Shopping for our first tractor...

keithley · Jun 2, 2015

We're on about 8 acres in the beautiful Nehalem River valley in NW Oregon. We've never owned a tractor, but are ready to buy used. We will probably use a front loader most, but may need to use a tiller, backhoe, blade.

When looking at used tractors in the 30hp (4x4) range, what make and model is best? What should we avoid? Any and all advice will be very welcome!

GPintheMitten · Jun 2, 2015

Here we go again. We'll help you spend your money. Brands probably dont matter much except having a dealer around for parts and service.

Let us know what you plan on doing with it and youll get a lot of advice.

jeff9366 · Jun 2, 2015

Brands are not going to be your key concern. Your key concern will be condition of the individual used tractors you inspect versus your equipment budget.

However, dealer proximity will be important. You will not want a Kubota, if the nearest Kubota service is sixty miles distant.

Your parameters of 30+ horsepower, 4-WD and FEL are about right. I assume HST transmission as well, as most tractors with the first characteristics will also have HST. Weight is at least as important as horsepower, seek a tractor with a medium or heavy frame rather than a light frame.

A Backhoe is a major cost and a lot of additional complexity when you buy used. What tasks do you expect to require a Backhoe? Three Three Point Hitch is the most important part of any tractor and a Backhoe covers the 3-Point.

I would set up a tractor search on eBay, limited to a distance of sixty miles from your zip code, to get of feel for real world pricing. Go to EBAY > BUSINESS & INDUSTRIAL > HEAVY EQUIPMENT > TRACTORS. Then go to "ADVANCED" to limit search area.

There are 531 tractors for sale on eBay today.

EBAY TRACTOR LINK: Industrial Tractors | eBay

Yamaha2112 · Jun 2, 2015

Unpopular opinion here, but don't be afraid to go smaller for just 8 acres.

EDIT: Just noticed you were searching used. In that case (Case?), big is good.

Price range?

mddorange · Jun 2, 2015

:welcome:
To TBN Keith. I have 11 acres and 30hp would be my minimum even for 8 acres. There will be times that you will wish you had gone bigger even with 30hp.