Musdalen
Gold Member
I'm a new guy here. I am considering a new and modern tractor. I need help. While waiting to have my registration approved, I have meandered among the fora looking for information and getting a feel for the helpfulness of this place. I think I am in the right place. I think I know what my needs are. But I sure as heck don't know much about modern tractors. Perhaps you can help.
I like old stuff (esp single shot rifles; that's another story), but I don't much like grease and cold wrenches. For 15+ yrs, I have used a very early Ford 8N made in 1947 (I think). It has been a good tractor for us. I've cleared land, built a house and barn, and hauled enough wood to keep us warm and in furniture for 15+ yrs. But it may be time to move forward a little. Join the 21st century before it becomes the 22nd, I guess.
I've been seduced by the sleek loveliness of a JD 3039R at the local dealer, just 2 miles up the road. It has a loader bucket on it (something that I've denied needing all this time), 4 wheel drive, live PTO, and a host of other things (like it starts on command every time at minus teens Fahrenheit?). That might come in handy.
But it is Bloody Expensive!
Do I really need this? I don't know, but I do believe I want it.
What I would like to ask of all of you, far more knowledgeable folks, is what would work best for what I do? My 8N has worked, but there are many times with the brush mower and dragging logs where I'm right at the limits of what it can take, even with loaded tires, field chains, and lots of time. So, I've cast my eye upon this fair young thing and wondered if she or something like her will do.
What I actually need to get done is:
1. Mow tall weeds and brush (6-8' tall) with a 5 ft rotary mower. Not a whole lot of it, but a couple acres now and again. The 8N did it, but barely when the weeds and brush got thick and tall.
2. To heat with wood that I split by hand, I have to drag hardwood logs, relatively big ones, on soft ground out of the timber. I also need them for lumber as well.
3. I might get old(er) and find splitting by hand overwhelming and need to go with a hydraulic log splitter (sacrilege but no one gets out of here alive).
4. I have always moved snow with a rear-mount blade (6 ft). It works, but it ain't always the best. That loader would help.
5. I move a lot of post-processed hay. You might call it horsestuff. Not heavy, but there is a lot of it (at least for me), and it needs to be piled, moved from here to there, loaded into trucks, and so on. That front loader looks even better.
6. I have a large pile of wooden fence posts waiting for the spring thaw. I will need a large number of holes to put them it. A good posthole digger is helpful. I never seem to run out of fence posts to plant, though I thought I had set my last 30 yrs ago. I was wrong.
So, if I was to buy (invest?) in a chore tractor that could do all of these things, and, most of all, be dependable!, what would you guys recommend? Is a 3039R more than I need? I can't believe it is too small (though my 8N dwarfs it). Would a smaller (read cheaper) model leave me with no regrets (there is a cherry 2032R for sale nearby, but yikes!, that thing is tiny!).
Also in the running, but which remains un-investigated, at this point, are Bobcats and Kubotas. I'm a firm believer that a dealer close by is a really important feature for a guy that likes ice cold wrenches at little as I do. The JD dealer is 2 miles away. The Bobcat/Kubota dealer is about 14 miles away. Everyone else is substantially further, so, I am mostly interested in these three brands.
What say ye? Is this wandering eye of mine onto something logical, or am I simply under the spell of the green goddess and in need of a cold shower and heavy dose of reality?
Thanks for any and all suggestions and attentions to this somewhat uncharacteristic first posting here.
I like old stuff (esp single shot rifles; that's another story), but I don't much like grease and cold wrenches. For 15+ yrs, I have used a very early Ford 8N made in 1947 (I think). It has been a good tractor for us. I've cleared land, built a house and barn, and hauled enough wood to keep us warm and in furniture for 15+ yrs. But it may be time to move forward a little. Join the 21st century before it becomes the 22nd, I guess.
I've been seduced by the sleek loveliness of a JD 3039R at the local dealer, just 2 miles up the road. It has a loader bucket on it (something that I've denied needing all this time), 4 wheel drive, live PTO, and a host of other things (like it starts on command every time at minus teens Fahrenheit?). That might come in handy.
But it is Bloody Expensive!
Do I really need this? I don't know, but I do believe I want it.
What I would like to ask of all of you, far more knowledgeable folks, is what would work best for what I do? My 8N has worked, but there are many times with the brush mower and dragging logs where I'm right at the limits of what it can take, even with loaded tires, field chains, and lots of time. So, I've cast my eye upon this fair young thing and wondered if she or something like her will do.
What I actually need to get done is:
1. Mow tall weeds and brush (6-8' tall) with a 5 ft rotary mower. Not a whole lot of it, but a couple acres now and again. The 8N did it, but barely when the weeds and brush got thick and tall.
2. To heat with wood that I split by hand, I have to drag hardwood logs, relatively big ones, on soft ground out of the timber. I also need them for lumber as well.
3. I might get old(er) and find splitting by hand overwhelming and need to go with a hydraulic log splitter (sacrilege but no one gets out of here alive).
4. I have always moved snow with a rear-mount blade (6 ft). It works, but it ain't always the best. That loader would help.
5. I move a lot of post-processed hay. You might call it horsestuff. Not heavy, but there is a lot of it (at least for me), and it needs to be piled, moved from here to there, loaded into trucks, and so on. That front loader looks even better.
6. I have a large pile of wooden fence posts waiting for the spring thaw. I will need a large number of holes to put them it. A good posthole digger is helpful. I never seem to run out of fence posts to plant, though I thought I had set my last 30 yrs ago. I was wrong.
So, if I was to buy (invest?) in a chore tractor that could do all of these things, and, most of all, be dependable!, what would you guys recommend? Is a 3039R more than I need? I can't believe it is too small (though my 8N dwarfs it). Would a smaller (read cheaper) model leave me with no regrets (there is a cherry 2032R for sale nearby, but yikes!, that thing is tiny!).
Also in the running, but which remains un-investigated, at this point, are Bobcats and Kubotas. I'm a firm believer that a dealer close by is a really important feature for a guy that likes ice cold wrenches at little as I do. The JD dealer is 2 miles away. The Bobcat/Kubota dealer is about 14 miles away. Everyone else is substantially further, so, I am mostly interested in these three brands.
What say ye? Is this wandering eye of mine onto something logical, or am I simply under the spell of the green goddess and in need of a cold shower and heavy dose of reality?
Thanks for any and all suggestions and attentions to this somewhat uncharacteristic first posting here.
So, one negative. 