I live in Northern Wi. I have 40acres of woods, on which I have built a "Bed & Breakfast (without the breakfast)(1976). I have a lot of friends. I use a Int444 there for wood hauling and snowplowing. I am looking at buying a new Kabota 4240 (24000) or a used one with 480 hours which is in Michigan ($17400). I could use some help on deciding what to do. Don Jal
back when my grandparents were still alive, we had a international 444. good tractor. real wide stance and good set up for a lot of different tasks. we used it a lot for bush hogging across very steep slopes and during hay season. don't have that tractor anymore.
kubota makes great tractors. is there a way you could go look at the used one with 480 hrs in michigan? 480 hours is nothing if it was properly maintained and you can't tell that without looking at it. if you can't look at it then i wouldn't buy it. i would never spend that much money blind, even if it was brand new. is the new kubota at a local dealer? a good local dealer is priceless as you will eventually need parts and or service. based on what you said you do with the 444, i suggest getting a loader with whatever tractor you end up getting. they have so many uses, it will eventually pay for itself.
kubota might be running a 0% for 60 months again on new purchases. i am not sure if 4240 is one of the models included or not. check with the dealer on it. if so, you could have a brand new tractor for about $8,000 more then the used one and have a warrenty with it. that is another thing, is the other used tractor still under warrenty? $8,000 is a hefty chunk of money so you do have a tough decision. i would shop around a little more. see if there are other used tractors closer by or go to look at the one in michigan. like i say if it was taken care of, 480 hours is nothing. i have over 830 hours on my kubota, put over 300 hrs on it just last year. i have been around kubota engines and equipment a lot and have seen them run hard and make it past 2500 hours, rebuilt and kept on going.
another thing to think about is do you need a tractor that big? you didn't state much other then wood hauling and snow plowing. i do both of those with my 30 hp
b7800 and in a business setting (firewood/landscaping). there are some times i could have used a bigger tractor, but i always get the job done and the larger cost of a bigger tractor, to me wouldn't pay off. just another thing to check into.
know this probably didn't help you decide much, but some info for your thoughts. good luck and happy tractor shopping. and also welcome to TBN!
