Buying Advice looking at my first tractor

[landscapebear]

I have been looking at buying my first tractor for the past year or so. I am now at the point of finding the one that will work the best for me. I have been looking around the 60 horse power at the JD 4520 and 4720, as well as the New holland, Case IH, and Kubota in the same horsepower. I am leaning toward the JD and am looking for a used one on Tractorhouse.

As I have seen in other post, it helps if y'all know what I will be doing with it. I do landscaping and maintenance for developments, as well as residential and commercial places, some snow removal and all that goes with it. So I am looking for a tractor that can do most of it. I'm also going to get one with a backhoe to dig holes for trees and stuff. Some other attachments will be using are box blade, tiller, landscape power rake, bushhog but they will have to come one at time over a little while. haha. Is this a good size for me? Does anyone out there have one with the FEL and Backhoe set up that could give some advise as well on that.

Thanks for the input. Have found one that looks like what I have been looking for on tractorhouse

 

[AKfish]

Welcome to TBN - landscapebear. Couple of observations; many of us - myself included - have searched in vain for that all-around, "swiss army knife" tractor!

No such thing.... unfortunately!

I've owned 2 TLB's in the last 7 years. A 33hp JD 970 TLB and currently, a 43hp JD 110 TLB. Two years ago, I finally broke down and bought a X300R with the rear bagger for finish lawn mowing.

Before you buy... you should ask yourself -- how many hours and acres do you finish mow every year? How many hours and acres do you perform "rough landscaping" chores - box blade, power rake, till, plant trees, move and place top soil, etc.?

Do you want a cab tractor?

Depending upon your answers; you might be just fine with a cabbed 3720. If you work pretty big jobs; the 4520-4720 AND a dedicated mower tractor could be the best way to proceed.

AKfish

 

[landscapebear]

Yeah I have gone through all the questions before and asked myself! I do not need the mowing end as far as finshmower. I do about 800 hours a year or more of that and have to zero turn mowers for that. The rough landscaping is more of about 20 acres of bushhoging work. The landscaping stuff hard to say but have a middle size business in there area and growing. As far as the other stuff goes it changes job to job. One job I have coming up is about 60 hours of tractor work. trees, mulch, dranige lines, and another maybe a day or two. and on an on. I would also us it to do the footers and grading stuff for my new garage and load mulch to be put out by the trailer load.

Am I still looking at a good size or would a smaller one like the 3720 work. The cab would be nice seeing how it gets down to 5 here some times in the winter. But I have some great snow gear and I'm young so the cold is ok to me know. Plus will save me a couple grand on $.

 

[grsthegreat]

if your thinking about getting a backhoe, id forget the cab. i tried one with a cab and backhoe, and i had to continually climb off the BH and back into the cab to move froward.

too bad they dont have some foot controls out on the backhow to move a hst tractor with.

 

[jenkinsph]

landscapebear,

I do similar work as you mention and bought a new 110tlb with Laurin cab in 2005. This worked out very well for me and was a good multi purpose machine. As the business has grown I added the 4520 cab tractor and X749 to make things go faster with less manual labor. These are all good sized equipment for your tasks. Depending on the job to do I can bring in one machine or all of them to save time. I really prefer to have my tractors separate without a fel on them, makes a big difference in how compact they are.

If I could only have one machine to do it all it would be the 110tlb and my older mower. I feel very fortunate to have a selection of equipment to choose from and should add the 110tlb helped make this happen.

 

[AKfish]

landscapebear,

I do similar work as you mention and bought a new 110tlb with Laurin cab in 2005. This worked out very well for me and was a good multi purpose machine. As the business has grown I added the 4520 cab tractor and X749 to make things go faster with less manual labor. These are all good sized equipment for your tasks. Depending on the job to do I can bring in one machine or all of them to save time. I really prefer to have my tractors separate without a fel on them, makes a big difference in how compact they are.

If I could only have one machine to do it all it would be the 110tlb and my older mower. I feel very fortunate to have a selection of equipment to choose from and should add the 110tlb helped make this happen.

I considered mentioning the 110 as an option to consider as well. But, it's likely gonna be more money up front.

But that kind of work - landscaping - was clearly one of the roles that the 110 was designed for.

AKfish

 

[ctlguy]

if your thinking about getting a backhoe, id forget the cab. i tried one with a cab and backhoe, and i had to continually climb off the BH and back into the cab to move froward.

too bad they dont have some foot controls out on the backhow to move a hst tractor with.

Deere 2011 4000 20 series units have the ability to creep to position from the backhoe seat. As well as engine speed control, of course I would imagine you will need to leave the loader raised.

 

[beenthere]

If I were looking for used JD, I'd be sure to visit the Deere dealer and get a salesperson involved. They are often working with customers that want to trade up, and knowing of someone looking for a particular tractor can help make a better deal for all involved.

Case in point. Friend of mine wanted to buy my JD 4300. I looked into trading up to the 3720. Then I didn't have a good reason to not like the 4300 so cooled off on the deal. In the meantime, my Deere saleslady found a customer of hers that wanted to do something similar so she managed a sweet deal (better than I was going to give) for my friend. Now we both have a 4300 and are happy as a pig in ...... ..er ....mud.

 

[JiminGa]

I'll follow the 110 crowd on this one.

 

[Rob-D]

if your thinking about getting a backhoe, id forget the cab. i tried one with a cab and backhoe, and i had to continually climb off the BH and back into the cab to move froward.

too bad they dont have some foot controls out on the backhow to move a hst tractor with.

I think the new 3x20 series will let you run the tractor forward while in the BH seat. My 3320 doesn't have that option and I have to get off the BH and climb back into the driver's seat even though it doesn't have a cab. It's a little bit of a pain but I have the 48 hoe so it has a pretty good reach.

Rob

 

[jenkinsph]

if your thinking about getting a backhoe, id forget the cab. i tried one with a cab and backhoe, and i had to continually climb off the BH and back into the cab to move froward.

too bad they dont have some foot controls out on the backhow to move a hst tractor with.

Not a problem with the 110tlb and Laurin cab I can drive it around the yard if I want to.

 

[AKfish]

Not a problem with the 110tlb and Laurin cab I can drive it around the yard if I want to.

Big smarty pants!!

AKfish

 

[jenkinsph]

Big smarty pants!!

AKfish

With HVAC.

 

[landscapebear]

Thanks for the input! I will look in to the TLB 110 a little more. one question for you guy's that have them. or maybe a couple question. One would be is taking the backhoe on and off as easy as they say. like 5 min one you get the hang of it or longer. Then other queston is I need to know the width of the tractor at at the rear, the height from grown to top of ropes. looking at a trailer as well and was see if it will ride between the fenders or if it was wider. Long story short a tunnal is in the way of going in and out where I live. only down side to where I live.

 

[jenkinsph]

I will get you some height measurements tommorow but the 110tlb fits best on a 80" wide floor between the wheels which lowers the trailer height. I use a Big Tex 12pi equipment trailer to move mine, 20ft length. Enough capacity to carry an additional heavy implement with me in one trip. The loader bucket is 72" wide so fits an 80" wide trailer floor easily.

Removing the hoe takes me a little longer with the cab, typically 10 to 15 minutes including moving the rear glass back to position. On a standard 110 with smooth pins and a little practice this is a 5-10 minute job including the hitch . Once you have done it a time or two this is a simple task.

Pictured below you can see a 110 is taller than a 4x20 series tractor. The orops and this Laurin cab are the same height so no difference there.