Thank you! I have been taking in everybody痴 input on here and watching videos and trying to gain as much knowledge as I can before we make a decision. I really liked the MF1705/15 and we did go and visit Kioti,new holland, and Mahindra so I felt like I was doing my due diligence. However we just had our final walk through at the house and property before we officially close. The current owner was there and he strongly recommends that we move up a size. He really doesn稚 think the SCUT will cut it. So coming from the guy who has maintained the property very well over the years and has nothing to gain from us buying a SCUT vs. a compact , his input has me rethinking our choice.
Doodlelady,
I think the process of tractor decision making is a little more complex than you are considering. There is NOT an unbiased source of opinion. Every one of us has opinions based on color or brand or size we've had or what "our favorite uncle Fred" owned.
Now the current owner is biased just as much as any other - but he/she has a unique advantage as he knows what the property actually looks like. But for his/her opinion to have real merit over your own . . . You'd need to know what he was using and how old the unit was. You also need to know if he was doing the same activities as you will be doing . . . Or had he been spending years doing alot of property improvements that are now completed and won't need to be done again (this is a big issue - euphoric recall). Also, is he familiar with the choices you are looking at and the most current models and power levels?
Appreciation for equipment is often a combination of historical memory of projects, and current uses and needs. In my case, had I bought a tractor 6 or 8 years earlier than I did, I would have wanted a small compact rather than a scut because I was building the house we now live in and there were striking huge differences of need then than in 2015 (I'm not understating in any way).
In addition, had I bought just 2 years earlier I'd be owning a kubota rather than a Massey because at that time the DL100 loader was being used on the Massey's and there was a favorable change with the dl95 loader and my awareness of the true mulcher mower deck Massey has. Also the end of 2013 - AGCO/Massey started being more aggressive - came out with the GC1700 series, and started motivating many dealers to carry those products who had other AGCO product. As a result Massey became much more dealer carried by Kubota dealers too. Yet had I listened to just my local dealer of Massey product - I was completely dis-illusioned in it - because quite honestly the sales person didn't know the product. It was only after I read a published review - that I started really studying the GC series and learned to know more details than any of the sales people I came in contact with at any of the dealers I contacted.
I don't post to you to get you to buy a specific brand or product, I post to get you to ask very specific reasons and logic from whoever you choose to believe. I encourage you to believe in yourself more than believe in other opinions. Require reasons for their opinions that are not general - but are insightful or convincing points. That is why I hate the concept of "buy larger than you think you need". Humbly stated - that statement always shows to me a lack of study and preparation. Buying a tractor as a rookie should be fun - not easy. It should be a challenge that you remember for years if it was successful - because you made it YOUR decision.
And seek or consider implement options that the dealer's don't offer too - when those needs develop - because proper implements alter your payload benefits and we are a country blessed with many creative inventive minds from small and mid sized businesses showing common sense.
I go back to your opening post's theme . . . that your hubby isn't mechanical/tractor aware and you've used lawn and garden tractors and pwalk behind mowers. You need to feel good and feel confident about your eventual choice . . . not because someone else says to get it . . . but because you've heard compelling reasoning and SPECIFICS that fit with your purposes and needs and the demonstration tests you do on actual equipment. Your opening post was for mowing and snowblowing and nothing else. But a SCUT tractor will do many other things than that too. I have a steep driveway and steep slopes and some sidehill issues. But until I test drove a couple BX products and a Massey - I couldn't know turning convenience or how I felt on a steeper hillside.
Now if the current owner gave you compelling reasoning and specifics for his choice and opinion. . . then that would be a good reference. But if it was just his opinion and not specifics. . . then I think you need to know more or keep researching. You'll have to be confident of your choice - because ever after there will be people who say "I'd have gotten a Zero Turn rider and XXXXX for snow clearing" - and someone else who will say you need a mid sized compact and someone else who will talk about logging needs.
I hope you had a chance to ask the current owner - "what SPECIFICALLY is your thinking we need a larger unit" ? If you didn't - maybe you could call him up to discover how his opinion was formed or how accurate it may or may not be for your needs.
I'm surprised he didn't offer to sell you his unit he had used.
Confidence comes from completed preparation OR "false confidence" comes from an ego and an assumption. Because you are inexperienced only means you need to work harder on preparation than someone who has experience - it doesn't limit your skill or success when you have the product of your choice. And it doesn't hurt to get some insights from your hubby about any future landscaping or activities you might do with the property. I hope you don't become frightened of making a decision - rather - just be "challenged" by it.
Jmho
