Moving and need to buy a new TLB next year.

[SoGeorgia]

Next summer we are planning on moving from south Georgia to Maine.. yes, Maine.. yes, we know, it's cold there.. lol... We bought 26 acres off-grid and I will need to do a lot of clearing.. making roads.. a lot of digging.. fel work.. grapple (trees, limbs, rocks) and snow plowing as the road is not county maintained. We recently visited our property for 2 weeks and met our nearest neighbor. He bought a small Kubota with a fel (don't remember which model) and couldn't say enough good things about the dealer. I contacted the dealer to ask him what he would recommend based on my needs.. He sells Kubota and Mahindra.. after discussing with him it looked like the Mahindra 1626 would be a good option.

A few days later I did some Internet searching and found a TYM dealer about the same distance away.. Surprisingly they listed their prices which were well below MSRP. After contacting them they suggested a larger TYM 474 that was decked out with a FEL, backhoe, cab and 20 more hp for just slightly more than the Mahindra 1626 with only a FEL and NO cab. Anyway, I'm definitely leaning towards the TYM. For the money it looks like I can get a lot more tractor with the TYM than a Mahindra or Kubota.

Does the TYM 474 seem like a good tractor? Thoughts?

 

[Tractorable]

I didn’t see the TYM 474 on TYM’s website. Discontinued?

Either way, for 26 acres of forest in Maine, building a property, I’d be looking to rent construction equipment for the initial heavy work, then purchase a ~4000lb bare tractor weight machine with a cab. 75in+ wheelbase would be desirable to have enough weight, traction, and leverage to handle all the heavy work your new property willl entail. Definitely a third function, 2-3 rear remotes with top n tilt, grapple, snow blower, and box blade should be on your list.

 

[deezler]

Not a lot of TYM owners on here. When I bought my (used) Kioti, I was also first tempted by the regional TYM dealer's ads on craigslist and elsewhere, because the published prices are pretty aggressively discounted.

But it made me stop and ask: why. Why are TYM tractors able to undercut the competition by so much? Sure, they have less features, but they still come equipped to work. Is the quality lower? Dealer and repair network much weaker? Hard to say.

I was attracted to Kioti myself, because of the relatively strong reputation for reliability already established here on TBN, while also being priced some 20-30% under a comparably capable Deere or Kubota.

Seems like Mahindra tractors can be durable tanks, OR complete break-down lemons. Easy to find many horror stories of repeatedly non-functional Mahindras here and elsewhere on the internet, often with poor dealer repair experiences to go along with that. Kubotas are terrific, but very expensive.

Any tractor brand can have problems - it really depends on your dealership support. Are they going to quickly take care of you under warranty if something goes wrong? Do they promptly answer the phone and get back to you with answers, or do they dodge you and make excuses? Are they just down the road and friendly, or 85 miles away and gruff? It's all about the dealer, if buying new. Take a tour of their repair shop and see if it is organized and clean (ish).

 

[sea2summit]

I think for 26 acres you need a lot more than 20 HP and 2500# of tractor….don’t even get me started with grappling on that light of a tractor.

But let’s hear more about what you want it to do and how much time you want to spend doing it.

 

[deezler]

Echoing what tractorable said - you might really want a mini-excavator for initial site work instead. You can yank trees/stumps, cut ditches, scoop dirt, etc - much easier with a excavator in the 8,000-15,000 lb range than by abusing a 4000lb tractor.

 

[Tractorable]

Take a look at the new Massey Ferguson 1835/1840M tractors as well. Now 100% made by Iseki in Japan. Affordable premium 3500-4000lb machines with lots of nice features.

 

[Mr_Pips]

I didn’t see the TYM 474 on TYM’s website. Discontinued?

Either way, for 26 acres of forest in Maine, building a property, I’d be looking to rent construction equipment for the initial heavy work, then purchase a ~4000lb bare tractor weight machine with a cab. 75in+ wheelbase would be desirable to have enough weight, traction, and leverage to handle all the heavy work your new property willl entail. Definitely a third function, 2-3 rear remotes with top n tilt, grapple, snow blower, and box blade should be on your list.

It's on their site under the Series 3 tractors.


OP: Check out "Tony's Tractor Adventure Homestead" on Youtube. He runs a T474 and T25.

 

[SoGeorgia]

Echoing what tractorable said - you might really want a mini-excavator for initial site work instead. You can yank trees/stumps, cut ditches, scoop dirt, etc - much easier with a excavator in the 8,000-15,000 lb range than by abusing a 4000lb tractor.

I really wish I could afford to buy a mini excavator. Due to the distance to the nearest rental place and how long I would need to rent one I can see renting becoming quite expensive which led me to the backhoe option.

 

[SoGeorgia]

Here's the tractor I was looking at. TYM 474

 

[SoGeorgia]

I think for 26 acres you need a lot more than 20 HP and 2500# of tractor….don’t even get me started with grappling on that light of a tractor.

But let’s hear more about what you want it to do and how much time you want to spend doing it.

Thick, untouched forest that I'm going to need to make some roads through. Moving trees and brush, a lot of firewood carrying. Grapple for moving trees and large rocks. Will need a box blade for the road work and a plow for snow when it comes. Digging a small basement as well as a sunken greenhouse and lots of trenching, burying water containers, etc.