tight budget

[Anonymous Poster]

i need some input from owners of a few utility models. i am looking at some basic models due to tight budget restraints and wondering how you like them. i am looking at the long farmtrac 45/60, long landtrac 450, massey231s, mahindra 4500/5500. i am at a 12,000-13,000 price range limit in order to keep my payments down to a manageable amount. any replies pro and con to expirience with these models would be very welcome.

 

[JohnMiller3]

Perhaps you can spell out what your intended uses are so the right tractors are selected to begin with, then you can choose among price...

Sometimes you imposing a "narrow" dollar range will severely limit your choices on something you'll have for many years down the road... a slight difference of even $500-$1000. more, when spread out over say 20 years of ownership is nothing, especially when it gets you items such as independent PTO, shuttle shift or hydro, more usable HP, more hydraulic HP, today's ergonomics, etc...

...and if worse comes to worse... you can either finance a higher priced unit for a longer period of time or hold off on your purchase until you can save a larger down payment...

This way... you're more apt to get exactly what you need and want and never second guess yourself later on...

 

[cowboydoc]

John Deere has a new economical utility series.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

my uses are bush hogging, garden disking, rear scoop/dumppan and hopefully a tiller and some remote operated impliments in the future. i really liked the kubotas and deere 5000 series tractors but i cant afford a large monthly payment. the deere 5105 i tried fit me best of all and i liked the set up of controls on it. alot of people are buying new machines for 20,000 plus in here and think nothing of it, wish i was so well off. anyways i think a simple machine might be easier to maintain or am i wrong?

 

[Mark_in_NH]

<font color=blue>alot of people are buying new machines for 20,000 plus in here and think nothing of it, wish i was so well off.</font color=blue>

I would suspect that most all of the folks here a TBN were / are, where you are now, and many of them have probably worked there way up to there $20,000 + machines over time and years. I am also posative, that not 1 of them. did it with "thinking nothing of it".
Most everybody here probably did a lot of research before their purchase, including the "How am I going to pay for this" research. Spending $20,000 + or even 1/2 that, requires serious thought, and for some guys, some serious begging & groveling to the wife. /w3tcompact/icons/love.gif
Although owning a machine was something I had thought about a time or 3. I had no plans whatsoever to buy a tractor it just kinda happened. I was there, the tractor was there (used) and the [censored] finance company had the audacity to say yes.
(thankyou John Deere credit/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif) I just had to rationalize the purchase and figure out if I could afford it. The sale price was fair, the payment was managable, so I signed. This all took about 24 hours.
My plan was / is to pay it off and sell / trade it in for what I would have like, to have bought, if I had been planning on buying one and could have afforded it.
Anyway, I am dragging your post way off track.
My thought is. Have you given any thought finding a good used machine? Buying used got me into a wonderful older tractor (1988) for very fair money ($11,500) with payments of well under $300 a month I don't know how much used equipment is available in your area but it might be worth a look.

It takes more then one lick, to get to center of the Tootsie Pop /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Egon]

I can rember a time when we had a $1500. sears garden tractor and a $500. car in the yard. The tractor was more important to me.

Egon

 

[rockyridgefarm]

My experience is that the Deere financing is aggressive enought that even with a higher price, the payments were as low as a long or kioti

 

[frank_f15]

we have a long dealer right up in town(3.5) i looked long and hard at them, was just something about them that i did not like(mabey cause i had never heard much about them) i can definetly understand the price constraint u are dealing with. but remember, sometimes cheaper is not cheaper in the long run.

 

[MossRoad]

<font color=blue>I can rember a time when we had a $1500. sears garden tractor and a $500. car in the yard.</font color=blue>

Uh, Egon.... I still do (only its a $600.00 Simplicity and a $1500.00 truck)/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[cowboydoc]

The new series from JD is 5x03. I priced the 5303. With two remotes, cold weather package, and adjustable links it was $14,700. The 5103 is quite a bit cheaper. The loader for this tractor was $3050.

 

[earthmaster1]

I would lean towards the mahindra, 4500 or 5500, they also have some 35 hp models too 3505 depending on what you are looking to do. I have a 4wd mahindra and have been pleased with it, the landtracs look pretty good too, i'm not shure about the 231 massey, i know some with a 240, 6yrs old, no live hydrauilics, have to have the clutch 1/2 way out for the loader to work. very out dated but maybe the have improved. Mahindra has excellent financing 0% for 3 years, not too bad 3 years for free, there rates should help keep you payments down.

 

[Justaplain]

If I were you, I would look long and hard for a USED compact, any thing with less than 1K hours will show it has been abused or not. Pay a mech $50 to go over it or thru it. Many are traded in because of the "Gotta get more HP" syndrome and are good machines and quite often with Equipment. 20-25 HP will do alot with 4WD. Go slow and enjoy the scenery!

 

[chim]

I got by for a few years after building the house with an old Cub LoBoy (4cyl. gas engine). It came with a MMM and front blade. One had to be removed to mount the other. That was an absolute PITA. With chains, it could push snow quite well, even though it was 2WD. Mine lacked a 3PH, so the possibilities were very limited. A good serviceable unit for under $2K.

Next I found a Ford 1210 (3 cyl diesel, built around 1984). I got it when it was 10 years old. With the 3PH and 4WD, I thought I was in Heaven. Figured there was no reason for a "civilian" to need a FEL, but did get a scoop. This is the tractor that sold me on RFM's. Made a boom pole and bought a single shank subsoiler. The subsoiler saw use loosening up dirt for the scoop and for hand-digging in 4" SCH40 PVC rain leaders. This was the smallest (16HP) Ford in the compact lineup, and lacked power steering. No biggie, that's for sissies, right? This little gem set me back $3K. Heck of a deal from a dealer who wanted to sell "real" tractors and saw this as a nuisance hanging around the shop.

While not having to make payments on these tractors, it was possible to save up for the current ride - B7500. With the Ford, I sometimes found it wanting just a few more horses. Better than 95% of the time, the Ford had the guts to do the job, but sometimes when dragging the 60" RFM uphill through thick grass with my somewhat oversized carcass on board, a couple / three more horses would have helped.

Enter the 21HP Kubota last Spring. The "unnecessary" FEL has come in so handy so often I wouldn't want to be without it. I swapped the turnbuckle sway bars for telescoping ones. Smart move. The Ford is still here. Kinda hate to see it go. It was great fun when we got a couple snows and #3 Son and I could be out plowing the neighborhood together. Guess as long as Wifey doesn't care, we'll have a pair of tractors.

It took almost 13 years to work my way up to the Kubota, so like the man said about the Tootsie pop, took a lotta licks. It could have happened sooner if I wanted to make payments, or didn't want to bank some money, or didn't want to give the kids a hand with college expenses, etc, etc. I certainly didn't take it lightly when I wrote the dealer a check for the Kubota. I knew from owning the other two it was more tractor than I needed for any tasks I have to do, and since I'm 53, it is most likely the last tractor I'd have to buy............chim

 

[Anonymous Poster]

tod35550: As others have pointed out, starting out with something affordable and working up is not a bad idea (Chim's et al post tells how he did it). PROBLEM WITH BEING IN DEBT, THE LENDER USUALLY EXPECTS YOU TO PAY IT BACK!!! For myself, my first tractor was a 1952 Farmall Super C which I bought for $1500. I spent another $1500 obtaining complete manuals, adding hydraulics to the rear, a HD Saginaw 3 point hitch, nose weights and brackets, etc. In the process learned a lot about tractors, what was important, and what was not. The Farmall would do everything you mentioned you needed. The PTO drove my Danuser post hole digger, plus the 3 point had down pressure as well as float. It had hydraulic "rock shaft" lift in the middle (for mid blade, mid mount mower etc), remotes out the back, was easy to work on, was easy to hand crank (which I had to do for a couple weeks while the starter was being redone) and a real education. The only reason I sold it was I needed a BH and FEL and the Farmall just wasn't up to that. Otherwise, I would have kept it forever and maybe done another restoration (it had been restored once before) to bring it up to new specs. Parts were readily available (as they are for old Fords, JDs and some others). I could have added a wide front end for $600 (an IH specialist in SE mo builds them). All in all it was both an education and a useful, inexpensive experience. I'm not suggesting you should go this route, just offering it as an alternative. If you are going to use your tractor to generate income, there's nothing wrong with borrowing capital, otherwise would urge you to STAY OUT OF DEBT though.
JEH

 

[Soundguy]

The long series is very reminiscent of the ford 3000, etc.. mostly because they bought the rights to those designs.. I like that look on a tractor. I test drov ethe mahindras, and like them.. the only thing that worries me about them is some models use an electronically engaged pto ( solenoid )... not sure how those hold up... machines sounded good though... very reminiscient of the MF's The MF's by themselves are good basic machines.. lacking some of the bells' and whistles of the other big '3'.. but that means more tractor for your dollar. Some of the smaller MF's are a tad bit light in weight.. which i believe a tractor needs good weight to make use of it's tractor.... For instance, MF has a 21 hp tractor that is small er / lighter than ford's tc18..... I just can't see getting all the 21 hp outta that smaller tractor if the tires spin because it is too light... but there are ways around that too.... agressive tires, wheel weights, front weights, etc.

Either of the three are probably gonna be good tractors.

One thing to keep in mind... don't overlook used tractors at your dealers lot.

I went in to buy a tc18 4wd and a mid mount mower and I wanted to stop at 10k or so... While there, I saw a 2.5 year old 1920 that was originally from that dealer. Had a new engine with 4 hours on the rebuild 720 on original meter.. got it for 200$ more than the new tc 18. Glad I did... I've put that extra 15hp to the test and have done much more than I could have done with the tc18. I'm now at the point where had i bought the tc18 the warranty would be out, and my 1920 has not had anything more than filters, a battery, and a leaky hose.... I'm certain i made the right decision... But I would have been hesitant to plunk down 9500$ for a used machine on the side of the road... at the dealership I felt a little better.... I got a few extras out of it.. free delivery and free instalation of a few goddies i bought at the dealer.. 1 being an older style cannopy that they discounted about 30% for me because it had been sitting around the warehouse for a few years and was dirty....

Soundguy

 

[Chipperman]

What part of the country are you from? Have you considered a Century tractor? The 2028 may be in your price range. I know you will find the quality is excellent and I think you may find the pricing is be better than the other tractors you are considering. I am somewhat bias because I am the new factory rep for Century. Check them out your self.
Chipperman