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Compact tractors

The real issue I'm going to have is explaining to my wife's grandpa why I'm buying a new tractor when his 1960's MF 165 is included with the farm.

It not that I don't want it, it still runs, but is lacking brakes and the clutch is a bit worn. I'm hoping to have it gone through next spring and get it going, but for now I need to have something that works to get the projects moving along. It does have a bit more horsepower and 3 times the weight of the compact one, so it will get used when it's time to plow or pull the small one out of the mud. :)
 
I'm not in the market for another tractor, but sure could use one that has a grader or blade on the front.... between UPS, FEDEX and the USPS drivers my drive way is full of holes where they try to back up the driveway and just dig holes in the gravel... probably would be a one time use about every 6 months though.
My driveway is only about 20 or 25 yards long and at about a 15% degree angle and paved with 1" gravel. Need a new layer of gravel.
 
Jay Caughron said:
The Kubota or Mahindra will NOT hold the value as well.
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I think the Bota and value is somewhat regional, they hold pretty well out on this side of the big hills.. but since you were basically local that's good to know.

I might argue that IF there were every any used ones floating around, not holding value as well might be a feature instead of a bug :D. Granted used small farm tractors are awfully thin on the ground.
 
Ryan Mooney said:
I think the Bota and value is somewhat regional, they hold pretty well out on this side of the big hills.. but since you were basically local that's good to know.

I might argue that IF there were every any used ones floating around, not holding value as well might be a feature instead of a bug :D. Granted used small farm tractors are awfully thin on the ground.
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Kubota tractors, the engines anyhow are make in chicago...
 
Jay Caughron said:
Darren I had the JD 3038e and it was a little work horse. I had the remotes installed and glad I did. Also the bucket is a quick attach and only takes maybe 2 min to switch between bucket and forks of which I seem to use the forks the most. I would slide the forks together and gab them into the ground and pop up shrubs and small trees (loved them forks). I always thought the lift was a little light tho but then I was use to larger farm tractors. It will NOT lift a large bale any higher that to push it along the ground. But it did do everything I asked of it AND you will run out of traction before running out of power.

The Mahindra will lift more and is cheaper but doesn't hold its resale as well as JD. To give you an Idea I had my JD 3038e for 5 years with 375hrs and sold it for $1000 less than I gave for it and probably could had got what I did pay for it if I had waited. The Kubota or Mahindra will NOT hold the value as well. Believe me I done a lot to shopping before buying the JD. I had the R4 tires and never had a problem and the didn't tear up the yard.

It will handle a post hole digger just fine but if your ground is anything like mine was don't waste your time with it as you will just twist the shaft off or break something on it even tho it has a shear pin. I found it was way better to just rent a hyd digger from the rental company's (the ones with track and/or bucket )

Also when you fold the safety roll bar down it will fit anywhere your pickup would fit.

Oh and no mater which one you get make sure the put fluid it the rear wheels. Dont think you can get along with out it because you CANT.

Have you looked at the Kiot, people seem really like them too I almost bought one but glad I didn't when it came time to sell.

I was talking to my Aunt a while back (she is still farming 300ac by her self) and the JD 4430 I bought in 76 is selling for $10,000 more than I paid for it
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Fluid for ballast? Or for leaks/puncture?
 
I had the JD 2310, little smaller than this one. Had a front end loader, backhoe and snow blade. Never had a problem. I had the r4 tires so it would not be as hard on the lawn and never had a issue even plowing snow. Just heard JD went on strike last night so unless you have your eyes on one they might become hard to get.
 
The fluid is for ballast. I had mentioned earlier that these tractors run out of traction long before they run out of HP, it's the light weight that's a problem,. The fluid filled tires adds quite a bit (600# sticks in my mind for some reason). But remember, if you trailer it around that's additional weight for the trailer. I've considered doing that quite a few times and somehow just never got around to it. Most tire dealers that cater to the ag business can do this for you, you might want to wait and see how things go without it and add it later. Somewhere above service was discussed. There's actually very little to do, change fluids and a filter or 2. After 11 years my tractor still hasn't hit 400 hours, even if you use yours twice as much it's still a light maintenance load. I change the oil/filter once a year, and the rest of the stuff per maintenance schedule. I think the anti freeze is every 2 years. I suspect when I need to flush the hydraulic system, I may take that in to the dealer, but mostly so he dispose of the old fluid properly (15 quarts). I think that comes at the 400 hour mark.
 
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Fluid in rear tires for sure. Easy ballast and works when needed. Go for Beet juice instead of the old standby of calcium chloride. Beet juice is not supposed to be corrosive. John Deere employees last I heard went on strike yesterday. If you are serious about a new tractor, with the current supply chain issues, if one is available and funds are available I would buy it. Probably not much room for negotiation, they know what they have and how hard it is to get another right now. Old tractors are good, but you will use your new one more and work on it less. It is a much safer machine to use also.
 
There are some nice smaller machines out there. If you are looking at the JD 3032E I would compare the Yanmar near equivalent. Yanmar and JD have been together (engines mostly) since the '70s. Back when I worked with such things we were a Caterpillar shop for our big toys but used Case for our 6-7 ton range tractors and Yanmars for our little guys.

The comparisons in the small category were good between the Yanmar and the JDs, motors were both made by Yanmar and the JD to Yanmar price difference was substantial. The Yanmars lacked a lot of the non-essential bells and whistles but this made them easier to do routine maintenance on. Yanmar got out of the US market for about 30 years but seem to be back with a handful of models. JD definitely pushed for "dealers do it all" but they are more sophisticated and this is probably not a bad idea with today's tech.

Like Ryan I am opposed to some things on principle. I really don't want to work on tractors anymore ;). My neighbor has a Kubota and it is a nice enough machine. Very versatile on the attachments and PTOs. He had a smaller JD and I was talking about buying a larger machine. Before I could decide he came home with the Kubota so now I just borrow 😬. I've got great neighbors and we help each other out frequently so it all balances out . . . and I don't have to store a tractor . . . think I made out on that deal :D

We all know of woodworking tools that share a lot of similarities but differ substantially price-wise. The same thing can apply here. Some things are worth paying for. Paint color isn't one of them. There are a lot more differences between tractors than something like jointers but, it pays to look beyond the de facto standards in both cases. Have fun:).
 
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Sayer Fancher said:
I had the JD 2310, little smaller than this one. Had a front end loader, backhoe and snow blade. Never had a problem. I had the r4 tires so it would not be as hard on the lawn and never had a issue even plowing snow. Just heard JD went on strike last night so unless you have your eyes on one they might become hard to get.
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I called the dealer last night and asked if it was still in inventory, it was and he's sending the PO over to me today. I did go look at some kubotas, but price wise the ones I though were comparable were stretching the budget further than I was wanting to go (and approved to spend).
fred hargis said:
The fluid is for ballast. I had mentioned earlier that these tractors run out of traction long before they run out of HP, it's the light weight that's a problem,. The fluid filled tires adds quite a bit (600# sticks in my mind for some reason). But remember, if you trailer it around that's additional weight for the trailer. I've considered doing that quite a few times and somehow just never got around to it. Most tire dealers that cater to the ag business can do this for you, you might want to wait and see how things go without it and add it later. Somewhere above service was discussed. There's actually very little to do, change fluids and a filter or 2. After 11 years my tractor still hasn't hit 400 hours, even if you use yours twice as much it's still a light maintenance load. I change the oil/filter once a year, and the rest of the stuff per maintenance schedule. I think the anti freeze is every 2 years. I suspect when I need to flush the hydraulic system, I may take that in to the dealer, but mostly so he dispose of the old fluid properly (15 quarts). I think that comes at the 400 hour mark.
Click to expand...
Very good point on the trailering. I've got a single axle (3500#) trailer, but will probably trade it for a car hauler or gooseneck in the near future.

I'll be sure to have the fluid added if they haven't already, thanks for all the input all!
 
Darren Wright said:
The real issue I'm going to have is explaining to my wife's grandpa why I'm buying a new tractor when his 1960's MF 165 is included with the farm.

It not that I don't want it, it still runs, but is lacking brakes and the clutch is a bit worn. I'm hoping to have it gone through next spring and get it going, but for now I need to have something that works to get the projects moving along. It does have a bit more horsepower and 3 times the weight of the compact one, so it will get used when it's time to plow or pull the small one out of the mud. :)
Click to expand...

How mobile is he Darren? He might greatly enjoy it and take it over!!!
 
Darren Wright said:
I called the dealer last night and asked if it was still in inventory, it was and he's sending the PO over to me today. I did go look at some kubotas, but price wise the ones I though were comparable were stretching the budget further than I was wanting to go (and approved to spend).

Very good point on the trailering. I've got a single axle (3500#) trailer, but will probably trade it for a car hauler or gooseneck in the near future.

I'll be sure to have the fluid added if they haven't already, thanks for all the input all!
Click to expand...
Trailering. One of the smartest moves in my opinion that Kubota did was create the package on a trailer. You get two implements, trailer and tractor at one time.
 
Jonathan Shively said:
How mobile is he Darren? He might greatly enjoy it and take it over!!!
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He actually would, he’ll enjoy driving it around. He’ll be celebrating his 100th birthday next month. We’ve been incredibly blessed to have this time with him, and I feel even more fortunate to be getting so much information about the farm first hand.
 
Jonathan Shively said:
Trailering. One of the smartest moves in my opinion that Kubota did was create the package on a trailer. You get two implements, trailer and tractor at one time.
Click to expand...
A few of the dealer packages included an 18’ car hauler trailer. I’ll do some shopping for a good used trailer soon. I’d like to find a longer dump bed type to serve dual purpose.
 
Not sure I've shared the drone view of the farm. This one is a couple years old, I'll try to do another this week or next with all the leaves changing color...

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You should be able to ignore installing their app if that message pops up. Just double click on the image and use your mouse to drag it around.
 
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