Buying Advice To Buy Or Not To Buy?

[Gafn]

If all your going to do is mow - get a Zero Turn - much cheaper something like the Hustler Raptor SD - mows at 7.5MPH, will cover the ground much faster than a tractor, and cost in the $3K - $5k range new with warranties.
Then save you money for a tractor down the road once you figure out what your gonna do with the land.

Even the wife will be able to drive the zero turn if you out of town on business or something.

 

[Threepoint]

Welcome to TBN! Congratulations on your new place. You've found a great forum to ask questions like yours. :thumbsup:

With 12 acres to keep up, I'd sure be looking at a bigger tractor than your friend's, no matter what you plan to do in the log run. Used is fine, and you should be able to find good 25 - 35 hp prospects in your area, newer than that MT180. Mowing that much property can get old real fast with a small machine. You also want something comfortable enough that your wife will be willing to help with the mowing from time to time, and maybe do some other chores with it.

Also, once you have livestock (I'm bettin' it'll be sooner rather than later once you're moved in), you'll be happy to have more tractor. You'll also want enough hp and frame size (especially enough weight) to handle at least a 5' box blade and a 6' rear scraper blade, for maintaining your driveway, cutting in trails, doing light landscaping, etc.

But before committing on anything, I suggest you spend lots of time on TBN reading posts on choice of tractor size. There are many threads on the subject, and the search function works well. It's not just a hp issue, as frame size and total weight is equally important to consider. Plan on kicking the tires of quite a few, and don't be afraid to watch a few opportunities go by before taking the plunge. BTW, a good rule of thumb is to figure out what size tractor you need to handle everything you're ever likely to do with it, then buy the next size up. :laughing:

 

[Teachu2]

ooops!!!!!!

 

[Teachu2]

I recently sold it's big brother, a MT210D. 21 horses, 18 at PTO, 4wd. Worked OK with a 4' rotary cutter on flat land. Could not handle a 5' on hills, would overheat. 402 hours on it. Sold it on Craigslist for $1500 with a old 4' cutter and a 5' back blade. Guy who bought it then relisted it for 3x the money, still has it a month later.

Parts are a pain to get. Valley Power in Roanoak, VA is a great source - and a very knowledgeable guy. Give him a call, and he'll be able to give you model-specific information. He warned me to avoid overloading the front axle, as they are neither strong nor available as replacements.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Keep looking. For the same or less money, you can find plenty of older Kubotas that are more powerful, dependable, have better parts availability and have a better knowledge base here on TBN if you run into problems.

 

[brianb88]

Waaay too much $$ for too little tractor. Look around for a bigger tractor and attachments for less.

 

[bahume]

Thanks again for all the information. I greatly appreciate it.

 

[ovrszd]

Just bought a house with 12 acres of pasture land that I will need to keep mowed. I have been pricing new subcompact tractor packages and the prices. Prices are ranging from $14,000.00 and up depending on model/brand of tractor. The tractor will not be used daily so my wife wants me to buy used. A friend offered to sell me his Mitsubishi MT180 4WD, 860 hrs, all new tires, frontend loader, brush cutter and box blade for $7,500. It smokes a little on startup and is not very pretty to look at but seems to run fine. The price seems high to me but I'm a city boy who knows nothing about used tractors except that they are very expensive. Please help a city boy out!

How come your friend's tractor with only 860 hours has new tires?? Run away from that.

Spend as much time on this forum (or others) educating yourself about tractors as you can before running out and signing a finance contract on a new tractor you know nothing about. And ALWAYS avoid a situation where an acquaintance suddenly wants to sell you his used tractor.

Welcome to TBN.

 

[Teachu2]

How come your friend's tractor with only 860 hours has new tires?? Run away from that.

Spend as much time on this forum (or others) educating yourself about tractors as you can before running out and signing a finance contract on a new tractor you know nothing about. And ALWAYS avoid a situation where an acquaintance suddenly wants to sell you his used tractor.

Welcome to TBN.

My MT210D had new fronts when I sold it - 30 years of sun takes it's toll, even with only 380 hours of running time.

 

[Poke]

Yeah, too much money for that tractor. My second tractor purchase was a 1960 Massey TO-35, gas burner and 5 foot bush hog for $2500.00. I knew the guy real well, and it was a barn find that hadn't been run in 10 years. He swore that a new battery and cleaning the points and it'd go, and he was right. Lil under $300 and I was off mowing for 7 years and still use it some today. Those gas motors are pretty easy to work on, and most parts stores can get just about anything for them. A deal like that would keep about $4000 in your bank compared to the other deal, plus that's a much heavier tractor than Mitsi for other chores like grading and pulling disk.