Mahindra 2516 HST - First time buyer experience

[sarcsurfer]

Hello Everyone!

Well, I did it... After clearance (and even support) from the tower (AKA wife) I just ordered my first compact tractor. I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to buy for our requirements. I would like to thank everyone on the forum for their experience, comments and advise... It was very helpful and I was glad to have found this site.

We have a 2 acre lawn at our home and a 10 acre farm a few minutes down the road. The farm has a 5 acre pasture of thick grass, a 1 acre garden (that I rototilled with a 14" 8 HP tiller), gravel driveway / parking areas and 1 acre of lawn. I really wanted to go with a little larger tractor size, but funds are limited for now. I have a feeling the first thing we are doing is tripling the garden and cutting my too long overdue lawn!

The farm was a mess when we bought it... We are in the process of cleaning it up. Help from some great friends / family, lots of beer / pizza and four 40 cubic yard dumpsters of garbage later it finally is starting to look better. We will ultimately be moving my wifes dog grooming and pet sitting business out of our home to the farm. The tractor will be used to help haul materials around for the new pole barn buildings. I can't wait to try a post hole digger.

Mahindra stood out like a redwood (no pun intended) in a forest of pine trees (seriously, no pun intended). Dollar for dollar, spec for spec and some great financing / rebate programs and I was sold. I know the proof will ultimately come from the durability and functionality of the tractor. I really looked hard to find someone who had a negative experience with Mahindra on this site as well as others... Not much luck in that area.

The whole buying researching / buying experience was very interesting... I ended up buying my tractor from a great dealer. Mike at Burright Welding & Equipment in Mt. Morris, Illinois was a tremendous help. I must have drove him nuts as I changed my mind about 4 times. (HST or gear, old models or new, more than I need or realistic...) He was very supportive and worked very hard to earn my business. I met a lot of dealers in person and over the phone. Mike stood out above the rest and I expect to be a customer for a longtime if his post sales service is as good as the pre-sales. Mahindra should be proud to have Mike on their team.

I have been in sales for over 20 years and I was surprised by the inconsistency in dealer support, attitude and desire to work with me. I do have a tendency to ask a lot of questions and 'over analyze' things. However, I think I have that right when forking over some significant amounts of my hard earned cash. I was particularly turned off by dealers that took me as stupid and naive. Some tried to sell me what they had on their lot and badmouthed the blue guys or the orange guys or the foreign guys... Arrogance was something I didn't expect and I will let you guess at what color guys most of that attitude came from... LOL!!!

I picked up the 2516 HST with a QA FEL, brush guard, turf tires, Woods RD6000 3 PT mower (w/ rear chains, front roller and mulching kit ) and delivery for just over $16k. Add in 0% - 60 month financing with 10% down and I think I got a fair deal. Mike's got to make some money, right?

I decided on the HST because my kids (13 & 14) will be using it as well as my wife... I would have liked to get the 2816 Gear because of wider FEL and more HP, but visions of stripped gears kept me tossing and turning in my sleep! Now all I have to worry about is my wife screaming about her missing rosebushes!

I attached a picture of our farm and will post pictures of the new addition as soon as I get it. Sorry to ramble... I am very excited about this purchase. I truly believe in the 'sharing knowledge' experience and want to help others through the process. Good luck to you!

Again, thanks to all for your help and support!

 

[BobG_in_VA]

Welcome!! Now that thats done....what the heck do you need another pole barn for?????!! (grin). BobG in VA

 

[sarcsurfer]

Good question Bob... Actually all of the buildings are coming down except for the home and the metal building. They are all in terrible shape. The barn is on a stone foundation that is crumbling and the other buildings are just not worth saving. Good news is the foundation on the corn crib is solid and I will reuse it.

 

[sarcsurfer]

The tractor is in the garage... I repeat, the tractor is in the garage! Man, I hate waiting for things, but after two and a half weeks of finally making up my mind, it's here! My grass was getting so high, I would have to send out search parties for my dogs when they went out!

My dealer dropped it off at about 6 PM and I spent the next four hours mowing my lawn. Mike was kind enough to let the tractor run for a hour or so to give the motor it's recommended break-in. He knew I was a newbie! LOL!

So far so good... It has taken a little practice, but I can use the Woods mower pretty good now. It is actually fairly easy to manuver and backs into some pretty tight spaces. Cut appears really good, but I had to go over a few spots several times because the grass was so high. I need to refine my mowing pattern and run over... ummm... I mean move some of my wifes plantings that get in the way of a nice clean straight run.

Controls are pretty straight forward and the tractor seems to have plenty of power for my tasks so far. I've moved around some sod and mulch with the FEL. I'm waiting for my box scraper to show up so I can level the ground over a 400' sump pump and gutter line I just installed out to the nearby creek.

Tomorrow, I'll run it over to the farm and give it a real workout. I ended up leasing the back 5 acres to a local farmer, so I don't have to mow it now. But, with that, the garden gets run over and I need to move it to a different pasture. Darn, I'll have to rent a 3pt rototiller and spend the whole day on my tractor instead of helping my wife weed the flower beds at home.

I just washed it up and here are a few pictures of it if you haven't seen the new 2516HST yet. I like the black and red combo versus the old red and grey. They even made the FEL black now. I think the old ones were red. I'll keep reporting back how it runs and my experiences with it... Best wishes to all for a great weekend!

 

[Charlie175]

what is the difference between the 15 and 16 series?

 

[sarcsurfer]

The 16 series is essentially the same as the 15 series. There are stricter emissions now and Mahindra is starting to comply with 16 series. Also, 16 series has a red / black color scheme instead of the red / grey.

 

[NorCalMatt]

Hey sarc:
Congrats on the purchase. Your enthusiasm in infectious, so keep up the reports.

Just curious, and totally off-topic, how much wood rot do you have in that barn? Can't tell much from 500 feet up, but it looks like that barn might be worth saving, even if you have to jack it up and replace the foundation to do it.

I love old barns and hate to see 'em go, but at some point they're just not worth saving. All depending on how much wood rot you have, of course. If it's in decent shape other than the foundation, and you still don't want to go through a restoration (and I wouldn't blame you), you still might be able to find a buyer willing to move it to a new spot.

I had two old barns that just weren't worth saving or moving, but I took a lot of old oak and redwood out of them to use in my house and other outbuildings. They just don't make them like they used to. Broke my heart to take 'em down, but that was the smart decision.

Happy tractoring!

 

[sarcsurfer]

HI! Yeah, I was a little too high when I took the picture to see details... LOL!

The side boards are not in very good shape, but the previous owners re-shingled the roof and replaced some boards a few years back. The interior is in pretty decent shape, especially the load bearing beams. they are in awesome shape. They are mortise and tenon and have pegs in all the joints. It is pretty cool to see this type of craftsmanship. It is my understanding the barn was build in 1901.

I would love to save it, but the cost and amount of work would be prohibitive in my eyes. The foundation is made of cobblestones and has many repairs already. I may look at saving some of the beams for another project. I have never tackled a project this big and will probably need some outside help and equipment.

Thanks for your comments!

 

[NorCalMatt]

That sounds like a nice barn, but I completely understand about not wanting to take it on. It would be a tremendous amount of work, jacking up the structure and replacing the foundation and rotted side boards alone would likely cost as much as a tear down and rebuild.

But, I bet you could find a salvage company happy to dismantle it and pay you a bit as well (or at least do it for free). The beauty of mortise and tenon is that it can be taken apart and put back together relatively easily, like a 3-D jigsaw puzzle. I know several around here, and some in New England, so I bet there's more than a few in your area. Judging from the size, you'll definitely need some major machinery (we call it the B.A.C., for Big-A__ Crane) to take it down, and people who really know what they're doing.

Can you tell I'm a contractor first and farmer second?

 

[accordionman]

SIR,
it sounds like you are describing a post, and beam
type building, and these are worth saving! there are
companies that do restoration work on these buildings.
i guess it would depend on how bad it really is.
good luck with all your projects.
accordionman
wlbrown