TC35A Advise Needed

bluelightspecial · Apr 13, 2007

I am just starting to get into the tractor market and I have been looking at a few new tractors that really appealed to me. My main chores will involve FEL work and bush hogging pastures. While I'm only working on 20 acres, I wanted something in the 40-55 horse range in preperation for getting more land in the future. I finally decided on the Kubota 5240 with a hydro and an FEL, but I knew that I would have to save my pennies to afford it. Well without really looking, I stumbled upon a used TC35A for sale. It has a 16LH FEL and a 758C backhoe. Now while I never really considered a backhoe, (due to cost) I can think of a lot of uses for one. The tractor is not hydrostatic, but I'm not going to close the door on opportunity just because of that. It has 400 hours on it.

Here is where the deal gets tricky. The tracor was bought buy a small farm owner and he used it to clear his property. It shows signs of just that. Scrathes are plentiful. The three biggest blemishes are the left headlight lens is broken(probably a limb did it), the right rear fender has a 4 inch chip out of the fiberglass on the edge (limb again), and the headlight swith on the dash isn't seated properly. The tractor has not been stored insided and could really use a cleaning. It starts right up with the bump of the switch and all of the hydraulics work great. While its not 100% what I was after I am interested in making him an offer on it if it saves me big money. The reason he is selling it, is that he sold his farm and moved to another state. He no longer has any use for a tractor and would much rather sell it than try to get it transported back.

That being said would this be a good tractor for me to ease into tractor ownership with? In your opinion what would be a really good deal on this tractor in this condition? Thanks for any input or opinion.

Kendall69 · Apr 13, 2007

Actually I would prefer a tractor with dings and scratches on it BEFORE i buy it, because if I ding scratch a band spanking new tractor it kills me.

Remember a tractor is a tractor, designed to get scratches and dings, if I see an immaculate tractor, then it aint being use to it's fullest.

Grab a good second hand one cheap to get you feet wet, then decide what you would want in your next one.

Remember, you can always sell or trade a good used tractor, so I wouldn't pass up on this deal if it' an ugly but sound piece of equipment.

PoleClimber · Apr 14, 2007

I would make him an offer. The issues your talking about are cosmetic, most likely from neglect and not from abuse. I have the same tractor with 525 hours on it and broke my headlight when a tree limb kicked back from the loader. It cost around $130.00 for a new light. I can understand why he chose not to replace it. I would check out other things like, check for oil leaks under the tractor--check for bent or broken linkage under the tractor--see if the loader is twisted---check the backhoe for the lack of grease at the pivot points. I hate to say it but there are people that just use the machine without doing any service work to it and wait until it falls apart to fix it. If all else is ok you can most likely fix up the exterior of the tractor for under $500.00. Bernie

dqdave1 · Apr 14, 2007

The 35 is 3 cylinder vs a 4 cylinder for a 40 or 45. HST is nice but as you said; if price is right! why not. With the low hours, even if it was neglected, I don't think anything major could have been done to the machine maintainance wise. What is he asking for it?

bluelightspecial · Apr 14, 2007

Thanks for the input guys. He's asking $19500 for the tractor but I know I can get it cheaper than that. Being that he is no longer in this area and really doesn't have a way to transport it I'm going to low ball him and see if we can meet in the middle. What would be a good deal on a machine like this that needs a little TLC?? Thanks.

jinman · Apr 15, 2007

The tractor originally sold for about $24,500 with the backhoe as a rough approximation. He may have paid more. If maintenance has been done on the backhoe and loader, I'd offer $18,500 and see what he says.

You mentioned two other concerns in your PM to me. Since you did not give me permission to discuss them in the open forum. I'll PM you with my thoughts. I'm only mentioning it here because I've suggested an offering price based on what you posted here. One of those other concerns could represent an even lower offer.

Other forum members: There is nothing earth-shattering here, I just want to follow the rules that a PM is a PM and I'll keep it that way until the "blue light" says I can put it here.

bluelightspecial · Apr 15, 2007

No problem posting those problems here. I just didn't know about them when I did my original post and I didn't want to edit more into a long post.

The other two concerns on the tractor is the clutch not operatin properly and what I thought was a dent in the front driveshaft.

The clutch does not disengage when the pedal is depressed. If I try to push the left lever on the steering column forward the tractor will automatically start moving while the clutch is still depressed. The tractor has set unused for some time so it could either be that the clutch is stuck or the linkage needs adjusting.

The direvshaft issue that I "thought" I had was that the driveshaft has a dent in it under the crossmember. Turns out what I'm seeing is the driveshaft housing, not the actual shaft. Jinman straightened me out on that (nice guy).

Thanks for you any help you guys provide.

Bryan

Turbys_1700 · Apr 17, 2007

In situations like this I usually have a price in mind that I am willing to pay for the unit. I would tell him that I would like to purchase the unit but want his bottom dollar number right off the bat, If he says $19K then you know where you stand. I've actually bought some things cheaper than I would have given using this approach. You might get a great deal. Personally, I think that $17K to $18K is fair.

jinman · Apr 17, 2007

Turbys_1700 said:
In situations like this I usually have a price in mind that I am willing to pay for the unit. I would tell him that I would like to purchase the unit but want his bottom dollar number right off the bat, If he says $19K then you know where you stand. I've actually bought some things cheaper than I would have given using this approach. You might get a great deal. Personally, I think that $17K to $18K is fair.

DL, I agree on the $17k to $18k offer. If the issues are just cosmetic, that would be a very good deal. It sounds like the clutch problem is just from sitting unused.

One thing that I always look at is the condition of the loader bucket. I've used my bucket very hard and never bent it. The welds in the back of the bucket started to crack, but the front lip, top lip, and sides are not bent. If I see a tractor that has a very bent up bucket, I know that tractor has been repeatedly abused. That raises the red flag really quickly because that is purposeful disregard for the condition of the tractor.

On the other hand, my tractor is scratched from working in heavy brush. Also, one of the cleats on my rear tire caught a 3" limb and pulled it up under the fender. That took a small chunk out of the fender before I heard it and stopped. I don't consider that abuse. That's just something that can happen.