I'm Thinking About Purchasing a Small Ag. Tractor...Any Opinions?

[JSchooley]

John,



What do you want for your Polaris?



I have a smaller Kubota that I use (and abuse) a lot. I have pulled many trees, graded, moved agregate, and used in the heavy remodel of our house. It is really great for a small diesel 3 banger.



We did rent a New Holland when we had to get serious about cutting a new road in thru DG. It was a serious machine.



I would like a Polaris for carting firewood and trash. Let me know if your serious about selling it.

 

[Piston Slapper]

Tractorbynet.com

Great tractor resource like the TDR for us.



www.tractorbynet.com



I am fix'n to buy a L3830 byself. Go Orange! You'd be hard pressed to find a better quality unit than a kubota. Why do you think all the commercial boys use em. Every commercial business around here if they are draging around a trailer with a tractor on it it's a Orange one.

 

[illflem]

Re: Tractorbynet.com

Originally posted by Piston Slapper

Every commercial business around here if they are draging around a trailer with a tractor on it it's a Orange one.

I've noticed that also but you rarely see an orange one on a farm, they're mostly green...

 

[QRTRHRS]

Re: Re: Tractorbynet.com

Originally posted by illflem

I've noticed that also but you rarely see an orange one on a farm, they're mostly green...

Or red!

 

[Piston Slapper]

Farm tractors are a different story than a CUT (Compact Utility Tractor). CUT are better at doing around the house/farm chores. Things that are not ground engaging implements. They are smaller, more manuverable, and have decent horsepower. They do not have the weight to do ground engagement work, ie Plows planters and such as good as FARM tractors do.



CUT are good at what they do and Kubota is good at building them.



Farm tractors... I don't really have an opinion that much about. But I love them Ol' red Farmall H's!

 

[John]

Thanks for all the great information!



Friday night on my way home from work I noticed that the little cul-de-sac I live part way down was freshly graded. I thought, "That's cool!, it looks like Russ fired up his road grader again. " Then I got a better look, noticing the blade width. Hmmm. Then it occured to me, I'll bet my next door neighbor (term used loosely out where I live... LOL ) is out on his new tractor. I had heard a little about his new Kubota but none of the other neighbors knew much about it other than it was new and a Kubota. Well, as I was proceeding down the cul-de-sac to my driveway entrance I saw in the distance, a tractor that I "know" pretty well. It turns out that my next door neighbor's new tractor is a Kubota B21 commercial tractor with the heavy-duty bucket and back-hoe (not 3-point style), R4s, and hydrostat transmission. A pretty sweet tractor indeed! BTW, that is exactly like the one I've rented in town on occasion. Talk about me being envious! Anyway, it sure did a nice job on the road... and the road was pretty hacked up from all the trucks hauling horse trailers up and down there (one of my neighbors down at the bottom of the hill has some sort of rodeo practice a couple of nights a week in the late spring, summer, and early fall). As it is a fairly steep road, it receives a lot of abuse with heavy rigs climbing the grade, washboarding it in pretty short order.



Anyway, needless to say, I'd really like to get going on trying to procure a tractor in the next several months or so... I just need to do a little more research first.

 

[Tomscreek]

I just purchased a 65 hp Case with 3pt. and a good loader for $5500. Runs great and it's pretty heavy duty.

 

[CAROLINA CUMMINS]

Kubota 3010

Good stuff. Does about anything, goes about anywhere. Actually been stuck one time though, and I mean to the axles.



For some reason It doesn't dirty the oil like the mighty Cummmins though I only wish it had a turbo.







Steve

 

[CFAR]

http://listings.ebay.com/aw/plistings/list/category40106/index.html?from=R4



Lot of information on ebay about tractors, just read the ads you'll see hours and get to look at used tractors that have been used and abused and see how they hold up. They also have ads for a lot of the small Japanese tractors.



lol

 

[skobylenski]

From what I've seen, Kubotas are a little on the light side, but they have metal fenders. JD's are heavier, but the new fiberglass fenders will shatter as soon as you hit anything with any force, or pick up a stick with chains if you go out logging in the winter. The New Holland (my parents have a TC30) is really nice. The metal fenders will take a beating, and this thing weighs a little over 2200lbs. , so it's got some weight. The one thing you should get are either R1 or R4 tires - stay away from turf tires, unless you want to run turfs in the summer and R1's in the winter. The R1's are good for winter, but as soon as the snow melts, you will tear up the lawn like crazy. The R4's are nicer to the lawn, but the winter traction leaves a little to be desired. Chains are easy enough to come by, though.



No matter which tractor you choose, be sure you drive it around before you buy it so you know if everything will be comfortable. Good luck in your hunt!

 

[rashwor]

My experieces.

We have owned and operated Case, JD, and Ford tractors for many years. Never had a Kubota so I can't say anything about them.



JD's are my favorite. They are generally built for WORK and will stand up to many hours of operation. We have a 6400 (85 hp) and it has almost 5000 hours on it with no problems and it still runs like a new one. We average 1000 or more hours a year on this one, as it has a loader and is a good general purpose tractor. It is used to feed round bales in the winter, mow pasture and hay in the summer, and anything you need a loader for. If you buy used, stay away from the 50 series. We had one for 5 years (bought new) and it was nothing but starting problems. Ran great and worked hard once you got it started.



JD has never built a tractor that will run hot on you. Can't say the same for the others.



We had a Ford 6610 (about 75hp) and it was not built for work like we use them. It ran hot all the time when you loaded it up with a 15' bushog. Had two engine rebuilds done during the 5 years or so we owned it. Traded it for the JD above and have never regretted the decision.



We have a Case 1070 and have had it for about 20 years now. It is large for most of what we do, but you can put a large disk behind it and open the throttle up for days at a time with no problems. We put 500 - 1000 hours on it a year.



We have a JD 1530 (40 - 45 hp) that about over 30 years old. Had a rebuild done back in 87 before we bought it. Still running great and is a great little utility tractor. It gets about 500 hours a year.



We have a Ford 5000. This tractor is a older tractor and it is really tough. Works all day and asks for more. I will be using it this weekend mowing pasture with a 15' bushhog.



You will probably never use one enough to need to do a engine rebuild. Something to keep in mind though, if you do, it is much cheaper to rebuild one that has sleeved cylinders than just bores. The older Fords that we had did not have sleeves. The JD's do.



Here are a few truths to tractor buying:



1) Buy bigger than what you think you need. A wise man once told me, "You can never get too big, but you can get too small". I have found that you can get too big, but it is all too easy to get too small... been there, done both, got T-shirt.



2) You get what you pay for. JD tends to be pricey, but if you use it enough, you will be glad you spent the money.



3) A loader is the single most useful attachment ever made. The last three tractors we bought have had loaders; the future ones will too.



4) If you are going to get a loader, it is worth the money to get 4X4 drive. I can't tell you how easy it is to be stuck once you get a load on the loader. This said, we have never had a 4X4 tractor for our loader tractor... .



Good Luck.

 

[rrausch]

Posted by PISTON SLAPPER "Farm tractors... I don't really have an opinion that much about. But I love them Ol' red Farmall H's!"



Got one. Love it. It is a '50 or '51 Farmall H with a DuAl front end loader (And a wide front end) and I even found a couple of old rusty fenders for it! In 1996 I put a new engine in her. Ought to last another 50 years I guess. I use it to bush hog, didg post holes etc. , & I use the loader all the time--don't know how I got along with out one before I got this tractor. Last year I built a PTO operated generator to give me 110 & 220 out in the woods or if the power goes out during a storm. It sure came in handy when that tornado came through S. W. Missouri on May 4--my brother ran it for several days then.



He has a Massey Ferg. Diesel which was made in Turkey(!) He loves it, and it sure uses a heck of a lot less fuel than my H, but my H was made in Chicago by Americans!

 

[dlange]

If I were you I would look at the New Holland Boomer series. They are the #1 tractor in its size. Have the best hydrolics by far, and usually you can get a New Holland with powershift for the same price as a deere with a standard. They have also had great financing deals lately on these tractors. I have been in farming my whole life, and I live in a large ag area, and these are selling 3 times the amount of comparable brands. And everyone I have taked to has been more than satisfied. Just my 2 cents worth . But the deere is not bad either. The way I see it, who cares about resale, if its a good tractor, you will never have to sell it.





By the way I still am a IH man by heart.