Buying Advice Help me spend money on a tractor

[WinterDeere]

I have used JDQA, Global (with a spring-loaded pin) and skid loader QA, and they are listed in my order of preference.

Great post, from someone who has actually used all three. So many making passionate arguments for one or the other have only ever used one of these three, mostly JDQA and SSQA.

Watching videos on YouTube and reading posts by others who've used both, I see your comments echoed. Most seem to prefer JDQA, if they had their choice, but all agree it's not really that important which standard you get. Lots like to argue for the commonality of SSQA in borrowing implements from friends or neighbors, and I guess if you have a friend or neighbor with whom you'll be actually sharing implements (I've never seen that happen), you'd do well to just get whatever they're using.

 

[chim]

Three tractors I've had with loaders. As mentioned, whether you have multiple things you want to attach makes all the difference:

Kubota B7500 - Pin on bucket. Didn't have anything other than the factory bucket that I wanted to use, so it was fine. I did have a homemade "extendobucket" for mulch that simply bolted to the existing bucket.

Kubota L3200 - Pin on bucket. Made brush forks, home-brew ratchet rake. Both fastened to the bucket and worked OK, but it did take more effort than QA. Downside was that with attachments made to fit on the bucket I couldn't rent or borrow other implements that were made for a standard QA.

Kubota L4240 - QA bucket. Made brush forks, snow plow and working on a couple more QA tools. Next will be remote operation of the QA latches.

Unless you're certain you won't ever want to attach anything other than the factory bucket it wouldn't be a bad idea to go with QA.

 

[rScotty]

Good post, rScotty. I'd extend that to say any quick-attach bucket system is going to be superior to a pinned bucket. In this day and age, I wouldn't even bother looking at new tractors with pinned buckets. We can argue JDQA vs. SSQA, both have their pros and cons, and their champions and detractors. But a removable bucket is key to being able to quickly change implements, or even to just quickly drop the bucket for zooming around the yard with a spreader or aerator, without removing the whole loader.


Interesting. I'm sure you experienced this, no reason to doubt it, but I wonder if this is more a "case by case" issue. I tested Deere 2-series vs. Deere 3-series, and there's no doubt that the 2-series has better ergonomics and visibility, despite being the smaller of the two. I bought the 3-series, because I wanted the extra lift capacity for moving logs, but I was really wishing it felt and drove as nice as the 2-series.

We kind of got hung up on the various QAs available. I wouldn't base my tractor choice on the QA. All of them work.

Just for a point of reference, I'd consider your $4100 you are facing for repairs on a ten year old tractor bought new and only 875 hrs use on horse property chores to be excessive. I'd have expected no repairs at all unless it was abused or ran over a fence post or similar. Expected Maintenance costs are a little different. We all have them, and I'd have expected about $1000 in the first ten years .... depending on new battery or not.

I think you can expect to do better on your next tractor. This one was frankly too lightly built for an 18 acre horse farm. As to whether you are being lowballed on trade in, I'd expect that as you describe it and with a loader and average condition you can expect about half what you paid for it selling it yourself. And a little more than that as a a trade in. If trading to the original dealer I'd expect him to be responsible for this latest repair. Let him decide whether to use it as a teaching job for a new mechanic (its perfect for that) or just reduce the price to a customer. There is always someone who will buy for less and fix a known and diagnosed problem themselves.

BTW, doing a job yourself usually saves about 75% over shop cost. So if a shop can do a job that they charge a customer $2000 for, a customer doing it himself and considering his time as free can ballpark figure on doing that job for $500. I had a shop for years.
Luck,
rScotty

 

[mo1]

Great post, from someone who has actually used all three. So many making passionate arguments for one or the other have only ever used one of these three, mostly JDQA and SSQA.

Watching videos on YouTube and reading posts by others who've used both, I see your comments echoed. Most seem to prefer JDQA, if they had their choice, but all agree it's not really that important which standard you get. Lots like to argue for the commonality of SSQA in borrowing implements from friends or neighbors, and I guess if you have a friend or neighbor with whom you'll be actually sharing implements (I've never seen that happen), you'd do well to just get whatever they're using.

There are a lot of other QAs out there that I have not used so I can't comment on them, such as Bush Hog QA, Westendorf QA, Deere's original 2xx series utility tractor QA, and the now no longer offered Deere 600/700 QA. You can buy new basic attachments like buckets, pallet forks, and bale spears with any of those QAs from a fabricator but coming across anything used somewhere in a QA other than skid loader, Global, Deere 100-400 QA, or Deere 500 QA is pretty sporadic.

I can't say I have ever borrowed a tractor loader attachment. I could see perhaps if you wanted to rent something expensive and unusual for a one-time use such as a hydraulic broom, anything you'd rent is generally skid loader QA. However a lot of that stuff also takes a skid loader's hydraulic system which has way more flow than the tractors that typically use skid loader QA.

 

[Williy]

You can spend your money on this GEM!
4 wheel drive and 4 wheel brakes and check out
about the pollution part

5D Keyline - Deutz-Fahr America

deutz-fahramerica.com

willy

 

[2manyrocks]

What was the earlier problem that resulted in a $1,400 repair bill before this most recent problem with the HST seal and hoses?

 

[TheMan419]

Don't know if you've seen this, but it's definitely worth watching.
I've had my 2032R for only 2 years, but have done a lot of work with it. Don't under-estimate the 2 series; they underwent a major upgrade back in 2017, when John Deere came out with the Gen 2 series 2R's.
head to head comparison of a JD 2r vs 3e

If you buy a new John Deere, you can get 0% financing which includes insurance on the tractor, and also includes 0% on any JD implements you buy at the same time.
They also off a 3 or 5 year extended warranty for a very reasonable price, which includes transport to and from the JD dealer and all parts and labor, with no co-pay. Of course I bought it, and therefore have never needed it.

Yes we have a good JD dealer here. They are, of course, a multi dealer organization and I am about smack in the middle of their territory. I will look at the 2 series JD as well. Thanks for the tip.

I like the Yanmar's: WARRANTY:
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willy

No dealers near me. I need shop support as I am not able to do my own repairs.

 

[WinterDeere]

I will look at the 2 series JD as well.

The "2R series", not just "2 series". The E's are just a Economy line aimed to keep Deere competitive with off-brands, and the D's are manual gear variants. The R's are vastly more capable than the E's, in every series level.

I'm also a big fan of the 2R series, in fact I hemmed and hawed for at least a week between the more ergonomic and comfortable 2R versus the heavier 3R. In the end, because lift capacity was a real issue for me, I went with the 3R. But if I had unlimited garage space, I'd probably own both, and use the 2R every chance I had. It's a great little machine.

 

[TheMan419]

The "2R series", not just "2 series". The E's are just a Economy line aimed to keep Deere competitive with off-brands, and the D's are manual gear variants. The R's are vastly more capable than the E's, in every series level.

I'm also a big fan of the 2R series, in fact I hemmed and hawed for at least a week between the more ergonomic and comfortable 2R versus the heavier 3R. In the end, because lift capacity was a real issue for me, I went with the 3R. But if I had unlimited garage space, I'd probably own both, and use the 2R every chance I had. It's a great little machine.

which would you prefer... the 2R or the 3E?

 

[rScotty]

Yes we have a good JD dealer here. They are, of course, a multi dealer organization and I am about smack in the middle of their territory. I will look at the 2 series JD as well. Thanks for the tip.


No dealers near me. I need shop support as I am not able to do my own repairs.

Yes, Yanmar has a 10 year Limited Drivetrain Warranty.

The oher side of that coin is that drivetrain failures are very rare. In 50 years and lots of tractors we've not had any. And only a handful of problems of any kind.

So the need for shop support may not be as important as other things.

rScotty