Is what I heard right?

[Bob_Skurka]

TBN is really dominated by Kubota posting, and Kubota is a very high quality and very popular brand. You won't go wrong with a Kubota if that is what you like. The New Holland guys post the least frequently, and seem to be less militant about their brand choice. The Deere guys fall somewhere in between the two.

What you may want to do is rank the tasks you want to accomplish and then look at the tractors from the standpoint of completing those tasks.

For example, some of the smaller Kubotas have weak loaders, but some of the mid-size units have loaders that are incredible. So if you have a lot of loader work to do, and you want a specific size tractor in mind, that might lean you toward or away from one brand of machine based on the size of machine you are looking for. If brake turning is a feature you really want and need, then JD will have the advantage in all the smaller and many mid-size machines. If you really need tight turns but don't want the turf tearing brake turning, then nothing beats the SuperSteer feature on New Holland. And if you are doing a lot of loader work, the NH again has an advantage with their curved arm loaders and the visibility and capacity they offer, but for occasional loader work, then it might not offer any advantage at all.



Line up your tasks.

Rank them in terms of how much time you expect to spend doing them.

Then find ALL the machines that will accomplish those tasks.

Rank the machines based on the task ranking.

Eliminate the bottom of the list.

Start at the top of the list and interview dealers, because a good dealer offers service, parts and piece of mind. Price should probably come a close second, but may be more important that a quality dealer to you.

Buy from who makes you feel good and gives you a good deal.



Tractor pricing is very regional. You are going to spend a lot of money. The last thing you want is to walk away feeling sick about your purchase.

 

[Alan L.]

Kubota created the compact utility tractor market. JD and NH might be just as good, but Kubota is certainly as good as it gets. I think Kioti is a rising star also, according to what their owners say on this board.

 

[KiotiJohn]

One thing you may be interested to know is that Kubota came to the US in the 70's and was thought of, at first, as an inferior product as John Deere, Ford, Massey Ferguson dominated the market. People would say things like, "You're going to buy a WHAT?"
However, that slowly changed over the years as Kubota introduced more of it's smaller, efficient, "compact utility tractors." The quality also continued to improve as they paid attention to what customers were asking for.
This is now the case for many other brands such as Kioti (here since '85), Mahindra, Century and others who make good tractors but have less name recognition. Over the years we'll see how they all fare. In the meantime, you may be able to find one of these "other" brands that is just as good as the top three you mention, for a good deal less money. Good hunting. John

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

DISCLAIMER: I own a John Deere.

That having been said, I'm not going to recommend Deere over Kubota or anything else. I will, however, suggest you do a couple things I did to help me make my decision.

First, get to know the dealers from whom you'll be buying whichever brand. The best brand (whatever that is) isn't worth having if you don't have a good dealer.

Another thing I most heartily suggest you do is try out each of the brand models you're considering. You may find that one has an unusual feature which sets it above the others for you that you can't appreciate until you use it.

When I was tractor shopping I had an immediate bias toward the Kubota product. I felt they had a fine reputation and there was a dealer literally half a mile down the road from my drive. To top that off the dealer was an old HS classmate. Sounds like a slam dunk, doesn't it?

I got on one (a 3110, I believe) and the hydro pedal was set back too far for my long legs. It was immediately uncomfortable and I knew that there was know way I could use it for even an hour. Sadly, my obvious choice was eliminated.

I then looked at Deere and New Holland and found I didn't like the local Deere dealer and that the New Holland dealer was in financial trouble (potentially no dealer soon). I knew there were more Deere dealers in the county so I looked at and tried the Deere. It was more comfortable and the only 'fit' problem was the SCV lever (again, long legs), but I knew that I could modify that (thanks to member CVHoss' postings on another tractor board). That made Deere the tractor for me.

I ended up stumbling across a deal on a used 100 hour Deere and bought it. I still get all of my accessories and repair work done at my Kubota store down the road. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Soundguy]

I agree with many of the others. Th NH, JD, and KUB are in the 'big 3' . That is.. they are the 'yardstick' manufacturers when you are trying to compair other brands.

As the 'big 3'.. they generally offer a decent warranty with good dealerbase and parts support.. no doubt about quality or longevity of the company, and a hefty price tag.

Pricing is regional. Around here, JD is top dollar.. green.. means money... Kubota is next in line.. and then New holland ( and then massey ferguson as a #4.. etc.. )

Hard to go wrong with any of the big 3 units.. just choose the features, options, adn financine you want.. and then purchase it.

Soundguy

 

[cowboydoc]

<font color="red">Kubota created the compact utility tractor market </font>

You hear this statement rather often but people forget that a compact is just a small tractor. Certainly the Ford 8N and many others after that before Kubota was even a name would be classified as compacts in todays world. Jd has numerous tractors that would be considered a compact as does the old IH's, Farmall's, etc. Heck my AC WD 45 is about the same size and hp as my JD 4600 and it's 50 years old.

As far as tractors go JD got it's reputation for tractors as outclassing everyone back in the 60's. The 4020 was a tractor 10 years ahead of everyone else. Still today they run entire farms. The 4430 was next. It was also a homerun. Back then Deere was certainly superior in quality. Today I think several companies are giving Deere a run. Kubota and New Holland certainly make good tractors as well. My personal opinion is that I still feel that Deere is leading the pack, especially when you consider the whole picture of dealers, parts, service, and what I feel is unquestionably the best company around that stands behind their product. I personally feel that Deere is the best. I just don't think anyone else out there offers a better package.

 

[Steve_Miller]

Anyone can jump in here and correct me if I'm wrong (usually am) but Ford was the original name of the tractor division and was changed to Ford/New Holland at some point, not sure when and why, it eventually became New Holland which is now owned mostly if not all by European carmaker Fiat in which Ford Motor company has a large stake. Rumors have been swirling about the possible sale of the New Holland division (just because its a profitable division) because Fiat is in some financial difficulties at the moment.
Hows that for non-tractor related babble /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Steve

 

[frank_f15]

i think , what you and your parents need to do is define your intened use for the tractor and deterime approx size you need then go out and kick some tires so to speak! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif nothing like looking and sitting to see which u might prefer.

 

[OrangeGuy]

My understanding is that Case IH merged with NH. Most farm magazines reported it this way. NH was already owned by Fiat. Fiat now owns CNH.

OrangeGuy

 

[herdfan]

When I was looking for a 4WD tractor with a loader and a backhoe, I started with my local dealers and got info and pricing on a few different sizes. I then got lucky enough to find TBN and found out that there are lots of good tractor brands out there, so I made some calls and put some miles in and visited all the major brand dealers (even different dealers with the same product). I spent around 2 months or so looking and decided on the Century brand (even though the dealer is an hour away and there is a Kubota dealer 1 1/2 miles away and a Deere dealer about 10 miles away). Deere would have been my next choice, mainly because the dealer is great, but I couldn't justify the $$ difference. Kubotas are very nice, but they are pricey as well (and the local dealer 'aint that great). Another thing to look at is the cost of repairs and maintenance.

Good Luck
Eric

BTW - I also own an old Ford 2000 and that thing is a reliable workhorse (I would never buy a Ford automobile, but they make a darn good tractor)