Warrant & service comparison between brands - First time tractor buyers

[ultrarunner]

I dealt with this as a arbitrator and the Dealer can lose their franchise but it almost never happens... at least no automotive... what often happens is you will be at the bottom of the list for warranty work and during harvest season here that can adds weeks.

Some dealers offering transport and others don't... you can rent a truck/trailer or hire one... all the dealers here will provide the contact info for haulers.

Most all attachments are interchangeable within the same category 3 point hitch...

Don't expect a loader from a Kubota to fit a Deere...

As a side note... we decided on a local Dealer and when he wrote us up he was saying how he has the best prices... we said his price was good but we had a better quote by $420 dollars and decided to still shop local... he asked if we had the quote and it was in the truck... he looked at it line by line and matched it... we did not ask or were even going to bring it up...

 

[paulfun9]

Thank you for your replies, I will look into Kioti as well.

How about Mahindra, I noticed that they just extended their warranty to 7 years.

The tasks we would like to do with the tractor are:

1) Cut grass - we have about 9 acres of land which we need to maintain

2) Move logs, dirt, piles of debris around - I presume the loader is sufficient for this

3) Probably some digging at some point to grade the land

4) We have a used box blade, from a friend who left it for us

I am sure there will be other tasks as well which we still need to learn about, any suggestions are welcome.

I was told that I need about a 30-35HP tractor, but as some of you have said, we would like to go bigger, rather than smaller.

Any suggestions or comments on what we should look for?

Thanks!
Oxonian

I will leave Mahindra for those with more experience with the brand but I wasn't impressed enough to put my money on one when I last was shopping. They have modles built by different manufacture such as TYM and Mitsu as well as their own builds and when I shopped the only ones I really felt comfortable on were the ones built by TYM so I went and looked at TYM and found the same tractor for far less money with more options so Mahindra was dropped from my shopping list.

Yes the loader will be sufficient for light digging and moving stuff but I would strongly consider a Grapple for any long term debris moving. You of course will have to consider having a third function installed before hand as well ensure you get a Quick connect bucket with which ever machine you decide on. The Quick connect will serve you well even if you don't plan on ever getting a grapple as other things like pallet forks can be used and the switch between bucket, forks or grapple will be quick and painless.
Plan on a good tooth bar for the bucket for any digging chores as it will also improve your time and efficiency greatly.

Cutting grass is very dependent on the type of grass and what you envision the finished look to be. I have fields that never see anything but a bush hog and others that only get cut with a finish mower for a much cleaner look. Simply put will you be cutting that field like a city lawn or will you be letting it grow for most of the year only chopping it once or twice a year?
For your cutting needs I would assume with 9 Acres your land is fairly open so I would be more inclined to look at 3 point rear discharge mowers and forget about anything that mounts under your tractor.

Back to digging again. If you plan on any deep digging I would not hesitate to get a good sub-frame mounted back hoe rather than push a loader to the task. The loader is for light digging and a backhoe is for Digging. SO consider exactly what you will end up using the tractor for over the long haul before you spend your money on one that's not going to perform all your tasks reasonably well because you underestimated your needs. Many people do this because they don't think like a tractor owner with experience and think only about getting things done that they do now with small yard machines that limit their imagination. Once a tractor owner starts seeing what can be done they have a tendency to take on more complex and hard projects that they never dreamed of doing when a pick and shovel were their main tools. This tendency can be filled with disappointment when they realize their equipment is right on the edge of being able to do it and having that little extra from the get go in reserve is always nice at this point.

Tractor size is as dependent an the person as it is on the land and tasks planned for it. I am of the group that usually recommends thinking bigger if possible within reason. For me if a 30 to 35 HP machine is recommended but a 40 to 50 HP machine will not be limited because of size I would go with the bigger machine almost every time especially when I consider the work will be done with much less strain on the machine and the time frame to get the work done.
This can be one of the hardest things to decide on when tractor shopping and you will find many here will have different points of view based on their own experience. Pay attention when reading these opinions as they are just that opinions based on their own experience and the answer you seek might be found someplace between.

 

[GManBart]

T

None at all, some of them do make parts, like FEL, in USA.


PS. You can never change the original title... but don't worry about it, we know what you meant to write.

Deere makes many of their tractors in the U.S. You may be thinking about when Yanmar made most of their smaller tractors....not the case any longer.

I'm pretty sure you can edit the original title for the first day, but you have to go to the advanced tab to do so.

 

[GManBart]

Hi,

I have a couple of very basic, and most likely 'stupid' questions, sorry about that.

1) If we buy the tractor at dealership A, for example Landsdowne Moody in Cypress, can we take it to any other dealer, dealer B, for servicing?

I understand that the dealer B may not prioritize our servicing, but would they still honor the warranty and do the job?

2) How do I get the tractor to the dealership for servicing? I presume I need to take it on a trailer?

I presume the dealer will not transport or....

3) Are the attachments compatible between different brands, for example, if I buy a Kubota tractor, can I buy and use attachments that are non Kubota?

I really appreciate your help.

Thank you,
Oxonian

If you buy a tractor at dealer A and want/need to use dealer B for service, they should honor your warranty, but they may not be happy about it. Some have told people to go to the selling dealer, or said they would put you last in line, but I think that sort of situation is fairly uncommon. It's not like people don't sometimes move and take their tractor with them, right? If I was questioned, I would just say I bought the tractor before moving, and now I'm nearby.

Some dealers will transport for a fee, some will transport machines they sold for free, and most areas have a few folks who will haul equipment for hire (around here it's something like $100 to load, then $1.50 per loaded mile). Generally speaking, dealers will deliver a newly purchased tractor for free within a generous set distance...the last two I bought from said it was free within 100 miles.

FELs are model specific, but almost everything that attaches to the 3pt hitch is universal within category (the tractors you're looking at are all Cat 1) and they even make adapter pins/bushings to swap between categories. In practice, most implements aren't made by tractor manufacturers, and when you see implements that have a tractor brand on them, they're usually generic models made by one of a couple of companies who paint them and provide stickers that match several brands.

You asked about brands and I don't think anybody gave you a real rundown. If we exclude gray market imports and Chinese tractors (cheap, but not a great idea for a first tractor) the more common/popular brands are: Deere, Kubota, Case, New Holland, Mahindra, Kioti, LS, Yanmar, Massey Ferguson, TYM and Branson. Some of those have slightly smaller dealer networks than others, but make a solid machine. It can get confusing because quite a few of those companies have someone else make some, or all, of their compact tractors. For example, if you go buy a Case or New Holland, most of those are actually made by LS, and you can buy them much cheaper from LS. One positive note there is that you can get parts/service from three different kinds of dealers as other than paint/stickers, they're the same machines. As mentioned earlier, Mahindra only makes some of their machines, and you can often buy the same machine for less money by going direct.

If you stick to one of those companies it's a pretty safe bet you'll get a good machine....none of them are known to have a history of making bad machines. Any company can make a tractor that has problems, but there's no way around that. I've seen a $125K backhoe burned to the ground because of a faulty part...it happens.

 

[oxonian]

Re: Warranty & service comparison between brands - First time tractor buyers

Thank you!!

I will answer some of these queries later today, I appreciate your continued help.

Oxonian

If you buy a tractor at dealer A and want/need to use dealer B for service, they should honor your warranty, but they may not be happy about it. Some have told people to go to the selling dealer, or said they would put you last in line, but I think that sort of situation is fairly uncommon. It's not like people don't sometimes move and take their tractor with them, right? If I was questioned, I would just say I bought the tractor before moving, and now I'm nearby.

Some dealers will transport for a fee, some will transport machines they sold for free, and most areas have a few folks who will haul equipment for hire (around here it's something like $100 to load, then $1.50 per loaded mile). Generally speaking, dealers will deliver a newly purchased tractor for free within a generous set distance...the last two I bought from said it was free within 100 miles.

FELs are model specific, but almost everything that attaches to the 3pt hitch is universal within category (the tractors you're looking at are all Cat 1) and they even make adapter pins/bushings to swap between categories. In practice, most implements aren't made by tractor manufacturers, and when you see implements that have a tractor brand on them, they're usually generic models made by one of a couple of companies who paint them and provide stickers that match several brands.

You asked about brands and I don't think anybody gave you a real rundown. If we exclude gray market imports and Chinese tractors (cheap, but not a great idea for a first tractor) the more common/popular brands are: Deere, Kubota, Case, New Holland, Mahindra, Kioti, LS, Yanmar, Massey Ferguson, TYM and Branson. Some of those have slightly smaller dealer networks than others, but make a solid machine. It can get confusing because quite a few of those companies have someone else make some, or all, of their compact tractors. For example, if you go buy a Case or New Holland, most of those are actually made by LS, and you can buy them much cheaper from LS. One positive note there is that you can get parts/service from three different kinds of dealers as other than paint/stickers, they're the same machines. As mentioned earlier, Mahindra only makes some of their machines, and you can often buy the same machine for less money by going direct.

If you stick to one of those companies it's a pretty safe bet you'll get a good machine....none of them are known to have a history of making bad machines. Any company can make a tractor that has problems, but there's no way around that. I've seen a $125K backhoe burned to the ground because of a faulty part...it happens.

 

[STx]

Hi,

I have a couple of very basic, and most likely 'stupid' questions, sorry about that.

1) If we buy the tractor at dealership A, for example Landsdowne Moody in Cypress, can we take it to any other dealer, dealer B, for servicing?

I understand that the dealer B may not prioritize our servicing, but would they still honor the warranty and do the job?

2) How do I get the tractor to the dealership for servicing? I presume I need to take it on a trailer?

I presume the dealer will not transport or....

3) Are the attachments compatible between different brands, for example, if I buy a Kubota tractor, can I buy and use attachments that are non Kubota?

I really appreciate your help.

Thank you,
Oxonian

1 - Yes, it's just like a car. If you buy from one Ford dealer, any will do service.

2 - They will come pick it up and do on-site repairs but, you'll pay for that convenience. Your best bet is to have a trailer, or rent one. If you're only going to move it once or twice a year, it's probably more cost-effective to rent, the registration rates are getting out of hand and my last renewal for my trailer was $117. LM rents trailers and Hilltop Tool Rental in Tomball has trailers big enough as well.

3 - Yes, all 3 point attachments are compatible with any tractor. There are different classes of the 3 point, everything you'll be using will be Class 1.

3a - Get an FEL with an SSQA and you'll have better availability of attachments for it. Deere has their own FEL system, pretty much everyone else uses SSQA.

Stop by LM and tell Tate that Bernie sent you, he's very low pressure and will give you honest answers. Remind him that I still have a javelina with his name on it.

 

[oxonian]

Re: Warranty & service comparison - First time tractor buyers

Thank you. I sent you an email.

None of the dealers around Houston are all that great, they're pretty much all large dealers with multiple stores and hire not the best labor for parts and service. I do have a very good salesman at Lansdowne-Moody in Cypress that I would recommend dealing with. He'll shoot you straight on what will best fit your needs and will give you his best price at the beginning instead of playing the negotiating game. I would not use the LM service department though, especially at that store. I don't know what side of town you're on but on the Katy/Cypress/Conroe side, I'd go to Sealy Tractor for service. They also sell Kubota and NH machines.

If you'd like my sales guy's contact info, shoot me an email at bernie @ texashogtraps.com and I'll pass it along.

 

[mddorange]

Hello mddorange,

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I chose that username, because I am a graduate of Oxford, and because it is hard to think of usernames

Have you lived or visited Oxford?

No, but I served with a couple who did, one Canadian and one British, and the Brit used the same username and the Canadian gave him a hard time about it.