Upgrade to Cab Tractor for 75 acres

[W5FL]

Really undecided which tractor to buy.

Upgrading from Kubota M6800SD/LA1002 (8000#) open station in January 2021.

Prefer approx 80-110 hp tractor weighing about 10,000 pounds or more with a/c cab with loader lift height of approx 12 feet and 3500# capacity with forks or bale spear. Prefer clutch-less shuttle shift.

Pull 20 disk x 22 inch diameter disk harrow on 3 point.

Shaver HD-10 Post Driver (750 pounds) on 3 point.

LandPride 606NT no till grain drill pulled.

Will some Tier 5 tractors be for sale in US this year or early next year? Is this good or bad?

Estimated cost ??? (will keep M6800)

 

[tmc_31]

I purchased a new NH TN70D back in 2000. 4wd, cab w/AC, FEL, shuttle shift. I upgraded from a Ford 2000 (no AC). I mostly use it to mow with. The cab is wonderful!

 

[combustor]

Are you looking at new only? I feel like you'll have a ton of options, and everyone will have their favorites. After buying a 250 acre property, I upgraded to a 2005 JD 6420 w/2k on the clock. It has the clutchless power reverser and powerquad trans that allows clutchless shifting within a selected range. 110 hp, cab is comfortable and well thought out. Seems easy to work on (changed all the filters and fluids, and serpentine belt) and parts are easy to come by. Last of the tier 2 tractors in this horsepower range. I did have to travel around and look at a lot of well beaten (even with low hours) used tractors before I found one that was reasonably taken care of. I think with your requirements you are looking at best 45-50k on the low end for a low hour used tractor and 75k+ new unless it's a really stripped down model.

 

[W5FL]

I purchased a new NH TN70D back in 2000. 4wd, cab w/AC, FEL, shuttle shift. I upgraded from a Ford 2000 (no AC). I mostly use it to mow with. The cab is wonderful!

Thanks for the nice reply. I was beginning to think that I had written the post in invisible ink, as there was lots of interest but no replies.

You have good longevity out of your tractor and I hope it has been reliable, too.

I don't mow much because my cows take care of most of that for me. When I have to mow a field with the six foot mower, it takes way too long.

I went by the local New Holland dealer a few weeks ago and there were not many NH tractors on the lot. Guess he is carrying several brands. I have not looked at New Holland tractors for this purchase, but I will, now.

Thanks again for the reply and appreciate any further information you can offer me as this is an important purchase for me.

 

[W5FL]

Are you looking at new only? I feel like you'll have a ton of options, and everyone will have their favorites. After buying a 250 acre property, I upgraded to a 2005 JD 6420 w/2k on the clock. It has the clutchless power reverser and powerquad trans that allows clutchless shifting within a selected range. 110 hp, cab is comfortable and well thought out. Seems easy to work on (changed all the filters and fluids, and serpentine belt) and parts are easy to come by. Last of the tier 2 tractors in this horsepower range. I did have to travel around and look at a lot of well beaten (even with low hours) used tractors before I found one that was reasonably taken care of. I think with your requirements you are looking at best 45-50k on the low end for a low hour used tractor and 75k+ new unless it's a really stripped down model.

Thanks for the nice reply and congratulations on the nice piece of property and tractor.

It is always nice when a new member's first post is helpful to answer a post on the forum. Please keep an eye on this thread and appreciate any further information you can share with me.

Yes, I am looking to buy new as there have been so many changes to tractors in the last 20 years since mine was purchased.

I purchased my Kubota in 1999 and had no idea that a Cab would be such a necessity on these hot Texas summer days.

Over the years, I have become dependent on the tractor for all operations on the farm. The pallet jacks have unloaded countless pallets of feed, seed, and materials. Those over 2000 pounds usually required me to unload a lot of the load by hand, so have wished for a loader that could handle 3500-4000 pounds.

Unloading hay from an 18 wheeler or any high trailer convinced me that it would be nice to be able to reach a little higher to stack or unstack round bales of hay.

The larger tractors solve a lot of problems, but create many of their own in these emission controlled Tier 4 (and coming tier 5) tractors.

I don't like the new emissions, but do like the cleaner burning engines.

The biggest problem for me is initial cost and having a very reliable tractor as most will be over 10,000 pounds and harder and more expensive to transport.

My Kubota 68HP was only in the shop once and they found two bolts were left out of the oil pump when the tractor was manufactured. Since there were no bolts in the Oil Pan, Kubota repaired it as warranty, although it was past the factory warranty. About 3 years ago, I had to replace every single hydraulic hose on the tractor. Seems like they knew their lifetime was up.

Yes, the shuttle reverse and thumb controlled clutch on the shift as well as the 3 point control from outside of the tractor are mandatory for me.

I sure hope to find a 100Hp+ tractor in my budget range. The 75hp seem to be quite a bit less expensive and somewhat less capable.

The budget will probably keep me from owning another Kubota or Deer tractor. I believe I will have to find a Kioti, Branson, or ???. Unfortunately, I have never driven any of these lower cost tractors.

 

[K5lwq]

Kioti has the PX series that I know nothing about except it looks to use DEF as most tractors of this size do.

Branson does not offer a 100HP tractor today but are slated to release one next year. Branson is committed to not using a ECM to control emissions which many of us appreciate. Not sure how they will meet the emission requirements on the higher HP.

I have a Kioti and a Branson and both are great tractors for their size. If I needed a 100+hp tractor today, I would have to look closely at CaseIH, Massey, New Holland and possibly Mahindra. There are others but not being in the market for one, I have lost touch with who is who.

Good luck with the hunt!

 

[Cat_Driver]

I've only ever had Kubota's tractors so I’m a tad bit biased. Now let me tell you why. Because I've never spent a much on repairs on all my Kubotas since 1982. Only a sprocket and chain more on that later.
Let me tell about my first one DT4500 . I bought her used, she was an 80;s something ( never did know the year) I paid $4,500.00 for her with a 12' Land Leveler Scraper. Those aren't typos that's what I paid.
I drove, I should say, beat that tractor for 25 plus years. I only changed the oil once, I never changed the hydro fluids. It sat 15 years till the weeds grew up through the tractor and floorboards above the tractor.
I pulled her out, put in a new battery, filled up the tires and after sitting outside in the weeds for 5 years she fired right up and I plowed with her for 8 hours.

Now when say abused her let me explain how bad. I never greased her EVER. Finally after all the years of owning her and not using her as much as my new tractor so I put her up for sale.

Wanting her to be at her best I changed all the fluids/filters, greased her and found out what not greasing a tractor will do. The teeth on the sprocket for the hydraulic pump were worn completely off ( the hydraulics stopped working)
The chain was also worn nearly through.

I had a machine shop make a sprocket and got a new chain and she was as good as new.

The two pins holding the loader were wore exactly in half. Picture 2" round pin that now looked like a half moon. I replaced those.

She was in tip top shape for sale.

She sold in one day for $7,500.00, remeber I paid $4,500 with a 12' Land leveler (which I still have)

Two more Kubota later one open cab a 1999, and now my current on a 4060 cab/AC, does get greased every 10 hours and oild changed every 50 hours.

Today I actually miss that tracor and If I find it ever for sale I'll be buying it back for nostagia reasons.

 

[combustor]

I've been a lurker for years but never had much to add until now! Your post is timely for me as I just spent the last few months researching my tractor options and inspecting them (often in other states) in the same size/capability range as you are looking for.

I have a 35 hp Kioti I bought new probably 5 or 6 years ago but I've only put a few hundred hours on it so far (only had 26 acres). I've only had a couple minor issues, (defective hydraulic hose, fuel relay died, etc). For small things, a lot of them are pretty generic so I can find a substitute easy enough. What frustrates me a little compared to the JD is there is no easy way to just look up a part and order it online that I've found. You have to call a dealer, they probably don't have it and you wait a few weeks for it. The Kioti seems well put together and I appreciate it's simplicity. I've asked it to do a lot in those few hours and no major weakness has been revealed.

I checked out the Branson when I was shopping for the Kioti and played on one at and around the dealership. I almost bought one because the dealer seemed like a really good one. It doesn't appear Branson or Kioti make a 10,000#+ tractor but someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Comparatively on the parts front, JD makes it dead nuts simple to put in your serial number, look up the part, and order it from a place like greenpartstore and have it in a few days. The drive belt on my JD gave up the other day and my closest local dealer had one in stock, for a model they quit making 15 years ago which itself has 4 or 5 different belt variations based on accessories. I was back up and running in the time it took me to retrieve the belt from the dealer and put it on. I'm hoping this is indicative of my future ownership experience.

I looked at Kubota too when I was shopping for my bigger tractor, but I didn't look at new ones. I'm in GA so we can get some hot/humid summers and A/C performance was a consideration. I can't speak for the new tractors but on the older ones I was looking at the A/C on the JD was better than anything else, especially JD models that have the vents in the console/column and not in the ceiling. I imagine that's something the other mfgs have sorted out by now though on their new models. It may be hard to evaluate this time of year but maybe some owners of late model years can chime in.

Have fun in your search and keep us posted.

 

[5030]

We own a working cattle farm and have both cab and OS tractors and skid loaders too. I prefer a cab most times but sometimes the OS works better. All personal choice really. Only thing I specify is it HAS to be FWA and it CANNOT be a T4 or later motor. Don't do lowest bidder emissions hardware and diesels suffer under the imposed loading of emissions crap anyway.... and they break way too often.

Of course that limits my choices severely so I stick with pre 4 Kubota large framed units. Besides, they hold their resale value extremely well. In fact, instead of depreciating, they are appreciating in value as people are coming to the realization that post 4 diesels are a royal PITA. I cannot afford the downtime so I don't.

 

[nybirdman]

Tractor that size 80-100 h.p. used shouldn't be hard to find;too small for large ag operations and too big for most "hobby" farms.
My nephew purchased a 80 H.P. low hour cabbed JD for $40k.,loader,bale spear,forks.