NH, kubota, JD

W5FL · Jul 31, 2000

Yeah, I sold my Massey for about what I paid for it. It was in good condition. I learned a lot from owning it. Primarily, I learned all the things I did not want and did want in a new tractor and a Massey was not one of those seriously considered. My Kubota M6800 has none of these problems and everything that I could imagine in a new tractor and that was the basic model with no options. I added a loader and quick attach bucket. Not all manufacturers include all options with their tractors, so you have to shop carefully to be sure that you are comparing apples and apples and get what you want.

Marketing types tend to try to make apples appear as oranges and it doesn't seem to stand the reality test.

I don't see much that is similar between the old Ford tractors and the new NH tractors other than they are also painted blue and would still say FORD if they were still allowed to do that. I am not saying that they are better or worse, just different.

Some users need a mid PTO mower. I looked at them, but prefer using a rotary cutter (and do not own a finish mower for the tractor). The center PTO mowers have advantages and disadvantages. Only the person buying really knows what they need. I could make a case for a PTO mower for many applications and all at my place.

Several of us on the board have Utility sized tractors that are not available with hydrostatic transmissions or mid PTO or mower decks due to the higher power and larger ground clearance of these types of tractors.

jgh · Jul 31, 2000

7/31

Hey Wen (and Penwar):

On the mid pto, like you, mine is a utility tractor so any mid mt mower would be a hack job with a hydraulic motor. Not an economical solution. But Penwar already stated he wanted mid PTO, so I assumed he had done enough hmwk to know.

On most if not all the Boomers except the 45, mid PTO is an option. For example if you want to use a PTO powered leaf vac like the Trac Vac 854 (so you don't have another damn engine to maintain), you have to have a mid mower to connect to the rear drawn vac.

Did you buy the Massey new?

Penwar, just buy a Boomer /w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif and forget what these guys say, they just green and orange with envy!

/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

{Wen, I'll get back on that transfer case thread tomorrow, too much yawning now. I'll count marketing types being shot at by you to go to sleep by instead of sheep /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif}.

Jim

JimBinMI · Jul 31, 2000

jgh,

YES,YES,YES...BOOMER IS BETTER, STRONGER, FASTER, AND BETTER LOOKING TOO! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

JimBinMI

We boys and our toys!

Bird · Jul 31, 2000

I guess that's all right if you don't mind settling for one out of four; the blue does look a little better./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bird

paccorti · Jul 31, 2000

Penwar,

I initially drove a Boomer at a dealership nearby. The two tractors I drove smoked more than I would have liked and were hard to start. At the dealer where I bought my big Boomer the tractors all started easily and without the slighest smoke. My point? Any dealer can assemble/tune a tractor badly. If for no other reason than price go to another dealer and try the tractor there too. I initially wrote off NH because of my experience and then just happened to come back to it after a long detour with Kubota (a very fine machine too). Good luck.

Peter

Hawgee · Aug 1, 2000

I don't know about the smaller Boomers but the larger 35/40/45hp are all assembled at the factory and shipped ready to go. With the new larger models, any problems would have to come from the factory or the dealers bad fuel?

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

W5FL · Aug 1, 2000

Jim,

I bought the Massey 245 sight unseen with 500 hours on it and 14 years old. Always look at what people buy the second time. It cost me very little to learn what I wanted and didn't want and what questions to ask and who not to trust. It was a good farm tractor, but it wasn't a versitile tractor and had loader limitations and hydraulic limitations. That is why I was quite impressed that you could buy a Kubota with NO options and get everything included. Very similar to buying a Honda Accord EX (the only option is floor mats).

This is not what I found looking at most other manufacturers. Everytime I thought the prices were comparable, it would turn out that you needed a mid-hydraulics kit or different sized tires or ...

I like marketing people. Getting the word out to people is extremely important and a really difficult task. I have absolutely no tolerance for lies, omissions, and half truths.

MChalkley · Aug 2, 2000

Wen - I thought that most marketing people consider "lies", "ommissions", and "half-truths" to be synonyms for "marketing". /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Mark