Farmtrac 300DTC

[Nissan197]

I am still pondering purchasing a tractor before starting the house. We are in the process of getting all the paperwork ready for a loan. Of course I would wait until all of that went through before getting a tractor, but am stuck on what to purchase. From all the research I have done I can get the best bang for my buck with a Farmtrac. I know for sure I want a 4X4 with a FEL. Don't know about a backhoe though. A backhoe would add a minimum of 4000. What would I use it for? I am planning on putting a geothermal system in the new house and I could use it to dig the trenches for the piping, water lines, etc...From what I hear most of the money spent on geothermal systems is for the labor involved digging the trenches. Once the house is built I would sparingly use it. Don't really know if it would be cost effective to have one. Opinions?

 

[bones1]

Just get the tractor included as part of the home loan.People do this for home theater equipment all the time.Tractor is part of a build/renovate loan.
I suppose it depends on the loan folks where you live if you can do this or not.
I have a 300DTC and it is a nice machine.200hrs in 6 months and worked hard.I too looked at the $big names and couldn't justify the extra cost.
Good luck.

 

[bluechip]

I think you will have a hard time getting a quality backhoe for 4000. You could rent a backhoe to do the digging, if you can take the time to run it full time while you have it. If you need to dig a little each day, than owning will be easier.

 

[NewToy]

I am still pondering purchasing a tractor before starting the house. We are in the process of getting all the paperwork ready for a loan. Of course I would wait until all of that went through before getting a tractor, but am stuck on what to purchase. From all the research I have done I can get the best bang for my buck with a Farmtrac. I know for sure I want a 4X4 with a FEL. Don't know about a backhoe though. A backhoe would add a minimum of 4000. What would I use it for? I am planning putting a geothermal system in the new house and I could use it to dig the trenches for the piping, water lines, etc...From what I hear most of the money spent on geothermal systems is for the labor involved digging the trenches. Once the house is built I would sparingly use it. Don't really know if it would be cost effective to have one. Opinions?

I would get the loader for sure and would have to think if the hoe is really needed. We installed a geo-thermal system when we built our new house 1.5 yrs ago. My system required 5 trenches 150' long and 7' deep. They were probably 5' wide if I remember correctly. My FIL is an excavating contractor and did the job in 2 days with a JD 410 Backhoe. He could have been done alot quicker but we encountered several limestone "veins" while digging. They pulled some pretty big ( VW size ) limerocks out and broke several bucket teeth and still finished in 2 days. I suggest renting a hoe and save your money. You will use it sparingly at best and you'll find it to be in the way more than anything. Just my .02

John