Want a Tractor!

Tractor searching is alot of fun. Looking at the prices not so much!

Like the others say the 2000 lift is a big one. If you aren't going to get coal like that you can save some money there.

Last year I bought an 05 New Holland TC35DA with 300 hours... The price was excellent, previous owner was getting out of farming due to health issues. Unit is rated for 1400 on the front end. If you step up to the TC45 you can get up to 1800 lift.

This is my smallest odds and ends around the farm tractor. Mainly use it for hauling Round bales and brush hogging although I also call it my power wheelbarrow at times too!

4x4 is a must, don't waste your time looking at 2 wheel drive. I personally like the Hydro also in the smaller units that you aren't going to be doing field work with. It makes them more nimble, I know some guys might argue shuttle shift can be very quick and effecient now a days also but it doesn't beat a hydro. Especially for the tasks you mention.

The green ones are usually the most expensive but not always actually. Depends on your dealer and what they need to move. I have had Green, Red, Blue, and Orange and honestly all are good machines if taken care of. I wouldn't pass up any of them.

Most important thing when investing this much money is after the sale. how are your local dealers? My Deere Dealer will get me a part shipped next day (if they don't have it in stock) at no charge to my house overnight. CaseIH dealer (although I am a RED fan and always have been as I have 3 of their products in my barn) is usually 3 days for parts and it doesn't matter how bad I need the part! But if time frames aren't as important maybe that doesn't matter so much eh? I just know "make hay while the sun shines" holds true for me.

Check your local classifieds and see if you can come up with a good used one if you aren't affraid of that...

Well I thought I had a picture of it handy but I can't find it readily... Sorry

freetown fred wrote:IF this auction were to start--that would not be a very good beginning

$601 going once? going twice? LOL

freetown fred wrote:While your thinkin Cost me $600.00

You stole it for $600.00

i just got a new tractor .. been needing it for a while look at the LS tractors there a lot of tractor for the money my model is a r 3039h with FEL
got the forks 4 in 1 bucket factory bucket and snow plow filled rear tires with rim guard and the extra hydro on loader for bucket and plow

also LS makes the new Holland boomer series

price was 25,000 delivered

at pins it will lift 2250 here is some pictures

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I think you could lower your HP requirement as well.

I got a farm with plenty of land, and yet my 25 hp Kubota has served me well. I bought it for $14,200 in 1999, and have put 2000 hours on it, and it is still worth $10,000 today. That is a pretty good return on investment.

Like you, I thought I needed more HP but the guy told me to try it out and if it did not work well for me, after 90 days I could bring it back. At the end of 90 days I had them change the oil (part of the deal of buying the tractor with first service being on them) and shook the guys hand. It is all the tractor I ever need. I think sometimes guys look at the inflated hp ratings of lawn mowers (garden tractors) and think, 'well if my lawn mower is 18 hp, then a 25 hp tractor is worthless', but the hp is just different. You are talking torque, traction and weight ratios that make these units real work horses.

I will get beaten up for this, but I really don't think the color of it makes a huge difference. They are all pretty reliable machines. I would just make sure you had a loader on it, (versatility) agricultural tires (traction on steep ground) and loaded rear tires (for weight transfer).

This is a 4 foot by 6 bale and around 1500 pounds (tight density), and it lifts it with ease. I know you want to move coal around, but if you get your coal in bags on pallets, consider this; take 12 bags off the pallet and slide them into your bucket that you have positioned very close to the pallet in the back of your truck. Then whisk them away to where you want to store your coal. Then return and pick up the remainder of your pallet, which you can handle, and you whisk that away. Yes it took two trips, and a little sliding of coal bags, but for very little inconvenience, you will be spending a lot less money and I am betting, a lot less work then you are doing now to accomplish the same thing.

Make sure you get a loader with a thumb. I did not order one but it was on the Kubota so I took it. I had a huge bull brier that had resisted all efforts for 10 years and with the thumb you can just grab and go. The brier was gone in 20 minutes or so and made a really nice bonfire.

weighing in a little late but I have 5 acres and needed a tractor to do everything also. Guess what, the big ones are too big to do the small jobs and the small ones are too small to do the big jobs. You have to figure out which of the jobs you want to do.

To lift a 2500 lb pallet of bagged coal, you need a 70 plus hp tractor to ensure the loader hydraulics are strong enough and you can put a heavy ballast box on the rear. So as mentioned, forget that.

Everyone wants 4wd in the 26-40 hp range. A good deal is hard to find. This range may be a little light for large stump pulling.

Too make a long story short, I ended up buying a JD 2210, 23 hp, 4 wd subcompact with a 62 inch mid mount deck, loader, ballast box, 3ph snowblower for about $15k ten years ago. It had the best specifications of what I wanted. Some of the features are nicer now. It was a smaller tractor but could mow, manuver around buildings, do light to medium duty landscape tasks. It was small enough the wife wouldn't hesitate operating it. (BIG BONUS, she does a lot of the mowing)

I built a backhoe to dig out stumps and other work. A backhoe attachment will add 7K to the price. Or just hired someone to do this type of work if you only have a little of it.

The price diffence between a big tractor that will be too big and require a second machine to do trim work and a smaller light duty tractor can hire one hell of a lot of work. A small light duty tractor may be still desired. I picked up a little garden tractor to mow around the house because it is a PITA to constantly switch implements. However, the guys in green have solved that for a price in the new Series 1 with the drive over the deck option.

Figure today about $20k for the same outfit I got with new and improved features. Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange colors run about the same when you price feature to feature. What you need to figure out is what you really need (not what you think you want) and price it that way. Some features may be more standard on certain brands. Service and parts are a big deal. Make sure there is a full service dealer. Say away from the cheap off brand imports. Some dealers won't service them and parts are hard to find.

If you go new, keep an eye out for promos. Occassionly there will be 0% financing and money back on implements if you buy two or more with the tractor. This will go easier on the wallet unless you are flush with cash.

Get out of the sub-compact 22-25 hp range and into the compact range with a little more HP adds 3-5K to the price. Attachements become heavier duty and more costly. Get into a 4WD in a larger tractor and you are talking serious dollars.

Get out of the hydrostatic and into the manual shift and there is a big savings in the larger tractors.

Thanks for the input steamup. Not too late, I am looking for a good deal and still don't know what I want.

The local dealer has a JD 2320 with a drive over mower deck, a tiller, and a 200CX FEL for 10,950 right now. It is a repo with 180 hours and I think it is a pretty good price. However, I am thinking I want something just a touch bigger than this, like the 2520 or slightly bigger. The 2520 has 6" taller rear tire, 200lbs more weight and double the hydraulic flow. Never having had a tractor before, I am not sure if this is "big enough" or if I will be disappointed. I am also keeping in mind that this is my new "toy" as my race car project is getting sold off to buy the tractor...doesn't sound like a big deal to some but I like my toys and getting the right one is important . I am sure I will be making/modifying implements and using the tractor whenever I get a chance.

I have a JD LT180 and a good push mower and string trimmer for doing the grass. I only want to mow the ~1 acre "field" that I have occasionally with the new tractor. I think I would be better off with a brush hog/mower that uses the rear PTO and 3pt for this work. There are hidden dangers lurking in this spot of my yard and it may take a while to get them all taken care of. The previous owner had a thing for cutting down trees with 3 inches of stump showing and then letting the grass grow tall around them....

Again, thanks for all the input guys and keep it coming. It really is helping!

Joe

That is a hot price for the 2320 package from a dealer if the tractor hasn't been abused. Don't think too long or it may be gone. There are $6-7,000 list price of accessories there. I see the 2320 is 24 hp and the 2520 is 26 hp. 2 hp isn't a huge difference.

I mow 5 acres with a 62 inch mower deck and 23 engine hp (17 pto) in about 4-5 hours for finish mowing. I could mow faster if the ground was smoother. I bog down only when I let the grass get too tall.

Main thing is the attachments and what you want to do. If you are not ground plowing, disking or the such, you are probably ok. A 5 foot brush hog on that tractor will probably work it if the grass gets way too tall but you aren't doing a huge field so just go a little slower.

also don't forget the 2013 tractors 25 + hp price is going to jump way up with the tier IIIV emissions dealer are saying 3,000 to 5,000 additional cost,

example on the tractor I got ( one of the reason I bought this year ) my cost would of been 29 to 30,000 over the 25,000 I paid

and I have no problem lifting 2,000 lb on mine

jeff