Greetings from NJ

[njdenis]

Hello and greetings from central New Jersey!

My lady and I are soon to close on a house located on a 0.85-acre lot in a suburban neighborhood. I've never owned a tractor in my life, although I've always loved and appreciated well-built machinery. We probably could get by without a tractor, but we can definitely see where a tractor would be useful to us: snow plowing (the drive way is fairly long with half of it uphill and a wide section at the top by the garages), grading (to improve water drainage around the foundation), and of course mowing.

I'm fairly handy and don't mind doing the work to cut on expenses, time permitting. I have done a fair amount of maintenance work on our cars including suspension work, fluid changes, hose replacements, water pump and alternator replacements, and starter replacements. I don't claim to be any kind of expert, but with a little help I can figure things out and enjoy the challenge.

We started looking around at what kind of garden tractors are currently on the market. We went to a Kubota and a JD dealer and got sticker shock when we priced some new tractors that we could see owning. At this point, as first-time homebuyers and first-time tractor owners, spending over 10K on a brand new tractor seems a little silly. So we'd like to try the "used" route and shop through Craigslist and check out local offerings.

Right now, I'm interested to look at a John Deere 750, which is a 20-hp 3-cyl diesel built by Yanmar. It might be overkill for a 0.85-acre non-farm property, but it looks like a very well built machine and has all the features to make it a perfect workhorse for stuff like snow plowing, grading, and mowing. Seems like these come up for 5-6K in good condition.

I would love to get some suggestions on other tractors that may be somewhat dated but reliable and have parts available. Or maybe I'm totally nuts to even consider JD 750 in our situation, where maybe a much smaller tractor would do. I'd love to hear some opinions either way. Be gentle.

Thanks for reading!
Denis

 

[Walt 2002]

Welcome, No advice on tractor,

Good luck,

Walt Conner

 

[TBN Support]

Welcome to the forum.

:welcome:

I'm going to move your thread over to the buying and comparisons section to see if we can get you some advice. I hope you find the perfect tractor!

 

[mguitas]

:welcome:Can't go wrong with a deere.

 

[whis]

hire the grade work out, buy walk behind snowblower and riding or push mower for the grass and save a bunch of money

 

[TSO]

hire the grade work out, buy walk behind snowblower and riding or push mower for the grass and save a bunch of money

Agreed

 

[njdenis]

Thanks everyone for the welcome and the advices.

Maybe we are trying to buy for too many jobs which need very different machines to do the jobs well. I got to drive the Deere 700 tractor today, and I loved how it feels, but it's bigger than what we had in mind. The farmer that was selling it said it's definitely too big of a machine for our size property, and even as big as it is, he explained that the 700 would still only plow up to 5-6 inches of snow before it starts having trouble.

Would Deere GT be a decent compromise between riding mower duty and occasional snow plow duty?

 

[PHPaul]

I think you'd get more use out of a large lawn tractor with a snow blower. Problem is, sticker shock applies to them as well.

You've got two choices: $2000 or less for a semi-disposable homeowner unit like a Craftsman, Yard Man, cheaper John Deere/MTD/Husqvarna grade units, or $5000+ for a really good John Deere, Kubota, Cub Cadet type unit.

The cheaper units typically have pressed steel frames, lighter (thinner) metal used on the mower decks, cheaper spindles and splash-oiled, air cooled gasoline engines of 1 or 2 cylinders. Compatible snow blowers will be belt driven and single stage. Keep them lubed up, change the oil regularly and use them as designed for regular mowing (not bush hogging or land clearing) and they can last for years.

The higher end tractors will have structural steel frames, heavier decks with better spindles and bearings, pressure lubed and filtered engines, often water cooled or even diesel, 2 or 3 cylinder, hydraulic lift for the deck, power steering, possibly accessory hydraulics, two stage blowers and a wider range of accessories.

You may wish to start with an entry level unit and run it for a while to see how much (and how hard) you actually use it and then decide if you want to move up. Resale on a well kept lighter unit should be decent.

 

[chim]

If the grading is a one-time deal, it wouldn't be a bad idea to hire someone. For handling mulch once every year or two a cart might be good. This would be an economical way to go.

On the other hand, if you want something bigger, go for it. The widow across the road has 1/2 acre and I maintain it for her. Our place is 3-1/2 acres and the "lawn mower" of choice for everything is a Kubota L3200 with a 6' rear mower. Snow removal is via a 64" rear blower / front end loader.

There's a really wide variety of what will work, but it's a lot harder to put up with equipment that is too small.

 

[njdenis]

You've got two choices: $2000 or less for a semi-disposable homeowner unit like a Craftsman, Yard Man, cheaper John Deere/MTD/Husqvarna grade units, or $5000+ for a really good John Deere, Kubota, Cub Cadet type unit.

I am open to shopping the used market. What would be some recommended models of the Deere and Kubota that are the higher grade units?

If the grading is a one-time deal, it wouldn't be a bad idea to hire someone. For handling mulch once every year or two a cart might be good. This would be an economical way to go.

On the other hand, if you want something bigger, go for it. The widow across the road has 1/2 acre and I maintain it for her. Our place is 3-1/2 acres and the "lawn mower" of choice for everything is a Kubota L3200 with a 6' rear mower. Snow removal is via a 64" rear blower / front end loader.

There's a really wide variety of what will work, but it's a lot harder to put up with equipment that is too small.

I've been considering 4WD tractor with a front loader, like Kubota B1800, which we can afford if we get it well used. That way, the tractor can serve quite a few duties. We have a couple of concerns about mowing with that type of an AWD machine: (1) how does 4wd affect turning radius of the tractor for mowing and (2) we have 2 retaining walls on the front side of our lawn, and we were wondering if too heavy a tractor might put undue stress on those retaining walls.

 

[gmikem206]

Welcome, I used garden 'tractors', carts and plow blades to maintain my 3 acres with a 600 ft driveway for 20 years. It worked, I did too. If you have need to move heavy or bulky things around a SCUT is really nice. It also stands up to a heavy snow falls better. I opted for a used BX, so I think the BX 18XX family sounds like it may be a good fit for your needs, either now or in the future. Good Luck.

I also wanted to make sure you have looked at these sites:
TractorData.com - information on all makes and models of tractors (specifications on each model)
http://www.tractorhouse.com/ (units for sale)

 

[chim]

................. (1) how does 4wd affect turning radius of the tractor for mowing and (2) we have 2 retaining walls on the front side of our lawn, and we were wondering if too heavy a tractor might put undue stress on those retaining walls.

(1) I almost never use 4WD for mowing. When I had a smaller tractor I did need it sometimes. I didn't notice any difference in the turning radius, but in 4WD the front tires dug into the turf on a sharper turn.

(2) I wouldn't worry about the wall except for going over it and having the tractor land on me.

 

[AxleHub]

Hello and greetings from central New Jersey I'd love to hear some opinions either way. Be gentle.

Thanks for reading!
Denis

Njdenis,

Welcome. But don't expect a group of opinionated people will be gentle. You're new but you'll need to recognize your desires and stick with them. Listen to everyone . . but everyone won't agree. You'll want to develop confudence with some study. Bruising by opinions is part of learning

1st. Know your terrain. Do you have steep slopes or flat land? Concrete . . Blacktop . . Or gravel . . It makes a difference.

2nd. Likely many who read your thread had similar experiences to yours many years ago . . . But we all come from different financial views today and some will forget how big 5000 dollars was.

3rd. I come from western wi where snow and ice is a 4 or 5 month affair . . So a driveway with a pitch in winter means a tractor or snowblower or plow with grip. Does your area get lots of snow and ice?

4th. A tractor or mower is part 1 . . But then there are attachments needed too.

Here's some options:
A. a used kubota gr2010 or 2120 4wd mower with snowblower or plow attachment 5k to 8k

B. A used cub cadet i1042/i1046/i1050 zero turn tractor mower with snowblower or plow attachment. 2k to 3.5k

C. A new residential rider mower plus plow attachmrnt and cart and a separate new walk behind power driven snowblower from 5hp to 10hp 2.5k to 4k

D. A used massey gc 2400 or kubota bx1870 sub compact 4wd with mower and front end loader 7k to 9k

 

[njdenis]

Njdenis,

Welcome. But don't expect a group of opinionated people will be gentle. You're new but you'll need to recognize your desires and stick with them. Listen to everyone . . but everyone won't agree. You'll want to develop confudence with some study. Bruising by opinions is part of learning

1st. Know your terrain. Do you have steep slopes or flat land? Concrete . . Blacktop . . Or gravel . . It makes a difference.

Sage advice and great questions!

Let me clarify about the property.

The house has detached garages at the back, which are situated at 90 degrees to the driveway. There is a wide parking area in front of those garages, which I calculated to be roughly 2,000 sq ft. The entire length of the driveway is about 150 linear feet, which includes the parking area that is paved blacktop and about 60-70 linear feet of concrete driveway that is sloping. The slope of the driveway is moderate, maybe 10 ft total over 80-90 ft.

The land split between front and back of the property is roughly 35/65 front/back. The back of the property is flat and obstacles are not many, maybe 1-2 large trees, and eventually we will be fencing that back area for our dog. The front of the property has two retaining walls and slightly down-sloping landscape. The area between two retaining walls I imagine will be hand-mowed, as it's pretty narrow for a tractor and no way to turn around.

We don't get huge amounts of snow, but lately winters have been snowy for us. Our snow total for last winter was 40 inches, with storm events between 4 and 8 inches typically. The winter before we were walloped with quite a bit more than that, but that wasn't "normal". In any case, I'd rather be a bit overprepared.

I'd rather not spend more than ~ $5,500 on the tractor with attachments included.

I was looking at Deere 425/435/455 tractors, and these machines sound like a good fit - reasonably small but powerful, great mowers but can also move snow. I also like Kubotas but don't know good model numbers that would compare in strength and versatility: do kubota gr2010 or 2120 compare well to these Deere? I also see some Wheel Horse tractors popping up and older cub cadets -- are these good buys also and are parts available for those if needed?

 

[DaveNJ]

Hey, Central Jersey here too! Before getting involved with more property, my situation was similar to yours in driveway size and property size (about 1 AC). My mechanical skills are similar to yours and I think you will find you can fix just about any small garden type tractor if you buy the shop manual for it. What I did:

1. Picked up a John Deere like the ones you describe with mid mount mower at a yard sale. $300 because it would turn over but not start. Replaced the carb and sharpened the blades- it lasted for years.

2. Picked up similar push mowers over the years for less than $100. Again, fairly new ones are available, usually just carb cleaning or replacement required. In Central Nj we're in a great location to do this type of thing because there are so many people who buy stuff for the suburban estate, use it for one season, and have no idea how to get it started the next year. Then they hire a landscaper.

3. I bought one of the biggest walk behind snowblowers I could afford. With chains on the wheels it will go through more snow faster and easier than any riding mower attachment. Easy to get in tight spaces. I did pay close to $1,000 for this but I still use it 21 years later.

4. Landscaping around foundation. If you're getting topsoil delivered and need to move and shape it, rent the BX 25 tlb or the B 26 tlb available at the HD box store. I initially did that a few times. Its a lot of fun as long as you are careful not wreak too much havoc and you understand that it will take you a few days to accomplish what a skilled operator can do in a few hours.

Good Luck!