I made 2 mistakes. Didn't get a 4 wheel drive and bought a grey-market (Yanmar). Please don't make those mistakes! I love my little Yanmar but smaller 2 wheel drive tractors are very limited in what they can do and the tractor establishment will treat you like a leper when you have a grey-market tractor.
By grey market do you mean off brand?
Yanmar makes John Deere (just most don't realize that)....
You have some good responses so far. Here are my thoughts:
Cabs keep you out of the weather and make the workday seem shorter
Four wheel drive adds about 10 hp to the tractor size
Front end loaders are a must
Remote hydraulics give you more options on the back
Hydrostatic transmission works better with a loader than a manual
Ag tractors seem to be built more durable
Consider implement options: rotary cutters, augers eyc
A good used tractor works too. Do you homework and do not pay too much for it.
Every tractor I have bought has held its value
I live in a farming community and have found Service readily available for my John Deere.
Good luck,
Tom
Thanks Jarhead, that makes sense. I'm not really sure what HP I should be looking for and I don't really know a lot about tractors. I do want to go used if possible so I think I need to do some more research before buying. I also have someone in mind I could take with me if I find something I'm interested in.
Not sure if I really NEED one but I WANT one. I would use it to pull fallen trees out of the woods or use the bucket to transport the wood to the cabin. It would be used to level and maintain the gravel road, bush hogging. Or I could use the money to buy an extra 5 acres next to me. Oops, then I would really need a tractor d*
Thanks for the feedback, food for thought for sure.
Currently the PTO is capped off, and they have a bucket attached to the 3-point filled with cement.
I was planning to go see it, as soon as the seller can confirm that when uncapped the PTO is working. He said it was, but needed to remove the counterweight to be able to show me so he needed some time to get it ready.
I know what you mean about the money factor. I bought the land for $6000. I go up only in the summer, and if I am lucky every 2nd the 3rd weekend, just for a day or 1/2 day depending on what other stuff is happening that weekend. If I go by hand, 4 hours every 3 weeks, I estimate 22 years and 7 months before the lot is clear of debris (just an estimate). I am willing to "suffer" with being stuck sometimes, or needing to take smaller loads if it means not doing things completely by hand. But my budget of $1500 is about all I can see ever investing in this considering the amount of usage it will see. $25,000 for 20 hours or work per year is just not sensible for me.
Again, thanks to both for the valuable feedback.
My buddy has a place 3 minutes up the road and has the lawn mower attachment for the PTO, so we can share accessories which is great.
How does it work in NY state for tractors driving on the roads. Here in Quebec, where I will likely make the purchase and bring it to my land in NY, nobody seems to have the registration papers anymore for these things (back from the 50's). Will a trooper pull me over if I am driving on the side of the road? I will make sure I conform to all state lighting laws etc, but if I don't have the paperwork... is it even worth buying it?
Olivier 550 GAZ 1970 2600 hrs
Pelle, moteur refait en 2008
Mécanique A1 rien a faire dessus
Alternateur , Starteur , carburateur
Fils de bougies , pointes , silencieux neufs
Bon pneux
Chaîne Incluse
I found a pretty nice Massey Ferguson 250 with a loader yesterday....and weighs around 5K not including the loader.
I have one of those old Gravely's; that's why I'm looking for a tractor-loader! I swear grading my driveway with that thing is more work than just using a shovel. I'm going to sell it, and a few other toys to help the tractor fund.
What do they mean by 'breakout force'? For example, the loader I looked it has a breakout force of 2800 lbs., but a lifting capacity at the pin of 1800 lbs.
I thought that was when the bucket broke when I was bouncing the backend while pivoting on the front two wheels to remove a stuck whatever... [ouch]
820lbs, that is good info for me to have. Thanks Redover. Tractor will be used for farming, moving firewood out of the forest, stones less than 820lbs... I can also see using it to position building materials when I start framing later this summer.
Yes we have all been there. Pushing it way past it's limits. I recall unloading a truck full of building supplies when I did the garage addition. Don't ask me what I was thinking when I tackled a complete hack of 5/8 sheeting. Well it went just like I didn't expect. I managed to lift it about 6" off the bed of the truck. Told my friend (his flat bed) to just pull out from under it when I lifted it up. The front axle was the pivot point. The hack went quickly to the ground at the same time the rear wheel came off the ground. My tractor is not a hobby one but not a big one either. I guess the bucket is rated somewhere around 3,000#. Determined the hack was about 5,400# containing 50 sheets. Just lucky that something major didn't give way and damage the cylinders and what ever. Now I am more cautious about lifting. Well at least until another situation comes up. ;)
That makes for a great ride though John. [ouch]
I remember moving a rock up the mountain to anchor my wind generator to. Went up on the front rollers for the tracks of my John Deere tracklayer. No wonder my stuff breaks... :(
A plus for me though... I did keep the bucket sliding on the ground most of the way....
Might I make a suggestion. You should pick you up a drawbar and clevis for the rear. It just fits into the lift arms of your 3-point hitch. Make it a lot easier to buck logs and trees around w/o depending on the front bucket. Not that expensive but well worth the money. Here is one.
http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/countyline-cross-drawbar-category-1-3-4-in-dia
http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/search/clevis
...The registration threw me off as here none are required to be registered to be driven on the road...
You probably already have her chocked, but just as a reminder...
CHOCK THOSE WHEELS!
Now I need to go see if this green coloring I have will wash off.
Well it's at least better than the alternative!Now, THAT'S funny
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Still smells like cow crap, really need to take her out of the garage and do a proper pressure wash.
Big Red is done! Breaking her in next weekend, a buddy needs to load a trailer with dozer parts (tracks, etc) and we're going to see if she can handle it or not. Better I blow a line in the city with his mechanic father present than alone in the middle of a field.
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Now that you're done with Big Red, you're ready for another project! Wanna work on Sven, a '65 Ford 3000? ...