New Tractor purchase. Comparing Yanmar LX410 to other models

Scotchity · Jul 16, 2015

We are purchasing a 24 acre parcel of land for a future farm. The land was logged ten years ago and replanted, but left alone and not maintained. Blackberries, poison oak and scotch broom has taken control of a fair bit of the land and needs to be mitigated. We plan to build a home on the site which as of right now has no improvements. This means we are looking for a strong all-purpose tractor to help in the initial site work and future farm maintenance. We will be road building, logging, septic building, building prep, field maintenance and pond building. Having done some initial research we believe a 40-45 hp tractor to be within our budget and stout enough to get the job done. Our budget is in the neighborhood of 30k. I would love to add on a good backhoe attachment to save money on stumping 15-20 trees for the road, septic and pond building.
We are taking a hard look at a yanmar LX410/450, it痴 a bit out of our price range at 36K with a backhoe. Any thoughts on similar tractors that have a good build to compare this model to? Kubota and John Deere are a fair bit more expensive. There is no Kioti dealer within an hours drive and I知 not really a fan of mahindras. Anyone out there have advice on Yanmars or 40-45hp tractors willing to work hard?
Thanks in advance.

Scotchity

scoutcub · Jul 16, 2015

Scotchity -

Welcome to TBN. Lots of good info on here to sift thru.

I am unfamiliar with other similar sized brands, but I can attest to the Yanmar LX series. I have a LX4900, added the front aux hydraulic kit and run a grapple to move logs, brush, stumps, etc. It's an awesome machine, very well built. If you scroll down to the "New Yanmar" section you can pick up more info on the LX series. The 410/450/490's are shuttle shifts, with power reversers.....while the 4100, 4500, and 4900's are hydro. I initially tried a 490 and traded it in for a 4900.....for my applications hydro was a much better fit.
You could also get into an EX450, a bit less money but less options, and reduced loader capacity.
These days many of the major CUT manufacturers are close in capabilities and warranty, as you said you can pay a bit more for the color of paint.

Good luck!

GManBart · Jul 16, 2015

Scotchity said:
This means we are looking for a strong all-purpose tractor to help in the initial site work and future farm maintenance. We will be road building, logging, septic building, building prep, field maintenance and pond building.

Welcome to TNB!

Unless you have a LOT of time, and aren't worried about breaking stuff on the machine on a regular basis, I don't think a tractor is really what you need until you get to the farm maintenance part. Road building, site prep, septic work and pond building all really call for earth moving equipment. You can do many of those tasks with a tractor if you really take your time, but we've seen many threads here where people find the limits of even the biggest compact tractors doing those same tasks...which can get expensive.

As far as brands go, Yanmar makes a quality machine, and the Lx410 has good specs, but if it's out of your price range, there are some alternatives. LS is probably the most bang for the buck right now...looks like there's a dealer near you in St. Paul. An XR4040H with FEL and backhoe should come in right around 30K if you stick with open station. I had the previous version (R4047H) and it was very powerful, and completely reliable (sold it to buy a backhoe to move real dirt).

rgr33 · Jul 16, 2015

Hey Scotchity, I,m not too far from you, on the east side of Baldpeak. I think you are on the right track with the Yanmar, I like the dealer, Ag west, quite a bit, and my 35 yr old John Deere 950 has a Yanmar motor that is fantastic. Never been in the shop and still running strong, I've had it since 1992. The 40-45 hp sounds about right for the work you will be doing.
The other units you may consider that have dealers not too far away are LS, (Metro Tractor) and Massey Ferguson, ( Fischer Sply). Any of those will give you a reliable machine capable of doing a multitude of chores.
Remember, pics when you get one home, maybe a review after you've worked it a while.

NHSawyer · Jul 16, 2015

I think GMan is giving you sound advice. The initial work you want to do is too heavy for a tractor. I have an LX410 I use for road manintenance, snow moving, wood moving etc. I live in the forest and I am still converting the land. For the heavy stuff I have an old JD 410 loader/backhoe. I think to start you might prefer to find a used backhoe it will be more suited to the work you want to do.

Scotchity · Jul 17, 2015

Thanks for the replies.

Some good advice...

I wouldn't look only to a new shiny tractor to pull all that weight. My next door neighbor has a dozer and I have friends with implements. A lot of the hard grading will be done with other equipment for sure.

Thanks a bunch gman and rgr, LS was in my blind spot. I guess there kind of new and I haven't been in business with tractors for five or more years. I looked up the specs on the xr4046 and it looks pretty darn good. Even with a backhoe it comes in around my price range. It also boasts better numbers than the yanmar. The local dealer was real nice and told me he's seen tons of interest and is bringing in a bunch more models and is now ordering a 4046 that I can look at. We will see how things are laid out next week.

On the backhoe front will these compact tractors dig out a good 1' oak stump or just paw at it?

Rgr I know where your located nice area!
Thanks fellas