Newbie looking for advice

[Pops15]

My guess is the 0% financing and value of a warranty would outweigh the savings of all but the best deals on used equipment. Unfortunately I won't be in a position to buy until spring.
Maybe I should think about a flail mower and maybe super steer for the majority of the property and a zero turn mower for the areas immediately around the house and buildings.
Thanks guys! Feel free to chime in if you have more advice.
Pops

 

[holtzacres]

Pops, About a month ago I purchased a Boomer 3045 with cab (radio is nice to have) and 250tl loader with front aux hydraulic lines for my power angle snow plow, R4 tires. I also purchased the 7' belly mower and a set of turf tires for mowing. The dealer has not installed my mower yet, but I demo'd one with the mower and I loved it. No lawn scuffing from the tires when turning, mower is rear discharge and it mowed beautifully. Plenty of power and mower mows very even for a 4 blade mower deck spanning 7'. I also have the 74" 3pt New Holland snowblower w/ hydraulic chute - great for blowing snow. I had a 2007 TC35DA which I traded in for the 3045, it was open station - cold in winter. I also have New Holland's 6' HD 3pt tiller, great tool. I mow my kids 4-wheeler trails with a John Deere LX5 5' rotary mower, tractor doesn't even know it is back there when mowing. I think you can't go wrong with new Holland, I love the machine and my dealer is good to work with. I also looked at massey and john deere, but they were more expensive. If you have the $, go with cab, it is awesome!! Price on the tractor, loader, mower, 2 remotes, mid pto, extra set of tires was around $33,000. That's the price before trade. I bought my TC35DA brand new 2 years ago, had 120 hours when i traded it and the dealer gve me $300 more than I paid for it to trade. I'm not sure how that all works out compared to what I paid for the new one (i know its a numbers game) but i was happy. What everyone is saying about lifting capacity is true. I can lift more with my New Holland LS150 skid loader than with my 250tl loader. Also one more word of advice, get the skid loader quick tach mount on the loader so you can use forks or any other standard skid loader attachment.

 

[holtzacres]

OH, also Pops, as far as rear blades, I have a John Deere Imatch quick hitch (which is nice) that i use for my 3pt attachments. I have a Frontier BB2072 6' Box Blade, and RB2084 7' Rear Blade. Both blades have their uses, I use them both.

 

[texasrwe]

I would agree that the mid-mower is not the best idea. If you are in rough or soft areas, or mud, or stumps/rocks, you may have clearance problems. I'd go with a rear heavy mower. I have a couple of LandPride attachments, but they are not as heavy-duty as Rhino or BushHog. If you're going to do much grading, a hydraulic top-link on a box blade saves a lot of time. If you're using it for construction, consider a brand with a quick-attach FEL bucket that you can swap with a set of pallet forks. Case/Farmall has FELs that use the same attach fittings as skid steers. My dealer talked me into getting a pallet fork attachment for the FEL, and it has doubled the usefulness of my tractor. And, yes, dealer support is vital. Shop the dealer as much as the tractor.

 

[Pops15]

I haven't test driven anything yet but I did kick some tires last Sunday. Looked at a couple NH's.
Don't remember the model but one was a 55HP. I liked the layout of the controls, although I didn't like the loader control itself.
Sat on an 8n. Nice comfortable layout. Dealer wants $35K. That ain't gonna happen.
Also checked out a Case Farmall 45 which I think is the same as a blue 3045. I liked the layout of the controls on that one too. Only thing I didn't like about the Case was the steps and fenders felt like they were ready to fall off.
I also looked at several attachments.
I've found one NH dealer has an excellent inventory of tractors and attachments. A friend has dealt with that dealer in the past and says their parts and service are superb. The closest NH dealer has practically no inventory. The place appears to be basically a service department. There were no new CUTs and only one used one.
The Case dealer falls somewhere in between in inventory. It looks like he's geared more towards big farm equipment.
There's another dealer nearby that sells Case and Kubota. I'll be checking that dealer out as well.
Thanks for the input everyone. Keep the info coming!
Pops

 

[Ken45101]

If you have the $, go with cab, it is awesome!!....Also one more word of advice, get the skid loader quick tach mount on the loader so you can use forks or any other standard skid loader attachment.

I agree about the loader quick attach, and buy a set of pallet forks with it. Very useful.

I'm not sure about the cab, I don't think I'd want to have to be going in and out of a door all the time, besides, I prefer "being in the outdoors". A canopy is my preference, it keeps the hot sun off and even light rain and is a lot less expensive. I have an aftermarket aluminum diamond plate canopy that the dealer recommended over the typical plastic ones.

I haven't test driven anything yet but I did kick some tires last Sunday. Looked at a couple NH's.
Don't remember the model but one was a 55HP. I liked the layout of the controls, although I didn't like the loader control itself.
Sat on an 8n. Nice comfortable layout. Dealer wants $35K. That ain't gonna happen.

NH makes some economy tractors and some better ones (or so I'm told). I had a TT-60A for a couple of months and traded it. One issue with NH is a horrible turning radius unless you get the supersteer option. When bush hogging, mine missed almost a quarter acre turning it around And was so noisy that my ears hurt (yeah, now I wear earplugs most of the time even though the NH is gone.)

I've been happy with Kubota equipment. YMMV

Ken

 

[sparker133]

This spring I bought a farmall 45 with a FEL. I don't have a cab on it yet (work in progress). I love it.

I looked a mid mount mower but the dear wanted 3800 for one installed. Some of my ground is uneven and I thought I would have problem as others said.

I went out a bought a rear 6 rear finish mower it works great. Especially with the hydro I can get any where I won稚 with no problems just back in.

About the steps feel like they a going to fall of I have not had a problem and I weigh about 300lbs.

I love the quick attach on the front bucket. Take about a whole minute to change buckets.

As far a case and NH go they are the same tractors. I paid 21k for mine out the door with filled r4 tires, l350 FEL, delivered.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I would agree that the mid-mower is not the best idea. If you are in rough or soft areas, or mud, or stumps/rocks, you may have clearance problems. I'd go with a rear heavy mower. I have a couple of LandPride attachments, but they are not as heavy-duty as Rhino or BushHog. If you're going to do much grading, a hydraulic top-link on a box blade saves a lot of time. If you're using it for construction, consider a brand with a quick-attach FEL bucket that you can swap with a set of pallet forks. Case/Farmall has FELs that use the same attach fittings as skid steers. My dealer talked me into getting a pallet fork attachment for the FEL, and it has doubled the usefulness of my tractor. And, yes, dealer support is vital. Shop the dealer as much as the tractor.

I don't know which Land Pride implements that you are comparing to Rhino & Bush Hog, but Land Pride usually has many different duty levels to consider. I believe that the others are similar, so when you are comparing, be sure to compare the same duty levels.

 

[Pops15]

Kicked a few more tires today. Looked at orange tractors. Nothing in stock in the HP range I want. L series 30-some horse was too small. The platform just wasn't comfortable for me either. I did like the loader joystick better on the Kubota than on the Case and NH. Sat on an orange M59 TLB. Very nice set up but not what I'm looking for.
Found a Case 60HP which is bigger than I want. Had a nice cab. I don't think I want a cab but I can see why someone would.
Looked at a Branson too. Anyone know anything about them?
Also looked at a few attachments.
LP and Woods pulverizers.
LP rear blade w/hyd angle and manual offset. Pretty nice set up. Looked like the offset could be made hyd very easily too.
Virnig and Bradco rock/root buckets with grapple.
Virnig pallet forks.
All looked like quality pieces.
I'm going to keep looking at different brands of tractors and attachments but I'm getting a better idea of what I want to buy.
Anyone have any experience with a LP box scraper with the hyd retractable scarafier?
Thanks for all the help so far.
Pops

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Pops, on my LP rear blade I purposely ordered it without the hydraulics. I don't care for the tie rod cylinders that they use. Put my own on without any problems. Don't know of anyone that has a LP box blade, but when my tractor was delivered to me, there was one on the guys truck that he still had to deliver and it had the hydraulic rippers. That whole LP box blade set up looked to be built very stout.

Good luck with your search.

 

[bill in ny]

pops, go to iowafarmequipment.com they have alot of equipment that you are looking for. i have bought a couple of attachments from them and they are very good to deal with. also, they are close to you.

 

[Pops15]

Brian, Your blade is the same as the one I looked at. Looks like a good piece. Would a 40-45HP 4wd have any problem pulling an 8' blade like that?
Bill, Thanks for heads up. They sure have a good selection.
Pops

 

[texasjohn]

Lots of good info so far. I'd recommend:
HST transmission
top and tilt on the 3ph
I'm biased toward a cab.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Brian, Your blade is the same as the one I looked at. Looks like a good piece. Would a 40-45HP 4wd have any problem pulling an 8' blade like that?
Bill, Thanks for heads up. They sure have a good selection.
Pops

Pops, if you are considering a LP blade, the RBT4096 would be the blade for you. Put angle and offset hydraulics on it along with "TnT" on the tractor and you would be set in my opinion. You could get by with the RB3596, but no hydraulics for that model.

 

[Charlesaf3]

WHy not the M59? It actually sounds perfect for you.

I wouldn't finish mow with a machine the size we are talking about. Get a MUCH smaller one to mow. I was told that here way back when I bought a b3030, and people were right.

 

[Pops15]

WHy not the M59? It actually sounds perfect for you.

I wouldn't finish mow with a machine the size we are talking about. Get a MUCH smaller one to mow. I was told that here way back when I bought a b3030, and people were right.

The M59 had a BH. I'm going to buy a used yellow TLB (probably a Ford 555-675). Once I'm done building my house and shop the TLB won't see much action.

The M59 is at the upper end of the size/HP range I need. Maybe too big. I haven't ruled out buying orange though. In fact NH, Case, and Kubota are all still in the running. All appear to be nice tractors and all 3 have a good dealer/service network.

At this point I think I'm just going to wait until the house, shop and driveway are all done before I buy a finish mower. Once all the improvements are in I'll have a much better idea of what I'll need for a mower.
Thanks,
Pops

 

[burktk]

I have used my Kioti CK30 4x4 for similar requirements. Smaller tractor is much easier to manuveur in the woods. Take it from me, if you are going to do alot of loader work, and forward-reversing get something you don't have to clutch.. My 30 hp did a great job, but could only run a 5 ft brushhog. After 5 years stepped up to 48 hp JD 4320 cab tractor, Kioti was great tractor but my needs changed, had to run Woods RM990 mower and needed a cab. You would be ahead to get more HP than you really need now, because in 3-5 years you may have to buy again, not good. You might want to look at Kioti was a great starter tractor and was bullet proof. Down side was dealer wasn't real close to home.

 

[Ken45101]

Take it from me, if you are going to do alot of loader work, and forward-reversing get something you don't have to clutch..

I don't mind the clutch and shuttle shift, but one thing I have not seen mentioned: with a manual transmission, you are usually doing loader operations at low engine rpm which means low hydraulic flow and slow FEL response. There are times that I have to hold in the clutch and rev the engine to speed up raising and dumping the bucket.

Ken

 

[newbury]

There are times that I have to hold in the clutch and rev the engine to speed up raising and dumping the bucket.

Ken

Don't you stop before you dump?

 

[Ken45101]

Don't you stop before you dump?

That's my point, if you stop with the clutch in, your rpms are low and hydraulic flow to the FEL is very low.

And no, I don't always "stop" if I am spreading the load, I need to move forward slowly.

Ken