shopping for a tractor
 

Today DH and I spent a good part of the day tractor shopping. We started out with the Kubota dealer north of here, and found a tractor there we thought we might buy.

Then this afternoon we went to a couple other places, ending up at a place that sells Massey-Ferguson and New Holland. Now we are thinking about buying the 55hp New Holland. We'll save about $6000 over the Kubota, plus it is heavier built and has more power.

It will be able to pull implements that the Kubota could not. The dealer seemed aghast at what the Kubota dealer thought his tractor could do. Too light weight, he said.

Those of y'all who have tractors, do you have opinions on or experience with either of these brands?

Can't wait to see what all have say, I am going to be looking as well in the coming year. Have you considered finding a used tractor? Craig's list is loaded with them in this recession.
Also look at http://www.tractorbynet.com/ (although most of them listed seem up east.)
Look too at http://www.equipmenttraderonline.com/ these are connected to the auto trader magazine people. Good luck!

I am a tractor nut.
At the risk of kicking up some trouble, I will admit that I am not a big Kubota fan. I must say Kubota makes some nice pieces of equipment if they are used within there limitations.However, they tend to be too light weight for a lot of jobs, and I don't think they are made with a homesteader in mind. There was a time when they were affordable, but now they're like John Deere in that you pay more for the color. Mf is a great tractor and New Holland, in my opinion, can't be beat. Service and support is awesome, tractor reliability and capability is phenomenal. Also, you get more power for your buck. Don't be afraid of used tractors either. Ford is my favorite. Other older tractors to look at are Oliver, Massey Ferguson, and International/Farmall. When deciding on a tractor, look at what dealers are close to you. If the closest Massey Ferguson dealer is 100 miles from you, then the Massey may not be a good choice.

This is just my opinion. Hope it helps.

All the name brands are good quality.

Being able to get service is more important than the name on the side.
There are also a lot of good used tractors on the market, so shop around, and keep in mind a 50 year old tractor may actually last longer than some of the brand new ones

I used to own a Kobota but I traded it off and now have 2 MF and love them. The service is great and closer to my place than Kobota. I traded off the Kobota B 2500 and got a MF 150 for the same money and then bought a MF 1530 both are 50 hp and will do much more than the Kobota and I even have a cab on the 1530.

Thanks for the thoughts. We have an old Ford 850, but let's just say we got burned on that. The man who sold it to us claimed he had completely overhauled it, and it would run us many, many trouble-free hours. Not. DH is tired of babying it along and patching it back together. He probably spends more time working on it than getting work out of it.

We're hoping that a new tractor purchase will do us good and last!

Can't I ask tractor advise too? Anyone have any advise on Mahindra's.

I can't write worth a darn!! Wanted to say Can I ask tractor advise too?

It's okay with me.:)
We didn't look at Mahindra's, but I'll welcome advise or input on it and any other brand.

The thing about Mahindra's is finding a place that works on them and have parts. other wise they are good. If you have a dealer close that has parts and will work on them. Even the Kobota dealer was I will have it day after tomorrow.

That's good to hear. A Mahindra dealer is only about 10 miles from us, I think that is what I'm going with because of the ease of service. The only thing I don't like about the Mahindra is the "red color". They all look faded after a couple of years, I know it really shouldn't matter.

I love my little kubota, although I needed a compact tractor. Some of the other brands were just too much machine. I have yet to have any trouble with it mechanically.

That's because no one waxes tractors.
Treat it like a car and it will look like a car

Mines 37 years old and has probably never been washed more than just a rinse with a hose

1973 MF 175 63 HP Perkins Diesel:
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...eonTrap003.jpg

I got it for $5000, with a disk, a chisel plow, a fertilizer spreader and a boom pole

I've used smaller 4x4 diesel Kubotas in years past as far back as the late 70's.. Nice little tractors and did what I would expect a smaller tractor to do.

I have heard nothing but decent things about mahindra, never used one though.

I use a 60+ year old Farmall for free though.. ;) I've put a bit over $500 in it to rebuild the engine, but I suspect it may outlive me.

The question for me is tires, I could likely get another one with decent tires for what a new set of tires mounted would cost. And Mine are getting a bit worn.

Not knowing what New Holland you looked at but NO WAY would I ever recommend a TN60A.
Bought one new almost 3 years ago and have at times swore and cursed about buying it.
Some of the problems:
fuel gauge only registers one of the 2 tanks (oh well, no fix)
front wheels ride up onto snow, mud, etc (told to buy different tires)
peg that locks brake pedals together will stick behind left bake pedal causing right brake to be slightly engaged (corrected)
front end way to "light" without added weight kit.
Like new cars just way to many "bells, whistles", sensors, etc - after all why do I need turn signals and flashers, or a bunch of idiot lights telling me things I can see or hear working......

And I could go on...........

I will echo the service mantra.

Buying one of the good old names proves they have been around and met needs for a long time. I have heard that Mahindra and the rest are all too light for farming. I know people who are happy with Kubota but they are expensive for what they do, think Toyota.

I too would talk to the dealers about a low hour dealer serviced trade that would do everything you need and save you some money.

Turn signals are law up here now, and on the wagons / trailers too. Traffic tickets await those who haul hay or grain on the road without signal lights and safety chains between the wagon and the tractor.

Just my Cdn $0.02

Mike

Thanks for the insights! The specific tractor we have in mind is a New Holland Workmaster 55. We like the fact that it is supposed to be able to pull the lighter weight haying equipment, should we decide, eventually, to do that.

We also like the fact that the man advising us on it has been in the tractor business for fifty years, and seems to know what he is talking about when he tells us what a tractor can and can't do, and what should or should not be put on it.

Is that the Indian-built NH?

I have owned alot of the name brand tractors over the last 40 years. I have found that alot of the popular brands now sell on the color of their paint & the name they have made when they first started. As time has gone by and they have gotten bigger, but they have gotten cheaper quality wise. I currently run a 35 hp Kioti 4 wheel drive...It was $3000.00 cheaper than the same size Kubota and $5000.00 cheaper than the ford New Holland.It had the same warranty as the other companies... Plus it has a lot of options that were standard that the others didn't have..I find that the up and coming tractor companies built alot better with alot of time saving items installed on their machines to entice people to try them....

Where the bigger name companies cut out the every day things that people need to lower their cost, like a tool box that holds more than a wrench, adjustable lift, floating seat, air compressor and flex fuel engines. Also look at items like lift arms, grill protectors, and top links, as these items are sometimes cheap and smaller compared to other tractors. A bent lift arm is expensive to repair, and make you sick to buy one. The one on my tractor is twice as thick as the the one on the IH.. Mine is a flexi fuel tractor so I run veggie oil through the summer months and a mix during the winter.

I frankly dont know how anybody manages to own a tractor or a car for that matter if they have to pay a repair shop to keep it going. But especially a tractor that gets very light duty use and doesnt really pay its own way. One single bill from a shop anymore would equal what I would have probably paid for the entire vehicle. When I get to point I cant work on my own stuff, i'll just pay somebody with a pickup to take me to town couple times a year for supplies and otherwise just sit out rest of my life in a chair on the porch.

I can not see buying a new tractor. The one you're talking about is 55hp and "will pull lighter hay equipment". I have 30 hp tractors that will pull all my hay equipment and plow too. Were I you I would be talking to that dealer about a nice, older, warrantied, tractor of the 2wd persuasion, gas or diesel, with what equipment you need. 50-55 hp puts you up into the Ford 5000 range which was one of the finest tractors ever built at just a few more HP. A MF 165/175 is in the same range, but you'll find the Masseys are built lighter than comparable Ford, Oliver, JD, IH, White of the same era.

Most of the newer compact utility tractors are mere toys compared to older rigs of the same HP. You won't get the whistles and bells with an older unit, but in 10 years you'll still be able to get the same parts you can today. No guarantee of that with a new CUT, none at all. In fact many people report having trouble getting parts for tractors 20 years old- they just don't carry the electronics and sensors and stuff. OTH, you can pretty much rebuild that Ford 850 from catalog parts.

Just give it some thought. New is nice and a great status symbol, but it's also a lot of MONEY.

We have an older Ford 4000 that was built in the 60s (one of the few that was built in England and brought over here). Works great for us. DH has no experience working on tractors before this tractor, and he's managed to fix it up himself. To his credit, he is very mechanically inclined. I just bought him a service manual off of ebay, and he has been able to do it all himself.

I'm a big fan of our tractor. We paid a fraction of what new tractors cost, and it's been a great learning experience for us.

I'm glad some of y'all have had really good experiences buying used tractors. As I think I mentioned above, we were burned on buying our first tractor used. DH has nursed it along for several years now, but we are ready for something more dependable, and are not willing to take the risk again on someone's word on an old tractor.

Anyway, the deal is sealed. DH signed the papers, and made the down payment today.

Thanks so much for all the comments and advice. We have enjoyed reading what you all have written.

I have to agree on an older ford, we have a 1962 Fordson Dexta diesel (English Ford). Its around 36hp has a loader bucket with down hydraulics with a live pto. We snow blow the driveway with the 7' blower and move round bales in the summer with it. It has never let us down and New Holland can get anything for it at reasonable rates and usually the next day. All said and done with any little repairs that I did to it we probably spent about $3900 canadian on the tractor. It has more than paid for itself, and its easy to work on because of its simplicity in age!