Tractors in the 40 HP Range

[Sawdust Farmer]

Hello all!

I've been reading the forums here for a while and really appreciate all the good information I've been able to gather. I'm looking at purchasing a new tractor and really like the looks of the MF 1540.

I haven't looked much at the other brands, but I'm open to suggestions. What are the similar tractors in the other brands? I guess I'm lazy, but I figures the combinded knowledge here is much better than talking to the dealers first

I plan to equip it with a loader and possibly a backhoe.

My current configuration for the MF 1540 is:

-1525 loader with the skid steer quick attach bucket
-Large R4 tires
-Power Shuttle 12x12 Transmission
-1580 backhoe

Main uses would be light loader work and light to moderate bush hogging. The backhoe is optional right now but with 0% for 72 months it is very tempting to add!

Thanks,
SF

 

[warhammer]

Welcome to TBN!
Pretty much all the manufacturers have models in the range you mention and your stated usage can be accomplished with any of them.
A lot of folks look towards an HST trans if they are looking at doing substantial FEL work.

Warhammer

Hello all!

I've been reading the forums here for a while and really appreciate all the good information I've been able to gather. I'm looking at purchasing a new tractor and really like the looks of the MF 1540.

I haven't looked much at the other brands, but I'm open to suggestions. What are the similar tractors in the other brands? I guess I'm lazy, but I figures the combinded knowledge here is much better than talking to the dealers first

I plan to equip it with a loader and possibly a backhoe.

My current configuration for the MF 1540 is:

-1525 loader with the skid steer quick attach bucket
-Large R4 tires
-Power Shuttle 12x12 Transmission
-1580 backhoe

Main uses would be light loader work and light to moderate bush hogging. The backhoe is optional right now but with 0% for 72 months it is very tempting to add!

Thanks,
SF

 

[rcrcomputing]

I'd be looking at a kioti dk40s I believe is shuttle. Though I'd get the se for the hst. I know of no other 40hp with the front end loader lift capability. Though hopefully someone will chime in and enlighten me. Then again, some will stay with kubota or John Deere for resale value and parts availability.. I've never owned one of them so ????

 

[smfcpacfp]

I would check every dealer within your area. I would imagine that every manufacturer has good deals. Just buy and help out the economy!

 

[RWolf]

Like others have said all major brands have a tractor in the 40HP range. Sometimes it's more important on how well you can work with a dealer. Depending on your area some dealers will be geared toward a specific market and they won't necessarily want to deviate from that. As an example if a dealer mostly deals with large farms and only wants to handled 100+HP tractors they may consider someone who only wants a 40ish HP to be nothing more than someone wanting to mow there lawn. Financing is a great way to buy anything but.....Most of the best financing is to only get you in the door and what you get coming out of the door is a machine that after 100hrs find out that it's just not the machine for you. In my opinion find the machine that matches your requirements and then work with either the dealers financing or another source (bank, cu, etc). BTW my 5103 is in the 40ish HP range and so far I've loved every moment in the seat and have just passed the 100 hour mark.

 

[flusher]

Hello all!

I've been reading the forums here for a while and really appreciate all the good information I've been able to gather. I'm looking at purchasing a new tractor and really like the looks of the MF 1540.

I haven't looked much at the other brands, but I'm open to suggestions. What are the similar tractors in the other brands? I guess I'm lazy, but I figures the combinded knowledge here is much better than talking to the dealers first

I plan to equip it with a loader and possibly a backhoe.

My current configuration for the MF 1540 is:

-1525 loader with the skid steer quick attach bucket
-Large R4 tires
-Power Shuttle 12x12 Transmission
-1580 backhoe

Main uses would be light loader work and light to moderate bush hogging. The backhoe is optional right now but with 0% for 72 months it is very tempting to add!

Thanks,
SF

My neighbor bought a nice Kubota L4400 (45 hp engine) that has a 6-ft FEL bucket. Kubota's are nice machines. I had a new 2005 Kubota B7510HST (21 hp engine) with a 4-ft FEL bucket that I used for 3 years with no problem. Traded it in last year for a Mahindra 5525 (54 hp engine) with a 6-ft FEL bucket. Need a larger tractor for haying work and that 5525 fills the bill nicely.

 

[IslandTractor]

Main uses would be light loader work and light to moderate bush hogging.

I have a 40hp tractor (Kioti DK40se) so I cannot disagree with your target range much but I did note the intended uses and it made me wonder if you really need a 40hp machine. A 40hp tractor typically can pull a 6ft bush hog but if you are doing only light to moderate bush hogging you could get away with a 30-35 hp tractor pretty easily and use the same size mower. Likewise, if you had heavy duty loader work then the 40hp class machines are far better but for light loader work as specified, a 30hp tractor would be fine.

Again, I'm not trying to talk you out of the 40hp range but wonder why you came up with that size.

 

[rfk]

If you like the 1540 why not look at the 1533 too? Basically the same tractor without the turbo. I had a dealer pull a MF and a Kubota side by side. After the comparision I deceided to get the MF 1533. It'sa great tractor and a little more economical to operate than the 1540, of coursr a little less power. Godd luck whatever you chose.

 

[studor]

Sorry for the rant in advance but

The backhoe is optional right now but with 0% for 72 months it is very tempting to add!

I cant believe with the current economy that any reputable company is offering zero financing and anyone is considering taking it. Although not illegal if you do a little research there are many consumer advocacy groups that believe it should be -- for good reason -it is one of the reasons we are in the current economic crisis globally. If you can't afford something now, why pay more for it over time? If you think money lent over a period of time is free -- please send it to me and I promise to repay it in 72 months. Again sorry for the rant
Regards

 

[boatyard]

We were tempted by the 0% offer, figuring that we could get a return on our money, while using their tractor. Read the fine print, ask the questions. The tractor at New Holland was $1000.00 less if we paid cash. So much for 0%. And you have to insure the tractor with them. We got a much better rate at my insurance company.
The New Holland TC35A has been great.

 

[Brokermike]

I did tons of research between the 1540 and mt DK40se before buying. The Kioti outperformed with the loader function, it was heavier and felt more stable, and it already had a rear remote which was extra $ from the Massey Dealer. Your prices seem cheap, have fun choosing



Regarding the comment about 0% financing, I think you're crazy, tractors are big ticket items, and a rarely affordable to someone if they have to write a check. Nevertheless for someone that can simply write a check, even after you factor in the extra $1,000 nut you pay to finance, you're still way ahead with the 0%. You can by a 6yr decent corporate bond paying 6%, on a $25,000 that's $1500 per year in interest, over 6 years that's $9,000. Even after paying the extra $1,000 to finance you're $8,000 ahead of the game, or over $100 per month in "free" money. I fail to see how a simple arbitrage situation should be illegal, it's what banks do every day (including the community banks that are thriving), they borrow money at low rates (deposits) and lend it out at high rates (loans), allowing a person to do the same thing should be encouraged

 

[studor]

Yes Brokermike I'm crazy -- but I don't believe in free lunches, the tooth fairy or Santa Claus either (or for that matter borrowing money to make money "investing"). Last I looked every 0% financing deal has to be paid for somehow -- you either pay for it in the price of the product or in other "add ons" you must take to qualify -- oh yeah -- there is one other way -- your taxpayer dollars can go to subsidize deals that manufacturers offered in good times and now don't have enough cash to keep operating -- that is a good zero percent deal -- every body pays for their stupidity and the buyers gullability.
Think about it -- somewhere, somebody pays for that zero percent and since the buyers are at the wrong end of the food chain, it's definately going to be them.

 

[greggh]

I went to several JD dealers and asked the price of a 5203 with a 522 FEL. I received quotes from 3. Two were in the 26K + range the other was in the 23 K + range. They all talked about the 0% financing that was available at the time. When I talked to the low price he said that the 0% was not free to him and that he had to pay 2% to JD. He said that for the deal I would have to pay that 2% I told him OK. That 2% worked out to be around $340 or something in that neighborhood. I still think I got a great deal.

 

[boatyard]

6 % in this economy? Lucky you! Hardly crazy if you are telling the truth.
Money out of the stock market and into cast iron [a tractor ] bordered on a brilliant move for us last summer. Our stock lost somewhere around 50%.

 

[Harold_J]

Yes Brokermike I'm crazy -- but I don't believe in free lunches, the tooth fairy or Santa Claus either (or for that matter borrowing money to make money "investing"). Last I looked every 0% financing deal has to be paid for somehow -- you either pay for it in the price of the product or in other "add ons" you must take to qualify -- oh yeah -- there is one other way -- your taxpayer dollars can go to subsidize deals that manufacturers offered in good times and now don't have enough cash to keep operating -- that is a good zero percent deal -- every body pays for their stupidity and the buyers gullability.
Think about it -- somewhere, somebody pays for that zero percent and since the buyers are at the wrong end of the food chain, it's definately going to be them.

Of course someone pays, but I look at it as a form of advertising. It's to get people in the door and in the seat of a tractor or automobile or whatever. Sometimes it's the 0% buyer who pays a little more, sometimes we all pay a little more with increased list prices, sometimes the stockholders have a smaller dividend or in the worst case the govt (us) pays for a bailout. You can't function in some markets without advertising.

That's why I think it's crazy when people complain about Citigroup paying for naming rights on the new stadium or companies advertising on the Super Bowl and paying top execs big dollars. What would we have them do, stop advertisng, lay of top management and then shrivel up and go out of business? I can understand the feeling, but if you're gonna do that you may as well forget about the bailout in the first place.

 

[farmermama]

We have a 1540 with a Bush Hog loader. It's a great tractor and does lots of FEL work for us very effectively. We've been very happy with its power and flexibility.

 

[Brokermike]

You really can't compare 0% financing to the tooth fairy or anything else in that realm. I never contended that 0% financing was a free lunch, I made a compelling case that in some cases it is the economically more intelligent route to take, especially if you have the cash. The reality is that the manufacturer "buys down" the rate in order to offer a 0% rate. Sometimes they share that buydown with the dealer, like in the 2% JD example above. The manufacturer rarely holds their own paper and must securitize it on the street (wall street) in this environment it's probably costing them 10% to do that, maybe more. However the manufacturuer is able to do all of this financing at a truly MASSIVE scale, and those economies of scale often make it easier to offer cheap financing than to offer a cheap price to dealers, which would allow dealers to offer a super cheap cash and carry price. Most dealers also floorplan their inventory and the % juice they pay is directly proportional to the deals they make, and how fast they turn their inventory. The other point which you fail to even mention is the effect of inflation on your payments. With our government pumping trillions into the economy, many argue that large scale double digit inflation might present itself in short order, making a pyment plan even MORE attractive because you're paying a fixed dollar amount back in inflated dollars.

I also think that your contention that financing is the devil couldn't be further from reality. Responsible financing, securitizing, and consumption has helped create the largest global expansion of wealth in history, even if you factor in the last 2 years. As global wealth grows more people move up out of poverty, and live longer better lives. It wasn't that long ago that Polio, or even the flu wiped out massive populations and infant mortality was double digits globally. I'm thankful that, although imperfect, we have the system we have.

Oh and if you can't find investment grade paper paying 6% you simply aren't looking

 

[boatyard]

I would still recommend reading the fine print, using care, asking questions, assuming that if it is too good to be true it probably is, and be careful trusting the manufacturer, or the salesman to tell the truth about value, return, safety, quality or efficiency, i.e. This product that I make/sell is the very best.
Brokermike why not mention the huge losses that real people have suffered under the collapsing house of cards that I assume that you as a, "broker", helped to build. You have noticed that the stock market, housing, bonds and so many other investments are down a good bit in value?

 

[studor]

Responsible financing, securitizing, and consumption has helped create the largest global expansion of wealth in history, even if you factor in the last 2 years

Agree Mike but the key words are responsible financing and SECURITIZING-- and we have certainly seen irresponsible behaviour in the last year wipe out a significant amount of that gain. A significant amount of that problem lies in the attitude of "making the payments" rather than affordablility of the total.
And by the way -- greed and lack of controls almost stopped the polio vaccine before it got off the ground.
regards

 

[Brokermike]

I can safely say that I didn't help to build or propagate any of the unregulated BS that was part of the current economic crisis. Unregulated markets are a recipe for disaster, as is the lack of personal responsibility and feeling of entitlement that graces this great nation.

But back to tractors! Financing is a legitimate way to buy any big ticket, slowly depreciating item, but it is certainly BUYER BEWARE. A good rule of thumb is that if you don't fully understand the risk verus the reward you shouldn't enter into the contract, but I think that applies to just about every big ticket item including housing, stocks, bonds, etc.