Price Check TC18 price check, opinions

[Anonymous Poster]

I am in the market for a compact tractor and saw a TC18 that caught my eye today. I have not looked into the NH tractors yet as part of my search, but keeping my options open. The machine has 268 hours on it, looks to be only a couple of years old. I will stop back tomorrow when dealer is open to get details. I believe he is asking $6900. It comes with a 60 inch rear mower. The machine looked to be in excellent condition. My questions are:
- Are parts attachments usually easily obtainable for this model (FEL, MMM, tiller, box scraper)?
- Does this price seem to be in the ball park?
- What questions should I ask dealer and what should I look for on the machine for signs of wear/misuse?
- Will this machine be capable of doing what I want?
- Is it able to drive in wooded areas without getting stuck and hung-up on things (groung clearance).

I have 20 acres, 1 acre lawn, 14 acres farmland, 5 acres wooded. I would like to expand the lawn (move dirt, grade) to about 2 acres. I will need to mow this 2 acres and do some landscaping. Till about 1/5 acre for garden, plow snow on 100ft drive. Would also like to drive in the woods to help cut firewood. Keep in mind that I am not in a hurry when I am working around my property. I do not need to accomplish all of these tasks within a timetable. Any info on this model or similar situations is appreciated.

 

[hazmat]

need some more info from you to determine if its a good price.

Is it 4wd or 2wd? Hydrostatic or gear tranny?

FWIW I paid $15,500 new for my TC18 4wd, Hydro, loader, & MMM.

The MMM should be readily available. They came out with a new loader 12LA vs the old one 7106 this year. I'd check with your local New Holland dealer to see if the old is still available. I suspect he could locate one somewhere. If not, there are always the third party loaders (Woods etc.)

The TC18 has a catagory 1 three point hitch & 540rpm rear PTO. This is an industry standard. You will have absolutely no problem getting a tiller or any other rear implement you could dream up for this tractor (within reason of course, you aren't going to bale hay with it).

Ground clearance is good. Do you plan on using it to farm your 14 acres? If so, it may be a little small. I use mine on my 4 acre yard (2 grass, 2 wooded/wetland)

Try a search on TC18. You can read much more of my & other's experiences. Also you may want to purchase the compact tractor buying guide advertised on this website (authored my Muhammad, the creator of TBN) It has a good section on buying a used tractor.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

whatever, I just went through a lot of the same questions. I bought a new TC18 last week. I paid $14,800 as a package including FEL, rotary cutter and box blade. Working backwards, taking away the implements, the tranctor and loader must have been around $13,800. I don't know the price of the loader (12LA) but my guess is it's at least $3,000, so that makes the new tractor somewhere between $10,000 and $11,000. That's with 4WD and Hydrostatic trans; it would be less with 2WD.

In your case, the rear mower is probably worth $400-$500, so the tractor is ~$6,500. I make that as at least 35% off the new price, with less than 300 hours, which is practically new. I'm told the balance of the warranty can be transferred if there is one - 2 years or 2000 hours. I bought new primarily for the warranty and service.

As for doing the job, I'm still learning that, myself. I have 15 hours on mine since last Friday. I tried out the mower and it worked great, but mine is a 48" mower - I've heard the little TC18 might have trouble with a 5' mower, and I'd want to try it out. I used the 4' box blade for about 10 of those hours, and it worked great. I could get it to spin wheels and dig in to the soft Florida sand, but never got stuck - differential lock works great.

I don't know how it would work with a tiller. Keep the tiller small, and it should be OK. Plowing should not be a problem. Getting around in the woods, the small TC18 will be better than most. Mowing will be no trick as long as it handles the 5' mower. There is a MMM, be sure there's a mid-PTO - I didn't pay much attention, but if the one your are looking at is 2WD, it may not have the mid-PTO.

The NH 12LA loader has a 750 pound lift capacity; I've heard that some of the others have a little more, but that was enough for me. My HD bucket is only 48". The box blade is only 48". In other words, it will move your dirt, but it will take more cuts and more trips. What the heck - you get to ride on it, right? It's not like you'd be shoveling and pushing a wheelbarrow for the extra time... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[hazmat]

Don,

you bring up a good point about the 5' mower. If it is a finish mower, the TC18 will handle it no problem. If it is a rotary cutter aka brush hog, I'd go with a 4' size. Also if it is a finish mower, it is worth closer to $1,000 than $500.

The 7106 has 600# of lift capacity. I have a 54" bucket, no problem lifting a full bucket of dirt or gravel. It is a little dissapointing in the "pop a stump out of the ground" catagory. Ie breakout force. I think part of that is that trees are a whole lot stronger than I give them credit for.

Plowing is no problem, we've had 8' of snow this year /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Ran out of places in the yard to put it. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

I just thought of one more thing. The loader costs about $2,500 if the tractor is set up for it. When I say set up for it, i mean it has the valves & hyrdaulic ports installed. These can cost upwards of $1,000.

pick up a brochure at the dealer. It will tell you what size implements are appropriate for the tractor. Ie 48" tiller, 4' rotary cutter, 5' finish mower. etc.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Thanx for all the advice and info. The mower is a 54 inch or 60 inch John Deere finish mower. I got the owner's phone number today, so I'll give him a call. The owner is a very small tractor dealer (used only) and I believe he is a menanite (sp?) farmer. The tractor is the 4wd Hydro model. I can't tell if is has power steering. Was this an option on this model? And no, I will not be farming the 14 acres with it, maybe just planting some trees and mowing some trails. I haven't heard it run yet. What should I look/listen for. I am fairly handy with gasoline engines and maintenance of different kinds of machinery, but don't know anything about deisel engines.

 

[hazmat]

I believe the 4wd hydro comes standard with power steering. Easy to tell if it has it: Test drive it, you'll know it has it if you can turn the wheels while the tractor is stationary. Look towards the rear of the front axle. If it has power steering there will be a hydraulic ram with two hoses. Also there is a power steering reservoir under the hood.

Assuming it is in good condition, the price is quite good. I'd jump on it. If you prefer a MMM lets say you can sell the RFM for $900. To add a loader will probably cost you 3,500. MMM 2,500. Total 12K or 23% less than I paid new. Tractor alone would be 37% less than I paid new. With 268 hours it certainley hasn't used up 37% of it's life.

Even if you were handy with diesel engines. I'd pay to have your local New Holland mechanic look it over for you. Probably cost you $100+/- well worth it on a $7,000 investment. He should be able to run the serial number to determine the history of the tractor (when built, any recalls etc.)

Does the seller have any maint. records? If not I'd be changing all fluids & filters. (the hydraulic fluid is due at about 300-350 hours anyway). To lesson your potential sticker shock, the filters for the New Hollands are quite expensive. I think the Hydrostatic filter is $45!

Good luck!

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I just talked to the owner. He bought it at a public auction. He encouraged me to come drive it and test everything. I did find out one bad thing: it has no power steering. That could be a problem with a FEL. He came down on price to $6500 over the phone. I'm thinking I could pick it up for $6000 cash, but I don't know about not having power steering. I wonder if NH makes a PS kit for it? Anyone?

 

[hazmat]

Sounds like you need to go check it out in person. As the price gets better, I get more concerned that it isn't 4wd or hydrostatic trans /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif. I hope I'm wrong, because as the price gets better, you get a better deal /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

As far as power steering goes, I don't think I'd buy a machine without it. But if the price is right, I'd be real tempted. Are your spouse or kids going to be using this machine? My wife is 110# of joy, don't think she could steer it if it didn't have power steering. Only speculation based on our old Garden tractor w/o power steering. Haven't driven a TC18 w/o power steering.

I just called my dealer about the power steering. He says that if it is Hydro it will come with power steering. If it is gear, it comes with manual steering. The gear was only available on the 2wd. he though you could get hydro on either.

Hope this helps.

 

[Steelfan]

Yeah Hazmat,

I was told the same thing from my dealer, when I was shopping around. The price is very attractive, so it would be worth a trip to go and check it out. Good Luck.

Kent

 

[hazmat]

For more info. Check out New Holland Boomer Web Page You'll find Specs (pdf) and Implements. The implements are new holland brand, for three point implments you can get them from any manufacturer, but the list gives you a good idea of what new holland thinks are appropriate sizes.