Looking at tractors. Got some acreage to tend too. 5 acres. Mostly wooded. Up-keep type of work. Would like to possible use for some sort of snow removal in our town. Small business owners always complaining about never finding someone to clear the small parking lots. Seriously considering bushhogging and some medium to large scale grooming mowing, we have lots and lots of people building in neighborhoods of 3,5, & 10 acre lots. Lots of these people are paying for hogging and they only close cut around the MCmansion. They are always looking around here it seems. I searched and found a thread on compact tractors. I plan on buying a loader with it, picking up implments later this season. Cost is an issue. Trying to stay 15k or lower. I could go higher I suppose, but really don't want to. Considering slightly used units. Found a JD880, with loader, turf tires, 6'?? grooming deck, 443 hours. Supposedly maintained excellant, large scale farming operation, used it for stall cleaning?? and decided they could go smaller for their purpose. It is for sale at the dealer. All goes for 12,500. Very clean, loader and entire machine look brand new. What is the HP of the 880? Went over to New Holland Dealer, said he could do a TC30 w/loader for 15k, maybe go lower if I come in sooner than later. 30hp I think is the high end of my spectrum power wise. No lower than 20hp maybe. Any input on these units? I have read and seen that Kubota is a great tractor, what about price?? Can they handle a snow load? I don't know squat, driven my Dad's 8n's to death, he now swears by his New Holland, my Dad-in-law swears by J. Deere. My step-dad into landscaping, swears by the Kubota. Who has the most bang for the buck?? I have dealers for all 3 close by. Any advise would be appricated, the only ride I want to be taken on is a new tractor after a thoughtful decision if you know what I mean. Thanks, Blair
I owned a Deere 750 4x4 20 hp with front loader, bush hog, and a few more implements. I put a snow blade on it and made a bunch of money with the snow removal when I lived in VA. Made my own chains for the rear tires. IMO I could have used more hp for the snow removal.
Currently, I own a Deere 4210 30 hp. 145 hrs. with front loader and 5' box scraper wished I bought the next size up so I could move more dirt around my property.
Too bad you don't live closer. I'd sell this Deere to you for $14950.
The newer john deere ten series are some nice compact tractors. They have the ehydro transmission, with a computer cruise and everthing.. its like driving a luxury car......
I think the 4310 is about the right size for a small ranchette.. go take one for a test drive.. i think you would be sold
I just visited my friendly dealer today. I have had a Kubota that is from 79 for the past 13 years and have never had a problem with it. I am anti hydro just because they rob power. Kubota is coming out with a 2800 which is 29hp and a 3400 which is 35 hp. Both have a shuttle type of shift for switching between F and R and H and L which gives you 4 Reverse speeds and 8 forward. The difference between the two other than hp was that the 3400 has a live PTO which I think is a must if your doing any mowing. With a Loader the 3400 was $15,500 before I tried talking him down. The 2800 was 14,500. The 5 hp and live pto is worth a grand to me because if I'm buying a tractor I'm buying one to keep for 20 years. The resale value on Kubotas is really good too. Mine is worth the same now as it was in 1979 says my dealer. They are replacing the 2600 and 3000 with these 2 models. I bet you could get a nice deal on a leftover l3000. I say 3000 because they have a live PTO and the 2600 doesnt.
I looked at John Deere, particularly the 790 and it was a nice tractor but it just didnt seem built the same as the Kubota. The 790 is 30hp, the same price, no Live PTO, and no shuttle type shift. Also if you want to run a loader on the deere you have to add about 500 to the price to get something special in the hydraulics department.
I am in the Landscaping business and am most likely upgrading the old beast this year. I have been shopping around for close to 5 months hitting every dealer I pass and I keep going back to Kubota. My 79 is a B7100 16hp and has 1400 hours since i bought it and the hour meter that was in it when we got it read 3300 and was broken so there is at least 4700 hours on this tractor with no problems.
I am in no way affilitated with Kubota, Just a happy owner.
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2005 F-250 5.4 4x4 auto snowplow
1994 F-350 7.3 IDI 4x4 auto snowplow
1983 F-250 6.9 IDI, 4x2 4 speed
I will throw up a vote for New Holland, very nice riding tractors, youa re gonna be in this thing all day, and comfort is gonna be an issue. I'm not real sure on specifics, as our NH's are much older and bigger than what you are looking at.
I have the JD 4200 (26 HP) and its a great tractor, Have owned a JD750 for 14 years prior. All the smaller JDs’ are great with excellent resale. My brother just got a new Kubota (3000 series? 30 HP) with 4-wheel drive, front-end loader and I must say is very impressive. Seems like he told me he had paid around 15K for the unit delivered.
Most all the compact are great machine with the same loyalties to brand as truck owners to their machines. There are three or four good tractor sites out there with good information on all brands of compacts. Just do a search for ‘Compact tractor” and you should find them
Let me add one more thing…sit on each of the tractors and see if you are comfortable on it, all models will have a different ‘feel’. The JD’s, Kubota’s or New Holland’s are all good tractors and if comparably equipped will do the same jobs. Talk with the dealers; decide which of them give you a better feeling. All things being equal, the dealer can make the difference.
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Tom
55 F-100 w/efi & twin-i-beams
The brand of tractor you buy is not as important as the dealer you get it from. You will be happy with any of those tractors. I've got a 20 and a 40 hp Ford/NewHolland. I've done a lot of brush hogging with a 60" JD rotary on the 20, but it was a strain for it if I got into very thick stuff. No matter what you get, you'll probably wish you'd gone bigger. Think about getting one with rear hydraulics. You may want an attachment that requires them someday.
For the money you pay you for one of these little things the dealer ought to work pretty hard to make you happy. The little Fords 8N, 2N, 9N, are handy if you only intend to use them like a big mower. If you are really going to "brush hog" you'll be dissappointed, without live PTO the job gets very burdensome.
I had a JD420 and it was nothing but trouble. Couldn't engage the PTO below 60 degrees without it stalling. And the dealer kept telling me it was "bad gas." This same bad gas worked fine in the push mower, the trimmer, my cars and trucks, etc... Like tawilson said, the dealership is very important. The local JD guys here are the worst. Got a Ferris zero-turn (all I do is mow grass) and it's been great. The dealer has been awesome, too.
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Empower The Public, Pay It Forward
i like john deere simply cause they are built much better. i have 3 in our shop and i love em. the new holland's if you want a bucket you had to plumb the hydro. lines yourself, and werent up to par but better than the kubota. kubota is good but they arent very comfortable.ie ease of getting on and off and lack a little in the power dept. but each to his own
Seems like there is alot of green fans. I am more in to Case IH tractors. I don't deal with the smaller ones much so I can't recommend any one model. I can't see where it would hurt you to visit that red dealership around there. Case is gennerally cheaper than JD and, in my opinion, are of equal quality. They all break down somewhere sometime. But tractors are like trucks alot of people have their loyalties one brand. If your one of those get the brand you want. If you don't all your gonna do is cuss em.
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64 F-100 312 3 on the tree
Shortbox Custom Cab
Grandpa bought it new in 64!
Thanks for the replys all. I went back JD today and chatted up the fellas some more, cause' I'm really about ignorant here on this issue. He stated I should really consider the 790 or 990, no frills all business, good power, 30hp/40hp respectivley. Around 14k on the 790 w/loader new. Didn't ask on the 990, figure it couldn't be much more. I haven't mounted any yet, want to drop in on the Kubota dealer and chat him up, get some #'s. Since I hope to go with some pretty good bush hogging and snow removal/pushing (hopefully anyway, I been talking to folks), 30hp seems like a better spot to start from than the 20hp range. They may just be too short on power. The 4000 series Deere have a nice stance on them, dealer said they will start up near 17/18k. That is getting out of comfort range. The 790 is real narrow. 990 seems to be wider by several inches and the brakes and other features go up quite a bit with one tractor size. Prolly swing by Kubota and New Holland dealers tomorrow, get some more details and $$$ figures. Thanks again for replys, Blair
I work for a school system.we use our tractor alot.
We take care of the sports fields the school grounds parking lots side walks nature trails and everything else you can imagine.
We got a new kubota 30hp turf tires ,front bucket ,4x4,shuttle shift ,live pto.
As far as snow goes we have a blade on back and with the bucket on front it does a great job scraping and moving .
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