tractor suggestions

[Woodbeef]

I'm going to go against the grain here,and play the devils advocate. Why not think about a small farm tractor? There are plenty of models to choose from in the 30 or so hp range. Parts and accesories would be much easier to obtain,and might even be cheaper to boot. Yes it would be a bigger tractor than you are now considering,but its always better to have the size and power and not need it,then the other way around. Just something to think about!

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I'll side in along Woodbeef. I personally hate Ford 8n-9n's but if you are mechanically inclined they are a good value also. You can always sell them and get your money back! The Yanmar is like a step up from a 8n-9n, they have live hydraulics, diesel engines, more lift capacity and are smaller sized(good for stalls etc). If you don't mind the larger size try an older farm tractor, if it's too big sell it and get a Grey Yanmar. If you aren't happy with it sell it and get a Kioti or one of the big three. That's the nice thing about the tractor market, if you start from the bottom chances are you won't get hurt too bad(wallet).

 

[JohnS]

kioti85: I didn't take it that he was slamming Yanmars, just making sure that he was considering things well down the road. I wouldn't get upset if not many people jump on the Kioti bandwagon, for you can be like me, owning a Chinese tractor that EVERYONE thinks is junk! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

JohnS

 

[Anonymous Poster]

The thing I have against the Chinese is they think ISO 9001 is a zip code. The tractors aren't necessarily junk they just have alot of issues that may or may not be resolved by a trip to the dealer. I haven't read about the problems I've seen them first hand bolts coming loose from the injector rack(tractor had 6hrs on it), bolt came loose INSIDE the bell housing and locked the tractor(two different tractors).They aren't trying to set up a dealer network, they JUST want to sell the tractors no matter what it takes. Service after the sale all depends on the dealer. You really don't have a company that you can call and complain to if your problems aren't taken care of.
BTW I'm not upset I just think the big 3 are greedy and could use some competition.
Kioti-The Affordable Orange Tractor /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[s1120]

Steve,
If you are thinking of a loader down the road, you can forget about the garden tractor. I have one of the bigger garden tractors out there, and a loader would not work well on it. Smallest I would go is BX size. Now if you are looking for something cheeper for now, you can do a lot with a big garden tractor. But just rember, you will be needing a bigger one in the future.[But thats OK, you can never have to many tractors]

 

[PTRich]

I think if you check with your local lawn mower repair shops that handle commercial equipment with a list of the components used on a Power-Trac they will tell you they can easily work on it. I like to repair things myself and the people at Power-Trac will gladly talk you thru anything you may want to tackle. The only problem I have had with my tractor was a branch falling into the cooling fan and blowing a fuse. Although the tractor byitself is'nt cheap, it only costs about $400 to ad a bucket or power angle snow plow. PT425 with 60" deck, brush cutter, bucket and snow plow is less than $12,000. Having the implements in front of you is realy nice to. You will find that there are a lot of well built tractors available to you, you should take your time picking one. It is a lot of fun gathering information and listening to what people think and like.

Good Luck PTRich

 

[JohnS]

Kioti85: I would be interested in what particular chinese tractors you were dealing with. There are many chinese manufacturing plants, some OK while others not good at all. While the particular bolts you mentioned, shouldn't have been a problem, part of most chinese dealer's prep is to tighten most bolts. The Jinma and Dong Feng are the most popular here in the states. The Jinma (what I have) does not have a factory rep and support is only through the particular dealer you purchased from. The DF will only be available through two distributers, supposidly to eleveate this problem.

BTW, the few Kioti owners I talked to, were happy with their purchases. When I checked on pricing, back a couple of years ago, were about 10% cheaper than a similiar equiped Kubota.


JohnS

 

[MossRoad]

Swmork,
I too have the same needs in a tractor that you have. 20 acres, long drive, meadows, woods and trails. I want to do the same things, snow removal, mowing the yard and trails, maintain the road and pull a wagon load of kids once in a while. I've been considering the Kubota BX series, the JD4100-4200, the smaller New Hollands and the Power-Trac PT400 series. All seem like well built machines and appear to have their plusses and minusses. In my opinion, the BX wins out in versatility and quality. However, I can't afford it. For everything that I need to do, the Power-Trac fits the bill and is a good compromise between wants and needs and my wallet. Another thing that I worry about is roll over. The Power-Trac seemed a lot more stable, since it is lower to the ground. It is turf friendly and doesn't tear up the grass. The engine runs on gasoline and I doubt that it is as durable as the Kubota diesel. We do have several local Kohler certified shops in the area, so major repairs is not an issue. We also have several good hydraulic shops, so that is not an issue. It seems like a simpler machine. Any way, that is what I hope to purchase before the end of the year.

One more thing.
I've been lurking on this board for over a year gathering the thoughts of all these fine people. Not only have I gotten help on tractor buying decisions, I also got help on generators, septic systems, computer operating systems and some good laughs as well. I finally registered as a user about 2 months ago. You should register too. Its really worth doing and its free. See you around.

<font color=green> MossRoad </font color=green>

 

[MChalkley]

kioti85 - I wasn't intending to slam any brand in particular - rather a "type" of machine. As for country of origin, you may have forgotten who you're talking to. I'm the one who's bought and paid for a tractor that I'm waiting to arrive - one that's assembled in the Czech Republic, with a frame, cylinders, etc. made of local materials, has a Japanese (Kubota) engine, German (Rexroth) hydraulics, and Italian (Carraro) gearbox, differentials and axles, remember?

As I said, I was more addressing a type of machine than a brand or place of origin. The type of machine I discourage purchasing is the basic no-frills, plain gear transmission model. Very few people are happy with them very long, unless they just refuse to expose themselves to the safer, higher productivity models. (There's a lot to be said for that approach if your budget won't allow anything more, but that's technically not the majority of folks.) So, since most people are going to end up with a tractor with more features, anyway, it's a lot less expensive in the long run to spring for it up front. That's all I meant. On the other hand, with Steve's budget, it's going to be hard to do anything else...

MarkC

 

[MChalkley]

Steve - You might want to reconsider your opinion of the PowerTrac warranty. It's true that there's no factory-authorized local service, but they do an excellent job of making everything important modular enough that you can just swap parts out. Plus, as was mentioned, everything is designed so that anybody local who can work on hydraulics and tractors in general can work on the PowerTrac, too. And, as was also mentioned, you might find one that fits into your budget, even a diesel powered model.

Otherwise, I agree with Woodbeef - consider an older farm tractor - just make sure you can get everything you need for it before you plunk down your cash.

Still, even if you had to stretch the budget a little to go with something like the PowerTrac, you could have all your implements out front where they're easy to use and have all new stuff, too. Either way, I'd highly recommend at least attempting to find a tractor with hydrostatic transmission that would fit your budget. Especially if you're new to tractors, the hydrostatics are a lot safer - and a few bucks isn't worth killing yourself over.

MarkC