First tractor and i have no idea what to look for!

[nikkiullis]

I purchased a 10 acre plot of land on the river near knoxville, tn on a foreclosure and its amazing! But... I got about 4.5 acres of field to mow, around the house to mow, a 3 acre area down by the river that i need to bush hog and then mow, a few ditches i need to trench out and some stuff to move around.
So my husband and I were looking at getting a john deere 2032R with a mid mount mower, bush hog (rotary tiller i think they are officially called?), a bucket, and a backhoe attachments. Puts us somewhere in the low 30k range in terms of price.
The problem I'm having is that I want to make sure I'm making a good decision for the years to come of course. I don't want to buy something too small, or too big, or something i'll spend half as much fixing.
I also have no knowledge at all when it comes to tractors. I only knew to go to a john deere dealership bc its green...and tractors are green..so...there ya go! LOL!
What are some other brands I should consider? specific models would be appreciated!
Any suggestions/life lessons on these equipment purchases/attachments?

 

[Thomas]

:welcome: to TBN.
Lots of good makes and models offer today compare to the past. :thumbsup:
Visit some dealerships test what models have your interest,most of all have the tractor come to you by that I mean being comfortable,easy connecting disconnecting attachments,and get to know dealership service department.

 

[teg]

Is your 10 ac. somewhat level land? The only "issue", I've heard about the John Deere 2032R, is only 2 range transmission. Low is a bit too low and high a bit too high. I run 90% of the time in Medium range... but I am on hilly land. Oh, and welcome to TBN...

What other dealers do you have near you?

 

[Tractorable]

Don't pull the trigger on the John Deere yet until we get some time here to help you make the right decision. Lots of experienced folks here to help you. All tractors built today are good but there are differences in capability and cost.

You may want to think about two machines instead of one, a lawn mower and a larger machine to handle the rest. Generally, lawn mowers don't make good tractors and tractors don't make good lawn mowers. This doesn't necessarily mean you need to spend more money, you just need to make good decisions, which is where we come in.

First you need to decide what implements you need for your property then buy a tractor that is capable of running those implements. For example, do you want to run a 5ft or a 6ft bush hog? Big difference in weight and power needed to operate those implements.

Do you have hills? How much snow in the winter? Long driveway that needs to be cleared? Are you planning to clear any woods or do you just need to maintain the property?

When choosing a tractor, weight is a very important factor. More weight equals more traction which determines how much work you can do. Recommend you buy the right machine first rather than selling and upgrading later. It'll save you money in the long term.

And finally, what's your budget? We're very good at spending other folks money, but considering you just got the new place, you probably have multiple competing expenses. Take your time, build a tractor excel spreadsheet to compare specs, and we'll talk you through it.

Congrats on the new property. Sounds great!

 

[HillStreet]

Don't pull the trigger on the John Deere yet until we get some time here to help you make the right decision. Lots of experienced folks here to help you. All tractors built today are good but there are differences in capability and cost.

You may want to think about two machines instead of one, a lawn mower and a larger machine to handle the rest. Generally, lawn mowers don't make good tractors and tractors don't make good lawn mowers. This doesn't necessarily mean you need to spend more money, you just need to make good decisions, which is where we come in.

First you need to decide what implements you need for your property then buy a tractor that is capable of running those implements. For example, do you want to run a 5ft or a 6ft bush hog? Big difference in weight and power needed to operate those implements.

Do you have hills? How much snow in the winter? Long driveway that needs to be cleared? Are you planning to clear any woods or do you just need to maintain the property?

When choosing a tractor, weight is a very important factor. More weight equals more traction which determines how much work you can do. Recommend you buy the right machine first rather than selling and upgrading later. It'll save you money in the long term.

And finally, what's your budget? We're very good at spending other folks money, but considering you just got the new place, you probably have multiple competing expenses. Take your time, build a tractor excel spreadsheet to compare specs, and we'll talk you through it.

Congrats on the new property. Sounds great!

I agree with this post. What you buy now should last you 30 years or so. Research tractors, go to web sites and view the videos that compare brands-- pretty eye opening.

 

[nikkiullis]

- I wouldn't say the property is flat but its not up a mountain. one specific hill in particular seems semi steep but our current gravely zero turn mower can take care of it no problem. We currently have one of those big commercial series zero turn mowers from gravely but its at the dealer with engine failure (model proturn 420?, it has 36 hours on it, not happy so far with it)
I was hoping to get something that would mow as well as do everything we need because i wanted to sell the gravely but i could live with both
the property is cut in half by a railroad, which we have a private road that goes across it but its semi steep on one side and one of the things i wanted to use the tractor for was carrying fill to smooth out that hill up to the road so its not so steep.

- my budget is 20k, his is 30k -_- He wants something new with dealer financing of some sort so we can pay it off after we are done paying for the renovation.

- We don't get a lot of snow in the winter, worse i've seen is like 4 inches which quickly melted off.

- Driveway is asphalt to the house, and down to the river is dirt/grass which is easily mowed down. The area that needs clearing

- I think the bush hog we were looking at was 5ft. Should be a good size, get around the river area better.

- We are clearing some wooded area I think in the future, But for the moment, just mowing down the brush and leaving trees for now.

- I have no idea what other brands their are so not sure what other dealers are near me. I know we have a big volvo equipment dealer down the road from the house, but its like huge huge construction equipment out front. I think kubota is in north knoxville/clinton area. The closest john deere dealership is ritchie tractor.


Hopefully that gives ya'll a bit better idea.

 

[dodge man]

I personally think the size you are looking at is about right. I don't think there is anything wrong with getting a machine that mows and does other tractor work. How bad do you need a back hoe? Its an expensive option but if you need it, get it now.

There are lots of brands of good tractors. Kubota, New Holland, Massey Ferguson, LS, Yanmar, just to name a few.

 

[Tractorable]

To help you start your spreadsheet you should compare the following brands. Unfortunately, you can't buy a tractor that's made in America anymore. However, all the tractor brands today are quite good.

Made in Japan: Kubota, Yanmar

Made in Korea: Kioti, LS, TYM, and Branson

Made in India: Mahindra

Hybrids: John Deere, New Holland, Massey Ferguson

It's more complicated than that. Books could be written on the topic.

 

[k0ua]

I am a bit partial to the Korean brands, as I believe right now they are giving more tractor for the money as they are trying to make inroads into the Japanese tractor market that has held this segment for a long time much in the same way that Korean auto manufactures are trying to compete against established Japanese autos in this segment of the market. But also keep in mind that some of the Mahindra models in the size range you are looking at are made in Japan, by Mitsubishi.

First thing is to locate all of the tractor dealerships within a reasonable distance to your place. Also you need to determine how much if any of the maintenance of the tractor you are willing to do. This can help guide your dealer choice. I of course have a Korean tractor, and I have owned several Japanese tractors, and one old Romanian tractor.

Also decide if you will need front implements ever in your operation beside the stock bucket. Implements like pallet forks or a front grapple like you see on the front of the Kioti in my avatar. If you will need these in the future, be sure to get a tractor with SSQA feature SSQA stands for Skid Steer Quick Attach. It is a quick attach method for quickly changing front implements on your FEL (Front End Loader). I made the mistake of not getting it on a previous tractor and had to add it later, which is not cost and time effective.

 

[jeff9366]

What uses do you foresee for a Backhoe? It is a rather specialized implement for $8000. In order to mount IMPLEMENTS, such as a Rotary Cutter, on the Three Point Hitch the Backhoe has to be removed and stored, then remounted when needed.

To operate a SIX foot wide Rotary Cutter, Bush Hog being one brand, you will need a tractor with at least 45-horsepower gross.