Utility tractor?'s

JerryG · Jan 27, 2005

Re: Utility tractor?\'s

Does the MF dealer have a 4200 or 4300 series on the lot? They have all the bells and whistles if you want them. As so, if you want a shuttle on a 491, your dealer can order you one or maybe get one from another dealer.

JerryG · Jan 27, 2005

Re: Utility tractor?\'s

 MF covers this nicely.. it comes in as a runner up to the big '3' 
I don't guess I know who you are referring to as the third of the big three, if MF is not one of them. If it is Kubota, they are not even in the chase in any thing, but compacts.

slowzuki · Jan 27, 2005

Re: Utility tractor?\'s

It all depends where you like I suppose! In haying operations local to me it is:
1. Ford/NH by a long lead with about 50%
2. All the rest, JD, MF, Kubota, Case/IH, Valtra, Landini, Agco all about tied sharing the rest of the market.

A neighbour just got a Kubota M9000 cab, 4wd, loader they now use for everything. They also have
3x 2wd Case/IH with duals,
one 4wd Case/IH with duals,
an articulated Case/IH,
a MF 90 hp, 4wd, cab, loader,
IH/Case 585 4wd cab, loader
2 or 3 older tractors, 2wd open station Ford 5000's
IH/Case 686 4wd, loader, open station no ROPS for barn cleaning
4wd Case, 100 hp or so, Cabbed, loader

For hay the Kubota now does all their cutting and baling, all the stacking and loading and all their feeding. In the winter it does all the snow removal and logging. As far as I can tell they have stopped using the last 4 or 5 of the other tractors listed since the Kubota arrived.

( MF covers this nicely.. it comes in as a runner up to the big '3' 
I don't guess I know who you are referring to as the third of the big three, if MF is not one of them. If it is Kubota, they are not even in the chase in any thing, but compacts. )

BarryinMN · Jan 27, 2005

Re: Utility tractor?\'s

I hear you. I spent 2 years looking for an update to our JD '48A. Came real close to buying a cab/loader/MFWD JD 6300 with 2300 hours. Only negative was it's turning radius @ 2 acres. (That A spoils you!)

The new stuff from Deere (5420) & NH was priced about $8K more.

Then stumbled across a local Zetor/Valtra dealer. Small shop no lawnmowers, ATV's gators, or toy store. Just skid steers & large tractors. He had this small (next to a 160 HP Valtra) Zetor MFWD cab & loader for $26.5K. Definitely got my attention. I asked for his customer sales list for references & it turns out he has sold dozens. (I never heard of them.) Randomly called a few & one guy had just finished calculating last years fuel expense & had bought 1000 gal less that the year before running CASE tractors.

Anyway, took a chance & bought it new with a bunch of loader attachments & now a year later @ 150 hours have had zero issues. The battery 4DLT did have a cell fail in Dec. & dealer replaced it immediately no paperwork! Both failed & replacements are US made in Shakopee, MN.

She does snort pulling my JD3600 4x18 on land plow I bought from a neighbor who said it was too much for his 3020's.

I wanted the weight to hold on slopes but didn't need the higher horsepower. The weight is right at 10,000 lbs & fits my existing trailer. Iron wheel weights only.

A cab gets you the option of a second seat & helpers are always motivated to go with. The best seat on the Farm!

This first year has been field clearing & rock farming. I'll probably plant hardwoods next year.

Anybody have a Ginseng patch?

HayDR · Jan 27, 2005

Re: Utility tractor?\'s

Take a look at the McCormick CX line of tractors. They have Perkins engines and come fully loaded. The NH, JD, & Kubota's all weigh about 2,000 LBS less on the same hp tractor than the same size McCormick. In our area the McCormick's sells from $1,500 to $3,000 less than the other premium brands. McCormick sold just over 2,000 tractors last year in the USA. That is exceptional for the 3rd year of sales presence in the USA. The USA is just about 20% of McCormick's world sales volume.

WilliamBos · Jan 27, 2005

Re: Utility tractor?\'s

Hi,

Take a look at the MF 5400 or 6400 series as well as the 4300. If you want bells and whistles, they have them all! Solid as you will ever get, and remeber, that there is a reason for them being the number 1 seller in the world for a for over 30 years!!

There is a reason the 400 series with cabs look cheap to some people, that is because they are a no frills workhorse at the entry level with a cab!! And they will do the same job or better as one that has all the toys on it!!

Take care

Will

WilliamBos · Jan 27, 2005

Re: Utility tractor?\'s

oh yeah................. cowboydoc hit the nail on the head at the begining of the post. One exception , the resale value of one brand in a certain area will usually be different in another area. MF up here has one of the highest resale values on the market, NO exceptions. with JD, NH, and Case to follow, so it all depends where you are. Have a look in your " farmersfinder " paper in your area, this will help you decide as to which brad has the best resale in your area!!

Take care

Will

Robert_in_NY · Jan 27, 2005

Re: Utility tractor?\'s

MF has the market on price tractors. It is funny to see JD come out with not one but multiple lines of tractors. They have I think 4 levels of tractors now which is good. New Holland has 2-3 levels of a lot of their tractors as well as some price tractors. The MF 231s was a very good tractor and is what you will find on a lot of peoples places that just wanted a cheap, reliable tractor. But our MF dealer is an idiot when it comes to the high end tractors. They price themselves out of contention and most times won't even tell you the price of the high end tractors as they try to push the price tractors (simple machines for simple mechanics if you know what I mean). New Holland and John Deere are the kings here. Case is third and Valtra fourth. MF comes in last and also hurts the Kubota market as they are the only dealer here for them unless you head over an hour away to another dealer. This is just the vineyard and vegetable markets though. Once you get into field tractors then JD is king, Case-IH is second and Ford/New Holland is third. MF is no where to be found and if you do find a Massey it is usually a 1970's vintage. It is a shame as I am a fan of MF. Grew up on a MF 135 and have a Massey Harris 81RC as well.

Who is your Massey dealer and where in Ontario are you located?

Soundguy · Jan 28, 2005

Re: Utility tractor?\'s

( don't guess I know who you are referring to as the third of the big three, if MF is not one of them. If it is Kubota, they are not even in the chase in any thing, but compacts )

Compacts seem to be the biggest seller.. way more than utility tractors in florida.

In any case. Just about every board I'm on.. when you say 'big 3' you meant green, blue, and orange. MF is so close in there though, that 'big 3' often includes them in conversation.
Quite possibly it is a regional thing.? FL doesn't have huge multi-thousand acer farms that need 5+ large utility and ag tractors on it. We have lots of smaller farms.. A few 1000 acer ones.. and many hundreds+ acer ones.. but mostly less than 100 ac farms.. and in those 1-20 ac parcels.. the compact tractors are good sellers. Every landscape contractor, and small utility contractor inour city has a cut or scut for work. Most of them orange to boot. You see very few ag tractors.. only once in a blue moon.

Soundguy

HayDR · Jan 28, 2005

Re: Utility tractor?\'s

The Canadian tractor market sold less than 18,000 tractors in 2004 and the USA market was 228,000+ tractors. Both markets are extremely different by size and sales composition. In the USA for 50 HP tractors and below Kubota has about 50% of the market. The JD owners, I am one of them, cry "Say it isn't so!" but its just the truth. If you realize most of the tractor MFG's have close to the same technology, this gives us many good choices. A strong dealer makes a tractor line a greater value. Look for a strong dealer that has been in an area for a while and you will see the resale value of their brands lead the market in their trade area.
USA Tractor Stats. Canadian Tractor Stats.