Kubota BX23 - Useful tool or expensive toy?

I think a little bigger tractor than you need is always better than a little smaller tractor than you need. 4x4 and a quick attach loader are great options if you can budget for them. I've owned (or own) Ford, Massey, John Deere, Caterpillar, and Kubota tractors, and they're all good. I would rate the Kubota the best of my lot, but it's also the newest tractor I own, which gives it somewhat of an advantage. Best wishes in whatever you choose to do.

My wife and I just bought a Kubota L3400 with loader and post hole digger. We did a lot of looking around and comparing, and it came down to JD or Kubota. We settled on the Kubota because it was significantly less than a comparably-sized JD (on the order of $4K!). It also cost only a grand or so more than the BX model we looked at, so it was a no-brainer to upgrade it. We also got three-year, zero-interest financing so that helped.

It's got 34 HP and although we haven't done a whole lot with it yet I really like it. (The first thing I did with it was tow my wife's car up our 1,000 foot driveway after she got stuck in the mud!) We have 50 acres of hills in Pennsylvania and plan to have cattle, sheep, poultry, pigs, and some gardens; we also plan to hay with it and do some work in the woods. I know people say that this may be too small for haying, but if you're not making round bales it isn't a big deal. (My grandfather farmed and hayed for decades with a 10 HP tractor.) Ours is also 4WD for better performance, and it's diesel so you get better torque and the fuel doesn't deteriorate as fast as gasoline does. It's a little more difficult to start in cold weather but it doesn't get as cold in Pennsylvania as it does in, say, North Dakota. I don't know if your part of central NY is particularly cold but I still wouldn't think this would be a problem for you.

As another poster mentioned, the newer tractors have seat belts and roll-over protection systems - very important to me. I grew up in farming country and knew too many families that had lost someone to a tractor accident. Because of the hills on our place, I got the tractors filled with liquid to increase stability. Our dealer said this was standard practice for him but if you buy new you should make sure you get this.