Tractor or new kitchen?

[Chris616]

We don't have enough info to make an informed recommendation. Only you know the details of your financial situation, the timing and certainty of your plans to retire(?) and move to your rural property, your wife's attitude, and how the properties are being maintained now, among many other things.

The best that the folks on this forum can do is recommend things that you should think about while making your decision. Here are some, but there are many others that I haven't thought of:
- Would you have a secure place to store your tractor?
- Have you factored in the costs of owning a tractor, such as insuring it against theft and fire, against the cost to contract the work?
- You haven't mentioned your aunts, uncles and cousins as having the equipment to do the work, so would you be prepared to have them borrow yours if you made the purchase?
- Will you be the beneficiary of your mom's will, so will likely have a 10 acre property to take care of in the future? Or is it possible that a few weeks after buying a tractor you just have a five acre unoccupied property that doesn't really need to be maintained before you move there?
- 250 miles is too far for a day trip, so do you currently have the time and inclination to spend enough weekends away from home to justify buying a tractor to work with?
- If you buy new, will you use your tractor enough to get past the "infant mortality" part of the reliability "bathtub curve" while still in the warranty period? Here's a picture from The Bathtub Curve and Product Failure Behavior (Part 1 of 2)

- When I Googled "sierra foothills" it comes back as California, which makes me think wildfires. You've mentioned making a defensible perimeter around your mom's house, but would there be anyone there to defend it? You've already ensured that you mom has an escape plan in place, of course.
- Anytime in the next ten years, renovating your kitchen will benefit your financial situation. Buying a tractor will do the reverse. How important is that to you?
- Since you both like to cook, but presumably only you like to play with tractors, would you rather have a nice new thing that both of you would use multiple times a day, or something that only you would use much less frequently?

Chris

 

[radios1]

quote from the OP. "Friends say just hire someone to to do it. But most of my friends have no idea what that entails. We all know that will be thousands of dollars and when they're done, they take their toys and go home till you call them again." meanwhile, without a tractor, your house could burn down, and your grass could grow to feet. California is a tinderbox waiting to catch fire.. save money by doing it yourself and get a tractor.. you can always get a Divorce if your wife gets unbearable!..

 

[wheelbuilder]

For what you described, I would find a good used tractor, for less mom to use for now. You don’t a new one and if you can get a good enough deal, you will have money left over to work on your kitchen.

I'd vote for this as well. You can probably get both done by scaling the costs of each back some. Maybe even plan on holding off on actually replacing appliances and just do the more permanent stuff so you have the space to work.

 

[atsah]

I have been putting the kitchen off for 10 years, I have to do it this year, she has put up with me buying equipment long enough and never complains, I can think of more things I would like to buy but it's her turn.. It's a big deal, all new windows and a kitchen is what I'm doing right now..

 

[orezok]

So its YOUR Mom that needs the brush clearance done? Strike 2 for tractor vs wife kitchen.

 

[Diggin It]

California is a tinderbox waiting to catch fire.. save money by ...

... moving out of CA. Lots of much nicer places in the USA with lower costs of living and lesser wildfire danger.

 

[ericm979]

Buying a tractor so you can clear/grade/whatever yourself assumes that you have the time to do the work. If you're 250 miles away how much time will you be able to spend there doing work?
It might make sense to hire the work done and not buy the tractor until you move there. Some parts of the foothills are getting pretty strict about fire clearance to where they'll write tickets or just send a crew to do it and send you the bill.

Having just had a bunch of remodeling done I'd be shocked if the kitchen upgrade costs less than the tractor. I'm sure costs are lower there than in my part of CA but not that much lower. OTOH if you remodel the kitchen now you can enjoy it for longer.

 

[radios1]

Buying a tractor so you can clear/grade/whatever yourself assumes that you have the time to do the work. If you're 250 miles away how much time will you be able to spend there doing work?
It might make sense to hire the work done and not buy the tractor until you move there. Some parts of the foothills are getting pretty strict about fire clearance to where they'll write tickets or just send a crew to do it and send you the bill.

Having just had a bunch of remodeling done I'd be shocked if the kitchen upgrade costs less than the tractor. I'm sure costs are lower there than in my part of CA but not that much lower. OTOH if you remodel the kitchen now you can enjoy it for longer.

his Mothers property needs to borrow the tractor too, and unless He wants to let her swing, or pay to have both properties done weekly or so, He needs a tractor.. all that work on 10 Acres would be VERY expensive to have someone do..

 

[Racenut]

That'll teach me to post and then go to bed. Thanks for all the responses...

First though.. My wife wants a tractor almost as bad as I do. And I want the kitchen almost as much as she does lol. We're weird I guess.
Mom's 5 acres will eventually be our 5 acres, though of course we hope that's a ways down the road. But it's in our long term interest to take care of it for her.
Oh, and it's her Mom, my mother in law, in case that makes a difference :laughing:
I also plan to get a 20ft storage container to keep it put away.
Selling the RV isn't an option as we currently putting in a pad and hoookups up there so we can use it as a "cabin". This is where all this tractor talk started.
I suppose I should actually get a quote to see what it it would cost to get someone in there with heavy equipment and just take stuff out. I'm making assumptions on cost there. I'm also trying to be sensitive to Mom's wishes as she likes it "wild" and doesn't want it "clearcut". Though every time there's a fire nearby she seems to come around to common sense a bit more.
I'll admit that some of it is I just want a new toy. But I'm trying to ignore the "fun factor" because I'm pretty sure after a few hours, it will just be work.

 

[WM75Guy]

Like was said, I would need more details for a comprehensive answer. To me these are two unrelated projects, except you don't have the money to do both based on your current plan. Two things sell a house, kitchens and bathrooms. Depending on the remodel cost and the time before you sell, you may or may not up the resale value. Do it too early and it could be out of date again when you sell.

A good used tractor will do what you want for a reasonable price. I bought my first tractor used, the TC40DA, 12 years ago and paid less than half of a new one. The Boomer 8N was bought new 6 years ago. Now my needs have changed and I am trading in the Boomer 8N in on a new Workmaster 75. The TC40DA is still a solid tractor and I can't see letting it go.

 

[ericm979]

his Mothers property needs to borrow the tractor too, and unless He wants to let her swing, or pay to have both properties done weekly or so, He needs a tractor.. all that work on 10 Acres would be VERY expensive to have someone do..

There's two kinds of fire clearance in CA- clearing trees and brush, and mowing grass. The OP listed both in his original post. Clearing trees and brush only needs to be done once in a number of years, grass mowing needs to be done a few times a year. We don't get rain in the summer so the grass stops growing once the soil moisture gets too low, even in places like where I live that get a lot of rain in the winter. Whenever I go back east in the summer it looks weird to have green grass everywhere.

 

[atsah]

You live 250 miles away from where?

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

There's two kinds of fire clearance in CA- clearing trees and brush, and mowing grass. The OP listed both in his original post. Clearing trees and brush only needs to be done once in a number of years, grass mowing needs to be done a few times a year. We don't get rain in the summer so the grass stops growing once the soil moisture gets too low, even in places like where I live that get a lot of rain in the winter. Whenever I go back east in the summer it looks weird to have green grass everywhere.

Born and raised on a farm just north of Phoenix, AZ in the 60's-70's, I remember when I was in grade school, one summer my Aunt/Uncle took us on a car trip to Missouri. When we got to the Midwest, I remember asking my Uncle who watered all that grass. I had never seen such green in all my life. My Uncle replied "God did". Lol. On the farm, if you didn't water/irrigate your fields, nothing grew.

 

[Diggin It]

Your tractor or your wife!
Hmmm....
C'mon, c'mon, hurry up, your tractor or your wife!!
I'm thinking, I'm thinking .....

 

[Racenut]

Your tractor or your wife!
Hmmm....
C'mon, c'mon, hurry up, your tractor or your wife!!
I'm thinking, I'm thinking .....

Nah, it's not even that. She'd like to have a tractor to. We even laughed that it could be yet another odd anniversary present to ourselves. (28 years next week). For other occasions, she's got 2 different Husqvarnas, one a sewing machine, the other a chain saw. I got her a rifle one year for Valentine's day. She even got a motorcycle for MY birthday once. She's cool like that

Even the kitchen, we've been thinking about doing it for years, but dealing with the mess of demolition and no kitchen while it's being done just seems like a pain in the butt, so we just keep using it the way it is. It just came up in our discussion about buying a tractor that it would take redoing the kitchen off the table for a while. But it seemed like a more interesting dilemma to propose than just should I get one..cuz yall would just say YAH!
I think it really comes down to the 250 miles between where we live (also in Santa Cruz County, ericm979) and where the property is (Grass Valley). And then whether we'll make the effort to get up there often enough to make it worthwhile. Moving the RV is a big step there.

But thanks for the comments and food for thought as I do the mental gymnastics.

 

[Racenut]

There's two kinds of fire clearance in CA- clearing trees and brush, and mowing grass. The OP listed both in his original post. Clearing trees and brush only needs to be done once in a number of years, grass mowing needs to be done a few times a year. We don't get rain in the summer so the grass stops growing once the soil moisture gets too low, even in places like where I live that get a lot of rain in the winter. Whenever I go back east in the summer it looks weird to have green grass everywhere.

Yeah, I just went to Tennessee for work a couple weeks ago and a friend was complaining about how his lawn was starting to brown and it looked pretty green to me. Everything is so lush and green, it was beautiful. But they were also getting rain in July and August which just doesn't happen here. Tennessee is on my short list should I ever hit the California eject button.

 

[finn1]

I did the kitchen first, then the tractor a couple years later. Kitchen cost twice what a brand new tractor with cab and front snowblower did, but was a relatively easy sell, since she had a new kitchen.

Sell the RV You don稚 need it if you have a house with a new kitchen.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Guys.

The RV is going to be set up on the property 250 MILES away from his house. It's the remote property he needs the tractor at, not his house. It's at the remote property location where all the tractor work will be done. So the RV will be his "cabin" to stay at while working at the remote property.

Savvy?

 

[searcyfarms]

The updated kitchen would make the wife happy, a tractor will make you happy. Happy wife happy life.

no question............take care of your wife first, she will take care of you and you will be glad you did, besides that she is worth it!!

 

[MechanicalGuy]

This is not even a question. Get a tractor.

I doubt you understand a tractors resale potential if you are worried about "depreciation ". Tractors are good investments.