Brokermike
Silver Member
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2008
- Messages
- 176
- Location
- Shaftsbury VT
- Tractor
- Mahindra 2555, Ford 4610, New Holland T4040
So I have a 2018 Mahindra 2555 Cab HST that I was fortunate enough to buy pre-covid with 75 hours on it. It's my first cab tractor and for around the house stuff it has been great. We have 70 acres, only a few acres of brush hogging, a very long driveway that I plow in the winter (I'm in Vermont), and about 2 acres of food plots. I haven't had any issues with the tractor and I'm up around 500 hours. I'd say the fit and finish isn't great but it functions as it should. My driveway is about a 1/2 mile long, well kept, but gravel. The Mahindra is category 1 and with the wheel spacers I can still (barely) run my 6' rotary cutter and cover my tracks. Because of the HST transmission it lacks in PTO horsepower, coming in around 38-40 PTO horsepower. I also have an old Ford 4610, no loader, that works great but the frame has 10,000 hours, the motor probably around 2,000 hours, but I spent all winter freshening everything up and it purrs like a kitten, it is however limited in use as I'm apparently the only one that can drive a standard transmission tractor in my group of friends!
Recently we had to fire our farmer that we had been leasing to at our deer hunting property, which is about 120 acres, 35 tillable, as he didn't pay us and failed to cover crop the corn the last two years as we had requested. My buddy and I bought a New Holland T4040, used, with no loader last winter for the planting tasks and it has worked well. However it is clear that 2 tractors of similar size would be far more ideal as we are constantly changing implements, and after putting 15 acres in to Brome this year we know that next year we will be facing an additional task of cutting, raking and baling hay. Having used my Mahindra 2555 HST this year to be the second tractor it is VERY clear that it lacks in size, and that the HST just isn't up to that amount of field work. I'm considering upgrading the Mahindra for a 65-75 horse tractor with a shuttle shift and a bit more weight. A new tractor just seems like a far fetch, the prices have gone insane and I don't want to finance anything
Option 1: My dilemma is that I "think" I'd like to upgrade my tractor for another cab tractor. I found a New Holland Workmaster 65 with only 140 hours on it, a 2021 model that still has 4 years of power train warranty remaining. It has 3 remotes, loaded tires, and wheel weights, it looks like new. It has been fully serviced by the dealer and is ready to go. It is the 3 cylinder diesel that is in all of the new Workmaster cab tractor models, with 50 PTO horsepower. My local New Holland dealer has the absolute best support of any dealer in the area, they also sell Mahindra so I've used them for my 2555 as well, and we bought the T4040 from them this winter. I'd like to stay with a brand they can easily service if there is an issue. My primary reason for wanting a cab tractor is the snow plowing in the winter, and brush hogging on those hot summer days. To upgrade from my Mahindra to the nearly new Workmaster 65 will cost me about $16k out of pocket after selling my Mahindra. The reviews on the Workmaster 65 tractors seem mixed, some folks never have an issue and others seem to have one possessed by evil spirits. The dealer offered me in trade what I paid for my Mahindra 5 years ago, and within $500 of what I could probably sell it for outright, without the hassle of listing it for sale and dealing with the tire kickers
Option 2:The alternate option, which I'm considering is to buy a 2014 New Holland T4.75 ROPS tractor. I found one with about 400 hours not too far away that is being sold as part of an estate. This is basically a Powerstar 75, and reviews of those older Powerstar tractors are quite favorable, they're a bit more stout, have better loader capacity by about 500 lbs, and are heavier than the Workmaster series. That said, it is a private sale so it has not been "through the shop". It has about 75 PTO horsepower. I've chatted with the owner and he said it has been problem free, and was bought new by his dad, but since his dad passed he doesn't have extensive knowledge of the tractor. As it is heavier and physically longer/wider this would REALLY push the limits of what I can tow with my 1/2 ton truck. The hunting property is only 7 miles down the road so I can certainly drive it there, but I can't move it easily on the trailer. To compliment the t4.75 I was thinking of trying to find a little 30hp cab tractor with a snow blower to do the winter snow removal, as luck would have it a small cab tractor popped up that fits the bill nicely, it is a Curtis Cab Kioti with heat but no A/C, despite being 20 years old it has 700 hours. To garner this deal would cost me about 10k out of pocket, but I'd have 2 older tractors, no warranty and have to deal with whatever deferred maintenance they both have. On the other hand I'd have a small tractor for the cone spreader, 55 gallon sprayer, and any smaller tasks that I might need to do with Category 1 implements, such as our old Massey Corn planter that we use for pumpkins and sweet corn. I'm pretty handy at fixing things but only have a limited amount of time, hence wanting to have a brand that my local dealer can service.
For some general background, while my business partner that owns the hunting land with me is super helpful, I tend to do all of the maintenance on our equipment, discs, planters, sprayers, etc. I also have a small Kubota KX033 excavator (but that is almost maintenance free), and old Deere 450 dozer (which always needs something fixed), an old 71 Duster, and an old Land Rover Defender. So I feel like I'm always fixing something
So the question is for all of the fine folks that wish to chime in: What would you do given the options? Additionally do the little front mount snow blowers work better than a 9' plow?
Recently we had to fire our farmer that we had been leasing to at our deer hunting property, which is about 120 acres, 35 tillable, as he didn't pay us and failed to cover crop the corn the last two years as we had requested. My buddy and I bought a New Holland T4040, used, with no loader last winter for the planting tasks and it has worked well. However it is clear that 2 tractors of similar size would be far more ideal as we are constantly changing implements, and after putting 15 acres in to Brome this year we know that next year we will be facing an additional task of cutting, raking and baling hay. Having used my Mahindra 2555 HST this year to be the second tractor it is VERY clear that it lacks in size, and that the HST just isn't up to that amount of field work. I'm considering upgrading the Mahindra for a 65-75 horse tractor with a shuttle shift and a bit more weight. A new tractor just seems like a far fetch, the prices have gone insane and I don't want to finance anything
Option 1: My dilemma is that I "think" I'd like to upgrade my tractor for another cab tractor. I found a New Holland Workmaster 65 with only 140 hours on it, a 2021 model that still has 4 years of power train warranty remaining. It has 3 remotes, loaded tires, and wheel weights, it looks like new. It has been fully serviced by the dealer and is ready to go. It is the 3 cylinder diesel that is in all of the new Workmaster cab tractor models, with 50 PTO horsepower. My local New Holland dealer has the absolute best support of any dealer in the area, they also sell Mahindra so I've used them for my 2555 as well, and we bought the T4040 from them this winter. I'd like to stay with a brand they can easily service if there is an issue. My primary reason for wanting a cab tractor is the snow plowing in the winter, and brush hogging on those hot summer days. To upgrade from my Mahindra to the nearly new Workmaster 65 will cost me about $16k out of pocket after selling my Mahindra. The reviews on the Workmaster 65 tractors seem mixed, some folks never have an issue and others seem to have one possessed by evil spirits. The dealer offered me in trade what I paid for my Mahindra 5 years ago, and within $500 of what I could probably sell it for outright, without the hassle of listing it for sale and dealing with the tire kickers
Option 2:The alternate option, which I'm considering is to buy a 2014 New Holland T4.75 ROPS tractor. I found one with about 400 hours not too far away that is being sold as part of an estate. This is basically a Powerstar 75, and reviews of those older Powerstar tractors are quite favorable, they're a bit more stout, have better loader capacity by about 500 lbs, and are heavier than the Workmaster series. That said, it is a private sale so it has not been "through the shop". It has about 75 PTO horsepower. I've chatted with the owner and he said it has been problem free, and was bought new by his dad, but since his dad passed he doesn't have extensive knowledge of the tractor. As it is heavier and physically longer/wider this would REALLY push the limits of what I can tow with my 1/2 ton truck. The hunting property is only 7 miles down the road so I can certainly drive it there, but I can't move it easily on the trailer. To compliment the t4.75 I was thinking of trying to find a little 30hp cab tractor with a snow blower to do the winter snow removal, as luck would have it a small cab tractor popped up that fits the bill nicely, it is a Curtis Cab Kioti with heat but no A/C, despite being 20 years old it has 700 hours. To garner this deal would cost me about 10k out of pocket, but I'd have 2 older tractors, no warranty and have to deal with whatever deferred maintenance they both have. On the other hand I'd have a small tractor for the cone spreader, 55 gallon sprayer, and any smaller tasks that I might need to do with Category 1 implements, such as our old Massey Corn planter that we use for pumpkins and sweet corn. I'm pretty handy at fixing things but only have a limited amount of time, hence wanting to have a brand that my local dealer can service.
For some general background, while my business partner that owns the hunting land with me is super helpful, I tend to do all of the maintenance on our equipment, discs, planters, sprayers, etc. I also have a small Kubota KX033 excavator (but that is almost maintenance free), and old Deere 450 dozer (which always needs something fixed), an old 71 Duster, and an old Land Rover Defender. So I feel like I'm always fixing something
So the question is for all of the fine folks that wish to chime in: What would you do given the options? Additionally do the little front mount snow blowers work better than a 9' plow?
