Looking at new sub compact tractor

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Diesel = $8k higher price up-front, for a (typically) lower operating cost. If you spend all day in your truck, or drive a LOT of miles, it's the way to go. Short of that, the only justification is bragging rights for spending the extra coin.


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kennyp2339 said:
View attachment 178879 Here she is being built, they will finish mounting the backhoe on Monday, delievering it either Tuesday or Wednesday, I'm stoked for this Cat 1 tractor lol
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Can you summarize your final costs when you finally get her. That Kioti looks nice! Is that not Kubota orange? thought it was a Kubota when I first saw the photo.
 
With all the new emissions on diesels they run awful. Poor fuel economy and nothing but problems, unless looking at an older one before DEF fluid or regen filters I would stay away. That is why I bought my 2005 found it from Florida with only 54k on it back in 2012. For dodge the emission stuff started to get out of hand on the second half of the 2007's and newer. My opinion don't buy a new diesel!
 
Do yourself a favor - if you are going to dig out stumps hire someone with a bigger hoe - should only take them an hour max and an hour for travel and you can smooth the hole. Around here I could get it done pretty cheap. Smaller backhoes are awesome tools for digging (I have used a few tractor ones), but stumps and roots can be far tougher than you think. It would be a shame to trash your machine on something like that. If you are going to do it (from experience) find the oldest trashed chain you have and be prepared to kill it cutting roots. I watched a guy break his $40k mini-excavator on a maple root in my old yard and that machine had plenty of power and size - root ball came out in a 12' circle after I killed a chain and repairs were probably super expensive - he bent stuff. I felt sorry for him, but I warned him that I was skeptical about his plan of attack before he did it.

Just my .02 and your mileage may vary. That is a nice looking machine and it should give you plenty of service, but I would not take on any stumps beyond small ones with a backhoe on a compact tractor. I love my tractor and it has saved lots of ibuprofen, but I have learned that there are many things a 50hp tractor was not made to do! Sometimes it is just better to hire a bigger machine. The fact that you could smooth and fill in the holes, haul the stumps, and do the finish work would make that a quick job for a bigger machine.
 
volunbeer said:
Do yourself a favor - if you are going to dig out stumps hire someone with a bigger hoe - should only take them an hour max and an hour for travel and you can smooth the hole. Around here I could get it done pretty cheap. Smaller backhoes are awesome tools for digging (I have used a few tractor ones), but stumps and roots can be far tougher than you think. It would be a shame to trash your machine on something like that. If you are going to do it (from experience) find the oldest trashed chain you have and be prepared to kill it cutting roots. I watched a guy break his $40k mini-excavator on a maple root in my old yard and that machine had plenty of power and size - root ball came out in a 12' circle after I killed a chain and repairs were probably super expensive - he bent stuff. I felt sorry for him, but I warned him that I was skeptical about his plan of attack before he did it.

Just my .02 and your mileage may vary. That is a nice looking machine and it should give you plenty of service, but I would not take on any stumps beyond small ones with a backhoe on a compact tractor. I love my tractor and it has saved lots of ibuprofen, but I have learned that there are many things a 50hp tractor was not made to do! Sometimes it is just better to hire a bigger machine. The fact that you could smooth and fill in the holes, haul the stumps, and do the finish work would make that a quick job for a bigger machine.
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Or rent a stump grinder!
 
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KenLockett said:
Or rent a stump grinder!
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Ding, Ding, Ding. We have a winner.
I will never dig another stump out of the ground unless there are extenuating circumstances that require it.
 
I second that. I rented a mini excavator...really nice one. And that was horrible at removing stumps. Unless they were already rotten, forgetaboutit.
 
My backhoe is bigger than the ones being discussed here (easily double the dig and lift power) and the prior pic I posted was about all it could do. I had to roll that stump like a beach ball to the burn hole. The ruts/holes/pock marks left by the process simply wasn't worth it. Not too mention the big dang hole I had left that needed to be back filled.

But I digress - lets keep on point with the tractors being considered....
 
Upon delivery, check every button, lever, dial ect... My dealer went over everything including the teir 4 Regen system. Mine comes with turn signals, lights, hazards ect. After he left, I tried the horn and nothing happened. It has the button, wiring ect but no horn. I had one sitting around from Harbor freight and it connected and bolted right up. Dealer wasn't sure if that model comes with it. Also, it didn't have the decals for the remote reservoir levers for rear which controls currently the backhoe, to tell you fluid flow and fluid neutral, which they ordered for me. Little details that are important to me that they should have noticed in prep work.
 
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woodhog73 said:
That is a nice tractor. I'm jealous I want one myself. Just too many other projects that require money.

I can think of atleast 10 things I could do around the property with that tractor today alone. Nice enjoy it !

Hey not to change gears but you guys are talking negative about diesel pickups. Well tractors are on my wish list but a new truck is a guarantee for me probably within the next 12 to 24 months. So your saying stay away from new diesel trucks ? I've never bought a diesel pick up but I was thinking perhaps it's worth considering.

Sounds like better to stick with gas ?
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If I had to do it all over again I would purchase a gas 2500hd, the diesel provides good power but it isn't worth the extra money since these new gas powered trucks have better transmissions, higher torque and better gas mileage. Just my 2 cents on that
 
Stump removal:
1. Cut off as close to the ground as you can
2. Cover with a layer of charcoal and light
3. Come back the next day and discover the top of stump is below ground level

Money spent, $4 to $8. Time invested, 15 minutes.
 
So I filled out all the paperwork online with the loan, I actually lowered the financing length to 36 months and that shaved off another .25% charge, I have a weekly automatic deduction of $96.00 for the next 3 years, which under my personal finances isn't bad for me at all.
I am certainly rethinking about digging out the tree stumps, I have a smaller stump in the yard to try first to get a handle on the way the machine operates under load, I do not want to break the machine lol. My dad has a few re grading jobs at his place already lined up, I think he more excited than me.
I will post after the machine comes, don't worry there will be plenty of pics
 
It's was 21k total after tax, bought it with the front loader bucket, backhoe, subframe , I had extra cash to put money down and did the loan on the rest for 36 months, I don't mind saying how much I paid because if it helps someone else then it helps, if I over paid then I over paid, the machine fits my needs and we help myself, family and friends.
The next thing with be 6k rated 12ft double axle dump trailer so I can get material, fire wood and tow the machine to and from.
Btw I have a 6x10 3500gvr rated trailer going up for sale, has the wire mesh on the sides and a rear gate / ramp
 
Enjoy. My wife said she was looking out the window as I was driving mine up the driveway when it was delivered and you couldn't have gotten that grin off of my face with a baseball bat.
 
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BrotherBart said:
Enjoy. My wife said she was looking out the window as I was driving mine up the driveway when it was delivered and you couldn't have gotten that grin off of my face with a baseball bat.
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They will do that to you for sure.
I won't have the money for my own for quite a few years. My dad is generous enough to let me borrow his once a month in the summer.
If anything else took me an hour to drive home from 12miles i would be furious. But my wife always comes out to watch my smile as I start mowing the banks.

Don't even get me started on the front end loader
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Please keep us informed of your likes and dislikes. Since building a house in the middle of 42 acres of mostly white oak and dog wood trees with a 1 acre lake in our back yard I been wanting a small tractor so bad I can taste it. Wife has finally gave in and I plan on buying one next spring and want to learn as much as I can about them.
 
TJ1 said:
Please keep us informed of your likes and dislikes. Since building a house in the middle of 42 acres of mostly white oak and dog wood trees with a 1 acre lake in our back yard I been wanting a small tractor so bad I can taste it. Wife has finally gave in and I plan on buying one next spring and want to learn as much as I can about them.
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No problem, I have quite a few projects lines up, from digging a few drains across the yards, to digging a small stump, to picking up some larger oak rounds, I'll carefully get an idea what this machine can do, I will also do a 50 hr update and a 100 hr update. There will be plenty of pics, probably in different threads but members here should get an idea what this class size machine can do.
 
I did a search of used Kioti's...3-5 yr old ones depreciate nicely...might have to look into these as a Kubota alternative...as they hold their value like gold.

At first glance, it looks like the attachments depreciate like crazy. So it might make sense to buy a new tractor and then buy attachments used.
 
kennyp2339 said:
It's was 21k total after tax, bought it with the front loader bucket, backhoe, subframe , I had extra cash to put money down and did the loan on the rest for 36 months, I don't mind saying how much I paid because if it helps someone else then it helps, if I over paid then I over paid, the machine fits my needs and we help myself, family and friends.
The next thing with be 6k rated 12ft double axle dump trailer so I can get material, fire wood and tow the machine to and from.
Btw I have a 6x10 3500gvr rated trailer going up for sale, has the wire mesh on the sides and a rear gate / ramp
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Just finally bought my own trailer, after a dozen years of regular rentals. I'd think twice about hauling a tractor in a dump trailer. Just ask the guys at your tractor dealer about how many times they've seen someone topple a tractor off a dump trailer. You can buy ramps for a dump trailer, but they're simply too high to safely transport a tractor. The other issue is that you're going to have some trouble finding a dump trailer under 14,000 lb. GTWR that's large enough to move your tractor. They're heavy.

As much as I'd have liked a dump trailer, I went with a solid-side tandem-axle landscape trailer (Big Tex 70TV-16). It's low enough to drive tractors and mowers on/off without much issue, and light enough for my 1/2 ton pickup to haul (with electric brake controller).
 
Ashful - nice trailer, I'll def do my research before buying one, I want to be able to move the machine around, but that's really only going to happen say 8 times a year. I would use the dump trailer for fire wood, dirt and mulch much more. I'll have to check what my 2500hd can tow to make sure I don't go over weight. I've towed things before and when towing its not about getting everything moving, its all about being able to stop safely.
 
If you try the tractor in a dump trailer, going around turns while the tractor stays upright might end up a bigger issue than starting & stopping. Maybe.
 
LOL, I'm trying to upload pics of this tractor, I'm suddenly getting the "file is to large for server" This happened 6 months ago, I had to jump through hoops to post a photo and that's not happening again.
So just close eyes and imagine an orange backhoe parked in front of my holzhausen, then the next pic is the backhoe parked in front of my gmc 2500 to give a good size comparison.
 
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