School me on tractors

khokhonutt

khokhonutt

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Concord, NC
I figured I'd try here, since we have a diverse group.

I'm starting to look into purchasing a tractor. I'm interested in something slightly bigger than a riding mower that would allow me to tow a bush hog, maybe add a small front end loader, etc.

I'm interested if any of you have any good links to sites where I can gather some basic information, to help me make a decent decision. Right now, I know some of the options, but have no clue why I would pick one set of features over another.

Thanks,
Jeff
 
ajeeperwannabe said:
for light work around the house and such Id go with a John Deere 2000 series
http://www.deere.com/en_US/ProductCatalog/HO/series/HO_cut_2000_series.html?tm=ho&link=dnav
If going to be a tad heavier stuff the 4000 series
http://www.deere.com/en_US/ProductCatalog/HO/series/ho_cut_4000_series.html?tm=ho&link=dnav
Click to expand...

The 2000 series is about the size I think I want. I'm just not sure I'm willing to bite on the price of a new John Deere yet. I know they're nice and I know they last, but not sure I can justify the cost of a new one.

Jeff
 
John deere makes an excellent piece of equipment,
However in that size range you can not touch a Kubota.

More HP
More features standard
lower pice

Ill see if I can find the forum I researched on when I ought my tractor, I did not buy a Kubota (masey ferguson) and kick myself for the decision
 
Dad has an older Massey Ferguson MF20 industrial model, way too big for your plans, but he has been looking for about the same thing as you.

one thing he stumbled across, but we cannot seem to find again is a Mitsubishi "side by side" tractor with a 3pt hitch on rear with PTO to run bush hogs, etc.

The Side by side was just a fiberglass piece of some sort, made it "Gator" like and 'cute' according to mom. 4wd...and small enough to get around in the woods on our property. If you/anyone runs across this again PLEASE zap me a link!!

GREY MARKET tractors are really huge right now...you can save a huge amount and many of them are identical to name brand stuff.

Kubotas are made in 2 places, one is truly a kubota and there is a "grey market" version made by someone else with kubota name on it. (YanMar maybe...something like that, turns out they build like 60% of the tractors out there with various other names on them like Ford, etc)

http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/kb13/TF_home.htm
 
ShyHiK5 said:
John deere makes an excellent piece of equipment,
However in that size range you can not touch a Kubota.
More HP
More features standard
lower pice
Ill see if I can find the forum I researched on when I ought my tractor, I did not buy a Kubota (masey ferguson) and kick myself for the decision
Click to expand...


diss the deer. im with the kubota for that size
 
If you ever want to put a front loader on it, stay away from Deere since you cant get a wear bar on their buckets. Ive never been pleased with any Kubota, theyre just way too light and wont lift a thing. Ford/New Holland seems to be the way to go in a new tractor. If I were you, I would look towards something older that had some weight to it, dont be fooled by HP numbers. It takes very little HP if the tractor is set up right.
 
the gray markets are made by kubota, etc. THey are just made for use in Japan, and not made for export to the US. Licensing agreements, more than anything.

Many John Deeres (and other brands) of the SMALL tractors are not built by Deere, but are rebadge Japanese brands, such as Yanmar. The US importers/relabelers (mainly Kubota and Deere) are fighting the gray market tractors.

One of the ways they do this is by requiring a VIN when ordering some parts. If you don't have a US Kubota VIN# then you have to go elsewhere (same graymarket place where you bought tractor) to get replacement/repair parts. No big deal, but sometimes a hassle.

You can save thousands, but you have to be careful with what you buy. Google "grey market tractor" and you'll find lots of info, and some good faqs on it.
 
the gray markets are made by kubota, etc. THey are just made for use in Japan, and not made for export to the US. Licensing agreements, more than anything.

Many John Deeres (and other brands) of the SMALL tractors are not built by Deere, but are rebadge Japanese brands, such as Yanmar. The US importers/relabelers (mainly Kubota and Deere) are fighting the gray market tractors.

One of the ways they do this is by requiring a VIN when ordering some parts. If you don't have a US Kubota VIN# then you have to go elsewhere (same graymarket place where you bought tractor) to get replacement/repair parts. No big deal, but sometimes a hassle.

You can save thousands, but you have to be careful with what you buy. Google "grey market tractor" and you'll find lots of info, and some good faqs on it.
 
tractors

All tractors, 30 hp and under, are made in Japan or Korea.(Russia, China, India also) Grey market tractors are mostly used for around 600 hrs in Japan and then brought here for resale. Their enviromental laws force them to replace the engine at something past 600 hrs or sell the tractor. Kubota is not the only maker of these grey market machines. The ones made by Kubota will say "Kubota" on them and parts are easy to find. Not the case with some of the other brands. There are about four other makers manufacturing all these tractors, including John Deere, Massey Ferg, and all the other "American" Brands you can think of.

Kubota is probably one of the best built tractors availiable, and they make one big enough to do anything you can imagine. They are also the largest manufactuer of wheel tractors in the world.

I have owned several and found them to trouble free. The best tractor for the money is the Kiota, a copy of the Kubota, built in Korea. It is a little cheaper in price than the Kubota, same reliabilty.
 
I have run most all tractors made for the past 30 years. If you are looking at a small tractor the ONLY choice I would consider is a Kubota. I've seen them run 3500 hours without problems.
You can probably find an older B7100 Hydrostat (17 hp) 4wd and it would do what you want. Any small tractor with a front loader is going to be tippy and they're not made to lift the world so you have to be patient and careful.
Be sure to get 4wd with any small tractor because they are not heavy enough to pull with just 2wd.
If you're looking for something larger, say in the 35 hp range then either of the JD, MF, or Ford are all good choices.
The old Ford 8N and 9N's are getting a bit too old and you will need to work on them some.
 
Jeff...if you end up wanting a Kubota, let me know...

a good friend of the family (the dad is co-owner of an airplane with my dad, the son and I graduated high school together and both went to NCSU) has been a Kubota salesman for entire career...

got my mom a great deal on her hydrostat lawn tractor...and also loans us bigger tractors if we need them...

Greg
 
bigwaylon said:
Jeff...if you end up wanting a Kubota, let me know...
a good friend of the family (the dad is co-owner of an airplane with my dad, the son and I graduated high school together and both went to NCSU) has been a Kubota salesman for entire career...
got my mom a great deal on her hydrostat lawn tractor...and also loans us bigger tractors if we need them...
Greg
Click to expand...

Thanks, Greg. I'll keep that in mind.

Jeff
 
I researched the heck out of this subject and ended up with a Farmtrac 360DTC. Its 4x4, made by LG, has a 39HP Mitsubishi 4cyl drizzle.
I had a 20hp JD 750 4x4 w/loader and it wasn't heavy enough, nor stable enough to be safe. Biggest hog I could run was 4' so bush hogging a 15 acre field took awhile.
The Farmtracs are assembled in Tarboro, NC and the front loaders and backhoes are made in Tarboro. I've got 27 hrs on my tractor, mostly front end loader work and bush hogging. I also got the backhoe and wish I'd gotten one years ago. Beats the hell out of shoveling!
Warrenty on the Farmtrac is 3 years, thats better than alot of bigger names.
No complaints at all so far. Front loader is quick detach and it takes all skid steer attachments. Comfy seat, runs smooth as silk, quiet, good guages lights and ergonomics. PTO engages smooth, hydralics are stronger than I expected. It comes standard with two remotes and a folding rollbar so it'll fit under the shed.
The same tractor, with the exception of the loader and backhoe is the Montana.
www.farmtrac.com
http://www.montanatractors.com/
Here's a couple bragging pics:
apersonalpages.tds.net__eflanagin_FT_bushhog.JPG

apersonalpages.tds.net__eflanagin_Farmtrac_ryan.JPG
 
Anyone mind putting in ballpark costs on some of these tractors?

I know dads MF 20 (Industrial model) was about 4500ish used and came with a front end loader and 60" bush hog.

We have replaced all the hydr hoses, and had two expensive repairs on the gear box for pto. (one repair might have been pump, not sure now...)

I know if he could replace it with a slightly smaller 4wd or just get a smaller one and keep the MF that is his plan. He wants something small enough to do some work back on trails in the woods if possible. So 4wd and hopefully agile enough to be safe too.

That is why we are looking at "alternative" types...

Sam
 
I wouldn't buy a new tractor personally. Tractors will run damn near forever if they are properly maintained.

For just bush hogging my personal favorite is an old MF-135 (35hp). They are all over the place and you can pick up a good one for cheap (under $3k). They do not have a hydraulic (wet) kit on them, just a PTO, so a front end loader / backhoe is not feasible.

We run one the farm as a bush hog and to plow the middles in tobbacco fields. We've tripped the hour guage over once and only on it's 1st rebuilt engine!
 
There hasent been a lot of good said about JD's but Ive got a 2110 and a 4310 and they have both been wonderful machines. Not only that but the dealership where we got them and the warrenty on both of them have been exceptional. The only thing that has ever broken on the 4310 was obviously and admitadly operator error and it was still covered under warenty. Total cost for the repair would have been upwards of a thousand dollars. To offset the price you can do some work on the side with it. I charge between 30 and 75 dollars an hour to bring my equipment to a job site.
 
TheGeneral said:
There hasent been a lot of good said about JD's but Ive got a 2110 and a 4310 and they have both been wonderful machines. Not only that but the dealership where we got them and the warrenty on both of them have been exceptional. The only thing that has ever broken on the 4310 was obviously and admitadly operator error and it was still covered under warenty. Total cost for the repair would have been upwards of a thousand dollars. To offset the price you can do some work on the side with it. I charge between 30 and 75 dollars an hour to bring my equipment to a job site.
Click to expand...

I know of a guy in Burlington who has a 4310 w/loader 4x4 hydro tranny for $21,000. Its for around 600 hrs. You can get a brand new machine, w/warrenty for less than that. It just won't be green. JD's hold there value well, for sure...but the upfront cost is a killer.
 
Slacker said:
I know of a guy in Burlington who has a 4310 w/loader 4x4 hydro tranny for $21,000. Its for around 600 hrs. You can get a brand new machine, w/warrenty for less than that. It just won't be green. JD's hold there value well, for sure...but the upfront cost is a killer.
Click to expand...

Yup. John Deeres are pricey, but damn good tractors. Our primary tractor for front end loader duty is a 1982 2940 (80HP). Other than the usual (rams, hoses, injectors, pumps, clutch, etc) repair items it just keeps on rolling.
:huggy:

We've talked about what tractors we like, but are there any brands that the author of this thread should avoid?
 
Look at those chinese tractors that Northern Tool sells.... if nothing else, look at all the exposed hydraulic lines running up under the belly of the thing with no protection. They're very good tractors to avoid.
 
SHINTON said:
one thing he stumbled across, but we cannot seem to find again is a Mitsubishi "side by side" tractor with a 3pt hitch on rear with PTO to run bush hogs, etc.
The Side by side was just a fiberglass piece of some sort, made it "Gator" like and 'cute' according to mom. 4wd...and small enough to get around in the woods on our property. If you/anyone runs across this again PLEASE zap me a link!!
GREY MARKET tractors are really huge right now...you can save a huge amount and many of them are identical to name brand stuff.
Click to expand...

We stumbled across the 2 seater again, was a Hinomoto!! Dad is seriously thinking of picking one up for being able to work back in the woods at our property.

Would be fun as heck, might be fun to take to URE lol!

JF1.JPG
 
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