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.