My Final Tractor

Barney Fife · Mar 15, 2019

I own my own solo lawn maintenance business and am a full-time firefighter. This is my 20th year in lawn care and I plan to go about seven more years. I retire from the fire dept. at that time and I plan to actually "retire" at least for awhile. I'll be 60 and we want to do some traveling.

My first tractor was a Kubota BX2200. Then a New Holland TC33-DA. Now I have a New Holland T2220. I'd like to buy one more tractor soon which I hope will be the last tractor I ever have. In other words, keep it for life. I have had the T2220 for about 8 years. Hours are in the 700s. So by the time I quit landscaping, a new tractor would have probably less than 700 hours.

So two HUGE questions. I figure I want to be somewhere in the mid-40 to mid-50 hp range. Use will be primarily bush hogging, lots of finish mowing open fields, front end loader work, and occasional snow plowing.

1. Which model? I don't need the more common name brand tractors. I have come to learn New Hollands and Kubotas can break down just as often as not so common brands. One of my favorite dealers I buy my equipment has been carrying TYM for about a year or more now. There is a very "price aggressive" LS dealer about an hour from me. The Kioti US headquarters is within 20 minutes of home and a local dealer five minutes from them. But that also means the TYM and LS US headquarters are about an hour from here.
2. Is the enclosed cab worth it? I'm guessing so; especially when the snow plowing comes.

I know this gets asked a lot (which tractor?). But I'm open to anything. I will buy the Deere, Kubota, or New Holland if that's the way to go but I'm not 100% sure that it is.

MaineGuy1 · Mar 15, 2019

Barney Fife said:
I own my own solo lawn maintenance business and am a full-time firefighter. This is my 20th year in lawn care and I plan to go about seven more years. I retire from the fire dept. at that time and I plan to actually "retire" at least for awhile. I'll be 60 and we want to do some traveling.

My first tractor was a Kubota BX2200. Then a New Holland TC33-DA. Now I have a New Holland T2220. I'd like to buy one more tractor soon which I hope will be the last tractor I ever have. In other words, keep it for life. I have had the T2220 for about 8 years. Hours are in the 700s. So by the time I quit landscaping, a new tractor would have probably less than 700 hours.

So two HUGE questions. I figure I want to be somewhere in the mid-40 to mid-50 hp range. Use will be primarily bush hogging, lots of finish mowing open fields, front end loader work, and occasional snow plowing.

1. Which model? I don't need the more common name brand tractors. I have come to learn New Hollands and Kubotas can break down just as often as not so common brands. One of my favorite dealers I buy my equipment has been carrying TYM for about a year or more now. There is a very "price aggressive" LS dealer about an hour from me. The Kioti US headquarters is within 20 minutes of home and a local dealer five minutes from them. But that also means the TYM and LS US headquarters are about an hour from here.
2. Is the enclosed cab worth it? I'm guessing so; especially when the snow plowing comes.

I know this gets asked a lot (which tractor?). But I'm open to anything. I will buy the Deere, Kubota, or New Holland if that's the way to go but I'm not 100% sure that it is.

I won't get into the different brand of tractors, but if this is for life I think you will want a cab. I have two tractors, one open station and one with a cab. I didn't realize how great the cab truly is until I bought it and been using it. Here in Maine I was working my tractor in the winter in just a shirt, the heat will blow you right out, lol. I have a hunting camp I will be doing work at and early in the season the flies will chew you alive, so I think I will love my cab for that reason also. All I can say about brands is when you look at the smaller ones and they are 6k cheaper for same type of tractor, they had to cut corners somewhere. Yes you can get some good ones and they will be fine, but a tractor for life needs to be of good quality and less corners cut.

Blue14 · Mar 15, 2019

You could check out the Yanmar YT series of tractors for the size you mentioned. I owned 3 Kubota tractors before and bought a Yanmar YT359C with the IHMT transmission and very satisfied with it. They have some very good cash rebates in place on these tractors currently. Check out their website.

TheMadOne · Mar 15, 2019

Treat yourself to a cabbed L6060 or 4066R. A cab makes things nicer, period. If you intend this to be your last tractor then go ham.

The new M4s are launching this year, maybe take a step up in size to really future proof?:laughing:

Thomas · Mar 16, 2019

Since you have some years ahead before the BIG day I would wait year or so before purchasing,tractors seems to be at fast moving pace with new models improve ideas.

Jchonline · Mar 16, 2019

I would go cab, yes. As far as HP it seems like you could get by with 30 ish as well if you are just finish mowing, snow blowing. Can you reuse any of your existing implements? You might want to size the new tractor to use them as well. Kioti, LS, Deere, Massey, Mahindra, Kubota, TYM, NH, RK are options. It sounds like you still have a number of years before this purchase correct? I would use this time to flush out the good dealers in the area and really drill down to particular tractor weakness/strengths. Give the bigger dealers a chance to compete. Get quotes and then challenge them to match or get close if you really want a particular brand. Make them earn your business.

3Lfarms · Mar 17, 2019

The cab is pretty sweet. It’s not just a dry place to sit. The seats are usually cloth and more comfortable, having a radio is great, Bluetooth is even better. I make phone calls while mowing the back forty and people don’t know I’m actually driving a tractor. Of course heat and a/c are a given. There is also the fact that the instrument cluster and ECM and electronics are inside and protected from the weather. Many tractor problems come down to poor electrical connections or grounds. Keeping everything dry will help prevent a lot of that.
Cabbed tractors also have mirrors and they are very handy. Cabs also have lights up high which really helps with a loader on the front.
Downsides are cost, the cab cant fold down to park in the garage, have to clean the glass once in a while, and they generally dont have a decent tool box for pins.