Which Tractor?

[TXMike06]

Im about to close on a house and 35 acres. About 19 acres is heavily wooded and 16 acres is crossfenced pastures. I plan on putting a couple head of cattle on the pastures and fencing off about 5 acres for food plots and an acre or 2 for a garden. I will mainly use the tractor for moving around brush and down trees, there are alot of them. using the shredder around the pond and in the pastures, discing the food plots, tilling the garden, moving round bales in the winter, and using a spreader to seed winter grass and food plots. I may occasionaly grade the gravel road but i dont forsee having to do it often. To do all this ive been reading i need at least a 40 horse tractor. Ive been looking at 2 tractors, the Kubota MX5100 and Mahindra 4530. I was quoted $22,000 for the 5100 4wd with a loader, 6 ft shredder, and canopy. The 4530 4wd is $25,000 with a loader, 6 ft shredder, box blade, and disc. Id like to stay around the low to mid 20's as far as price. Im open to other tractors so if yall know of any feel free to suggest. thanks.

 

[foreman Etexas]

Hey TXmike,have you went and got any seat time on both?

 

[TripleR]

I am not familiar with Mahindra tractors, so I can't compare. The MX5100 seems to be a very popular tractor among many TBN members. I prefer the GL, but it costs a lot more.

 

[TXMike06]

I hadnt got to operate either, Ive never drove a shuttle shift before and didn't wanna make a fool of myself in a dealership. I like the layout and feel more comfortable on the kubota than the mahindra, but I'm really cheap so maybe that fact that it's less money is making me impartial. I like that the kubota is less money and has more hp, but do I really need 50hp for what I want to do with it? The mahindra appeals to me because of the 5 year warranty as opposed to the 2 year kubota. It's a heavier tractor as well so I would think it'd be easier to move trees and round bales around and I think it has a heavier lift capacity as well, but it's more money and less hp.

 

[mikim]

I hadnt got to operate either, Ive never drove a shuttle shift before and didn't wanna make a fool of myself in a dealership. I like the layout and feel more comfortable on the kubota than the mahindra, but I'm really cheap so maybe that fact that it's less money is making me impartial. I like that the kubota is less money and has more hp, but do I really need 50hp for what I want to do with it? The mahindra appeals to me because of the 5 year warranty as opposed to the 2 year kubota. It's a heavier tractor as well so I would think it'd be easier to move trees and round bales around and I think it has a heavier lift capacity as well, but it's more money and less hp.

don't discount Kioti....I have a NH but a friend has kioti and we're both happy. Maybe you should choose the dealership first, then the tractor. I'm happy with my tractor, but switched dealers for parts and maint. Where are you? Do you have a selection of dealers in the area?

 

[mikim]

I hadnt got to operate either, Ive never drove a shuttle shift before and didn't wanna make a fool of myself in a dealership. I like the layout and feel more comfortable on the kubota than the mahindra, but I'm really cheap so maybe that fact that it's less money is making me impartial. I like that the kubota is less money and has more hp, but do I really need 50hp for what I want to do with it? The mahindra appeals to me because of the 5 year warranty as opposed to the 2 year kubota. It's a heavier tractor as well so I would think it'd be easier to move trees and round bales around and I think it has a heavier lift capacity as well, but it's more money and less hp.

don't discount Kioti....I have a NH but a friend has kioti and we're both happy. Maybe you should choose the dealership first, then the tractor. I'm happy with my tractor, but switched dealers for parts and maint. Where are you? Do you have a selection of dealers in the area?

 

[foreman Etexas]

I hadnt got to operate either, Ive never drove a shuttle shift before and didn't wanna make a fool of myself in a dealership. I like the layout and feel more comfortable on the kubota than the mahindra, but I'm really cheap so maybe that fact that it's less money is making me impartial. I like that the kubota is less money and has more hp, but do I really need 50hp for what I want to do with it? The mahindra appeals to me because of the 5 year warranty as opposed to the 2 year kubota. It's a heavier tractor as well so I would think it'd be easier to move trees and round bales around and I think it has a heavier lift capacity as well, but it's more money and less hp.

Heck the shuttle is great push lever forward goes foward,pull it back goes back,the sync.shuttle gotta use clutch like standard trans. I did also look at the 4530 and it is a heavy duty tractor,I went with the kubota M5040(M5140) the mx5100 just seemed to small and didnt like the operator station of the mahindra.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/mahindra-owning-operating/234614-grapple-work-casualty.html he can tell you more about the 4530 im sure,he also has grapple on his....

 

[TXMike06]

Theres a couple different kubota dealerships around here, one or 2 John Deere, and the mahindra. The kioti dealership in Baytown closed down I guess about a year ago and I don't know of any others around the area. I live east of Houston about an hour or so, I'm not opposed to going to any dealerships around Houston. The closest kubota dealership is wowco and I've heard alot of bad things about the guy that runs the place. so the next closest would be landsdown moody in houston. Why do you say the 5100 felt small? How much of a price gap is there between the 5100 and 5040? Would anybody say the extra hp of the kubota is worth more that the extra weight of the mahindra or vice versa?

 

[vpracer]

I would make sure you give the guys at Normangee Tractor a shot at your business. I live in Houston and just bought an L Series from Kenneth there for my place at Lake Limestoneand they were by far the best price around (free delivery too). I know it might be a little far from Dayton but the price difference may make it worthwhile. They also have tons of equipment on the ground, no waiting. there is another dealer in town there but i can't remember the brand. Might be worth looking into as well.

 

[foreman Etexas]

I would make sure you give the guys at Normangee Tractor a shot at your business. I live in Houston and just bought an L Series from Kenneth there for my place at Lake Limestoneand they were by far the best price around (free delivery too). I know it might be a little far from Dayton but the price difference may make it worthwhile. They also have tons of equipment on the ground, no waiting. there is another dealer in town there but i can't remember the brand. Might be worth looking into as well.

Yeah I also bought from Kenneth, he's a really good guy:thumbsup: Well worth the drive......(lots of tractors) www.normangeetractor.com
The other dealer in normangee is J5 Tractors sells Mahindra mostly has Massy also.(last time I drove threw had one 4530 and 7/8 other models...
I just say the mx5100 felt small cause its a smaller frame(mid sized) tractor compared to the 5040(5140 now),it just worked better on my cattle operation handling large bales and shreaders.....They also have the 5640su,regular gear tractor,so many choices...

 

[SSdoxie]

With the attachments listed, 40 HP is plenty to run 6' cutter. Your next application to consider is loader capacity handling round bales and clearing up woods. The extra HP is not a big advantage in this application, you should be looking more at overall weight and loader capacities.

 

[whodat526]

Theres a couple different kubota dealerships around here, one or 2 John Deere, and the mahindra. The kioti dealership in Baytown closed down I guess about a year ago and I don't know of any others around the area. I live east of Houston about an hour or so, I'm not opposed to going to any dealerships around Houston. The closest kubota dealership is wowco and I've heard alot of bad things about the guy that runs the place. so the next closest would be landsdown moody in houston. Why do you say the 5100 felt small? How much of a price gap is there between the 5100 and 5040? Would anybody say the extra hp of the kubota is worth more that the extra weight of the mahindra or vice versa?

the owner of wowco is a really good man i know him personally i dont know who runs the store but i deal directly with the owner when i kneed kubota parts

 

[gerard]

Id also look at kioti. (bobcats are kioti with white paint). Look at the dk series. They come standard with a set of remote hydraulics, you can conteol the 3 pt hitch from the rear of the tractor while on the ground, extendable lower three pt arms, and an air ride seat. All things that are extra on kubota. (I have a kubota and am very happy woth it but when considering upgrading I was very interested in kioti. Also has a much stronger loader life capacity. I would not consider mahindra. Just doesnt seem the quality control is there in the manufacturing process. Also have a friend that leased some big ones for commercial snow plowing. Brand new and he had too many problems with them during the season for me to consider them.

 

[Hollow]

Id also look at kioti.

I'll second that notion and add Massey Fergison and New Holland.

 

[TXMike06]

I was at work and had an order at a grass farm and talked to a couple guys that operate a tractor 8+ hours a day and they all said kubota was the way to go, bigger dealership networks to get parts faster and around here there's alot more kubota than mahindra dealers. They also said in their opinion for what I'd be doing with it power would outweigh weight, if I was gonna lift a couple round bales a year, not to even worry about being able to pick bales up with the loader, to just carry em all with the 3pt. Plus they all agreed if I do any kind of discing or tilling the power would definetly be the way to go. They all recommended normagee tractor would be the best place to buy from. I think I will go try to operate the kubota and see how I like it. I don't need a huge tractor so I don't think the tractor being smaller will bother me. I'm only gonna have 6-10 head of cattle so I'm not runing any kind of major operation.

 

[whodat526]

I was at work and had an order at a grass farm and talked to a couple guys that operate a tractor 8+ hours a day and they all said kubota was the way to go, bigger dealership networks to get parts faster and around here there's alot more kubota than mahindra dealers. They also said in their opinion for what I'd be doing with it power would outweigh weight, if I was gonna lift a couple round bales a year, not to even worry about being able to pick bales up with the loader, to just carry em all with the 3pt. Plus they all agreed if I do any kind of discing or tilling the power would definetly be the way to go. They all recommended normagee tractor would be the best place to buy from. I think I will go try to operate the kubota and see how I like it. I don't need a huge tractor so I don't think the tractor being smaller will bother me. I'm only gonna have 6-10 head of cattle so I'm not runing any kind of major operation.

if disking the weight is the way to go. you can have all the power in the world but if you cant put it to the ground it is useless. the weight is going to help with traction and stability.

 

[TXMike06]

Looking at the kioti, I'm really liking it, 50 hp is alot more than I need and there's actually a dealer not far from where the property is. I like that they come with the hydraulic ports standard that was gonna be an extra $600+ bucks to add one on the kubota.