Tractor Shopping

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