Need guidance in selecting Mower vs Yard Tractor

[piercedtiger]

Im not married to any brand, I just know there is a JD dealer 10 minutes down the road. The only LS dealer in Ohio is almost 80 miles away

Kubota dealers are 15 and 28 miles away

Name some other brands and Ill be more than happy to check em out

Mahindra
TYM
LS
Bobcat
Nortrac

 

[cford36]

To get you started.......I started with a John Deere 2210.(Knew nothing about tractors at that point) After about 10 years decided I wanted a factory cab tractor. After 2 years researching and going to a farm show where I could see and sit on basically every tractor built I decided on the LS 3135.

You have to decide for yourself, but what I found your best bang for your buck is LS, Kioti and Mahindra.(Personally I didn't like fit, finish and layout of the Mahindra)
LS makes several of the New Holland models, so no reason to pay more so they can stick a NH sticker on it.

Distance to dealer.......numerious thoughts on this one. If you are handy and can do your own oil changes, etc. Hopefully it will never need to go to the dealer, or at least very infrequently. I would find out how much the dealers would charge to pick up the tractor.

Price out several, definetly sit on and test drive them. I know JD is very close to you but I think you will find that you are going to pay a significant premium for green paint and in my experience will also charge you to pick up even if you were next door.

Also, be sure to compare apples to apples too. Meaning what options are included and what are add ons. Such as rear remotes (Some have some included such as LS, most do not and they are an added options) skid steer quick attach (SSQA) bucket, etc.

 

[airbiscuit]

I didn't list these brands because in my opinion ...

Mahindra - Inconsistent quality
TYM - Still in business 5 years from now?
LS - Worthy option but one dealer 80 miles away
Bobcat - Rebadged Kioti- but no longer manufactured
Nortrac - Cheap obsolete design, questionable Chinese quality

 

[dnmccoy]

So here we are as far as dealers:

-JD dealer -10 minutes down the road.
- New Holland is 10 miles away
-LS dealer is almost 80 miles away
-Kubota dealers are 15 and 28 miles away
-Massey dealer is 25 min away
-Yanmar is about 2 hours away

 

[airbiscuit]

That's a good start...

John Deere dealer -10 minutes down the road.
New Holland dealer is 10 miles away
Kubota dealers are 15 and 28 miles away
Massey dealer is 25 min away

You are fortunate to have so many reputable brands that close!

 

[dodge man]

I went down the same road as you, except I only own 3 acres but I have a 600 foot long driveway. That list someone posted from Craigslist is excellent. Trust me and the others, its exactly what you need. Get used and save some money. I went the route of a cheap mower, lasted maybe 3 years and got tore up. Them I bought a lower cost JD riding mower. It held up better but still wasn't what I needed. I then went to a Kubota BX 2350. It exactly what I needed from day one. You will want an end loader, maybe a box blade, and a mid mount mower. One machine will do it all for you.

One thing to keep in mind, used tend to look like crap. Mines a little over 10 years old and has 600 hours on it. I take care of it, but it looks rough. They get scratched, they get dented, they get really dirty but look past that and look at the mechanicals.

If you can't afford that I understand. For short term I'd get the cheapest riding mower that you will think will last a few years and then get a small tractor later. I would say skip the graden style tractors, they cost more but won't do the job a true sub compact or compact tractor will.

I also agree, nice place, enjoy the journey, it will be fun!

 

[Turbys_1700]

I took care of my mowing needs with a Yanmar YM1700 and 5 foot Land Pride rear finish mower for over 14 years. My property was open with few obstacles and the combination worked well for me. I would look at that option with a 20 to 30 HP compact tractor. Craigslist is your friend. Be patient.

 

[crazyal]

Here's my advice, it may not be worth much but I might as well give it to you. Just last week I picked up an X500 Deere for mowing (the X570 is it's replacement). It has very low hours as it was bought May of last year. I got it for almost $2000 off of what the dealer wanted for a new leftover X500. When looking I found several around similar to the deal I got. So for around $4k you should be able to pick up something that will have lots of life left in it.

Now for the advice. The X500 is not going to be a long term solution for everything you want to do. But you can get by for a number of years until you are in a better financial position. When I bought my land (42 acres of woods) I bought a full size backhoe (580K) and a small dozer to clear a spot for the house and make a driveway. My plan was to sell the backhoe and get a cut and a backhoe attachment. But it turns out that for what I could sell the 580k for wasn't that much more than a new backhoe attachment so I just kept it, and glad I did as I had plenty of work for it over the years.

So that left me not really in a good financial position to buy a CUT. I ended up putting a plow on a 4wd dump truck I had bought for clearing the land for a few hundred. For keeping the driveway under control in the summer I used an old Honda ATC 3 wheeler to pull an I-beam up and down it. For mowing I had an old Craftsman rider that did it's fair share of rock mulching until I got them removed. It was replaced a few years later with another box store special. When I could afford it a couple years later I also learned a lot more about CUTs so I knew what I wanted. One of the biggest (costly) mistakes people make is trying to settle for what will do what they think they want only to find out it's too small (or on occasion too large) and have to sell it for what they really needed. That was about 7 years ago. This winter I decided it was time to get a real mower so I got the X500 with the idea that it should last me a lifetime. I knew a lot more now than I would have 10 years ago. I knew that a diff lock was important as well as a solid frame. While I haven't mowed with it I have removed the deck. Seeing how the tractor works I can tell you that it's built a lot better than the Husky (that was about $3k less than the new price of the X570) I was also looking at. Not bashing Husky, $3k vs $6k riders shouldn't be equal.

I think the X500 would pull a drag and if you don't mind it being a little slow you can get a snowblower attachment for it. If taken care of I don't see why you can't expect 25 to 30 years out of it. I didn't look at the prices of the X700 series but I thought they were almost twice the cost. If so I can't see why I would go with one over a CUT. One thing to remember is that premium riding mowers don't hold their value while CUTs do. I doubt you could find a 1 year old cut with 45 hours for 66% of the cost of a new one. So I would do a look around (Craig's list, Tractor House, dealers in your area) for a low hour used X500 series (the X500 will be the cheapest as it doesn't have extras like hydraulic deck lift, power steering, or 4 wheel steering) tractor. If your handy with wrenches I would look for a plow truck, a snow blower for the X500, or just pay someone to plow it. Then I would learn your land. When the money is better I would look to add a SCUT or a CUT/ By then you should have a better idea what you want to do. Who knows maybe you'll decide to grow blueberries in the pasture. Plus it'll give you time to see if you can find a good deal on something that fits your needs or you may find that you just don't need one. It's a big investment.

 

[piercedtiger]

I didn't list these brands because in my opinion ...

Mahindra - Inconsistent quality
TYM - Still in business 5 years from now?
LS - Worthy option but one dealer 80 miles away
Bobcat - Rebadged Kioti- but no longer manufactured
Nortrac - Cheap obsolete design, questionable Chinese quality

I mentioned all the ones I've seen, as some of them might be found used. IE a new Kioti would be more than an older used white Kioti...

As for TYM, this forum showed me they make some other tractors before vendor specific paint is applied.

In case you didn't know a lot of the 50+ hp Mahindra tractors are made by TYM. The roots of the TYM go back to older Iseki (sold in NA as Massey Ferguson, White, Agco & Challenger) designs which have been updated. I think that TYM still has some affiliation with Iseki. In general, nice tractors with a dealer network that is just developing. Some areas have adequate coverage, and some are lacking.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/buying-pricing-comparisons/249559-tym-tractors.html

 

[Deere Dude]

I have had an X740 for 5 years and its predecessors before that for the last 25 years and always from 5-7 acres. One thing nice about them is with a 3PT hitch they can be great trailer movers, can rototill, snowblow, grade driveways and push around piles of gravel or dirt. They are a very handy size to have around. I used that for all those functions for 30 years and never wanted a bigger mower or tractor.

I felt the urge to get a CUT, had the money, and went for it. I enjoy them both and both have their good points and their weak points, and what the lot size and what is expected from them plays a lot into the consideration.

For a flat piece of ground of 7 acres with just mowing, tilling and snowblowing and a little grading now and then a larger garden tractor with 3PT hitch will work great. For that much mowing I wouldn't want anything smaller that a 62" deck. I would not want a front mount mower even though they are popular because unless there are a ton of obstacles to go around it would about as fast as a garden tractor.

Even though a GT with big decks mow fast for me mowing 7-8 acres took 5.5 hours and I was flying with the 62" deck. A lot of people are going with the 1 series JDs because they are small and still have many of the capabilities as the larger GT plus the FEL, which is nice.

Good luck with your decision, but I think the X500 is a little small.