Looking for a good tractor with a creeper gear for using a transplanter

[howienow]

Hey,I have a great MF 255 that I purchased NEW in 1979,but now I need something with a creeper gear and a 4wd with more HP.
What do folks like or dont like and any recomendations or offers to sell me one would be nice. Im a organic veggie farmer in VT,been doing this for 42 years! Time to upgrade my tractor. Might like a cab maybe and a loader with forks. ok, thanks! Howard

 

[Briana03]

Welcome to TractorByNet!

I moved your thread to the Massey Ferguson Owning & Operating forum.

 

[aczlan]

Do you need more drawbar HP (ie: to pull the transplanter better), or more PTO HP (ie: to run a bigger mower)?
If you just need to go slow to transplant your crops (not pulling a ground engaging implement like a chisel plow that needs a lot of power) and do loader work, you might look into a machine with a hydro transmission as that can "creep" at most any speed you want and they cant be beat for loader work.

Aaron Z

 

[howienow]

Well,I have several needs for a new tractor. I need a 4wd,more HP and a very slow gear for the 3 row transplanter. Have a 6" spacing in row so need to really creep to allow crew to keep up with the planter. Could also use a more powerful hydralic to load and unload pallets of produce or fertilizers. I always like MF,but open to anything good used. Cant afford new any more

 

[aczlan]

Well,I have several needs for a new tractor. I need a 4wd,more HP and a very slow gear for the 3 row transplanter. Have a 6" spacing in row so need to really creep to allow crew to keep up with the planter. Could also use a more powerful hydralic to load and unload pallets of produce or fertilizers. I always like MF,but open to anything good used. Cant afford new any more

How much do your pallets weigh? Hard to go much bigger than the MF 255 and get HST.

Aaron Z

 

[motownbrowne]

Welcome again from Wisconsin. I'm a couple of months ahead of you. Organic veggie farmer with an old tractor ready for something new. We just bought a Kubota mx4700 hst. The hydro is a great feature for veggie farming, infinite range of speeds at full PTO rpm. Also, it's awesome for loader work, especially moving pallets. The 4700 was the biggest tractor we could buy and still fit in our raised bed system. We bought new after searching for a used one for months and not finding much in that size range and nothing under 85% cost of new. People say the "off brands" kioti and ls have great tractors for the price, worth looking at for sure. They appear ready to back them up with 4&5 year warranties.

A cab would be nice for some things, but they add a lot of $, and you can't break windows with an open station.

No matter which you choose, I'm sure it will be a treat to use compared to the old MF. Since the Kubota drove in the driveway the 8n hasn't been started. Good luck on your search.

 

[howienow]

Well,the pallets can weigh up to 1,400 lbs I guess. That shouldnt be a big problem. Also want fairly skinny tires and good clearance for cultivating. Maybe a cab? I dream about a cab anyway,but not a deal breaker…I grow about 10 acres organic veggies and another 10 acres cover crops.

 

[howienow]

Good info,so how much did the Kubota wind up costing? I agree about the cab….Oh,I also looked at Zetor!

 

[aczlan]

Good info,so how much did the Kubota wind up costing? I agree about the cab….Oh,I also looked at Zetor!

Well, used open station ones with loaders and 100+ hours look to be running around $20k (+/- 3k) on Tractorhouse: http://www.tractorhouse.com/list/li...u=KUBOTA&bcatid=464&Pref=0&Thumbs=1&scf=false

Aaron Z

 

[motownbrowne]

Well, used open station ones with loaders and 100+ hours look to be running around $20k (+/- 3k) on Tractorhouse: http://www.tractorhouse.com/list/li...u=KUBOTA&bcatid=464&Pref=0&Thumbs=1&scf=false

Aaron Z

Yeah, that's why I caved and bought new, seems silly to pay that much for used. Paid 24.5 for mx4700 HST with loader and filled ag tires. One thing that steered me toward that model was that I could get it on 13.6-28s instead of the 14.9-26s that are on a lot of tractors that size. Do you have a loader on the MF? The loader on the MX series seems very capable. I noticed that the loader option seems to add about 4k to the price seemingly regardless of what tractor. I figured for that price I'd better get something that'll lift 2k lbs, or I wouldn't be getting that much usefulness for the $. The kiotis are well regarded, but if you want a good tractor with hydro for a good price, check out the MX series. Kioti only puts a hydro on their dk series, which is a little "frilly" for my liking. I don't know, but I bet MF makes a basic type tractor that'll suit your needs with a reasonable price tag too.