Tractor Shopping

Birdbrain · Mar 7, 2008

Hi all,
I am moving from the research phase to the active shopping phase. So I stopped at the Kubota dealer that is on the way to work. I took the approach of telling him what I was looking to do and what implements I wanted (I listed these in previous post) and let them recommend the size tractor. I did this because I was not completely sure, there was a difference of opinion here, and to get the dealer's local knowledge input. His recommendation was an L3400. His quote was $14987 (w/o a loader) + $1400 for a Land Pride RCR 18 60" mower. That is in the target range of my budget. How does it sound to everyone else?
Plan to visit Case IH, JD, MF, maybe Kioti dealers in the next few days. Will probably skip NH as the closest dealer is an hour away.

Glen

OK, so I can't type

Let's pursue this thread w/o comments about the last title. BTW, 0% for 42 months sounds good too!

2Botas · Mar 7, 2008

That Price seems high. I would think that it should be around 13,600-14,000. Was tax included?? I was quoted $15,973.00 for a grand L3240 a couple months ago, and as i remember, the L3240 was about 2k more than the L3400. The MSRP of the L3400HST W/R4s is $16,125. You should end up getting about 10-15% off that price, which would be $13706.00-14,512.00.

Got to Kubota's website and use the configurator to build your kubota. then take the msrp of your configured tractor and multiply by 0.88. That should give you the price within a couple hundred dollars. Happy Hunting!

Birdbrain · Mar 8, 2008

Birdbrain said:
His recommendation was an L3400. His quote was $14987 (w/o a loader) + $1400 for a Land Pride RCR 18 60" mower. That is in the target range of my budget. How does it sound to everyone else?

Today I visited Case IH, MF and JD. I looked in detail at the Case IH DX 34 and the JD 3320 and 4105.

Case IH - DX34 for $16500. It was in the showroom, so I did not get to test drive. It seemed to have similar features, a slightly bigger engine, but plastic fenders and hood. Hmmm, not sure what I think about that.
Under the heading of "It's a small world", I went to high school with the salesman and had not seen him since.

The same dealer sells Kubota at their other store about 1.5 hours away. A quote from them on the L3400 was $14150.

Massey Ferguson - Walked into the place and a morgue had more action. No one was in the store, but did eventually emerge from the warehouse. They had all of about 4 tractors on in inventory. Nevermind.

John Deere - The salesman was very helpful and knowledgeable and took time to point out all of the features. I liked both tractors, took both for a spin around the store. Yes, the 3320 has lots of nice bells and whistles; yes, they could be useful; yes, I could probably get my projects done without them. His price on the 3320 was $17127, but could come down a little by swapping the R4 tires it had for R1s. Add a 5' mower for $1376. We talked briefly about a bigger package with implements and he is supposed to follow up next week. While I was impressed by the dealer and the tractor, the price probably rules it out.

So what do you all think?
Glen

dgl24087 · Mar 8, 2008

This link will take you to a site that lists MSRP's, albeit some are a bit out of date. Each brand link lists the last update. News | Buyer's Guide | Rural Life Magazine

coobie · Mar 8, 2008

Birdbrain said:
Hi all,
I am moving from the research phase to the active shopping phase. So I stopped at the Kubota dealer that is on the way to work. I took the approach of telling him what I was looking to do and what implements I wanted (I listed these in previous post) and let them recommend the size tractor. I did this because I was not completely sure, there was a difference of opinion here, and to get the dealer's local knowledge input. His recommendation was an L3400. His quote was $14987 (w/o a loader) + $1400 for a Land Pride RCR 18 60" mower. That is in the target range of my budget. How does it sound to everyone else?
Plan to visit Case IH, JD, MF, maybe Kioti dealers in the next few days. Will probably skip NH as the closest dealer is an hour away.

Glen

OK, so I can't type Let's pursue this thread w/o comments about the last title. BTW, 0% for 42 months sounds good too!

Make sure to look and price Kioti tractors in your travels.IMHO they make a very nice tractor.I recently bought a Kioti DK40se and could not be happier.coobie

Soundguy · Mar 10, 2008

In the big scheme of things.. an hour drive isn't that far away to a dealer. My local CNH dealer is AT least 45 minutes from me. I only use dealer service on my 2 large ford/NH diesels.. not the small old ford gassers... As such.. i can't even haul my tractors tot he dealer.. he has to come get them due to their size. So far, this has never caused a problem. Won't hurt to either call and get a price.. or take a saturday trip out if they are open on saturday. If you call.. let them know you are a serious potential buyer, and let them know what models of other colors you have looked at / prices.. .. that should let the salesman know you are a potential customer.. and not a window shopper. that should get you a real 'quote'.. and not an of fthe top of the head 'ballpark' figure.

soundguy

bjcsc · Mar 10, 2008

Bird, I think you're hurting Soundguy's feelings by excluding NH...

Seriously though, my JD dealer is an hour away. You don't want to buy something and then a month later see a NH that fits you better, do you?

RalphVa · Mar 10, 2008

You didn't list the implements you want to have us help to make a recommendation on size. Dealers and many of the people on this forum, if you go in and say "I want a vehicle", will tell you to buy a SUBURBAN or an EXCURSION. With the price of fuel now and the cry to keep pollutants and excess CO2 out of the atmosphere, think SMALLER IS BETTER. Go as small as you dare. If you only need 30 hp about 10% of the time, RENT or HIRE it done.

Unless you do some pretty heavy duty agricultural chores A LOT, you won't need 30 hp. 16-18 will do probably 90% of the time.

Hp use is a function of hp needed AND hp available. Buy big, and you feed it big whether you need it all the time or not.

Ralph

2Botas · Mar 10, 2008

RalphVa said:
You didn't list the implements you want to have us help to make a recommendation on size. Dealers and many of the people on this forum, if you go in and say "I want a vehicle", will tell you to buy a SUBURBAN or an EXCURSION. With the price of fuel now and the cry to keep pollutants and excess CO2 out of the atmosphere, think SMALLER IS BETTER. Go as small as you dare. If you only need 30 hp about 10% of the time, RENT or HIRE it done.

Unless you do some pretty heavy duty agricultural chores A LOT, you won't need 30 hp. 16-18 will do probably 90% of the time.

Hp use is a function of hp needed AND hp available. Buy big, and you feed it big whether you need it all the time or not.

Ralph

I used this theory when i purchased my first tractor. It was a 2006 B7510, I then found that I needed more power and weight to get my jobs done in a reasonable amount of time. So, I traded up to a B3030. The 3030 worked pretty well And i was happy for a while.... But then found myself getting really aggrevated when I ran into a job that the 3030 couldnt handle very well.(stumping, moving large rocks, plowing snow with a 96" blade etc.) So I then traded up to a L5740. I have not found a job in my application that the L5740 can not handle in top notch fasion. For the stuff that i do, the L5740 is "my" perfect fit. I was just fooling myself, thinking i could stump trees with a 7510, or the 3030(at least trees that have <10" trunk).

Moral of the story is, It would have been alot cheaper for me to have just purchased the L5740 to begin with, rather than trading up twice to get there.

Ralph- I understand your point and agree for the most part, But running a 18hp tractor for 4 hours to complete a project that a 50hp tractor could get done in 1 hour, is not saving any fuel.

Birdbrain · Mar 11, 2008

BIRDBRAIN said:
I think some of the responses to my original post got caught up on the number that I have 50 acres total. But much of the property will be converted to ponds and habitat that will not need any regular maintenance. Instead, I will be farming / gardening 5-6 acres and mowing about 10 acres once per year. So I am considering my needs based on 15 acres.

So my main needs stand at
1. plow / disc the garden and wildlife plantings
2. mowing to maintain grasslands
3. minor grading work to maintain back lane, pond dikes, occasional snow removal. (all minor occurences)

My wish list is
A. 30 hp +/- tractor with rear hydraulic, r1 tires and fwd (some muddy conditions possible)
B. 2 bottom plow, 5' +/- disc
C. rear mower (5'-6')
D. rear blade
E. some sort of planter or seeder (have not researched yet)

Here are my needs/wants and my implement wish list from another thread. The tasks I want to accomplish easily are plowing and mowing. I has struggled pulling 2 plows with the Farmall A for years. It goes OK if all conditions are right, but rarely does that happen. Usually it is maxing out what the A can do. So, I think I will be perfectly happy with a tractor that can handle 2 plows well. Maybe I can move up from 2-12s.

To keep costs down, my next move will be to consider a Gear transmission instead of the HST. While I like the HST after trying it out over the weekend, it may not be a necessity for me since I am not getting a loader. My main tasks of plowing and mowing my be accomplished just fine with a gear tractor.

Glen

john_bud · Mar 11, 2008

If you have wide open areas for mowing and no FEL - then no HST is no problem. Some may decry the lower resale, but the lower purchase price sort of evens that out. I say go for it.

My dealer had a stack of front weight bars sitting that they took off of tractors that got loaders. If you tractor doesn't come with a front weight bar, you may get one for free by asking. (I did - and I have an FEL, but wanted the flexibility)

Birdbrain · Mar 27, 2008

Hi again,
It has taken some time with salesman being away at training and such, but I finally have from my 2 leading choices. They are:

JD3320 hydro for 17550 + Frontier 5' mower (1376) + Frontier 5.5' disk (1350) + Frontier 6' blade (500) + iMatch hitch (244) - 2 implement bonus (-300) = 20720

Kubota L3400 hydro for 14100 + Woods 5' mower (1200) + Woods 5.5' disk (1150) + Woods 6' blade (575) = 17025

I did really like the JD, and the extra bells and whistles are neat, but probably not necessary for getting work done. It is more than I set out to spend.

Anyway, opinions on those quotes?

Thanks,
Glen

offroadr · Mar 27, 2008

bjcsc said:
Bird, I think you're hurting Soundguy's feelings by excluding NH...

But by looking at the Case-IH he is still supporting NH

I think you can do a little better on the JD. I just ordered a 3320 for $19,500 OTD with a 300CX loader. The FEL is list at 4130. The tractor lists for $17,889. Shop around a little and I think you will get the JD closer to the Kubota.

MidnghtOwl · Mar 27, 2008

I was in a budget situation when I was tractor shopping as well. It amazes me how well the "big names" hold their resale, but I was able to shave about $3000 off of a 3320 by purchasing a 450 hour 2005 model machine. Any late model used tractors on the lots near you?

flusher · Mar 28, 2008

Birdbrain said:
Here are my needs/wants and my implement wish list from another thread. The tasks I want to accomplish easily are plowing and mowing. I has struggled pulling 2 plows with the Farmall A for years. It goes OK if all conditions are right, but rarely does that happen. Usually it is maxing out what the A can do. So, I think I will be perfectly happy with a tractor that can handle 2 plows well. Maybe I can move up from 2-12s.

To keep costs down, my next move will be to consider a Gear transmission instead of the HST. While I like the HST after trying it out over the weekend, it may not be a necessity for me since I am not getting a loader. My main tasks of plowing and mowing my be accomplished just fine with a gear tractor.

Glen

A few weeks ago I bought a new Mahindra 5525 gear tranny tractor (55 hp engine, 45 hp pto). You can get one of these without FEL these days for under $13K with 0%/48 month financing. It's a heavy tractor (5300 lb without filled tires) and stoutly built (real steel sheet metal, no plastic). It's more hp than you're looking for now, but later you may find that you need the extra power.

LBrown59 · Mar 29, 2008

MidnghtOwl said:
I was in a budget situation when I was tractor shopping as well. It amazes me how well the "big names" hold their resale, but I was able to shave about $3000 off of a 3320 by purchasing a 450 hour 2005 model machine. Any late model used tractors on the lots near you?

You just have to be careful that the finance charges on used don't drive the cost of used up to or beyond the price of new.

ChuckinNH · Mar 30, 2008

LBrown59 said:
You just have to be careful that the finance charges on used don't drive the cost of used up to or beyond the price of new.

I heard that there were no finance charges if you bought at least 3 at a time.....

LAWALLSTRACTOR · Mar 30, 2008

All of the jobs you have listed do not require more than a 25 HP tractor, but if you want to pull a 2 bottom plow I would suggest you look for a tractor in the neiborhood of 3000 lbs. If you have a Mahindra dealer near you check the specs on the Mahindra 2525 tractor that will be at the dealers soon. 25 HP, 4WD weighing in at 3400 lbs. and probably priced arround 12 to 13,000. Check it out at mahindrausa.com . The Ford 8N was a good 2 plow tractor 22 HP weighing 3000 lbs. This is something you should consider is the weight of the tractor. Good luck tractor shopping.

257NH · Mar 30, 2008

Your lucky your in an area that has a decent,personable JD dealer.Around these parts all you get is pretty much an attitude that your taking up their time.And of all the brands of tractor I visited when I was looking to buy the JD dealers were the only ones to talk bad about the other brands.EG. "All the New Hollands are having Problems at around 1000 hours" ETC. That and the fact that in this neck of the woods they just dont want to compete with kubota or new holland just removed them from my consideration.
Good luck on your purchase.
Brian