Buying Advice Help with trade in / new tractor price

undersized · May 28, 2014

Hello all,
I purchased a new L3200HST last August to attempt to manage 37 acres. I bought as a package with a trailer, 5' Land Pride cutter, 5' LP box blade and LP auger. Due to the terrain, I'm finding this was a poor decision. Mowing at about 1 MPH 5 ft at a time is not wise. I'm thinking about moving up. I priced a new M7040SUHD with loader and 3 remotes for $30,500 after certain discounts. I'm also looking at a LP 12' batwing mower. For my intended use, this should be sufficient, plus it can be financed with the tractor. There are plenty of acreages around me that could use some cutting, so I might turn this into a way to make the payments.

I'm planning to trade in my L3200, 18' trailer and 5' cutter and keep the box blade and auger. My tractor has a loader w/ QD bucket and industrial tires. Besides the hydrostat, I believe these are the only special options. The tractor has 23 hrs, the cutter about 10 hrs and the trailer about 200 miles. The trade in offer was $17,800. Is this reasonable? I'm thinking it should be closer to $19k for everything but I'm open to opinions.

Thank you.

Jay

motownbrowne · May 28, 2014

Personally, I'd sell it outright rather than trade in. That setup ought to bring north of 20k. Also, if you're keeping the box blade and phd to use with the 7040, two things to consider: make sure the gearbox on the phd is able to handle the additional HP, and using a 5'bb is way small for that tractor. You'd be better off with a 7'.

engine29 · May 28, 2014

A dealer is always going to give you less than what you think. He is putting wholesale in it and you are wanting retail. He can't put retail in it and come out. Remember, he has to sit on it, have his money tied up in it, go through the many tire kickers, deliver when it sells and many times " throw" something in to get it sold or come down on price. So he has a lot invested so he deserves to make some money on it.

If you don't like his value, sell it yourself for your price. But then you have to hassle w/ the lookers, the low - ballers, having your money in it, etc.. After that his figure may not be so bad.

ovrszd · May 28, 2014

First thing I'd do is take pictures and post it on Craigslist as a "for sale or trade". You might get lucky and find a guy with exactly the opposite problem and wants a smaller unit.

Second, don't trade in things like the trailer. The dealer don't want it and he ain't gonna give you squat for it. Again, it'll sell on Craigslist easily.

Third, your tractor is big enough to manage 37 acres. Just requires patience. But if you want to complete the brush cutting task is the minimum amount of time, you'll find the 7040 to be small too. No place to stop in this game....

Best of luck with your fix, whatever it is. Be prepared to leave a considerable amount of money behind

motownbrowne · May 28, 2014

Richard, I'm glad you chimed in.

Oversized and undersized, it was meant to be.

whis · May 28, 2014

Most on here won't agree with me, but 7040 will be underpowered with 12 ft bushog. You will still be mowing at 1 mph

ZAR2USA · May 28, 2014

Agree with "whis".

undersized · May 29, 2014

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Personally, I'd sell it outright rather than trade in. That setup ought to bring north of 20k. Also, if you're keeping the box blade and phd to use with the 7040, two things to consider: make sure the gearbox on the phd is able to handle the additional HP, and using a 5'bb is way small for that tractor. You'd be better off with a 7'.

The PTO will only put out what is required. The PHD is a PD15 rated for up to 40 HP, but with the 6" auger it never lugged the 32 hp, therefore requires less than 25 pto hp to operate. If the auger stalls, it's a whole new situation. The box blade doesn't see that much work but is handy when I need it. I don't plan to get a larger box blade. However, if I go bigger on the tractor, I may get a larger scraper and a Top&Tilt, hence the 3 remotes I'm looking for.

A dealer is always going to give you less than what you think. He is putting wholesale in it and you are wanting retail. He can't put retail in it and come out. Remember, he has to sit on it, have his money tied up in it, go through the many tire kickers, deliver when it sells and many times " throw" something in to get it sold or come down on price. So he has a lot invested so he deserves to make some money on it.

If you don't like his value, sell it yourself for your price. But then you have to hassle w/ the lookers, the low - ballers, having your money in it, etc.. After that his figure may not be so bad.

I agree about the convenience of trading in and I understand the price. I also read somewhere else on here to consider what it would cost to be able to sell the equipment in one day at normal price. So the trade in may be fair.

First thing I'd do is take pictures and post it on Craigslist as a "for sale or trade". You might get lucky and find a guy with exactly the opposite problem and wants a smaller unit.

Second, don't trade in things like the trailer. The dealer don't want it and he ain't gonna give you squat for it. Again, it'll sell on Craigslist easily.

Third, your tractor is big enough to manage 37 acres. Just requires patience. But if you want to complete the brush cutting task is the minimum amount of time, you'll find the 7040 to be small too. No place to stop in this game....

Best of luck with your fix, whatever it is. Be prepared to leave a considerable amount of money behind

I can't trade because the factory 0% financing is they key to this. I will have the dealer itemize the trade in value and see how they're valuing the trailer. You can never have too many trailers, so if I keep it instead of losing my butt on it, it should be a win. If I need to sell in the future I can. Unfortunately this particular trailer is too light duty for a larger tractor and too large to use for daily tasks. I have a 5x10 for that. I have the patience to mow the acreage, but not the time right now. Based on your comment no place to stop, it would seem everyone would need a 100 hp tractor and 15' or 20' mower. Tractor and implement prices increase exponentially. I think a 70 HP tractor and 12' mower for me is the best compromise.

Most on here won't agree with me, but 7040 will be underpowered with 12 ft bushog. You will still be mowing at 1 mph

Agree with "whis".

I know I will increase cutting speed with the proposed combination because the tractor won't bounce around nearly as much plus the height of the grass/weeds and how rough the ground is, I have to keep the brush hog lifted and supported by the 3 point. I always mow with the loader, so that helps somewhat. With the drawbar mounted batwing and the extra weight of the tractor itself, this should be greatly reduced. I can keep the mower deck elevated to rough cut but still have it supported by its tires. Regarding power requirements, I've seen numerous threads on here with recommendations as to what size cutter and 10-12' seems to be the concensus. Still if I'm moving at 1 MPH, I'm cutting 11-12' at a time versus 4-5 ft.

ovrszd · May 29, 2014

In the case of Kubota, there's no such thing as 0% financing. You are paying up front. Not saying you shouldn't finance thru them, just saying "it ain't free".

motownbrown , is kinda catchy ain't it....