Looking for tractor to maintain 8.5 acres in NH

[Katahdin]

IF you have a MF dealer you should sit on one.

Massey Ferguson | GC1700 Series Sub-Compact Tractor

There is a MF and Yanmar dealer nearby in New Boston, I also suggest he visit there.

 

[pedzola]

Update:

Visited Mahindra and LS today.

Mahindra dealer was too busy to get hold of a sales person. I didn't have an appointment, and the guy I was going to meet had a line of customers waiting for him. I only had 30 minutes so I left w/a couple brochures after walking around the tractors.

LS dealer was excellent. Spent an hour w/me discussing the XJ2025H, implements, and general use. The dealer was an hour+ away in Beverly, MA, but said he's opening a location in Kingston NH soon. And this will be near my new home. Seemed like a great guy to do business with.

The XJ2025 seems like it would fit my needs, and is the least expensive option still. Seems like a good quality and very capable machine. Unfortunately the financing available is not super, and that might actually push me back towards Kubota.

The B2601 is more expensive, but it has some nice features that the LS doesn't have, and the 0% financing actually makes up most of the difference in price from the LS, at least w/my initial quotes. Will have to see if that changes by the time I'm ready to buy in May (perhaps LS will have a promo rate, or I can ask for a better deal).

The Kubota features that the LS didn't have: Split brakes, 3 range HST, extendable lower links. Also the cab layout on the B2601 worked better for me. The LS layout seemed a little too cramped for me (6'2). The brake pedal in particular was much too close - really had to lift my leg up to get my foot on it. But the 1 big benefit of the LS of course is the 1200+ loader lift vs 950 for the Kubota.

So... I left the LS dealer w/the XJ2025 at the top of my list. But after considering financing, the ~2500 price difference from the B2601 is actually insignificant, and that tractor has some nice additional features and probably better resale value. I will have to see if I can get a Kubota dealer to work w/me on price w/implements package. The Kubota delaer I visited will actually be quite far from my new home and I think there are 1 or 2 closer.

As I get closer to purchasing I'll have to get some firm / final quotes and see where the numbers fall. If the XJ2025 is significantly cheaper I'd go w/that. If not the Kubota might win. In the meantime I still need to go chat w/Mahindra and maybe Kioti. Not sure about MF or Yanmar. Didn't see anything too impressive in my research, but maybe I'm not looking at the right models.

Thanks

 

[motownbrowne]

I don't know how often you'll be switching implements, but the telescoping link arms are seriously a very nice thing to have. Very very nice.

Same with the 3 range transmission. To me, these two features are a pretty big deal.

 

[varmint]

Another pro-Kubota factor, often mentioned, is the potential for easier, higher re-sale if you were to learn that you need more tractor after using it for a while. Kubota's build quality is high, as well. Kioti is well worth a good look, too, based on what I have read here on TbN.

 

[AxleHub]

Pedzola,

Welcome to TBN. I'm probably going to sound like I'm "getting on you" . . but its with good intentions.

You started this thread poorly in my opinion because you asked for opinions without clarifying the needs and desires. In other words posters were allowed to assume everything and it quickly became a 25 hp to 60 hp discussion. Then you started adfing in details but it was too late as posters started supporting their original positions and opinions without being challenged by your requirements.

Then you quickly started getting "swayed" by those opinions very quickly . . . simply because a majority of opinions were your determining view. Recognize this isn't a vote . . majority doesn't rule . . only you do.

So how do you unconfuse yourself? How do you reaffirm your needs instead of posters assumptions ?

1st . . you need to understand glaring errors in opinions. Someone said scut units were far too small and could only lift 600npounds on the 3pt hitch. Thats incredibly wrong. On my sibcompact its 1194 pounds on the 3pt and some scuts are even higher.

Another poster said you need a grapple and to have a grapple you must have a ssqa compatible unit. Again . . its incredibly wrong as numerous quick attach choices exist with some being superior to ssqa standards. The list of inaccuracies to correct keeps going . . including the assumption you need a grapple to work in a woods that is ALREADY clean by your own words.

2nd . . you have to apply logic. You stated you will have approximately 3 acres of flat lawn with very few obstacles in it. And as is normal on tbn . . the zero turn rider opinions flew like snowflakes. But the simple point is . . A zero turn rider is a benefit when you have lots of obstacles and a great many turns to make. So how is it an advantage for your description? Will a ztr cutting without obstacles be any faster than a subcompact going the same speeds with similar sized decks ???? Will a gas engined ztr be as comfortable to drive than a heavier duty better made scut??? Will a gas engined ztr be able to come close to the fuel efficiency of a diesel engined scut ????

3. How about your wife? Doesn't she need to be part of the process? If you had a scut would she be able to use it for projects too? If you've got a 35 hp cut . . I'm thinking its a different comfort level for her than a 25 hp scut? In fact scutbbrochuresvoften show women operating them too.

4. Did you notice how you said your woods has already bern cleaned and maintained and you would do very little with it . . yet many were using the woods as a justification for having a cut tractor despite your statements you wanted to use the tractor on the lawn. Even when you said you wanted turf tires posters were telling you that you were wrong and you needed R4 tires because of "the woods".

5. You mentioned money restaints yet posters said you should not allow money redtraints to effect your decision. Same thing about spacevrequirements. You even started sayingbyou mightbhave to build a separate shed to answer THEIR needs (not your's).

6. Already you are changing your perspectives when you went to a couple dealers . . simply because some opinions on this thread have got you thinking you are in the minority.

Sorry pedzola, but in my view . . your opinions and needs carry the greatest weight. You need to know how the units sit for comfort (not from the internet). You need to recognize your needs and then compare each and every opinion against your needs . . not our needs. When you say you can't have 2 units . . you can listen to other opinions . . but you have to firmly support that 2 units is out.

My point is . . its March and you plan to buy in may or june. In my opinion you have to know the primary tractor brand options yet you don't seem to notice 2 or 3 of the bigger players.

You're allowing yourself in my opinion to be frustrated and confused and manipulated in too many directions to things you've plainly said you don't desire.

TBN posters aren't bad people or mean people. They want to help but often think newbies need to become themselves (the poster's experience and needs). Some would define it as bullying or manipulating. But I'd say they often don't realize how strong and wrongheaded their assumptions are. They forget when they were a newbie how impressionable they were.

In my opinion if you are unable to fight for your opinions and needs . . you will end up with something "they wanted" instead of something you needed.

Some sharp people responded on this thread . . but to get their best input to help you . . I think you need them to follow your lead . . not the other way around.

Thanks for listening . . just as I've been listening to what you have bern saying lol.

AxleHub

 

[varmint]

Axle, thanks for taking the effort to tease out some of the deeper issues that we often glide right over here when we are offering opinions and "advice". I trust the OP will be clever enough to simply process all that he's been given, and go forward from there. But, maybe we should always post with the underlying assumption that someone will believe we are tractor gods, and take opinions rather too literally. None of us want that. All that said, you gotta assume that there will be nuggets of learned wisdom, and the OP will come out ahead because of all this.

 

[airbiscuit]

I think the OP is doing the right thing by looking and learning at the dealerships. The comments on this thread help fuel his curiosity. In the end, he will be spending a lot of his own money on this purchase. He will come to his own conclusion as to whether or not a SCUT is enough tractor, or if a CUT is worth a the price differential in the long run.

 

[AxleHub]

Varmint, I agree with your post. Often a persom being asked for their opinion can become an intoxicsting effect. A sense of control on a workd very hard to control. Lol

Airbiscuit, in general I agree. However there is also a tendency for an uncertaon person to follow others because they believe its the safer choice. They get going in a direction they are aimed at by others and may never recognize they had some good ideas of their own. Unless of course someone tells them they that they weren't all wrong to start with

I hate not being a follower at times . . because its uncomfortable . . . but I often have found the discomfort is more than countetbalanced by better decision efforts lol.

Its not pleasant writing the post I did . . but its important for someone to listen

I'm sure seeing 6 or 8 brands will assist his perspective. I especially got a chuckle when hevsaid he didn't know if he'd get tonthe MF or Yanmar dealerships . . I almost bit my lip lol.

 

[IslandTractor]

A couple of points of disagreement with Axlehub's otherwise great post earlier today:

1) I didn't see any post claiming SCUT 3pt hitches only lift 600 lbs. On the other hand, SCUT loaders do generally lift only about that much. The Kubota BX series is the prototypical SCUT and lift capacity is limited. I'd much rather have 600lb loader than a shovel and wheelbarrow but for very little extra money you can get a small CUT with notably more useful 1000-1200lb lift capacity.

2) while the OP stated that his woods "had been cleaned", I would take that with a major grain of salt. Five acres of woods might be clean at time of sale but NH winters will soon change that. If he wants to keep any semblance of order in his woods, he's going to be doing many hours of fallen limb removal and pruning as well as brush cutting in those "clean" woods over the next fifty years. Not a good job for a SCUT. 25-30 hp in a CUT frame with R4s would make a lot more sense. I've got nothing against SCUTs but they don't belong in the woods.

3) 95% of grapples are SSQA. Yes there are some nice bucket grapple kits and yes it is possible to get a pin on grapple for some Kubota and JD tractors but the exceptions prove the rule. Pin on grapples are rare and it is for a good reason. SSQA adapters are useful for multiple things and allow switching implements in just a few minutes. Pin ons require at least 10-15 minutes to switch each time in my experience and that makes it less convenient. A bucket grapple kit is IMO the better alternative if budget doesn't allow for SSQA and grapple.

4) I haven't priced SCUTs in a while but new they cost within a couple thousand bucks of mid 20hp CUTs. A CUT is a lot more tractor for your dollar unless you are simply mowing a yard or are working on very limited acreage.

 

[AxleHub]

A couple of points of disagreement with Axlehub's otherwise great post earlier today:

1) I didn't see any post claiming SCUT 3pt hitches only lift 600 lbs. On the other hand, SCUT loaders do generally lift only about that much. The Kubota BX series is the prototypical SCUT and lift capacity is limited. I'd much rather have 600lb loader than a shovel and wheelbarrow but for very little extra money you can get a small CUT with notably more useful 1000-1200lb lift capacity.

2) while the OP stated that his woods "had been cleaned", I would take that with a major grain of salt. Five acres of woods might be clean at time of sale but NH winters will soon change that. If he wants to keep any semblance of order in his woods, he's going to be doing many hours of fallen limb removal and pruning as well as brush cutting in those "clean" woods over the next fifty years. Not a good job for a SCUT. 25-30 hp in a CUT frame with R4s would make a lot more sense. I've got nothing against SCUTs but they don't belong in the woods.

3) 95% of grapples are SSQA. Yes there are some nice bucket grapple kits and yes it is possible to get a pin on grapple for some Kubota and JD tractors but the exceptions prove the rule. Pin on grapples are rare and it is for a good reason. SSQA adapters are useful for multiple things and allow switching implements in just a few minutes. Pin ons require at least 10-15 minutes to switch each time in my experience and that makes it less convenient. A bucket grapple kit is IMO the better alternative if budget doesn't allow for SSQA and grapple.

4) I haven't priced SCUTs in a while but new they cost within a couple thousand bucks of mid 20hp CUTs. A CUT is a lot more tractor for your dollar unless you are simply mowing a yard or are working on very limited acreage.

Greetings,

1. My goal is not to fingerpoint . . only to demonstrate I was accurate. See post # 39 regarding 3 pt. 600 pound claim.

2. I can't speak for others . . but when an OP says his woods are already cleaned and he has no need to deal with it . . I can't assume I know better than he does. Maybe he will let it just be as it is for 2 decades . . Lots of people do. Or maybe he will have a friend who wants firewood and will do it for him every year. Or maybe his woods was timbered. My point is simple . . I can't recommend a larger tractor and require he change his needs needs based on denying what he tells us. And you'll notice no one even asked him . . they just assumed. If he said he has no plans for the woods . . I'd either ask him if he's sure or I'd take him at his statements. Because I might want to b work in the woods doesn't mean others do. This is my point. He says turf tires and posters say r4s to work in the woods. He says no woods activity yet "many" are saying it needs to be a bigger tractor because of the woods. Every one of us would get upset if we said what we wanted to do and 15 posters said "you don't understand we know what you will want to do and you don't". My point is . . We don't know better than him what he will want to do because we aren't him. All we can do is take him by his statements ior question him on hisvreasoning, or believe incorrectly that we know better than he does.

3. Regarding ssqa. I have a quick attach . . and I've posted about it many times. It is definetely not ssqa and there are many implements including 4 grapples just from 1 vendor alone that work with that quick attach. Even more importantly those implements are designed for scut needs and benefits. So I can buy a mini grapple that weights only 77 pounds yet opens to 28 inches and can grab any weight of rock or wood that my subcompact fel is capable of lifting. And because it's only 77 pounds and most ssqa grapples are 2x or 3x or even 4x that weight . . my actual useful payload is nearly the same as some cuts using ssqa with heavy grapples. And that grapple would work with my quick attach and is not a pin on grapple. I had explored a couple other similar 3rd party offerings as well . . Again not ssqa. Ali three were subcompact focused but the offerings from mytractortools.com for a subcompact were superior in build quality and concept imo.

4. My understanding is that a small cut would be $6000 or more, than a similarly equipped unit of mine . . and that represents at minimum 35% more. I'd say that is a substantial difference and doesn't even figure in sales tax differences.

I'm not an emotional person and I'm not writing this with emotion. My point is . . We as posters giving opinions need to be responsible in addition to being helpful. I don't want the control to cause someone to spend far more than he needs to or says he's not capable of. I don't desire to play puppeteer. I just want to be helpful. My concern is that too many times I see posters influencing more than listening. And they are watching people being swayed and then claiming "the person asked for opinions . . . He didn't have to take them". But that is what we used to hear on the school yard too "such and such didn't need to walk into my fist". Or my personal favorite . . . "he could have ducked and chose not to".


I'm just responding to your 4 points Island Tractor . . and if some are reading and see themselves being a part and thinking maybe they should lighten up a little . . then my posting efforts here are worthwhile even if there isn't a lot of fun in doing it lol.

Axlehub