Look for advice on tractor purchase

[Yander]

I have a 4x4 New Holland TC40. It is a 2005 model, Shibaura built. Very good tractor and can do what you want. They can be had for around 15-20K. I would shop around and look for something like/similar to this. Dont be scared to pay up to that 20K. Get the best bang for the buck and get 4x4 and loader. Buy once, cry once.


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Agree with this, Shibaura makes a great engine and if you can locate one of this it would be a good starter.

 

[Yander]

Or this would be good and put a koyker loader on it .

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[ericm979]

Don't get a tractor without a ROPS. Don't get one without a loader, or power steering. Since you mention steep slopes, don't get one without four wheel drive. Tractors only have brakes on the rear wheels. In 4wd the brakes will slow the front wheels too.

 

[tacticalturnip]

Dont be scared to pay up to that 20K. Get the best bang for the buck and get 4x4 and loader. Buy once, cry once.


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If you can genuinely swing the payment, this is sound advice. You'll never regret buying the right machine.

 

[Williy]

If you are going to finance it get a loan so the paymnets are
small as you can make 2 or 3 payments at a time now but
you never know when you can't so a small payment would
be real handy unless you pay cash

willy

 

[Yander]

Don't get a tractor without a ROPS. Don't get one without a loader, or power steering. Since you mention steep slopes, don't get one without four wheel drive. Tractors only have brakes on the rear wheels. In 4wd the brakes will slow the front wheels too.

Yeah didn't think about the hills because I live in flat land Ohio and we have none. I agree with not getting a tractor that isn't 4wd.

 

[Rlyons124]

It's a common question, to give any helpful answer we need to know what the land is like and how you are with mechanical things. Experience and tools? Just want to learn? Have you built houses and barns before?
Not being nosey, its just that the answer as to which tractor depends on more than the tractor.

In the meanwhile, here are some hints...
10K will buy a nice used car, but not much of a tractor. 20K will buy a nice used older tractor.
A used tractor is all about condition. They are so rugged that age doesn't much matter. A good used old one can last forever, an newer abused one is a money pit.

You probably are wasting your time looking online to buy a tractor. Online is good for education, but not for buying. To look to buy, look locally. Get out and talk to people. Ask in feed stores instead of tractor dealerships. Ask at local farms, find who maintains the county fair grounds, ask at small town road & maintenance departments. Go back to that feed store & ask if they have a bulletin board. Get a copy of the local farm newspaper - farmers still use them. Avoid auctions absolutely. Never buy anything there.

Yes, after you get above 50 hp, 2wd tractors will do what you are looking to do just fine. Also, it doesn't have to be diesel. Old gassers work too. It would be nice to have a FEL and a heavy blade on the back. Anything with a FEL must have power steering.

The main problem with really good older tractors is that people tend to keep them rather than sell them. Oldsters find it is easier to just keep an extra old tractor than it is to be constantly changing implements. Those you only find by talking to people who have them.

Luck, rScotty

rScotty, thanks for the advice. We have a great local hardware store and feed store in town, I'll ask around there. As for experience, I grew up doing construction with my dad in my teens and early 20s. Professionally I've been a mechanic for 22 years, I've never worked on a tractor but if I have the data and resources I can fix about anything. The land is 10 acres field and 20 acres hardwood forest with rocky soil, not a whole lot of clay. Two ridges with a valley in the middle, not very tall (about 100 feet ridge to valley) but steep. Thanks for your help.

 

[Fields_mj]

IMHO, the bigger question is why NOT buy a bigger machine? Will you have a place to store it? A way to haul it? Will it be too heavy or too big to do something you want to do with it? If there's no reason to NOT get a bigger machine, then get the biggest machine you can get.

As far as skidding logs goes, I've said this before and it's not very popular, but I'll say it again anyway. IF you can get a pickup truck to the log, your much better off using the pickup IMHO. My truck (2000 F350) is old and beat up, and I'm fine with that. The truck can't always get where I need to go either because of its size, or because of the ground conditions. In those cases, I use my tractor (Ford 1710). If the ground is dry, I can skid a little more weight with my truck than I can my tractor, and I can skid it a LOT faster.

 

[Bison]

Beware of scams. $10K won't get you much

10 K buys you a real nice used 100 HP Belarus with frontend loader and 3 point hitch.

 

[JONNY BOYYYE]

Beware of scams. $10K won't get you much

dont think even $20k will get a new tractor that will do all you need done...you can think about hiring out the heavy work and use your tractor for the normal lighter work---