I made that decision almost a year ago and ended up with an
L4240.
I also have about 5.5 acres and needed to do alot of work. I too grew up on a farm and thought about buying used but couldn't find exactly what I wanted or needed and also saw that tractors tend to hold their value well. There are some deals every once in a while, and if you can wait that would be the ticket.... I couldn't.
I'm young and rather than repeating my father and buying numerious used tractors and still not having the right one, I opted for a new tractor.
I'll say that Kubota, JD, NH and Kioti were on my list. I had no Kioti dealer local (just saw a new one this weekend darn..) so that kicked it out and made the other three fairly hard to compare. They are all good machines and dealer availabilty should be priority one. I was lucky to have atleast 2 of each withing 20 miles each way.
Second I determined how "big" of a tractor I needed. I have a few cattle and wanted to move a round bale so that put me into a range but I was also restricted as my property is Lake front and soft for 2 acres that I'm building up. (I could have taken a smaller unit and used ballast but even now I'm glad I didn't go smaller as I still need some weight!) But I'm not too heavy for what I'm doing.
Next I determined PTO HP. This size machine needs a 6' implement to cover the back tires and I've read you need about 5hp per foot for rotary cutting. I now have 35 ptohp and I'd say that 6 per foot would be a minimum, atleast with our thick grass down here.
I was fairly certain I wanted HST as it makes small jobs around the house much easier and quicker. Primarly what i'm doing here. I've gotten several comments lately at how fast I can get a job done, moving and leveling dirt etc.
I then decided to step up the "quality" on all the machines (like a Grand L vs a standard L) because of the time I would be spending on it. I think a standard machine is great for someone who might put 50 hrs a year on a machine but still requires one but is watching $$.
I also compared lifting capabilities of the FEL and 3point. The grand L outdid the other two.
Finally I visited the dealerships again (I probably made 2 dozen trips in a month haha). I test drove them all, my JD dealerships does not keep alot of stock and really hurt their chances as I wanted to drive exactly what I was buying prior to buying but there was no way around that...and I started out wanting green! The NH were just ok, nothing set them apart and again, low stock. The Kubota dealer had atleast twice the stock as the others. And at that time last year prices were soaring. The lot stock was cheaper by as much as 3k as compared to a new tractor ordered that day so the Kubota was cheaper than the other two. That allowed me to end up with a few more HP than I was originally planning for and allowed me to go with the largest FEL.
You won't find anyone on here that bought to much tractor, or is downsizing... but you'll find a few that are upsizing!!!!
The final nail in the coffin was the HST plus of the grand L. I leave my tractor in stall guard and auto throttle advance. I didn't like that the JD required running 2300 rpms the entire time you were on it. I use the dual speed for that extra upmph or speed w/o having to stop and switch a gear. These were the biggest reasons I went with Kubota and 200 hours later I can say they are worth even more than I anticipated!!
Having said all that, for what I wanted/needed, I feel I made the right decision with the Grand L. More tractor for less price, and I even spent the extra for the cab, larger FEL, Dual rear remotes and a front remote. No dust, no sweating, no freezing, no rain, no wasp, and I have tunes!!!! I hope this tractor will last me 30 years!!!
Consider what you'll be doing with it and the implements you'll want to use. My grapple stays on my tractor as much as my bucket. I don't even have to get off to hook up a chain anymore!!! I get 3 times the work done!
