looking orange went green

[jcotta]

Hi to all TBN.

I have been reading posts old and new for the last three months to help determine the best affordable tractor for my needs. I purchased 10 acres of land and a small house in Little Compton RI from family members a year ago . About an acre clear , 6 acres woods , the rest wet with a brook running through. I want to clear blown down trees 30+, bush hog brush on 6 acres,put in drains around house, grey water waste disposal system, build retaining walls out of large boulders, and put in a 100 ft road. I did not really want to spend more than 20k. I figured at least 30 hp to run 5 foot brush hog and a loader with good lift for stone and tree work. A backhoe was a budget buster. A new Kubota 3430 with 723 loader seemed to be the best fit a 3830 if I could find one at the right price(not likely in New England).
I also read some of the JD posts and was going to look at a new 3520. Kept looking at dealer used equipment, E Bay and the want advertiser and local classified. I stumbled on a sight that gave classified ad within 300 miles of my home for farm equipment. Tuesday night an interesting ad for a John Deere 4600 popped up in VT (150 miles away). I really did not
know much about the machine but was quickly able to research here. More machine than I needed, but too good a deal to pass up. Gentlemen farmer moving to Colorado in three weeks wanted to get rid of all of his equipment.
The deal
John Derre 4600 411 hours power reverser
JD 48 backhoe
Jd 613 brush hog
Kuhn Tiller 60"
New York rake
total cost 21,900 (package deal)

I asked the seller if there were other interested parties, he said 2. I made an appointment 1 hour earlier than the first interested buyer and bought everthing today. One stop shopping. Thanks to all , with special thanks to Cowboy Doc and Ct Tree Guy for the many posts I read during my education process.

John ( a new horsepower junkie)

Life is what happen while you are making other plans - John Lennon

 

[jcotta]

I forgot the 460 loader
R-1 tires loaded

John

 

[beenthere]

Great bargain. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[IslandTractor]

Hey neighbor, nice work. A perfect example of getting yourself prepared for the big game and taking advantage of whatever opportunity arises. My experience buying was somewhat similar in that I prepared myself on TBN and ended up buying a bargain rather than the "leading" candidate in the end. Couldn't be happier.

 

[daTeacha]

If I were you I'd kind of lay low for a few months. The local police are probably looking for you for committing grand larceny! Great find!

A 4400 used with hst and loader and more hours is bringing $16k at a dealer here in Ohio. You got more tractor and lot's more tools for just a little over your budget. Of course, since you only exceeded your planned price by 10%, you may be banned from the site. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Most everyone goes at least 20% more than they originally planned.

 

[crazylare1]

Hi John, I too done a lot of reading here on tbn before purchasing my new tractor, these guys (and gals) are great aren't they? I reg. to be a member and now I get to help spend other peoples money /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif sounds like you got a fantastic deal and like deteacha said "lay low for awhile" you stold that tractor. Have fun with it!
Larry
p.s. Welcome to the forum!

 

[HEC]

A great Find orange,green doesn't really matter they are both great tractors and you will love the power reverser I sure do mine.If it is like the kubota and I think it is it will be a wet clutch system so it will last much much longer than the dry type.
Herb

 

[40Kchicks]

It's usually really nice to have <font color="blue">"More machine than I needed" </font> . 411 hours is not much at all. You will really enjoy having all those tools. Congratulations

Eric

 

[jcotta]

Grand theft ???

My 16 year old son calls me at work this morning laughing after reading all of the replies. I am a CPA at work doing tax returns and have not had time to get on the net. My wife must have had my son checking my internet history. Can your father really be spending that much time on the computer reading about tractors ?

The real story is the man I purchased the tractor from had been buying and remodeling houses for the last six years. He would renovate the buildings and use the tractor to improve the landscaping. Live in the house two years as principal residence and pay no tax on up to 500,000 of gain.

The house that the tractor was located at was on the side on a small mountain in Southern Vermont. He had renovated an old barn and turned it into a residence. In the front of the property he had built a 15' retaining wall with gardens. Below the wall was a three acre meadow that once been solid woods.
He cleared the meadow with the tractor and hired a big excavator to remove the stumps. He was 57 and was " retired" from his computer job at a big high tech company. This man was smart. He got to play with the tractor for five years and got paid for it. His gig was up here , higher interest rates have cooled the real estate market. He was moving to Colorado to be closer to his son. Look out for him , he might be in your neighbor hood soon.

This turned out to be a win / win for both of us. He could the tractor go CHEAP because it had paid for itself . He did not lose a dime. I made out because I had the cash to do a quick deal . Tractors priced right as good as cash ?

So much for buyers remorse. The positive feed back is great. To quote Paul Harvey " now you know the rest of the story".

Thanks

John

John

 

[riptides]

You know it is always good to hear win-win stories. Especially in this day and age.

Good for you, and yes one can spend a lot of time reading about good stuff on the net, tractors and their related projects come to mind.

Welcome, Keep us posted on the project list now with your new tools.

-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif