Buying Advice Questions about potential purchase, not sure where to start

[ning]

Thanks @WinterDeere and @Little Red Tractor for the additional insight - I'm still here reading, and rereading, everyone's comments, posts, and advice, so I really appreciate the continued wisdom!

As an update, I'm doing a couple things this weekend (if anyone wants to know lol). Today, going with pops to a TYM / LS dealer nearby since they're not open on weekends to acquaint myself with these options. Looking at their subcompact and compact options and getting an idea of how far my money will get me. Using the list everyone helped me put together, I'm going to be primarily looking at options that offer ease of operation and utilization.

I also talked to the fella that posted the B7510. He confirmed what I suspected - they're downsizing, got it regularly serviced, and even knows the son of the local Kubota dealer. He had positive things to say, I asked a few questions when I could get a word in regarding using it. Overall, without seeing it, my impression is it had light use - he has similar sized property and had similar uses (albeit in a flatter part of town). My concerns about this particular option is the lack of QA. BUT it comes with the implements I most urgently need. Because I don't have a trailer or a way to move it, he suggested having the local Kubota dealer helping move it, so I will look into that if I decide to move forward. How often will I want to remove the FEL? There's mixed response on whether or not you all do, based on what you use it for. It'll be due for the next 40 hour maintenance soon, as well. At what point should I be concerned about its age? Also, he was a talker, basically said he would let it go for $14K - so I'll probably just go full dummy, offer $13K and see what he says - factoring in paying for transport - curious about it.

Tomorrow, I have to go to the JD dealer anyways to get the parts to for my wacker, so I'll take a look while I'm there. Also going to stop by the Kubota dealer, too, to ask them about the trailer / transport, as well as look at what they have available in my budget.

Hopefully on Sunday, I'll be visiting the used tractor with the experience of seeing new tractors to compare against.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Do you have a vehicle that can tow?
Looks like a bare B7510 is very light - under 1500# - though the loader and implements will add a bit, it won't take much of a trailer to transport. You likely have a local equipment rental place and you can see if they have a flatbed trailer you can rent (here there's a place that rents one for $100/day which is really steep for the almost-wreck that trailer is but it's a lot cheaper than buying one and using it three times ever); buy a few straps and watch some videos on how to strap a tractor down.

Though my tractor's loader has a quick disconnect and self-removal (pull pins, flex the loader hydraulics just so to get it off the loader mounts, then disconnect hydraulics), I've never removed the loader. I remove the bucket regularly, most often to swap to forks, very occasionally to use the tractor sans bucket if I'm going to be mowing in my orchard which was definitely not laid out for something as big as the tractor.
I doubt you'll ever need to remove the loader itself, and likely never need or want to remove the bucket.

If you did get a newer tractor with a QA front, it does open some doors to attachments - such as a stump bucket for point digging (to remove small trees or shrubs - or make a hole for planting such!, removing medium rocks, nothing too deep) or forks, but moving relatively light stuff, like 2-300# of logs, forks that clamp on to the bucket would work fine. There are clamp-on stump buckets but I wouldn't advise their use as I suspect either they'll fold, or the bucket will, but you won't dig much with them unless it's in really soft ground.

 

[fattylumpkins]

Do you have a vehicle that can tow?

Yes! I have truck - I'll look into this further if I decide to go this direction. There's an equipment rental business similar to what you described in the area, I guess I'm more anxious about doing this on my own and would prefer paying a premium for help to avoid introducing chaos / danger to the public.

 

[WinterDeere]

...if anyone wants to know lol...

It's a tractor forum. It's what we do.

Today, going with pops to a TYM / LS dealer nearby since they're not open on weekends to acquaint myself with these options. Looking at their subcompact and compact options and getting an idea of how far my money will get me.

Your money will go farther with TYM / LS, than with Deere/Kubota. What you lose in the long-run is resale value and knowing that the thing will be supported both by the OEM and the handfuls of third-party vendors that surround the two premium brands.

Personally, I'd take a 3-year old or even a 5-year old Deere or Kubota over a new anything from any other brand, every time. But there's a limit to that. I would not take a 10-15 year old Deere or Kubota over most other brands, due to the way the cost of parts starts to climb after the tractor is out of manufacture.

Deere will ensure you can get parts for your tractor beyond 30 years of age, and there are countless third-party shops and junk yards that specialize in Deere and Kubota parts, both new-old-stock (NOS) and used. But the cost of Deere parts does rise with years out of manufacture, and I believe I've heard the Kubota owners comment similarly, making the usage and repair of old tractors more expensive each year.

My concerns about this particular option is the lack of QA. BUT it comes with the implements I most urgently need.

Let's be careful. here. If you mean quick-hitch on 3-point, that's a total non-issue. Not totally necessary, and can be easily added later for $200.

If you mean no QA on loader, then opinions will vary more. It means you can't drop the bucket and pick up a snowplow or forks on the loader. That's a no-go for some people, and a total non-issue for others. I've owned both, and will never go back to a pinned bucket, but that's because I like to switch the bucket out for snowplow and forks, and also like to just drop the bucket in the barn when running around with no need for it.

But you also mention removing the whole loader. Many will never do this, and argue it's not necessary. I personally like to remove my loader when I use the tractor for spreading fertilizer or seed on the lawn, or when aerating. But my loader is stupid-heavy, and leaving it on really impacts how fast I can go on a lumpy lawn. Those with wide-open flat spaces will probably argue they never remove, or never need to remove the loader.

My personal opinion and advice to you is that I'd make sure you have at least one of these two options: either removable bucket (SSQA) or removable loader. Either one can work, when you want to whip around the yard with the mower. Personally, I'd favor a QA bucket over removable loader for your needs, if you had to choose only one option, because removing the loader and putting it back on frequently gets real old. My recommendation is based on the impression that your property is hilly, lumpy, and has some tight spaces to turn a tractor with rear-mounted mower, making a rig with mower + bucket mounted at the same time awful long and cumbersome.

Tomorrow, I have to go to the JD dealer anyways to get the parts to for my wacker, so I'll take a look while I'm there. Also going to stop by the Kubota dealer, too, to ask them about the trailer / transport, as well as look at what they have available in my budget.

So, here's the thing. Everyone says "shop the dealer", and I even repeated it above. But the reality is that you'll never deal with that salesperson or sales department again, after you buy the tractor. You will deal with their service department and parts counter, but not sales.

Someone on a prior page mentioned asking friends and neighbors about their experience, and if you're so lucky to know a few people who have dealt with a given dealer, then that's great. But I always come away from these recommendations thinking they sound good in concept, but leave the reader with a task they can't easily accomplish.

Yes! I have truck - I'll look into this further if I decide to go this direction. There's an equipment rental business similar to what you described in the area, I guess I'm more anxious about doing this on my own and would prefer paying a premium for help to avoid introducing chaos / danger to the public.

I wouldn't sweat this issue. Yeah, you can rent a trailer with surge brakes, and get it done on your own, if you need to. But paying a local dealer or any car hauler with a rollback is a cheap insured way to get it moved by someone who does it all day everyday.

If you go on your own, make sure the trailer is rated for the load, the truck is rated for the trailer, and you do a quick brush-up on weight distribution and strapping. It's not rocket science, but it is a good bit of new material to learn atop everything else, if you don't typically deal with trailering heavy items.

 

[Torvy]

My friends who love their JD and Kubota machines tend to understate the price differences for equally equipped machines and overstate the 'problems' with resale.

When you get to a certain age, resale becomes someone else's problem.

TYM, LS and Kioti will do more work in the same sized tractor and will cost 10s of thousands less for the same sized/equipped machines. In general, these brands tend to be sold by smaller dealers who care more about small operators and equipment.

Kubota sells a lot to corporate entities (governments, colleges, etc.). Many of JDs dealerships are now big corporations in their own right. This can be great if your a big operator, but you may be ignored.

The other side, of course is that some some smaller dealerships come and go and leave you without support.

Bigger isn't better. Smaller isn't better. Find the one that suits you and tune out the brand loyalty.

On backhoe...just rent a mini-ex if you come across a backhoe job. Rental will run maybe $300-$350. A cheap backhoe will add $7000 and be in the way when you aren't using it.

 

[WinterDeere]

My friends who love their JD and Kubota machines tend to understate the price differences for equally equipped machines and overstate the 'problems' with resale.

When you get to a certain age, resale becomes someone else's problem.

TYM, LS and Kioti will do more work in the same sized tractor and will cost 10s of thousands less for the same sized/equipped machines. In general, these brands tend to be sold by smaller dealers who care more about small operators and equipment.

I agree with your principle, but not your numbers: "10's of thousands." She's shopping for a $20k package, which probably means $14k tractor + $6k in implements, or thereabouts. She's not saving tens of thousands of dollars between brands, on that.

And if you're planning on living another 20+ years, either resale or parts availability will become your problem. Some brands seem to discontinue parts after 15 years, or thereabouts, which ironically is just when your need for repair parts usually goes way up.

But that's not to say there's only one way to go, here. I totally understand why some buy other brands, especially if sensitive to up-front price or less concerned with what will happen after 2040.

 

[tacticalturnip]

OP may not want to fool with changing attachments on the FEL. I'm not sure what attachments she'd want for the FEL anyway or if she could find them in a size that's appropriate to the B7510 since so many are designed for skid steers designed to lift much more weight.

If she was in the mood for a grapple they even make attachments that fit to the loader itself. Add-A-Grapple I think they're called. Lack of SSQA is certainly no reason to pass up a deal like that.

 

[airbiscuit]

The $20k total budget dictates either a SCUT, or a used CUT (it would have to be a creampuff). The 7510 is a contender. Talk with a landscaping company about delivering it for you.

I never take my loader off.
A quick attach bucket is certainly nice, but not a necessity for the OP.
Clamp on forks will be sufficient for the OPs needs.

Starting needs,
Tractor and bucket
Rear blade
Rough cut mower

That will do 90% of her work

 

[airbiscuit]

Go try out that 7510

 

[Yander]

@WinterDeere, Yanmar's warranty is transferrable.

Transferable only once. I agree with looking at Yanmar. You can also find them used. Look for these models: SA324, SA425, SA325 or SA425. Difference between the SA3s' & 4s' is tire size only. Larger tires on the 4 series. The difference between the 424 & 425 is a accessory outlet and dual rear remotes standard on the 425.

You want rear remotes so try to find an SA325 or SA425.

Just buy a new one. They're right around the 20K price point.

 

[Yander]

Agreed. And I would absolutely never buy a machine with a pinned bucket for dual use as a mower, despite @2manyrocks question about the actual need to switch FEL implements, because she's likely going to find that dropping the bucket before mowing and retrieving it when done is the quickest way to make the machine lighter and more maneuverable.

Dropping the whole loader is much better yet, but even as relatively easy as that is, dicking around with hydraulic hoses for every weekly mowing gets old real fast. Dropping a bucket off a JDQA or SSQA loader is a very fast and easy compromise, and removes a lot of the extended weight that turns your machine into a bucking bronco at mowing speeds.

From someone who owns a tractor with a pinned bucket. I can unpin and drop my forks or bucket in two minutes on my Yanmar.

I also don't have the extra weight of SSQA eating up lift capacity and extending the load out further from pins.

Sooooo, I choose pin on over SSQA all day long. If I cared to convert it I could.

Why people keep giving poor advice, to not not buy a tractor that is better, just because of bucket attachment is beyond me.