Newbie Learning and Buying...

StoneyFF · Mar 9, 2004

Folks,

Been reading my little old eyes out the last few days after finding this place... cutting and pasting all the 'little' and not so 'little' things to watch out for.

So, got a lead from a neighbor who'd done a lot of looking and he steered me to what appears to be a great dealer over in PA (I'm in NY State, a little northeast of where NY/NJ/PA come together) that's only an hour away, delivers, and services in this area. He's a lot more interested in my business than the local NH dealer seems to be.

Anyway, here's the deal I've been offered and it seems pretty good... but what do I know <grin>...

This is a trade-in that they sold originally, but didn't do the service on, however the owner purchased the filters and such from the dealer on a regular basis, so there's some evidence of upkeep. And the Dealer will go over it and address anything I have concerns about (taking Jinman's list and the expansion others did to it, I feel pretty well armed!)

TC35D (delivered June 2001) with approx 1300+ hours
Hydrostatic (so reading the 'sticky pedal' thread carefully)
R4 Tires
NH FEL (don't know the model) with bucket and ATI Grapples
NH Back Hoe (again, don't know the model, but came std).
Comes with a couple of months of Power Train Warranty, but no overall warranty left (so I'm concerned about the gray vs. black running gear in the TPH (see, learning the acronym lingo really quick, huh? <grin>... guess all the acronymns in the computer field were good training <lol>)
>>> He's asking $17K
I've asked him for prices to add:
PHD w/Auger - $690
6' BushHog - $1160
>>> comes to $18,870
Minus a $2500 trade in for an old, bastardized Ford 4000 and $1K cash down for a financed $15,370

Also asked about some other accessories...
6' Box Scraper (his term for a Box Blade) - $624
6' Chain Harrow - $365
Though I may buy these myself as I can get the Box Blade at a much better price from Northern Tool and a few other places, and I may want the more versitile 'Multi-Purpose Harrow' with the flexible tongs, etc. in the Loyal-Roth catalog or similar... and didn't ask him about this yet, but looking seriously at a TPH Log Splitter since it's close to a grand less than an equivalent stand alone (again from Northern Tools)... might burn more fuel, but $1000 buys a lot of fuel... OK, not as much as it used to <sigh>...

OK, what am I going to do with this unit... I just bought a place (take a look... Finally Farms ) with 30 some acres (town says 31, survey said 34, I'll let them tax me on 31 <grin>)... about 3-4 acres in pasture with a small 30x15 barn with a tractor shed on the side, and a sawmill out back (about 1/8th of a mile back from the house). The rest is in woods, and there's a lot of wooded acreage around me that I'll have access to for deadfalls and such. Now, I have horses and will be bringing them home as soon as I can get the fence and shelter in, if the snow ever stops <sigh>... Will bushhog the fields some, as well as some areas that I want to turn into pasture and will bushhog after clearing some trees. Also will have to do some ditching, and some grading and misc. other chores including snow removal next year.

Oh, and in addition to some riding horses (my Tennessee Walker and some others we're adding), we bought a Belgian that drives and rides and that I'll use to snake logs out of the wooded area to minimize the damage that pulling the logs out with the tractor might inflict, but who may do some trail breaking with the tractor in some areas...

So what do you think of the deal, and what else should I be looking at/for in the way of implements and accessories?

 Stoney 
{who's been doing the online communication thing since the early 80's, but only got back into horses a few years ago and who's got a LOT to learn about running a farm and using a tractor properly, but who loves to learn and isn't afraid of some hard work... and who can't believe his good fortune in finding this place... starting to feel like I know some of you guys already <smile>...}

jinman · Mar 10, 2004

Hi Stoney, welcome to TBN! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I think your deal sounds pretty good on that tractor, especially with the backhoe. With 1300 hours, you can be pretty sure all the bugs have been worked out of the tractor, but you still want to check it over closely. I would not worry about the grey running gear on that tractor either. The TC35D has less 3PH lift than the 40 or 45 and I don't think you will have to worry about bent arms, even if you put them under stress. You might check, but there is a good chance your tractor is not included in the ones with weak arms. You also want to check the serial numbers of the early tractors with a hydrostatic tranny recall (might pop out of gear going downhill). Other than that consideration and the little irritants we've all talked about, you will find the tractor to be perfect for your work around that beautiful farm you've bought.

I do think you are going to find yourself in the same situation many of us are in. We have too many implements for one tractor. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Removing a backhoe to put on a PHD or rotary cutter gets to be a hassle if you do it often. If you leave your backhoe off most of the time, you have to have a place to store it. One way or the other, the more implements you have, the more you wish you could afford multiple tractors. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

I'd certainly take that tractor deal based on your description. I'm looking forward to seeing you around the forums and hearing about your projects and progress. After all, it's what we do with our tractors that makes them so useful, even if it is fun while we are doing it. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Egon · Mar 10, 2004

Nice:

Egon

jonboy · Mar 10, 2004

Welcome, Stoney. Sounds like a good deal to me, especially in our area.

You have a beautiful place there - even a sawmill! Nice. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

PineRidge · Mar 10, 2004

Hi Stoney, glad you took the first step and joined TBN.

I agree with Jim that the price on the TC-35D and other implements seems like a pretty fair deal. I think that the New Holland will come in real handy for your needs around the Finally Farms. The only problem that I can see right off is where to store all those implements? I filled up a 25 X 35 pole barn with tractor, backhoe, RFM mower, corn planter, spreader, and the like real quick. Plus there's still a lot out in the yard with tarps on because I ran out of space inside. I'm confident that you'll work through those issues though.

You have a terrific looking place thanks for sharing the pictures and info with us.

DAP · Mar 10, 2004

Stoney, they all will be wanting pictures sooner rather than later, just an FYI!

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Soundguy · Mar 10, 2004

The NH implements are -no doubt- hd and high quality. I used to mow with a 591 series rotary cutte rthat was 15 years old.. no leaks.. and only maintenance was blade sharpening...

However.. if you have an implement store local.. like TSC.. that 6' mower is about 650 if you go with KK.. similar savings percentage on the other implements too.

Tractors sounds like a good deal.

Soundguy

crown · Mar 10, 2004

Stoney,
First off Welcome to TBN. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif That is sure one beautiful piece of property you have, that is exactly what I would one day like to own and call home. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif The tractor deal sound good to me, have fun and enjoy, /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

StoneyFF · Mar 12, 2004

Thanks for the welcome folks... this feels like my kinda place <smile>...

Jinman,

Good thoughts... I did ask him about the gray vs. black running gear on the TPH, and he said that he'd check into it and that if I was concerned, he'd swap out the black on another one for the gray on this one (if they were gray and hadn't been replaced) which I thought was good... and I'll be sure to check on the Tranny Recall.

And yea, I was wondering about where to keep all the attachments when not in use. I've got a nice 'tractor shed' overhang off the small barn where he kept a couple of his tractors (he had 4 or 5 <grin>) that I will probably keep some stuff in and will keep the tractor under for cover, and between the garage, the 'hay barn' (what I call the little shop/barn that's too low ceilinged for the horses), and the sawmill with it's covered/open walled sheds, I think I can find enough places to store them...

Must say, that after walking the pasture today trying to lay out fence and seeing how deep the ground water is, I suspect that I'll be using the back hoe a lot, just to ditch out for drainage!

Jonboy, PineRidge, Egon, Doug, and Crown,

Thanks for the welcome and the compliments on the place... we're very lucky to have found it, it's a dream come true!

Soundguy,

The attachments are a different brand, but supposed to be a high end brand. I don't have a TSC nearby (sadly the closest is about 2 hours away), but between Northern Tools, TSC, and other sites, I've been pricing a lot of the attachments and will probably only buy a couple from the dealer (depending on how quickly I need it, and whether I can afford to buy it or need to roll it into the financed price) and get the rest separately. Going to have to play around a little with it and then see how much the dealer is willing to deal.

I am getting two remotes on the back installed for under $500 though... he's installing them for about the price I've seen quoted on here by folks who just bought them and installed them themselves. Dealer said that he'd never seen anyone need three remotes, and suggested only getting two, and the third would be easy to install after the fact anyway, so I think I'll go with two. Will need them for some of the attachments I'm looking at... like a TPH log splitter... Northern Tools has a really good deal on them that's about a third of what an equivalent stand alone log splitter would be.

So, I'll be going over to the dealer on Saturday morning. The new tractor comes in on Friday morning, so the trade in that I'm buying will be on the lot by Saturday morning. The dealer was hesitant about me coming to see it before he had a chance to get it in the shop and cleaned up and checked out. I told him that I used to be a mechanic in the Marines a few lifetimes ago, and that I could tell the difference between something that looked bad and something that really was bad, and that it wouldn't be a problem, so he said cool. I was actually kinda impressed that he was concerned about that, since the other more local dealer wasn't concerened at all about how things looked with his used stuff.

And this guy sees this area as a fertile 'word of mouth advertising' area, as I'll be the third person here to buy from him in the last 6-8 months, and we all know each other. So I'm hoping that will help him feel the value of doing right by me. <hope springs eternal grin>... Anyway, presuming that all is well, I'll give him a deposit on Saturday and fill out the finance papers... then he'll clean her up, tighten her up, install the remotes, and then deliver it to me and pick up my trade-in by Tue/Wed of next week. Course, if everything we agree on isn't done and the tractor isn't cleaned up and tightened up, at that point he can take it back to the shop and redo it... I won't let his delivering it like that pressure me into taking less than what it should be... but I don't think that'll be a problem. This guy is very forthcoming, and they've been in business there for over 50 years, so they can't be 'too' bad. <famous last words grin>...

But with a little luck, I'll have the tractor in less than a week, and I'll be in BUSINESS and digging ditches, post holes, and such in no time!!!

 Stoney 
 who can't wait!!! I LOVE THIS FARM <sung to the tune of "I Love This Bar"...

kozak · Mar 12, 2004

Congratulations on you DREAM haven home from up in Canada Land & welcome to TBN. My GOD is that a beautiful place you got. Needless to say I'm envious. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I just bought a 2001 TC35D with FEL & supersteer. Has 80 hours on it. Roughly speaking I paid approximately the equivalent of 17.5 US for it. Much less hours than yours but with that backhoe on yours I think that more than makes up for it. Go for it, sounds like a good deal to me also. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif