Wife gives the go-ahead <=$30,000

[sleepyhollow]

Hi Folks,

I've got a 600 foot driveway. Just imagine the crook in my neck using a rear mount blower after 600ft down the driveway and 600ft back BTW, Connecticut can get very snowy up in the Northwestern corner of the state where there is some more elevation.

Plows don't work (the guy who currently plows my driveway has demonstrated this point by running out of room at the end of my driveway after the snow pile gets over 8ft high. I've got a turn around in front of my garage and I need room to back the cars out and the snow pile gets in the way. Putting the snow at the other end of the driveway across the street in my neighbors yard wouldn't be very neighborly either

The loader would fix the snow pile buildup at the end of the driveway, but it is not fit for doing 2.5ft deep snow on a 600ft driveway.

But you are very correct, $4K is absurd. I'll ditch the ballast box and I'm considering the ePowerReverser instead of eHydro if worse comes to worse. Unfortunately, I've got no tractor to trade in... Perhaps the 47 hoe will have to do...

The snow blower is must have for me. I'm visiting some dealers tomorrow and I'll gauge the response. I may have to go out of state, but I'm going to bargin hard.
Thanks,
Sleepyhollow

 

[cowboydoc]

I just picked up a two stage 60" pto drive snowblower that's pretty well made from Farm and Fleet for $1000, regularly $1599, on closeout for my 4600.

 

[tanuke01]

The 59" JD Snow Blower on my 4300 is a great machine. The price is high, but it will last forever. I plow about 400 feet of black top drive way and a 3/4 mile trail. One of the post stated you could get a lot of plowing hired for $4000. ( I paid $2600 for mine in 2000.) If I want to hire my work done I'd save the $30,000 and not waste my time on TBN. I didn't buy mine to save money. I enjoy working with the tractor all seasons.

Just my two cents worth

DPR

 

[sleepyhollow]

Hmm $4,000 in the East... $2,600 in the MidWest. Are they just more greedy in the East? I sense great geographical price desparities when it comes to JD.

 

[sleepyhollow]

Doing the math, the dealer in question is giving a 15.96% discount off list (assuming that the freight and setup charges are not discounted).

It would take a 26.098% discount to reack the 29.4K mark that Buck suggested. This sounds a tad outrageous as far as discounts go, but then so does the $800 setup fee. That's welding 4 hooks onto 2 buckets, attatching rear flood lights and showing me how to run the tractor for 2 hours.

I think it is fair to say that this could all be done in 4 hours. This of course equates to $200/hour. I know lawyers that don't make that much...

Just something to think about...
Sleepyhollow

 

[s1120]

<font color=red>If I want to hire my work done I'd save the $30,000 and not waste my time on TBN. I didn't buy mine to save money. I enjoy working with the tractor all seasons.
</font color=red>

Hmm/w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif I got to say, you got a point there. Its worth the money for a good toy, err, I mean tool, that does the job at hand./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[TCowner]

Did I read this post correctly? A wife authorizes $30,000 to be used for a tractor and equipment purchase? Where is this woman? Does she have any unmarried sisters? The woman needs to write a book on the proper care and handling of a husband. Then she needs to go on a nation wide book signing tour. Perhaps one or two appearances on Oprah telling the world what she's done. This woman is our hero. This woman is the wind beneath our wings.

 

[cowboydoc]

The freight and setup is a joke. That crap really makes me mad. You never used to see that. Take the 15% off of the list price from the JD website. That will give you a fair price. If they start doing that when I go to make a deal I tell them right off the top I'm not paying freight and setup. On a special order deal sure, but not on something that it's part of your business to sell.

 

[Steven]

How did the wife become the boss?

you'll have a nice set-up when the puchase is done. looks like you may have to go do a few quick side jobs with the tractor to make up the money difference. run that by the boss and you may get the extra $3,000. good luck..

 

[sleepyhollow]

Howdy Folks,

A wonderful woman she is! For all those who are wondering how she came to approve...

2 years ago, we had a deep snowfall here and my wife came home from work early before the storm got worse. To her dismay, she found that the guy who plows our driveway had not gotten to ours before she did.

We can't leave our cars on the street because of the plows and I wasn't home yet, so she started shoveling tire width tracks up the 600ft. driveway.

I happened to arrive after she had progressed 100ft. or so up the driveway. Being the stereotypical guy, I surveyed the scene and figured that given enough forward velocity and some clever driving, I could master the winding, hilly drive without too much trouble. (Her car is mid-size sedan with all season tires)

After convincing my wife that shoveling tire tracks was a waste of time, my exhilerating ride ended at the base of the last hill in the driveway with 200ft to go before the garage - the front half of the car solidly embebded in a 3 foot snow drift.

After of 6 hours of shoveling in dark, freezing, snowy wind, my wife threw her shovel in a snow bank and said "That's it, I've had it!!! We're getting a tractor!" I think I even saw a smile creep across her face despite the fact the she was still mad at me.

As they say, the rest is history. All prior arguments on my part had been futile. I didn't even convince her, Mother Nature did. At that point in time, she felt as though she lost control of her situation. We had depended on the plow guy and he didn't come through. If a $30,000 tractor rig would have allowed her to be inside watching Oprah and sipping hot cocoa - well, that was the ticket. My silliness was in not recognizing that this realization needed to come through her experience and not my rationally sound, but emotionally void arguments.

So, there you have it... I love my wife dearly, she even bargined the deal down some more after I had finished. I'm sure your wifes are just as lovely. They just need to find themselves in some equally convincing situation. So... start praying to the snow gods and make sure to tell your plow guy you don't need him anymore. Let nature take care of the rest
All the Best!
Sleepyhollow