These are my opinions. There are tons of newbees getting into CUTs and hobby farms; I think it is time to review some “facts”. At the very least I look at this like PCs now - buy what works for YOU!!
“Never ending ‘add this’”. I was on a budget of $25k in 2019 and made it. Just barely. Cab? Nice to have, would have added $5k or more and weight (see below). More hp? I bought 35; mine was available in 40 (same machine otherwise) for $2k more; couldn’t stay in budget. Weight? Frame? Even more hp. See next comment
“Get as big as you can” aka “get one size bigger than what you think you need”. Not for me. I’m a hobby farmer. With 14 acres of prairie to mow and generally keep up with I chose 35hp hst. The perfect machine for me. Would I like to have more hp? Once in a blue moon when grass gets really high and I have to slow down, but so what? Doesn’t affect loader work. And a bigger frame to allow more loader capacity isn’t really a need either (besides I bought kioti with best in class lift already). An extra hour added to 12 hours of mowing 4-5x/year is negligible. Besides I LIKE riding and using my machine!!
“Non-tractor considerations”
“Truck”. I have a 2005 small block f150. I have no plans or other need to replace it. But I can only pull 6700#. Going larger frame or bigger trailer etc would mean a different truck if I EVER need to pull it
“Trailer”. For me 7k is enough. Sure 10k is nicer. And 14k as well. But also heavier and this impacts total towing weight (see truck comments above) plus more $.
“Dealer importance”. I’ve been back twice in 5 years. Didn’t and don’t care. It’s a hobby farm; I don’t need to rely on my dealer nor build a relationship. My CUT is not used for my livelihood and if I don’t have it for a couple of weeks it is simply an inconvenience not a problem. I bought the best deal and shooed dealers until I got it.
“Resale”. I didn’t and don’t care. Some do. For me I wanted a machine to last for 20 years not to trade out like a car (which I don’t do either). Besides kioti sells (or sold) for 80% of a similar kubota new. Most of them near me sell for 80% of similar kubota used. So yes they resell for less but they cost less up front and retain about the same overall percentage value.
“Weight vs affordability.” I bought the kioti ck3510. Love it. Sure I’d like to have had the dk for more weight and larger frame. But extra $ and extra weight driving me to a bigger trailer for more $ and a new truck for more $
“Don’t buy new, buy used implements”. Have you really looked lately - like in the last 6 months?They aren’t the same prices they were 5 years ago; heck not even the same price as 1 year ago. And availability isn’t good either; people recognize what they have and are hanging onto them, or selling for extra $. It may still be cheaper to buy used but that’s IF you can find it.
“Xxx hasn’t been around as long as JD or Kubota.” So what. For CUTs those names aren’t the same as they were nor the same as their real Ag machines. The one I chose - kioti - has been in the US for more than 30 years; I’ll likely have left my machine to my survivors in 30 years. And EVERY brand has recalls, detractors, supporters, and (especially since 2021) parts issues.
Somebody generally will be unhappy if they need to do a specific job or run a specific implement and their tractor is too small to do it. However, once you get one that's "large enough" there's generally not much of a hard stop on how much larger you can go, so you have to draw the line yourself. The major downside of a tractor that is larger than needed is that maneuverability decreases with increasing machine size. For example, trying to jockey equipment around in a machine shed with a 200 HP machine with rear duals is not much fun compared to doing the same job with a 75 HP unit if the 75 HP unit can do the job.
In general affordability is obtained by only getting the features you actually need versus what you merely want. This is similar to trucks, the base model is going to get as much work done as the Platinum or Denali model but costs half as much. The people making catastrophic comments about physical injury/death or machine damage coming to an operator if they don't get a cabbed MFWD machine with something other than a conventional clutched transmission are also off base too.
Being able to haul a tractor on a trailer was never a consideration for me or anybody else I grew up around as you generally couldn't do it yourself. You roaded a tractor to where you needed it, or had the dealer pick up your broken tractor with their lowboy or two-ton rollback to take it to the shop.
The only thing i can think is when you should go slightly bigger than you think. Is when you build a pole barn. But I agree with you. When I newbie asks about size of tractor for his hobby farm or his 6 acres. Guys are ready to spend your money on what i think is to big of a tractor. Ive always shrugged it off as most people didnt grow up on a farm and haven't been around equipment all there lives. There is only a handful of us out there and thats it.
Generally pole barns don't involve the use of a tractor, it's generally a cat to level the site, a road roller to compact the site, a good-sized skid or track loader with a big old hydraulic rock auger to drill the post holes, and a crane to lift the trusses into place. The type and nature of work done to put up most pole barns is not something most tractors would do very well.
I honestly don't know how JD sells anything. Their 1025r is more $ than my Mahindra 1626. They're both made in Japan. I've used both. There's no way I'd buy a 1025. The 3025 is substantially more than the 1626, I've used one of those too. It's a joke compared to the 1626. You can't even remove the front end loader and these rear end housing is aluminum.
Their gator prices are just as obnoxious.
The Deere equipment I've had has been pretty solid stuff and the parts availability is excellent. Now, I don't have a subcompact, maybe those aren't that great, but at least their ag equipment is pretty decent. I've briefly operated a Gator in the past, but that was a "traditional" Gator like you saw on college and professional sports sidelines rather than the side-by-side Gators they mostly sell now.
