Looking to buy a tractor - what do you recommend?

Hi, I am interested in buying a smallish tractor for mowing, bush hogging, repairing a road with a box blade, dragging cut trees around, and maybe a small bucket loader.

What can you recommend that will fit what I'm looking for?

Gas or diesel?

Thanks

How much are you looking to spend?

Looking to keep the price down, but I also don't know much about tractor pricing.

It doesn't need to be top of the line, but I don't want to repair it every week either.

That's kind of like asking someone else to pick a girl for you to marry or to decide what you'll eat for the next 2 years. As a very general rule I'd say something of at least 45 hp with a 3pt, pto and power steering if you intend on a loader. You'll also want something parts are available for, not a grey market product. Gas or diesel is a toss up and I believe depends as much on your hours of actual use as anything else, and your mechanical ability.

While not endorsing a particular brand, something similar to a Ford 4000, Allis D17, Massey 165, Case 6 or 700 series, Ollie 550 or 1600 series, something like that might fit the bill. I get a little confused on all the Deere and IHC number in the 60's. Tires can make or break the deal these days and dealer support can be crucial if you aren't a wrench.

I'd avoid the 9n/2n/8n Fords, letter series Deeres and IHC, European imports, etc. I'd also avoid anything newer than the early 70's when electronics became more than just lights and a starter. The rest is up to you and your wallet and runs from 40-45 hp on up. And don't cross the industrial models off you list either. Many have 3pts, PTO and are built with a loader in mind. They may not have the clearance of an ag tractor though.

go to external_link n look at tractors for prices n even put ur area code in n find some close to home , read somewhere the small new holands were havn trouble, when u find 1 google it n see where they say

There is no , one perfect tractor. Even when you do settle on one, you will wish it had other features. 40 to 45 HP is about right, but look out when it drys up in the summer. You need a real beast to cut a hardened driveaway. Pushing gravel around is easy. Good Luck.

Very hard to beat the usefullness of a more modern compact or small utility tractor with 4x4 and a loader with power steering.

That's still not enough to go on.
$5 grand? $10 grand?, more?
How handy or mechanical are you? Do you have tools?
How big of a property are you looking to maintain and mow?
ie How much horsepower do you need?
You absolutely want a tractor with factory 3 point hitch.
To me power steering and live pto is a must.
Gas or diesel does not matter.
You are more likely to find a good old runner at less cost if it is gas.
I know and like Ford tractors.
I think the 1955 and newer Fords are great machines.
But the 1965 and newer Fords are superior in almost every way.
You should be able to find a real good 3000 for under $5 grand and a similarly nice 4000 for under $6. Don't buy some great big old galoot of a tractor.
Don't buy an 8N Ford or Jubilee as they are too small and lack the features that you want.

How much do you want to spend?

Mahindra seems to have a large following on the Gulf Coast. I think all the small tractors are imported.

Agree with Mike M. If your budget doesn't allow it, old Ford 6-800 series or newer or similar Massey. If the need continues, sooner or later you'll end up with the compact.

Depends upon your budget, size of bushog, size of trees, size of box blade, and stuff like that. AND really depends upon parts and who is going to service it.

If you go to or near Tractor Supply or Big-R, you can get an idea of how small all of your impiments can be, something like 5'. Maybe even 4'. Is that what you are looking for? 6' wide maybe? What are you calling small? Anyway, 5' or smaller, 35 HP will be more than enough. What used tractors and impliments are near you? You can buy new, but there's a ton of good old used iron out there that will still be out there after all of us here are dead and gone.

Budget? Service? Mainetnance? Parts availability? Things to keep in mind.

Good luck.

Mark

Oliver 550.

Would buy a 5095 Deere+MX 8 rotary mower- should be able to find good used for around 50-60 thousand.

Under $10,000 would be a good place to start, $5000 would be even better.

I know I have no use for anything huge, I just don"t want to something too small for my needs.

Thanks Bret, I'll just have to hope you guys are better cooks than my ex-wife.

4wd and diesel.

I've got ford 641 that I'm using to fix up the little five acres we're living on today. I've been moving allot of dirt with a scoop and a box blade, mowing and now plowing with it.

Unfortunately it didn't take long to figure out a good deal on a "fresh off the farm" tractor equaled a lesson in patience and plenty of nickels and dimes. It's a cantankerous old tractor that we've dubbed "old fussy" but it's getting the job done and pretty much each fix up I have to make is simple and fairly inexpensive. Overall I'm right around that $5 k mark even with all the fixes and implements.

In my mind it beats a monthly tractor payment and I enjoy keeping this antique rolling.

Just another line of thinking. If you don't need low clearance to operate under trees, then a common smaller gas ag (rowcrop) tractor from the mid 50's to early and mid 60's can be inexpensive, reliable, relatively econmical to run, simple to work on, and relatively cheap to repair. An IH 300, 350, 460, 400, 450, 560 Oliver 77, 88, Super 77, Super 88, 770, 880, Case 400, 730, Allis Chalmers WD, WD45, D14, D15, D17, Massey Ferguson 50, and 65 are some good candidates if you find one in good condition. They should all have live PTO, live hydraulics and maybe power steering yet cost between $1500 to $2500 without a loader, about the cost of a large riding lawn mower. These all have dry brakes and simple hydraulic systems that are easy to repair. Condition of the tires is about half the value of these tractors. An after market 3 point hitch can be added for $500 to $1000 (Saginaw, Workmaster?, etc.). The smaller tractors often were not the big horse on the farm , so they were not worked as hard and are not completely worn out. They were made in high numbers so new and used parts are availble at reasonable costs.

Low clearance utility tractors are very handy and already have a 3 point hitch, but they command higher prices. Newer tractors are more comfortable to operate. I like the New Generation Deere 3010, 2020, IH 574 and other late 60's early 70's tractors but they cost more, they are still at least 40 years old and with their more complicated hydraulics, repairs can get into many $1000 real fast.

Been looking around a bit myself. I've had a 9N for 20 years and an 8N for about 5, but they aren't getting the jobs done that I need. Yea, runs the manure spreader and bush hog and a blade but they are getting to the point they need lots of TLC and you never know when they won't start or will stop when needed most. Most important thing is to know what you want to do or might want to do in the future and decide on what machine fits your need and budget.

From what I've seen $5-6K is about the minimum you'll need to spend to get something decent with a loader, and it will be older... nothing wrong with that if you can do the work yourself and have parts available. I'm looking at a more modern compact (Kubota, NH, Mahindra, JD, LS, etc) with a loader and capable hydraulics, 20-30 hp, diesel and 4WD in the $9 - 10.5K range. I need something that I can clean the inside of our barn out with and load a manure spreader so have to stay small and help with lifting and hauling chores. (But, have to pay some other things off this year first so not serious yet.) As someone here said, check out Tractor house dot com, thousands of listings from all over the country, see what's available in your area (and by that I mean your state or region of the country) and talk to local dealers. You might be surprised to find dealers that list there that you never knew about and offerings they might have that were not listed. Most equipment dealers take trades on new tractors and might have what you are looking for that they will give you a good price on. One local big time JD dealer that deals in mainly big ag stuff has had the best advertised prices I've seen, especially on non-JD equipment, so don't be afraid to see what they have. But beware of high hour stuff that's been heavily used by local farms and is worn out. Be persistent... a gal I work with's husband just got a Mahindra from a dealer near me that I've never heard of. Will be checking him out later this year. The husband wanted to pull the trigger on one but someone else beat him to it, the other fellow's financing fell through and he got it, so make yourself known to these guys and they can look for you too, once you decide what you want/need.

Once you do find something, or several prospect, these forums are great for getting help and opinions on various brands and models so use them too.

I would recommend Branson 4520 Gear drive or 4720 Hydostatic. Both 4 wd and good heavy lift loaders for under 20K. Built in South Korea they are some of the best featured and heavy cast frames on the market plus an A series Cummins under the hood. Just my 2 cents and I am an I.H. man at heart

For under $5000 I would look at a Ford 3000,3600, 3610. Massey would be 235, 240. JD would be 2020,2030,1520,2040,2240.

I would look for a diesel as you would have less day to day maintenance. Just makes sure it is in good shape to start with. Some of the models I listed maybe over $5000 but not by too much. Also I would make live PTO and power steering a must.

A minneapolis moline m670 or a 1850 Oliver, both will have good power, be efficient and will be very reliable and will start when you need them to.

I think that you can buy more work for the money in an older 7,000#+ tractor if you have the knowledge or can borrow someone who does for a few hours to thoroughly check out a tractor's condition. Condition is everything in a used tractor. However, as many of the previous comments below accurately point out, 1)What exactly do you want to do with it, 2) How long are you willing to take to accomplish that job, and 3)How long are you going to be on this tractor at a time? I would recommend at least a day's seat time on each of several prospects before I would buy one. Good luck.

Lots of great comments! I would add that it depends somewhat on what you can find used in your area, and how much you want to spend. Most older tractors take at least some tinkering fairly often, so if you are not mechanically inclined or willing to do the tinkering, plan on buying a newer tractor and paying the dealer to fix it.

My criticism of most of the newer tractors I have seen is that lots of the outer parts are plastic or some kind of composite. I would be worried about damaging them and not that many years down the road not being able to replace them. Most tin can be pounded back into shape if it gets dented, or welded on if it rusts out. Not so with plastic. Newer tractors are also often very complicated, as compared to the old beasts. I would expect lots of wiring and component problems with recent tractors some time in the future.

I would look for a good running tractor that is equipped with a decent loader. Most of my experience is with Fords, and there are 2 New Holland (with Ford) dealers within driving range, so I would probably try to stick with Fords. Gas or diesel? My experience is that my diesel tractor uses about half as much fuel to do a job as my slightly larger gas tractor. But to get the diesel to start in the winter, it must be plugged in for an hour or two. The gas tractor will start without heating. 4 wheel drive? Nice to have, but not really necessary for the jobs you mentioned. A 2wd tractor is a bunch simpler, but they sure can get stuck in deep mud or snow. For plowing snow, a 2wd will work fine if you have good REAL tractor chains. Power steering is nice to have, especially when using the loader, but not totally necessary. I don"t know if I would buy a tractor without live hydraulics to use, but when I was younger we used a 9N all the time with a loader and sure got by a lot better than with a tractor with no loader. If you plan to run a hay baler with PTO, it might be important to get live or independent PTO, but non-live PTO works OK for running a brush hog with the addition of an overrunning coupler.

I have been impressed with my neighbor"s older Kubota, especially when he brings it over to snowblow when I have run out of room to push snow. It is 4wd and has hydrostatic drive, which allows it to move way slower than my Fords will. He also gets along fine without chains. I don"t know how well that Kubota would work with a moldboard plow, but it sure works great as a small loader tractor. My brother has a New Holland 4wd of about 50 horsepower that he bought new 15 or 20 years ago. It has been a good worker for him and has had very few troubles with it. But the problems he did have were problems that required him to haul it to the dealer"s rather than being able to fix them himself. Even keeping it carefully shedded 95% of the time, the outer "skin" has faded a bit, and he has had some damage to it from objects he ran into in the woods. Is the NH a good tractor? Sure it is, but it cost several times as much as all the tractors I have ever owned combined.

Good luck finding a tractor that will fit your needs, pocketbook and situation. I would look around and see what I could come up with.

Try craigslist for your area but be careful. Do not buy anything sight unseen drive it first.

Go to your local Case dealer and buy a Farmall 65. It will be perfect. You will love it.

Woops! Forget what I said. I just saw you want to keep it under $10,000.

I have a New Holland TC35DA w/ a loader on it (compact tractor). It's 35 HP w/ 4 wheel drive. Instead of a gear shift it's got foot pedals for foward and reverse. It's amazing what you can do with this tractor. I think the bucket / loader on it is far superior to a Deere. Mine is a 2004. I keep it inside and in good shape. You can find one like mine in the 10-$15,000 range. I've got an 80 acre hobby farm. I've got steep hills so I wish I had the 45 HP at least. You pay a lot of money for green paint, keep that in mind. I've never had to take it in for a repair. make damn sure to get tubes and fluid put in the rear tires if you get a compact. The difference is night and day. I've ran everything from IH (H,1206,1486), Deere misc. to this New Holland. I was really impressed with this little tractor.

Before you do buy a tractor, post the make and model number on here and get some reviews.

While most tractors are good, there were a few bad apples from every manufacturer. Whether intentional or not some people will do their best to convince a potential buyer that it is a good tractor, when in reality, it might not be.


With that being said, it's best to just post what you are considering and I'm sure lots of people will chime in.


One thing I would be looking for, if I were you... Look for a tractor that won't limit you.

For example, some of the older IH tractors had something called "fast hitch" or 2 point hitch. They do make 3 point adapters for it, but, it's not as universal. Same goes for a lot of older Allis Chalmers tractors. They had something called a snap-coupler hitch. If you buy either of these types of tractors, you need specifically dsign equipment to pull behind them.

The standard is 3 point hitch.

Another thing to look for are remote valves. You want to have as many of those as possible, and if you do buy a tractor with a loader, make sure the loader isn't running off the rear remotes.

Power steering is also important if you plan on a loader. independent PTO, and the ability to switch between 540 and 1000 rpm PTO is handy, too.


The whole point is to make sure you can do as much as possible with one machine. If you don't, you'll become a tractor hoarder like me. It's a disease.


I wish you luck and keep us posted.

Thanks for all the great info, I don't see myself using it in either heave snow or deep mud so I'm thinking 2WD should be enough.

Thank you everyone for all the great information. I am going to drive around and check the local tractor dealers and of course check my internet options. I will let you know what I come up with so you can let me know what you think.

Thanks again,
Scott

An MF 235 is the one to stay away from but every other MF with the same power train is an excellent tractor, 135, 150, 230, 245, 240, 231 etc. You could go up to the next size as well. Power steering is NOT needed unless you have a loader you plan on using a lot.