This is one of those weird ones. On one hand, he (and I) look for the best deal possible. On the other hand, he (and I) also want quality service after the sale.
If you don't buy from a local dealer, how do you expect that local dealer to stay in business? And if Barlow's ends up being the only game in town, I don't have much interest in trailering my tractor to Kentucky every time I want a 100 hour service.
The deal that my dealer (Dickenson Equipment) is offering is solid. It's a few thousand less than his local dealer (about 2 hours away), and my brother is willing to drive to my place for the better price.
I faced a nearly identical decision when I bought my travel trailer a couple of years ago. I found a dealer in Virginia that had "my" trailer at a very reasonable price. I could have driven to a 'superstore' in Ohio and saved another $1,000. Decided against it. I put my money where my mouth is and purchase as local as is reasonable for the situation.
...used bobcat trailer with 7k axles...
He (nor I) are much into used stuff. The price jump to start talking about over-deck trailers and 14k ratings just starts feeling like 'something else'.
He's not done looking and there may be a 14k trailer out there for something under $4k. That'd be nice. But quite honestly, you start loading something much past 12k# and the truck will start to groan as well. If the tractor is a solid 7k# and the box blade another 800#, I think that's as much as he'll be carrying at once.
He's not done looking yet, though.
I have to agree on the hydro...
This is another odd one. When this little adventure started, all my brother knew was construction equipment. Case backhoes, Hitachi excavators, Cat D8's, you know...little stuff. No 'farm tractors'. Except for his limited exposure to my BX tractor which is, of course, hydrostatic. Oh, and the 8 hp Crapsman sit-on-engine mower that we hacked the grass to death with when we were kids. NOT hydrostatic.
We go to the dealership and I'm looking at nothing but hydro. Then my brother asks what the difference is. Bear in mind that I've never driven a geared tractor.
I hop on a tractor and play with it...the shuttle shifter, the gear selector, the clutch, and we figure it all out.
His response? "Well THIS is what I'm used to...I've never used anything else" Geared. Totally comfortable on it.
I don't disagree that hydro is "better" in several situations. But that is the same way that an automatic transmission is "better" in a car. "Better" is sometimes just "more convenient"...not more durable...not more powerful...not quieter...just quicker and easier.
But guess what? I learned on a stickshift and still prefer manual cars over automatics. If he's used to a geared tractor and it saves him a bunch of money, who am I to say that a hydromatic tractor is "better"?
If he's more comfortable in a geared tractor, I'm good with that. We very much appreciate all the thoughts, though. If he didn't have the equipment background that he does, hydro would be the way he goes.
