Buying Advice It keeps getting bigger and more expensive...help!

[Dan62]

I have asked for a serious quote. MX5100HST Quick connect FEL, 3rd Valve, Land Pride Box, Auger, Hitch,(all eligible for 0 fin) Forks - Armstrong 3k lbs. Rhino 160 mower. Weird that sales person seems a little put out. He told me he had another customer and he would get back to me. Although, he saw me a the fence on Sunday and opened the gate to show me around. He said he would fax a quote an hour ago and nothing. All bad signs. I thought a deal north of 30k would be more important than it might be.

What is a remote?

My kids are a priority and I must confess I quit doing the yard when Jr. came along. I have a big zero that makes a nice cut. Cut, edge and weed eat is a full day. I hardly see my twin girls and son now so its worth the money to let good folks who need it in Livingston (not many jobs) use my stuff to get the job done.

I like the idea of no load and a ballast. Wonder what that should add to the total?

I plan on buying grapple next year when I clear in winter. Easier when then.

 

[bcp]

I've known several people who needed heavy lifting (2000+) as the only need for a large tractor. They ended up buying used pneumatic-tire fork lifts and a medium tractor instead of a large tractor. Better lifting and better tractoring.

Bruce

 

[idaho2]

Dan,

You ask "what is a remote"? It's the hydraulic connection used for any implement that uses hydraulic cylinder/s ie; grapples have hydraulics. My 10' pull type mower has hydraulics to raise and lower the unit. I have always advised new buyers to have at least two remote sets as a minimum added to the tractor.

idaho2

 

[TripleR]

As has been stated by others choose based on tasks, not acreage; acreage is a consideration, but in my opinion not always paramount.

We have loaded tires on our primary tractors L5740HSTC and M8540HDC and still need ballast on the 3PH to get the maximum use from the FEL.

Rear remotes are used for hydraulic top/side links, cylinders on equipment etc., I had three put on our last tractor.

I don't know anything about grapples etc.

 

[GManBart]

I like the idea of no load and a ballast. Wonder what that should add to the total?

Well, you'll save money not paying to load the tires, and a counterweight can be done pretty inexpensively. There aren't many ready-made counterweights as big as you'll need....800-1200lbs, so most folks make them. A 55gal drum full of concrete puts you in the right ballpark, or get someone local to weld one up from steel. My neighbor and I made mine....1300lbs, and all I paid for was the block of steel, a piece of 3/8" stock, and the drawbar to weld to it....about $400 (steel is expensive now).

 

[Dan62]

Thanks - That counter weight is very cool. Do you want to sell it? LOL. My feeling about the salesman was right. I told him the the tractor itself was 100 bux cheaper in Houston and if he matched that I would do the rest of the deal with him. He emailed me "just go to them, thanks" So this is what I did with yawls input. I called the local dealer in Livingston Texas back and he is selling me the MX5100HST with Quick Connect FEL. $26,550. Kubota 3rd Valve. $1,100 installed. Land Pride 72" box blade $1015, Armstrong Forks $750, PD15 9" auger $1,200. Rhino 172 brush hog $1900. Grand total out the door is about $34,500. Maybe I could do a bit better in Houston but you tend to get better service buying local. I will pick up a grapple this fall. I will have them fill the r4 tires. I don't like to finance anything but this was hard to pass. $1,000 discount for cash, which translates to one half of one percent per year over 5 yrs. on 34,500. Even my sorry broker beat that over the past few years. They will try to deliver Friday. Is there anything else I should get while I have rationalized this fun purchase? Thanks to all that have taken the time to answer my questions and add valuable comments. I know I will need more help and this has proven to be an excellent place to get it. Cheers, Dan

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I would get something in writing that they will warranty the PD15 when,if it breaks. It is rated for 20-40hp at the PTO and your tractor has at a minimum of 42.5 PTO hp. Talk is cheap and you probably would never have a problem, but if you did, my money is that they would not cover it, or at least Land Pride wouldn't.

I would get some kind or reassurances if it were me, that or step up to a PD25, but that is more $$$$ I'm sure.


Enjoy your new rig. :thumbsup:

 

[TripleR]

Only suggestions I have are:

To have the rear tires set as wide as they will go.
Add bucket hooks; lots of threads on those.
Consider rear remotes and put them in with the build.
Minimum of a hydraulic top link, lots of people get them from MtnVewRanch.
Get as heavy a duty box scraper as you can afford.

 

[oosik]

Congratulations!!! VERY NICE setup. You will never regret getting the larger tractor. I second everything TripleR says above - especially the wider rear tires. I run with Rimguard and Land Pride RB3596 for ballast all the time. It allows me to reach near max lifting capacity on FEL. I dig out and move LARGE rocks. Anything else you need?? Yes, go to the grocery store, buy a lime and suck on it to try and get that silly a@s grin off your face. No, have fun and be safe with the new tractor.

 

[mikim]

Filling tires----we're in Texas....don't need anything more than water and if you want, put some windshield washer fluid in for the someday freeze protection. You can do it yourself and it's easy enough that you can load / unload the tires as you feel the need. Takes me about an hour. All you need is the water hose adapter.

 

[GManBart]

Congratulations!!! VERY NICE setup. You will never regret getting the larger tractor. I second everything TripleR says above - especially the wider rear tires. I run with Rimguard and Land Pride RB3596 for ballast all the time. It allows me to reach near max lifting capacity on FEL. I dig out and move LARGE rocks. Anything else you need?? Yes, go to the grocery store, buy a lime and suck on it to try and get that silly a@s grin off your face. No, have fun and be safe with the new tractor.

Your tractor weighs almost 40% more than what he's buying, and the loader only lifts something like 500lbs more, so he's going to need a lot more counterweight than you can get by with. I only mention it because it's a safety thing.

 

[dstacy]

Texas has nothing to do with it. The reason you add antifreeze is so the wheels don't rust from the inside out. Don't run pure water or windshield washer fluid.

 

[grm61]

Yes, the theory of a 3 point weight box helps if your just using the loader.
But if your going to pull a box blade etc, you will want the tires loaded for traction.
Then with loaded tires, and your box blade on the back, your tractor will safer doing heavy loader work.

Specify how you want the tires filled, left to their own devices alot of these places will fill the tires
1/4 to 1/2 full, waste of time in my opinion, why bother?

With the valve stem up, I like to fill them just above the stem so that the wheel is covered with liquid.
You need the leftover airspace above the stem for deflection.

You need a air liquid gauge to check the pressure, have two or three of them, and double check them against a known good gauge often.

When they start going bad, they will read lower than the actual pressure. You don't want to blow yourself up.

The above method is what I use for calcium.
I don't have any experience with beet juice or rimguard.
I have a calcium pump so I can load my tires very cheaply,
if I had to pay somebody to do it, I would use rimguard.
I would make sure they put enough in to make it worth doing.

This what works for me...Your results may vary.

 

[grm61]

Thanks - That counter weight is very cool. Do you want to sell it? LOL. My feeling about the salesman was right. I told him the the tractor itself was 100 bux cheaper in Houston and if he matched that I would do the rest of the deal with him. He emailed me "just go to them, thanks" So this is what I did with yawls input. I called the local dealer in Livingston Texas back and he is selling me the MX5100HST with Quick Connect FEL. $26,550. Kubota 3rd Valve. $1,100 installed. Land Pride 72" box blade $1015, Armstrong Forks $750, PD15 9" auger $1,200. Rhino 172 brush hog $1900. Grand total out the door is about $34,500. Maybe I could do a bit better in Houston but you tend to get better service buying local. I will pick up a grapple this fall. I will have them fill the r4 tires. I don't like to finance anything but this was hard to pass. $1,000 discount for cash, which translates to one half of one percent per year over 5 yrs. on 34,500. Even my sorry broker beat that over the past few years. They will try to deliver Friday. Is there anything else I should get while I have rationalized this fun purchase? Thanks to all that have taken the time to answer my questions and add valuable comments. I know I will need more help and this has proven to be an excellent place to get it. Cheers, Dan

Yes, Cab tractor with AC:drink:

 

[Gary Fowler]

Texas has nothing to do with it. The reason you add antifreeze is so the wheels don't rust from the inside out. Don't run pure water or windshield washer fluid.

If you fill the tires so the water is above the rim, no free air gets to the rim so no rust. Rims are also painted so rust out is unlikely with pure water. We ran pure water in all of our farm tractors from 8N Ford to 9000 Ford and never had a rust issue. I have pure water in my LS tires also and wont worry about rust from the inside since I made sure to fill it above the valve stem.

 

[Jim Shooz]

Thanks - . Is there anything else I should get while I have rationalized this fun purchase? . Cheers, Dan

Photos

 

[Bigfoot62]

. . . Anything else you need?? Yes, go to the grocery store, buy a lime and suck on it to try and get that silly a@s grin off your face. . .

Now, THAT's FUNNY!!! :laughing:

Almost spit my sweet iced tea all over my monitor.

 

[Dan62]

My tractor will be ready for pickup today. I only think I may make one change. Thr Rhino 172 is orange. Yawl may laugh but the land pride is the same color as the tractor, so may switch. My caretaker wants a 60" mower. I think it should be as wide as the mower? Any thoughts? Feel free to laugh out loud about the matching colors.

 

[muddstopper]

When i went looking for a tractor, I had 2 must haves or no deal. One, it must be 4wh drive. My second requirement was a little harder. it had to be able to lift a pallet of lime,(3200lbs) off the ground and onto the back of a truck. The smallest tractor i could find with that kind of loader capacity was the newholland tn75, and it was marginable with loader capacity. Once I no longer needed that kind of lift capacity, I found the tractor just to big for my garden and bushhogging needs. I sold the ractor and havent replaced it with anything else. My brother has a 4610 ford I borrow from time to time. Not sure of the hp rating, 50+/- I think, but more ideal for what I need in a tractor and not sure I need that much. I do my graden work with my 31hp ventrac, it aint much bigger than a riding mower and in fact have a 60in mowing deck to fit it. My advise is buy for the biggest job you plan on doing and the little jobs will be taken care of.

 

[Dan62]

I backed out of the MX5100 because it was too big and the salesman was giving me that feeling without saying it. He has an L3200. He's got two months in sales.

I changed to the L4600 and read it was manufactured in Thailand and backed down from that one. If I wanted a China tractor, I could buy a cheaper tractor. I spoke to a Houston neighbor who has a place near me in Livingston. He has a L4740 and said it was enough for all he did but had run across some things that it would not do. Mostly regarding the lift capacity. He also said he uses grapple all the time.

I have read more, revisited another dealer in Houston and researched again and now looking to buy the L4760 because of its compact size and lift capacity or possibly L4060. It has a lot of nice feartures but is expensive. I do not like the hydro lines outside the lift arms for the FEL but everything else is sweet. The dealer has an L4060HST with the LA805 and its 5 grand cheaper than the L4760 with the LA1055 front end loader. They act like they have less haggling room on the L60's. Maybe an allocation thing. The MX5100 is 8 grand less than that and is a real value. It was my original choice. It's a big long term decsion for me and I want to get it right. I am going with a Grapple-probably a Long OBG 1 or possibly 2. I like the 3rd quick connect on the L60 for that. I am sticking with my attatchments: Land Pride- Hog RCR1872, Box BB1572, Auger PD-25 9" , Armstrong Pallet forks SBPF-48-Skid-D and an OTH Landscape Rake LR6-C2.

The dealer has been really patient and I'm sticking with them. I prefer to do business local if at all possible. I am waiting to see the availability of the L60's and the price. I am usually very decisive but am a fish out of water on this purchase. I feel like a flake. There is a lot to know and more to learn. My dealer did not know the L4600 was put together in Thailand. I learned that right here. I want to thank all for your input. This is a great community. I also want to note there are many great safety videos on Youtube for tractor operators.

Hopefully next post will be final on purchase!

I wonder if you can spread deer corn with a fertilizer srpeader? Just a thought since I will use this tractor to work up an hunting area.

I have a 16 foot 7,000 lbs capacity flatbed trailer. I need twenty for the implements but think I can transport the tractor on my current 16 with te BB, so may hold off on a new trailer.