Buying Advice Starting to look for a tractor

[TheMadOne]

Of the two the "farm pro"(Jinma) is the better sized tractor. I have no idea what parts availability would be like for either one. Neither is what I would consider a good fit for 38 acres.

If all you need it for is a toy, either one would work. I'd go with the kioti, personally. I wouldn't use either to dig fence holes in the dirt you showed us.

Also, if "no attachments" means "no loader"(which at those prices I'm guessing is the case, but I live on the fleeced coast), make sure you can find one, since that was one of your major requirements.

I'd honestly maybe go with an older, larger tractor, like this one in Billings.

1956 Farmall Super M

Still in your budget, and comes with a handful of attachments, including a loader. Also, Super Ms are dirt common and parts are readily available.

 

[hammick]

Of the two the "farm pro"(Jinma) is the better sized tractor. I have no idea what parts availability would be like for either one. Neither is what I would consider a good fit for 38 acres.

If all you need it for is a toy, either one would work. I'd go with the kioti, personally. I wouldn't use either to dig fence holes in the dirt you showed us.

Also, if "no attachments" means "no loader"(which at those prices I'm guessing is the case, but I live on the fleeced coast), make sure you can find one, since that was one of your major requirements.

I'd honestly maybe go with an older, larger tractor, like this one in Billings.

1956 Farmall Super M

Still in your budget, and comes with a handful of attachments, including a loader. Also, Super Ms are dirt common and parts are readily available.

Thanks for info. I have given up on using a tractor for fencing. There is nothing to mow on the 38 acres either. So moving things around, scraping in a driveway sometime down the road, grading gravel. putting in a small garden sometime down the road.

So I would like to buy something cheap at this point that I can add implements to as needed. First thing I would add is a cheap 3pt receiver hitch so I can move my trailer/generator around.

If the Farm Pro is a good price and likely to hold it's value at $3,500 I might just get it. I don't want to buy a headache though. I have a lot of other stuff to work on up there.

 

[hammick]

I was up at my property for a week and my builder loaned me his JD 260 series skid steer. I was amazed how easy they are to operate. I spread out and graded 20 yards of gravel. I also removed a handful of pretty big rocks. It only had a smooth bucket and a few of the rocks took some work with approaches at different angles. I'm guess a bucket with teeth would work a lot better for big rock.

I'm convinced that a CUT wouldn't do much for me up there. To get a smooth driveway would require the removal of many big rocks.

 

[ovrszd]

I was up at my property for a week and my builder loaned me his JD 260 series skid steer. I was amazed how easy they are to operate. I spread out and graded 20 yards of gravel. I also removed a handful of pretty big rocks. It only had a smooth bucket and a few of the rocks took some work with approaches at different angles. I'm guess a bucket with teeth would work a lot better for big rock.

I'm convinced that a CUT wouldn't do much for me up there. To get a smooth driveway would require the removal of many big rocks.

How many utility machines at say just for conversation sake, $25k each can you afford to buy?

 

[hammick]

How many utility machines at say just for conversation sake, $25k each can you afford to buy?

I'm not willing to spend 25k on anything at this time. The military auctions have 2008 model JD 325 skid steers that average around 20k at auction. All of them seem to have very low hours. But 20k is a lot of money for something that can't be easily inspected beforehand.

 

[ovrszd]

I'm not willing to spend 25k on anything at this time. The military auctions have 2008 model JD 325 skid steers that average around 20k at auction. All of them seem to have very low hours. But 20k is a lot of money for something that can't be easily inspected beforehand.

I guess my point was, if on a budget, buy the machine that will accomplish the most tasks. In a comparison between a SS and a tractor the answer is easy.

 

[hammick]

I guess my point was, if on a budget, buy the machine that will accomplish the most tasks. In a comparison between a SS and a tractor the answer is easy.

Obviously the CUT will accomplish the most tasks but I don't have any mowing, plowing or haying to do.

If someone can convince me that one of these Extractor Rock and Root Grapple

on the front of a CUT will extract large rocks I'll get a CUT.

 

[ovrszd]

For an FEL attachment's effectiveness accomplishing heavy tasks it's more important to consider the capacity of the FEL rather than the machine powering it. Point being a tractor with greater FEL capacity than the SS being considered will complete the task easier.

But, sounds like you are wanting a SS. So research the capacity carefully. If not, you'll end up with a SS that won't do the work you desire and will be limited in it's ability to do a variety of tasks.

 

[newbury]

The only opinion I can share from experience is to be cautious not to buy too small.
I did ....... and now I have two.

Two tractors is a good start.

I'm not willing to spend 25k on anything at this time. The military auctions have 2008 model JD 325 skid steers that average around 20k at auction. All of them seem to have very low hours. But 20k is a lot of money for something that can't be easily inspected beforehand.

See if you can find someone near the military auctions to inspect the equipment for a few hundred and follow the auctions for a while to see how prices go. My BIL buys a lot of military surplus vehicles and rarely inspects them before hand. Usually it seems the ones going for the highest bidding are in best condition.

Obviously the CUT will accomplish the most tasks but I don't have any mowing, plowing or haying to do.

If someone can convince me that one of these Extractor Rock and Root Grapple

on the front of a CUT will extract large rocks I'll get a CUT.

You might need a UT, not a CUT for boulders like that!

And you won't have any plowing? Including snow?

 

[hammick]

Well I would rather have a tractor if it could remove the rocks I need to install a driveway. The 260 series SS I used had a smooth bucket and I had to approach some of the rocks from different angles to get them out. On the bigger ones I had to use hydraulics of the bucket to lift and break them loose first before pushing. Just pushing on some of the bigger rocks the 260 ran out of power. The 260 is a 72hp 8,250lb machine.

I probably need to rent a CUT and/or UT and see what they can do. I already have a decent ideal what a SS with a smooth bucket can do.

As far as snow plowing we don't get a lot of big snows up there. The mountains cut it off. The town just eight miles on the other side of the mountains can get hammered. If we did get a big snow it is light dry stuff and drifting is the only real issue.

Unfortunatly I didn't take any photos of the rocks I removed. I'm going back up in June and will get some good pics with something next to them for reference. If you look in the back of the attache pic you can see some of the bigger rocks I am talking about.

Thanks for the all the info and keep it coming.