I need a tractor. I want a tractor. Talk to me about tractors!

Montana is supposedly still made in the USA. Skid steer it would be for me. The midrange ones can handle numerous other implements (like post hole auger). What I have found is the little tractors 20-25 hp range are too small and tippy.

We are seriously loooking at a JD right now. Money is the issue, sigh...I think once you have a tractor you will find MORE uses for it. Because we need one to do so many different things we are back to tractors.

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Hi, Willowgirl
Here's an idea - go to a local farm implement dealer of new/used equipment, and ask to RENT or lease one of their compact utility tractors! They usally have pretty good deals, you can try some stuff out without mortgaging the farm, and any repairs are theirs to handle. they will usually deliver and pick up, too! They will be happy to show you how to operate it, too. I didn't know this was an option until my old trctor was in the shop, and I panicked because I really needed to spread lime on my pasture. They gave me a loaner, and let me know I could lease it for a week, month, season, etc. if I wanted to.

Oh, and once you have a front end loader, you will find all KINDS of things to do with it! Besides moving large round bales, you can move or lift all kinds of heavy stuff around your place. Clear your driveway, move piles of dirt for your gaden, haul or drag things, pull your car out of the mud, skid logs, etc., etc., etc.

Willow, I just have to tell this story on a friend of ours, who for years has been moaning "Kubota" in his sleep, and doodling tractors on (I'm not kidding) EVERY PAGE of a pad of scratch paper they keep next to the phone, etc. His poor wife finally bowed to the inevitable and they bought a tractor on sale over the winter.

Well, he was out there happily tractoring around last week and one of the wheels left the ground. Scared him so much that he jumped off without disengaging it first! Impressive move, but then he got to watch it chase his chickens and flatten the little pop-up greenhouse before bulldozing through the big garden gate and chugging right through the other side of his freshly fenced garden. Looks like there was a tornado down there.

This guy lives on flat land in the valley; our place up in the woods has got a 20-30 degree (yes, degree) grade - so I guess we won't be borrowing his tractor any time soon!

This is a link to fastline they print tractor and equipment ad papers like the car and truck trader papers. You can search tractors in all sizes over a large area of the country.http://www.fastline.com/v100/index.aspx

Buy from a dealer not a used lot with out any new equipment. Even if the dealer doesn't sell that brand of tractor he still has a company reputation to maintain. Decide what you want to do or might want to do with the tractor and make a list to take with you and ask questions about each tractors capability to do the chores on the list. One thing that would be important on a utility type tractor like your looking at is a 3 point hitch, even if you didn't use it the tractors value is considerably less with out one.

My tractor repair man told me......Fords are Japanese junk, Kubotas, they only make parts for 10 years, then you're SOL. He told me to stick to John Deere as you can buy parts for many, many years & they don't break down as often.

I repectfully disagree with your repairman. Well, I respectfully disagree with you - I would not take anymore equipment to someone so biased and uninformed,....

JD is made in Japan & now even in China just as the others are. Japan sources from Yanmar for a long time.

Ask to get front end parts for any compact tractor over 15 years old. Perhaps Kubota will be the sonnest to find one, but it will be real struggle to find any for any of the makes.

That advice is just silly. NH, Kubota, JD, MF, Case all have similar import tractors with similar parts availability & similar repairs. They all come from Japan, and all of them are looking at changing over to using China to manufature down the road....

If you want long-term parts source, then you need to buy a 1930-1970 model USA made tractor, those parts should be around for a while yet of the popular models.

Any tractor under 100 hp has most if not all of it's parts come from other countries sine the 1970's.

Someone else mentioned: Mahindra might have a tiny bit of final assembly done somewhere in the USA, but it most certainly is not _made_ in the USA!

Another brand I would consider & didn't mention before: Bobcat. They have made the skid steer loader for decades, have a pretty good dealer base in the USA. They are now owned by an Indian (not Native American, but Pasific Rim country...) company & are importing compact tractors to the USA under the Bobcat name. I would consider these as good as a Kioti or Mahindra tractor, as they do have the good dealer base in the USA so shouldn't be here today, gone tomorrow.....

--->Paul

That would be the last time I saw someone that uninformed. You can get parts for any tractor. I had a Fordsion Major and had to get parts for it. I couldn't do it locally but I found a place on the Internet and got the parts in about 5 days. Oh the Fordsion Major was made in England. I found parts in Florida.

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God must have loved stupid people because he made so many of them.

That's a good idea about renting a tractor! I checked into it before; I think they run around $200 a day here. That would certainly be a cheap price to pay if it saved me from buying something that wouldn't do the job, or I didn't feel comfortable operating!

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"I love all of this mud," said no one, ever.

I get you some pics once syrup is done, next years sap boiling wood is put up, the manure spreader is fixed, and last winters manure pile is spread, lol it will be about june the way this cold weather is holding on.

This calf is a bull. Its black. The dad was angus. It's a nice little calf. The heifer she had last year follows us around like a dog and is about 600 lbs now. My daughter treated that calf like a pet. IM sure she will do the same with the little bull.

If you ever get up here, you should stop in and see Libby.

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http://lownfamilymaplesyrup.com/ max@lownfamilymaplesyrup.com
Professional Tool. 1220 Woodmere Ave,Traverse City, MI. 49686. 231-941-8003. http://professionaltool.com/

This is good advise. The old fords are not well suited to front end loaders. Their front ends are just not designed for a lot of extra weight. Nor are they well suited for tilling. Their groundspeed is not slow enough. Also, if you own one of these, you need to be comfortable working on them yourself. They are actually quite simple in design so with a little mechanical knowhow, there is nothing you can't do yourself other than machining on engine head/block.

That said, I love mine. I use it for brushhogging and backblading the dirt driveways.

Max, if I ever get back to Michigan, I'll take you up on that offer!

I wonder if Libby would remember me?!

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"I love all of this mud," said no one, ever.