work for an Australian owned company, we get to work everyday to " Increase Shareholder Value"
I do love the JD 3320 but for $4000.00 less the Kubota B7800 will do the same job. ( and dare I say maybe even better) I still have not decided which tractor to buy. But I have driven Nissan Pathfinders for over 14 years and never ever had any problems. I have no issue buying foreign goods as I make a good living in the US selling Australian wines. The first 10 years the US dollar was kicking the snot out of the Australian $ since our distributors paid in US dollars it was very profitable to the company. The last few years the tables have turned and we are no longer as profitable in the US as we once were. The company instituted " Financial Rigour". But we did not have to lay a bunch of people off.
I guess we are way out of tractor territory at this point. I will let you know on my final decision. Still hoping someone might give me a Mahindra as a gift though. )

On the positive side, it is less expensive for your company to pay your salary in the US compared to your peers elsewhere in the world. Good time to ask for a raise to pay for that tractor??

On the negative side they are getting hurt in the Marketplace as the US is the biggest market on the planet. Must be tough to sell relatively expensive wine into the US and at the same time be bombarded with cheap US wine from California/Oregon entering their home turf (In native Australia).

So I am curious, in the US we can use cheap migrant workers to pick grapes. Australia is surrounded by Ocean.. is there something equivelent to cheap migrant workers over there? I figure you can't really grow grapes in the bush.

Getting kind of away from tractors here... I guess you don't have to worry about losing jobs to Chinese made wine.

seasalt · Aug 23, 2005

ghostbridge,

been there, done that analysis. I feel for you. Flip a coin or just buy the one you really want and dont look back - that is what I got from the forum after much debate on the minutia.

here is some anonymous advice from a neighbor...

I happen to know a local JD dealer who has two 3320s on his lot. one of them is on short terms from JD finance, so IMHO you could pick it up for a song and dance if you show interest in getting a deal done in the next couple of weeks. since you are mowing a lot the mid pto on one of his in stock units might be a nice addition or just something to have just in case.

I would start at $15,900 for the tractor including the mid pto - now that is a deal. 300x FEL at $2800 and a second implement discount of $200 (current JD special) on a frontier 60 in BB for a total of say 275 and you are out for $19,000 out the door.

24 months of free money and you have the makings of a sweet deal.

you could save money with the Kubota if that fits your needs but I dare say you will not find a better deal on one if in fact you want to go JD. dont know as much about the others but if you want the green, it is waiting for you and you'll never find someone more happy to see you than a dealer who has a couple more than he needs - especially one that he has to sell or eat within 2 weeks!!! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

watch out - your local dealer has a dozen 790's and thinks everyone should have one - so dont get cross sold if you dont want to.

OrangeAlex · Aug 23, 2005

(
My JD was a bit cheaper than a comparable Kubota.
)

Really?? Which JD and Kubota were you comparing? Just curious. Did you finance the JD? At what rate.

I recently got a quote for a JD3320 Hydro with 300Cx loader and it was around $24,000. The interest rate over 60 mo was around 8.9%. A Kubota L3130 HST with LA712 loader was $19500. Interest was 84 mo at 4.9% After I showed the JD dealer my Kubota quote and Interest rate we both shook our head. He thanked me for stopping by.

(

While you are right about many corporations, many people don't remember that during the great depression, JD did not repossess machinery when farmers couldn't pay. Maybe a couple of board members had a few scruples I don't know. Maybe they realized the nation had to eat. It is a shame that most corporations are beholden to stock prices and that they don't put the $ into research and development like they used to...Kyle )

I guess during the great depression companies did not need to worry about short term losses, stock price and beating the competition. Everyone was hurting. If they did repro the farmer's equipment (I think the bank would be interested in this) just how many pennies on the dollar could they recover? Who would buy them.. another farmer?? Dont think so. Which farmer would have the money to buy a repo'ed tractor? Everyone was hurting. Iif they did have some money they certainly would not pay dollar for dollar during that time. Odd are they would be more liking to save every penny they had for food in their mattress. In addition, the long term result for JD would not be positive. I am sure it was a business decision to not do anything as all it would produce would be angry customers into the future with little financial short term return.
Land repo that was another story. Rich doctors and executive would gladly buy farm land and convert it to their ranches/estates.

OrangeAlex · Aug 23, 2005

(
24 months of free money and you have the makings of a sweet deal.
)
Kubota is 0% for 36 mo. I believe this works out to another grand or two in interest savings.

However, I personally think that paying the interest and using the money for a better opportunity/investment might be better. Kubota's 4.9% over 72/84 months is (7 years! almost a decade). If you can't make more then 5% annual return on a $20,000 investiment (stocks, real estate, etc) you just are not trying. Just what do you think the interest rates will be in 7 years? Its all about opportunity cost and cash flow. Interest is not always bad.. it depends on the interest rate to borrow compared to rate of return on your investments. You can do a lot of damage with $20k. Would make a good down payment on real estate which is not in the bubble. Bare land just outside the urban growth boundry for example. Should be ripe in 7 years.

seasalt · Aug 23, 2005

OrangeAl,

your dealer needs to lower his overhead. one way to help him do that is not buy from him. 24k for a 3320 and 300cx???

did he have a gun?!!

3320's all day for 15,900
300cx std material bucket = $3300. with the HD bucket (adds $98 if priced right) should be 3400 all day. best I've seen is $3340.

total=$19,200 with standard bucket. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
that is a WHOPPING $4,800 less than you were quoted??!!! /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

For pete's sake, he's steelin 'ya blind! tell him to find himself another goat to whip and git on down the road! there's competition in them thar hills!!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

OrangeAlex · Aug 23, 2005

( OrangeAl,

your dealer needs to lower his overhead. one way to help him do that is not buy from him. 24k for a 3320 and 300cx???

did he have a gun?!!

3320's all day for 15,900
300cx std material bucket = $3300. with the HD bucket (adds $98 if priced right) should be 3400 all day. best I've seen is $3340.

total=$19,200 with standard bucket. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
that is a WHOPPING $4,800 less than you were quoted??!!! /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

For pete's sake, he's steelin 'ya blind! tell him to find himself another goat to whip and git on down the road! there's competition in them thar hills!!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )

I am in agreement with you.. he looked as surprised as I was. Maybe I should have given him the Kubota quote before he gave me a price. ha ha !