Newbie here, not afraid to ask for advice and opinions on a new tractor, etc

[IslandTractor]

That is exactly what I am looking for in a dealer. I want a solid relationship with the selling dealer. The lowest price for me is not my main objective (a fair price is), I want the best relationship I can have with the dealer. I know that with limited knowledge and being a newbie that I will indeed need to lean on a dealer for things. I want to be able to call and know that the person on the other end of the phone is not just answering the phone, but knows me and genuinely wants to help me solve my issue.

Remember, the big dealers who provide that level of service are likely serving farms and businesses who buy equipment from them regularly. They get the extra service because the dealer considers it part of his marketing. That same dealer may well have the ability to service you in the same way but given the smaller chance of repeat sales, you are likely to pay for such attention. And, CUTs don't really need much service so don't be oversold on how important a dealer is. Get a reliable CUT and take care of it and you'll rarely need the dealer except for supplies. I have over 500 hrs on my Kioti and it's never been back to the shop or seen a mechanic other than yours truly.

 

[terryknight]

MT gets cold i can understand wanting a cab. i do agree with jeff that a 100hp tractor is too big to learn on. however i think you'd be happier in the end with a utility tractor, rather than a CUT, at 65-75 hp. a CUT will work just slower and weaker hydraulically.

are you building the house yourself or hiring it out?

the M series are not made in India, i think it's GA but can't find that written anywhere. the smaller E series are made in india (side not i have one and have had no/zero problems in 2+ years and 240 hours)

keep us posted i like the seeing the process as people go through their decision process

 

[jeff9366]

Do you have any recommendations for a tractor in that size range with a cab?

You have told us you only have three tractor dealers reasonably close. You can do research on the individual brand web sites. Spreadsheet the specs.

 

[jeff9366]

the M series are not made in India, i think it's GA but can't find that written anywhere.

Origin of components is highly dependent on exchange rates. The US dollar is at multi-year highs, so more components are being imported now than five to six years ago, pre-fracking, when the dollar was less valuable.

Component origin and mix will always be variable for multi-national manufacturers.

US - India - Thailand - Japan - Brazil - Mexico - Argentina - Poland - Turkey - South Africa​

 

[MAN IN BLACK]

You definitely need a utility tractor over a CUT...and personally , with what you listed, I would not go under 65hp...just for hydraulics capacities and the heavier stronger built.
But 100hp is way over kill for your situation...that's ALOT of tractor !
I had both...I know there's a huge difference between the 2...no matter what people say.

 

[jeff9366]

Keep in mind you will likely be fueling whatever tractor you buy from five gallon fuel cans. You have to fill them at the gas station, hoist full cans into your vehicle, unload full cans at home, then hoist full cans to fuel tractor.

Some tractor operators have bulk tanks at home, which is fine if fuel turns over frequently. I want my tractor diesel FRESH. I run down my tractor tank before refueling. I do not want more than minimal 'old' diesel in my tractor tank when I refuel.

A 45-hp tractor will consume an average .65 gallon of diesel per hour.

 

[jenkinsph]

Something in the 45 hp range will do everything you wanted except lift 4500 pounds. Something in the 45 hp range could lift your minimum requirement of 2500 pounds. I know you said new, but a now discontinue JD 110 would fit your needs with a lift capacity of 2700 pounds. A Kubota M59 has a lift capacity of 3900 pounds.

I agree and have the JD110 with a Laurin cab and it is handy and versatile. I would also suggest that the larger Deere 210 L construction landscape loader tractor with factory cab and 5,400 lb. lift is worth a look. The new replacement for the Kubota M59 tlb is the M62 available early next year and is supposed to be available with a cab.

Buying new with cab I would have to give both of these machines a hard look, Kubota M62 62hp hydrostatic transmission will handle 3000+ lb pallets. and the Deere210L 93hp, powershift transmission will handle 4,500 lb. pallets.


To the OP,
I would not nail down to a specific model of ag tractor or tractor/loader/backhoe, compact tractor just yet. I would try to get a better idea of the needs first then look at all of the suggestions before deciding which is best for you.

I am a general contractor and it is my experience that suggest a Kubota M62 with cab should be a well rounded machine for 90% of your uses. This will be available with or without the backhoe, but I find a backhoe is always needed on construction sites. The Deere 210 L while larger and higher lift capacity is great for grading is not available with a backhoe and is not a hydrostatic transmission. It has a powershift transmission which works very well for grading work.

For mowing I have the x749 which is about the same as the x739 but is diesel, very satisfied with it after 5 years of use. I also have an x758 diesel without the 4 wheel steer it is also good but lacks the maneuverability I am used to.

About pricing I found that all of the Deere equipment I have bought new was purchased from 15% off msrp for the small mowers to 20% off msrp for the loaded 110 tlb. I would expect some where around 15 to 18% off on a new tractor purchase. Don't have a clue where the other brands discounts are structured.

 

[IslandTractor]

You definitely need a utility tractor over a CUT...and personally , with what you listed, I would not go under 65hp...just for hydraulics capacities and the heavier stronger built.
But 100hp is way over kill for your situation...that's ALOT of tractor !
I had both...I know there's a huge difference between the 2...no matter what people say.

Definitely need a utility tractor????

He wants to 1) mow 3 acres. Can do that with a SCUT or Sears riding mower. 2) Mow 20 acres to clear and then mow it occasionally. The initial cutting could be hired out and the occasional mowing done easily over a few days with a six foot mower on any tractor above 35hp. 3) Tilling 2 acres: any tractor above 30hp can run a six foot tiller, 4) plowing: see below 5) PHD: any tractor can run a PHD. 6) FEL: he'd be happy with 2500lbs lift and most 40+hp CUTs can do that.

Plowing is the only task he mentions that really pushes one to consider a utility sized tractor. Question is whether that single task is justification for a going up to utility size and giving up the convenience of a CUT HST as well as considerable extra expense. If sod needs to be broken it might make more sense to subcontract that initial task. Certainly a 40+hp CUT can handle occasional plowing.

We don't know from the OP's initial post whether this is a commercial venture or a hobby farm. I suspect hobby farm as it is pretty unlikely someone contemplating a commercial farm would need to ask newbie questions about tractors. I applaud the OP's initial post as being very detailed and clear on most topics but what is lacking is any experience to judge whether some of those tasks would simply be better done by hiring out rather than oversizing his own equipment.

I would not go so far to to say he definitely does not need a utility size tractor but it's pretty clear that the vast majority of his listed regular uses could easily be handled by a 40-60hp CUT with HST and cab with a savings of tens of thousands over similarly equipped utility tractor

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

I would respectively diagree with jeff and agree with ManInBlack. This is because of the OPs stated desire not to later have to upgrade and the possibility of field cultivation.

 

[concernedcitizen]

I did not have enough of an idea or information about how many hours per day/week/month year an average recreational or non-professional tractor would be used, so that information was great to know, it certainly put a better definition on what a full day is as far as tractor engine hours are concerned as I had been guesstimating that it was the office standard of 8 hours.

Certainly this is not a for profit/commercial purpose, Its would be used to acquire new skills, in the long term provide basics for our extended family (gardens, cattle, etc) like a homestead of sorts, just on a large scale, well at least land wise, to allow our family to have the means to provide for ourselves. We are ok with it costing more than running to the grocery store and picking out cuts of meat, as we would have the both the cuts of meat we want, how we want them and they would still be available if all the stores closed down.

I'm in the bio-medical field, so farming is new concept for me and the vast majority of my family, but we are not closed off to learning new skills. Owning my own company allows me to move the company to anywhere I want to, which is in the plans to do in a few years after things are constructed and in place.

Not wanting to bore everyone with great details, the land and the funds are being gifted from grandparents to the family (with me in control of the funds, with oversight from trustee's [read the most hated people on earth; lawyers] with very strict conditions for its use. It must be used for the benefit of the family and for the purpose of allowing the family in the end (i'm sure after lots of trial, errors and failures) to be self sufficient in terms of raising our own food (hence the cattle and other other livestock), etc. The grandparents were from what I understand "preppers" or something along those lines as well as having lived through the great depression, so such was of great importance to them. Luckily for our family they were able to achieve a substantial amount of wealth during their lives which they were generous enough to pass along to their grandchildren.

We will be contracting out our house and the buildings to a custom builder, but we plan to spend as much time there as possible as we are just simply nosy and i'm a control freak. It would also be of benefit to make sure that when problems arise we can deal with them quickly and not lose time. I'm sure this is going to drive the General Contractors crazy, but for the amount of money we are talking, they are willing to deal with our families set of perfectionists.

A driving reason for wanting the cab is because I'm so accustom to being indoors (read not hot nor cold) for so long in an office/lab type environment that I'm quite sure it will take me a lengthy time to acclimate to the changes as I don't do well with being overly hot or cold and Montana is surely going to be cold, if the historical weather maps and data I have researched are anywhere near close. I also might in the future decide that the tractor is my new office and want to use for winter chores, such as snow blowing, etc.

I plan to purchase a diesel fuel trailer with pump. I'm budgeting for a trailer tank that is roughly 420 gallons with a double wall. We also have one truck that are diesel truck and have plans to buy an additional diesel truck, so if with two trucks and given our current rate of use of diesel fuel, keeping fuel fresh should not be an issue. I actually think that with the addition of other diesel vehicles as well as back up generators, we might be needing to look into a larger storage tank.

Man In Black, I looked at the different models, for example starting at the Case IH 55C CVT with cab model (running about $50 k loaded) then jumping up to the Case IH 90C with cab (running about $83k) That is one heck of a difference, but then between the 90C to 100C it jumps just $2k and from 90C to 110C it jumps just $5k and from the 90C to the 120C jumping just $7k [just being a relative term to the overall cost of course]. It seems like that from the 90C to the 120C for $7k, one gets a huge increase in HP and PTO power for a small amount of money. Compared to the Jump from a 55C to the 90C where the price increases in excess of $30k.

I will have to go back to the site and see what/if a 75C is available and what it costs. That is why I was so eager to jump upwards to bigger, the finacial side of my brain was saying that was a heck of a deal being that $7k got me that many more HP and PTO power