Starting to look, need Brand/H.P. advice

Soundguy · Oct 29, 2007

I think you are ont he right track.. 30ish hp 4x4 CUT with loader. Tranny of choice.. though this almost looks like a lace where hydro may be usefull.. ( I'm not a big fan of hydro )..

As another said.. keep the old WD... having 2 tractors makes a great team.

If you are looking for slightly used.. try a dealer.. I've had great luck by buying a tractor a year or two old from a dealer.... first owner took the big depreciation hit for me.

Soundguy

Pete S said:
Hello,

New to the site but so far it has been a great help.

From what I've seen this question has been posted prior but thought I'd throw my hat in the ring as well.

We have a bit of land, 113 acres total, 80 under plow (rented out) and some woods. We're in WI, and deal with snow and cut wood, utilizing our current 'ol reliable WD45 to split/haul/drag.

1.) Anticipate making fire wood forever, or till I die. Our woods is hilly, and most of the trees we'd need to drag up to cut them.

2.) Our drive is about 1500 ft, and someday would like a blower to move snow. (and to better scatter the gravel in my yard)

3.) We do occasionaly move rocks-n-dirt, and have started with this being our 3rd year of Maple Syrup making.

Thinking about a 4x4, 30+hp machine, with a loader, later to fit with a blower. (no cab) I don't like the Hydro tranny idea, would like a shuttle shift.
There are too many brands out there, and I'm not a good candidate for "new", although with financing it wouldn't be too bad.

I get nervous seeing some of the ebay listings for some "NEW" tractors w/o loaders for only $6K+, or can these be fine purchases, although I'm not looking to buy off ebay, but use it to check out what's out there.

Why are most machine listings, for sale, from the eastern part of the country?

Jinma, Himoto, Kubota, John Deere, Farm Trac, Kioti, and the list goes on.

I'm figuring about maybe 50 hours of running a year, maybe more.

Is looking at something 8-10 yrs old a bad idea? Hard to find nice used compacts 4x4?

Thanks in advance for helpful advice!
Pete

Oleozz · Oct 30, 2007

daveyb45 said:
Hello, also new here,,,been checking this site for sometime,,,good information here. Good lot of characters.
I
I have narrowed my search down to a Deere 4120 or a Kioti 45DKSE both with frontend loaders to match and hydro trans and fwd. The catches are as listed.......

Deere a bit pricey,,,seems like everything is an option,,,2 closest dealers are both 70 miles away.

Kioti, great price,,,most accessories included,,,closest dealer 200 miles away,,
quality appears good,,,wife likes price.

This will be the last tractor I will buy and need it to last at least 20 years. The horse power I believe is appropriate for my needs.

Any suggestions before I put out some cash.....
Also hope this gives the original post some ideas.

Daveyb45---I had the same choice last spring as you have now, I went with the Kioti 45 hp. I have the shuttle shift and cab, hydro was not available at the time.
I've had no problems to date and have about 300 hrs on the machine. Mine is used for ground engaging work (plowing, discing), FEL work, and mowing. My dealer (Wallace) was also about 200 miles away. Oil change and filters are quite easy on these tractors. Overall they seem like good solid tractors.

N80 · Oct 30, 2007

We still don't know your budget. I was in a similar position 2 years ago. Used prices for anything decent were outrageous. Every 10 year old tractor I was able to look at locally looked to be 50 years old and still too expensive.

Kubota had 0% financing. I bought a 45 hp 4x4 L4400 with loader and rear remotes. No cab. Straight tranny. No frills. Less than $19k 2 years ago. Still very happy with my decision.

swansborobob · Nov 1, 2007

Hi N80

That's a very informative, useful comment. I'm a city boy with 2 acres and professional landscape designer of a wife. I'm planning on dredging out the pond when it's low, move 2000 lb boulders, create some terraces, dig down through the roadway to install a 8 foot diameter pipe between the ponds and then, just to round it out, rip out about 200 feet of asphalt and install whatever else she thinks up. I figure $20-$25K new. Plausible? any recommendation?

Oh, no snow or night work.

Thanks Swansborobob.

N80 said:
We still don't know your budget. I was in a similar position 2 years ago. Used prices for anything decent were outrageous. Every 10 year old tractor I was able to look at locally looked to be 50 years old and still too expensive.

Kubota had 0% financing. I bought a 45 hp 4x4 L4400 with loader and rear remotes. No cab. Straight tranny. No frills. Less than $19k 2 years ago. Still very happy with my decision.