new tractor, new board, advice?

greenmule · Mar 31, 2009

I live about 45-50 min from there,they didn't charge a penny to deliver.[1hour drive for the tilt bed they had],so,maybe the poster wouldn't be charged anything either.

You got big Phil and little phil,and misses Phil,and their wise old owl,delivery/question man[had a young guy there working as a mecanic too]. Like I said,good down to earth people,not used car dealer type.

Semipro · Mar 31, 2009

I'm sure glad I took the time to post to this board. You guys have brought up some points that I hadn't really thought about but I now find important. I was looking to chip larger branches but as someone mentioned, anything that big is firewood. I never would have thought that chipping was that tiring but I believe in the voice of experience. Great comments too on dealers and makes. I'm giving all a hard look now. Looks like a mmm may not be appropriate for what I need to do either. I can save some money there. Filled, or partially filled tires and moving the rear wheels out as wide as I can but no wider than my implement makes sense too.

As is usually the case, sometimes the amount of information available is overwhelming but it helps having others help you sort it out.

BTW: I've posted this thread on another group and thought some of you might find the responses there interesting. Hearth is a great group if you're into wood heating or even if you're not
Hearth.com Wood Stove and Pellet Stove Forums....and much more! | Tractor/implement recommendations

Thanks again to all for the great responses.
Andy

wwalkersd · Mar 31, 2009

dgl24087 said:
The Kioti dealer near Princeton is in Peterstown, WV on Rt. 219. I believe they've only been selling tractors 2-3 years, but have been a lawn and garden dealership for a while.

This illustrates my gripe with the dealers of "lesser known" tractors, at least around here. Most of the dealers I've seen seem to be non-tractor businesses that have picked up tractor sales as a side line. They have no experience servicing tractors, and in a down economy they may just drop tractors altogether.

For example, my "local" Mahindra dealer was a fairly well established horse trailer dealer, and they're not selling Mahindras any more. One of the rental yards is the Montana dealer. I have two well-established JD dealers, one of which also sells MF, and well-established Kubota/NH dealership. I believe those dealers will still be around next year when I need parts or service.

greenmule · Mar 31, 2009

Yeah,been hearing of negitive things on them mahindras lately.

Gittyup · Mar 31, 2009

wwalkersd said:
This illustrates my gripe with the dealers of "lesser known" tractors, at least around here. Most of the dealers I've seen seem to be non-tractor businesses that have picked up tractor sales as a side line. They have no experience servicing tractors, and in a down economy they may just drop tractors altogether.

For example, my "local" Mahindra dealer was a fairly well established horse trailer dealer, and they're not selling Mahindras any more. One of the rental yards is the Montana dealer. I have two well-established JD dealers, one of which also sells MF, and well-established Kubota/NH dealership. I believe those dealers will still be around next year when I need parts or service.

Your choices in SWVa are quite different than San Diego County. In SWVa, dealers are few and far between, and small local dealers are the norm. This is an area where the entire county (and many surrounding counties) are less than 10,000 people total. In such a very rural demographic, the small dealers can be quite stable because often there is very little else to do to make a living. And believe me, their reputations are on the line because everybody knows everybody. Your reputation is everything in these communities. If your business were to fail, how you ran your business while you were in it will affect your ability to get a job even in an unrelated field. You can be certain that if they have been in the lawn and garden business for a few years that they will do all they can be service your tractor needs. They may not have the resources of a big dealer. But, you can be sure that they know you by name, and you them.

Besides Kiotis aren't just sold by small dealers. There are some good sized ones too that will help just about anyone that comes calling. I suspect the same is true for some Mahindra dealerships.

Gittyup · Mar 31, 2009

Semipro said:
I'm sure glad I took the time to post to this board. You guys have brought up some points that I hadn't really thought about but I now find important. I was looking to chip larger branches but as someone mentioned, anything that big is firewood. I never would have thought that chipping was that tiring but I believe in the voice of experience. Great comments too on dealers and makes. I'm giving all a hard look now. Looks like a mmm may not be appropriate for what I need to do either. I can save some money there. Filled, or partially filled tires and moving the rear wheels out as wide as I can but no wider than my implement makes sense too.

As is usually the case, sometimes the amount of information available is overwhelming but it helps having others help you sort it out.

BTW: I've posted this thread on another group and thought some of you might find the responses there interesting. Hearth is a great group if you're into wood heating or even if you're not
Hearth.com Wood Stove and Pellet Stove Forums....and much more! | Tractor/implement recommendations

Thanks again to all for the great responses.
Andy

Yep, making mulch with a chipper is more work than I want to take on. I use between 20 and 50 yards of mulch each year. I wouldn't think of trying to make it, not even 5 yards. With my chipper, and 2 people feeding it, we probably can make about 2 to 3 yards an hour if we work real hard at it. Our county landfill gives it away and loads it for us. I drive in with my trailer and drive out with about 8 to 10 yards. Takes about 5 minutes. Tip the loader guy $5 and back home in 15 minutes. Takes about half an hour to unload with my tractor into our compost corral. I'm glad I don't have to buy it or chip it. Else, I'd use a whole lost less.

greenmule · Apr 1, 2009

Yep,around here money is,has been,and will be hard to come by. About any dealer/garage etc,will work on about anything if they can,money is money,you just got to find the one that can do it and do it right.

These tractors are all very close,and if you don't have an hst,than they are really pretty close,[as far as working on them],shop manual[which I gotta get] and parts is about all most good mechanics would need to work on any of them.

But if you buy a good/well made tractor and take care of it and don't abuse it,it should last many,many years without anything breaking.[theres always the one that is exception to that rule],but most of us don't put over 100 hours a year or so on them anyways.

woodyacres · Apr 1, 2009

Semipro said:
BTW: I've posted this thread on another group and thought some of you might find the responses there interesting. Hearth is a great group if you're into wood heating or even if you're not
Hearth.com Wood Stove and Pellet Stove Forums....and much more! | Tractor/implement recommendations

You can also check out www.arboristsite.com
I use that for most of my wood cutting questions. Great site and a lot of professionals.

Maybe I can aid you a little too in your original question. I live in a very similiar situation as you just not so recently went through the same process. I have 5 heavily wooded, rolling acres and 1/4mile drive with two big hills. In the winter, I have to have four wheel drive to get in and out (been towed twice already). I move a lot of wood: split, cut and logged. I went with a KIOTI DK35 which is a 38hp tractor. I was originally scared of the larger size over the CK series, but wanted the wider front wheel base for stability on the hills. Turns out I made the right decision and hold no regrets I have no issue in getting in the woods and haven't even lowered the rops, once. I am glad I went with the Kioti for the larger loader capacity and higher hp (review specs) for a much smaller price than the big 3 (looked at Deere and Kubota). I am lucky and have two dealers within an hour and actually have changed dealers to the further one because of better service (mainly for my 50 hr which I did myself). I was having issues getting cost from my original dealer just to get me the oil. Anyway, besides that I have been very lucky and not needed any dealer work or support.

My advise would be to not rush your decision and sit and drive as many as you can. Go bigger than you think you will need. I am a little disappointed that I didn't get the DK40 now, with the even higher loader capacity, I haven't maxed it yet, but would be nice to have.

My other suggestion woul dbe to get a seperate splitter so you can keep weight on the three point for moving the wood in the loader. I have had issues with lifting logs to cut them and the back end coming up.

PM me and I will send you some pics of what my area looks like and the logs I have moved with the loader.

Dan

dgl24087 · Apr 1, 2009

dgl24087 said:
The Kioti dealer near Princeton is in Peterstown, WV on Rt. 219. I believe they've only been selling tractors 2-3 years, but have been a lawn and garden dealership for a while.

Mountaineer is also selling Cub/Yanmar tractors. I had cause to be in the Princeton area this morning and diverted by there. Had 2 Sc2400, 2 EX3200, and 1 EX450 on the lot. In Kioti, 1 CK20, a DK40SE Cab, a couple of DK35SE's, and 2-3 others that I can't remember the models. The dealer is actually about 3 miles north of Peterstown.