I'm stunned-but I need your advice

[Smelt]

My wife and I own a little farm in Maine. I guess the term "farm", is a little optimistic, because we don't have a barn, tractor or crops. We do have 16 acres with a couple of outbuildings, a 1 year old Craftsman lawn mower, and a bunch of animals. I am a husband, daddy and teacher and she is a stay-home mom of three little girls. Although money is tight we are very blessed and don't want for anything (well, except a tractor) I'm very happy with a wonderful marriage, kids, life. But, golly, doesn't a guy just need a stout tractor? Someday.....Until then, I'll keep going to all the Kubota dealers, bother them, read about tractors on line, etc.

We both have terrific families....

So, we go down to Pennsylvania to have the traditional 4th of July party (on Sat July 8th) at my brothers' farms. They live on adjoing horse farms near Allentown, PA. I am always discussing the merits of "my" tractor-a Kubota 3400 HST, FEL, bush hog, etc with my brothers. My two older brothers wanted to show me a new equipment shed they built. Now these two fellows are very hardworking and successful medical guys and anything they do is first class, so of course I want to see what they did. We go down the road and see the new shed. The outside was beautiful. We slid the doors opened and looked inside. They had packed it full of their equipment. Sitting in the front is a Ford 3000 tractor, slightly dinged and used. My oldest brother siad he had an announcement to make. Since I have been such a good guy, etc, they are giving me this tractor! Yahoo! I was stunned! Fantastic...a little spray paint and mechanical work and this baby is ready to rock n' roll. I was very appreciative and totally happy. We then looked at the other equipment and I noticed a bunch of new Kubotas (forgive the inexact model numbers)- a 3030, a M5600, and a something orange behind the M. I ribbed them about their new equiment-the 3030 was too dinky, the M series too big...they, (of course) should have bought 3400 HSTs. So they said they did-it was behind the M. So I went over and there was a brand spankin' new Kubota 3400 HST, FEL, grill guard, foldable ROPS with .2 hours. "Now this boys, is the perfect tractor" I said. They laughed and said they couldn't ever use it on their farms. One brotheer got on the 3030 and the other got in his M. They told me to get onto the 3400. They wanted to make a "comparison" of the tractors. I scrambled up and we all sat there on the respective rigs, 3 middle aged men yammering about the size of different tractors. That's when they told me the Ford wasn't mine-the 3400 was!!! Well yea I cried, I'm man enough to shed a tear! Holy Smokes.....nothin' like family!!!

OK. Here's where I need your help. How should I get it home? They are around Allentown, PA and I'm near Augusta, ME. I have a F250 that could haul it and I could use one of their construction trailers (no rush to get it back). I'd have two round trips of 1200 miles if I do it this way. Plus, I work over the summer and could only do it on (this!) weekend for the pickup and another weekend for the trailer return. 2400 miles/10 mpg=240 gals gas at $3 gal = $720 fuel + $50 tolls + $100 food/incidentials= $870 Grand Total. And don't forget the 2 weekends.

Ship it? Is it safe? Who, how, etc. What do you think?

Sorry about the long post. I guess I'm still feeling the "effects"!

I'm very interested in your ideas.

 

[Qubota]

That is a great story. What I would do in your situation is look into renting a one way U-haul car hauler. 16ft long would work fine. I would rent it in PA and haul the tractor back to Maine. This only means one trip and only half of that loaded. This would hopefully cut your spending almost in half. I dont know the exact weight of a 3400 but I can't imagine it being more than 4000 lbs. There are some larger cars that weigh that much. The other advantage is alot of U-haul car trailers are Aluminum which decreased the total weight (increase mileage) that much more.

Good luck in whatever you decide and congradulations on the new tractor.

 

[ronjhall]

What a great story.
I rented a U-Haul car hauler to tow my Astro Van home from AZ last May. It was great using it. But you may find that the rails are to narrow for the front end of the L3400. The bill for a one way rental for 9 days was $450. Your rental would be less but not by much. Other problems with U-Haul. They wanted to see the vehicle that I was towing with and the vehicles be towed. They claimed that my Van with AWD was to heavy to be put on trailer. Tow Vehicle was not available to be driven to U-Haul. Went to a small U-Haul dealer that took my word for their requirements. It was a great trip home even though I did not meet their specs.
I know it may be a lot to ask. But maybe one of your brothers needs to come up to your for place for visit and some good old Maine hospitality.

 

[john_bud]

Smelt,

First off, being an orphan, do you think your parents want to adopt me? How about the brothers? No? Oh well...had to ask.

To get that "perfect" tractor back home, can you borrow a trailer from one of your farmer neighbors? Around here, that's what would happen. If not, can you buy a used 16-18' trailer -- bring the baby home -- then sell the trailer? You may spend less doing that than renting one.

If you want to ship it, there is a hauling schedule board on ytmag.com. If someone is deadheading (hauling empty) and going your way, they pick up a load and pretty much just cover costs. Figure on $1 per mile more or less.

jb

 

[pekabu]

I've hauled a TC24 on a U-Haul car carrier. Unfortunatley they are an open center trailer and I had to plank up a deck to do it. The next time I rented a real equipment trailer. I could only find one place that rented an equipment trailer and it was a 45 minutes the wrong way, but it worked so much better.

If you can swing it, buying a trailer around $2k and hauling it, then selling it maybe your best bet. Better yet, you might like the trailer so much you keep it!

 

[Deerlope]

Have a shipping & trucking company haul it for you. They are insured if anything happens to it. Might even ckeck with the dealer that it came from and work out something with them. BTW that is a heart warming story.

 

[DVR]

try uship.com

you post your load info and people bid on the job. lots of haulers have figured out how to use the service to avoid empty trips. it is the ebay of shipping services.
i recently had a boat and trailer delivered 750 miles for $450. you are not obligated to accept any offers and the service is free to you. the shippers pay an 8% match fee.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

I had a local freight hauler run a tractor from PA to VT about a month ago. Cost me about $800.

 

[Doc_Bob]

$870 Grand Total. And don't forget the 2 weekends

For 870 and 2 weekends for new tractor? Sounds like a deal.
Bob

 

[Doc_Bob]

http://www.best-ways.com/

Have them move it. You will need a loading dock at both ends.
They moved a TN70A for me and did a great job.
Bob