Tractors...

[mml373]

I am new to agriculture and at my current scale of operations do not NEED a big tractor. A subcompact would work except for haying operations (which I've hired out in the past). The issue is there are a lot of things, even on a small farm, where a big tractor is handy. We've committed to raising sheep and growing hay on our 35-acre farm and are looking into bigger land sometime down the road.

I was wondering if folks can give me an introduction to tractors. What makes a John Deere different than a New Holland or a Mahindra? We have all major brands available fairly close by. What considerations do folks give when purchasing? New Holland and Mahindra are closest, with the New Holland dealer being a large company with multiple locations in the area.

Was thinking about a smaller 40-45hp tractor with homestead hay package for around $18k that produces smaller round bales...but looking at the long term believe a Workmaster 75 or something similar, with square baling equipment, would be preferable for my purposes.

 

[chaded]

The big thing for me is finding a dealer locally that has a great reputation for support after the sale. My john deere dealer is great about sending someone out to look at something or if need be they will pick it up and bring it back, not only for tractors but any implements as well.

 

[bird dog]

Try to leave the hay production to others if possible. The equipment is expensive and only used a few times per year. Buy a tractor that is big enough to handle the hay rolls that are produced in your area. You want to be safe and a 40 HP tractor won't easily handle the 4 x 5 1/2 rolls that most folks make these days. At least not with a front end loader. I prefer a 65 to 70 HP minimum.
As far as tractor brands go, its usually advised to stay with the big three. Deere, Case/ NH, Kubota. A tractor from one of these brands is usually very dependable with parts available and will hold its value if taken care of. A tractor from one of these three matters a lot at trade in time if you want something bigger down the road.

 

[greybeard]

What makes a John Deere different than a New Holland or a Mahindra?

Paint color and price.

 

[Rafter S]

Try to leave the hay production to others if possible. The equipment is expensive and only used a few times per year. Buy a tractor that is big enough to handle the hay rolls that are produced in your area. You want to be safe and a 40 HP tractor won't easily handle the 4 x 5 1/2 rolls that most folks make these days. At least not with a front end loader. I prefer a 65 to 70 HP minimum.
As far as tractor brands go, its usually advised to stay with the big three. Deere, Case/ NH, Kubota. A tractor from one of these brands is usually very dependable with parts available and will hold its value if taken care of. A tractor from one of these three matters a lot at trade in time if you want something bigger down the road.

I agree with both points above (mostly). Unless getting someone to bale your hay for you is problematic you'll be better off not owning your own equipment. On the other hand, I've loaded thousands of rolls of 4' x 5' hay with a 45 hp Deutz tractor, and a few 5' x 6' (but they are really too big). With that being said, I still wouldn't recommend anything much smaller than 60 hp.

And stick with established brands. Tractors aren't like cars; they'll generally last for decades. You don't want to have problems getting parts twenty years down the road. There's a reason I no longer have that Deutz (though it's a shame they never caught on; they were good tractors, and the two I traded in for a used New Holland were around 40 years old).

 

[Ky hills]

As others have stated, the reliability of the dealership would probably paramount. I would be a little concerned about going with a Mahindra. I went with a John Deere 5055, a little smaller than desirable, but should do what I want. We hire our hay done and he runs JD 5065 and 5075 tractors. He has a New Holland too but has had quite a bit of trouble with it.
I don't believe the New Hollands hold up like the old Fords used too.

 

[kenny thomas]

Buy your hay unless your using tons and tons of hay. Much cheaper.

 

[jltrent]

As stated above if possible avoid the Mahindra. There will probably be someone along shortly that says the best tractor they have ever owned though. Not sure were you are located, but in my book around here anything smaller than 40-45 hp is a big lawn mower. Dealer support is a must, but if you need much work by the time you get the dealer paid it will cost as much as the tractor is worth. Neighbor had a reverse gear put in his Massey at a local dealer and the cost was 11k and the cab did not need to come off.

 

[simme]

What makes a John Deere different than a New Holland or a Mahindra?

Parts and service availability in this area. Just like cars and trucks, tractors are much more complex than the old days with electronics and more complex hydraulics and transmissions. A broken tractor waiting on parts is not good. Deere first and Kubota second. Taking a chance on the rest here, IMO.

 

[mml373]

Buy your hay unless your using tons and tons of hay. Much cheaper.

I bought it for $1.25 a square bale. Over 300 square bales on maybe 3-4 acres in July. Did not do a second cutting this year.

Square bales are easier for me to move to my sheep. They take forever to get through a round bale. Those same square bales would sell for over $11/bale our here right now.

 

[mml373]

Parts and service availability in this area. Just like cars and trucks, tractors are much more complex than the old days with electronics and more complex hydraulics and transmissions. A broken tractor waiting on parts is not good. Deere first and Kubota second. Taking a chance on the rest here, IMO.

So why not go with a late 1980s or 1990s vintage Deere? I'm actually thinking maybe go with something before everything got too computerized.

 

[kenny thomas]

If you can buy it anything like reasonable go that route.

 

[simme]

So why not go with a late 1980s or 1990s vintage Deere? I'm actually thinking maybe go with something before everything got too computerized.

Good idea if you can find one in good shape. Like a JD 2755.

 

[ChrisB2]

I was doing a little looking for a friend that wanted a compact tractor. They seemed really expensive to me. In my opinion a person would be better off buying a bigger older tractor (early 80's or so) with somewhat low hours (4-5000).

 

[kenny thomas]

If you were close to me I could fix you up with a 1960's JD 830.

 

[SBMF 2015]

John Deere, New Holland, or even Kubota. But stay away from the short line tractors.
Service and parts are at the top of the list followed by easy of use.
We bleed green, but Dad has a JD 2640 that is a pain in the butt if you are getting on and off much. That twin stick trans that you have to straddle is easy to operate, but is a pain to swing my long legs over.

 

[SmokinM]

Paint color and price.

No sir, paint color and everything that makes it worth the price. Hydraulics, parts availability and resale just to name a few.

I agree going bigger is worth it. 55 hp. and up if you plan on moving much round roll hay.

 

[Pineywoods230]

I highly recommend the Kubota M7060. It's large enough to do any of my sub 150 acre tasks. From grappling down trees, brush cutting, hay, it will do it all without being super over sized. Also it's very new user friendly especially for my wife who rarely uses it. That hyd shuttle shift transmission where you almost never need to clutch is hard to beat.

 

[BFE]

So why not go with a late 1980s or 1990s vintage Deere? I'm actually thinking maybe go with something before everything got too computerized.

I always look for older, simpler equipment. I like easy and reliable.

My hay tractor is a Farmall 706 gasser, at least ten years older than me. Spear front and back, starts easy in cold weather. Keep a bale on the back and you can move mountains so to speak. I've never been stuck setting out hay, but I move my GoBob doubles every time I feed to spread the wealth.

Everybody likes shiny paint, I like money in my pocket.

 

[Nesikep]

If you have a lot of mud, you probably want 4wd, but otherwise if you can stay with 2wd you'll have less maintenance and upfront price
I have a hard time recommending a tractor by power rating.. a Massey 165 is a LIGHT built 65hp tractor, while the Massey 255 is a much stouter 55hp. We have an International 684 and a 584 4wd.. either one has plenty of weight behind it to move a good size round bale around, We don't have loaders on the masseys, but the 255 could do it as well. One problem with the old internationals, especially 4wd's are parts. Nothing we have has a computer on it. JD and Massey are pretty good for parts for old tractors, I think Ford is pretty good though no direct experience, International/Case not so much.. Kubota doesn't have much of a presence here, but I was told to make sure that if you get a Kubota, it was a domestically imported model, and not a privately imported Japanese model

I like having lots of tractors, each one is best at some jobs and gets used for them, nothing gets very many hours put on it, nothing is over or underworked, and I don't have to always swap implements around, and if something does break, we can still get by fine without it. We have about $20k invested into our 4 most used ones.
If you're going to do your own hay on your size acreage, something like a NH 477 (7.5 ft) or 488 (9ft) sicklebar haybine is pretty low maintenance.. I still run a 1965 NH 282 baler and have a NH320 as a backup, and a NH 1002 or 1042 hay wagon will save a lot of bale chucking. You should be able to get an entire haying line like I described for about $15k in decent condition