What Brands did you look at, and what did you end up buying?

joerocker · Apr 9, 2007

I looked at a bunch of tractors, all the "big names" but MAN, the prices!

Ended up with a Chinese tractor for half or less what any of them would cost.

It's not GREAT, it's not top of the line, it doesn't have "niceties", but it RUNS and that's ALL I needed. I don't keep tractors looking like cars, they WORK and they should look like they work, not like a show car.

I've had a few minor problems but I also have a 2 year warranty and the dealer has always been helpful. They are EASY to work on. To me it was very worth the money saved.

Egon · Apr 9, 2007

Golly, I must be a salesman dream. I looked at one tractor, drove one tractor and bought the same tractor. Kubota B7100 HST with MMM and loader.

The orange colour was probabbly what attracted me.

RoyJackson · Apr 9, 2007

Egon said:
Golly, I must be a salesman dream. I looked at one tractor, drove one tractor and bought the same tractor. Kubota B7100 HST with MMM and loader.

The orange colour was probabbly what attracted me.

Yeah, Egon...but you never went back to replace that old Kubota!

heymack · Apr 9, 2007

I knew I wanted a basic 50-60 HP tractor and thought I wanted one of the green ones, but after reading so many bad things about them on here and hearing similar accounts from several reputable dealers (almost seemed like a conspiracy) I had to strike them from the equatiion. After completely discounting green, I shifted my sights to CNH, MF, Mahindra and Kubota. I ultimately wound up with a NH tractor because my small son liked blue the best and the dealer is only five miles from my house....OK, it was really because NH offered the best value.

schmism · Apr 9, 2007

I looked at NH, Kubota, Kitoi(sp?) and JD.

Kubota was a the top of my list till i couldnt get a 72" MMM and R4 tires, and a delux hitch all at the same time. That and the "Grand L" (which came with the delux hitch) only came with a craptastic electronic dash... something that was a deal breaker for me.

NH had all of the above, good operator controls, 72" MMM R4 tires, delux hitch, and analog gauge. It was at the top of the list for stock "weight" in the CUT class (with kubota at the other end)... (i come to learn that weight = good in the tractor world).

I looked at JD, but they seemed to fill the gap between blue and orange. WIth some features of both, while costing near as much as the NH. THe one turnoff for JD for me was there propriatry I-match? QA FEL design. Vs NH which uses standard Skid steer type.

So while price was (when is price not important) key, I quickly came to relize that dollar for dollar IMHO blue was the way to go for me.

NIXON · Apr 9, 2007

NH, Mahindra, Century, Kioti, Branson, Deere ,MF, Case,and Kubota.
I bought a Kubota 3130. If I get in the market again , I'll look at the same brands before buying .

bx23barry · Apr 10, 2007

I started out looking at gray tractors but always came back to the kubota bx21/23/24. I really wanted a backhoe and it was the smallest thing I found with one. Looked at JD but they seem to think green paint is precious and I just didn't like the Massy dealer. I really liked the bigger cub cadet but too many $. While I looked at mirada and kioti they just kind'a reminded me of Yugos. I really liked the Case/NH tc23-26 but couldn't justify the dollars. I went for a used bx23. It has done most anything I've needed/wanted but I do wish I'd have held out for the TC26 or 7610 for the extra ground clearance and traction of bigger tires. Anything bigger would just not fit where i need it aroud the place. Really one of the gray tractors would have been fine but its nice to have something I don't have to worry about getting parts and service for.

EdC · Apr 10, 2007

I looked at Kubota, New Holland, Massey Ferguson, and Jimna and John Deere. After mentioning a high starting price the Kubota dealer said "I sell 200 tractor a year, I don't have to dicker" when I asked if there was wiggle room in the price. The NH salesmen were not there on two separate trips to the dealer (I did not have an appointment but still...it was during business hours). The Massey Ferguson had a nice product but much more expensive than the competition. The Jimna scared me off because the dealer I spoke to said the warranty was six months on parts and no warranty on labor and I know nothing about diesels (I am learning), The JD salesman spent a couple of hours with me going over every last question I could think of and had a fair price. Then after I bought the tractor on a Saturday afternoon the salesman delivered the tractor the same day so I would not have to wait until the following week.

One of the best pieces of advice I have gotten from TBN is that the dealership is just as important as the tractor.

RollingsFarms · Apr 10, 2007

just looking around for now to see what's out there that suits my needs. These are the dealers that are within a 40 min drive from me(JD and Kubota are both 15-20 min from me) John Deere, Kubota, Massey Ferguson, New Holland, Case. Looking the hardest at Deere's and MF's.