# Excited Tractor Buyer



## robertsmau (Nov 9, 2008)

With the housing market on the skids it seemed like the perfect time to buy my dream home, and I did. A beautiful house in the country, outside of Richmond VA. It's in a neighborhood but each lot is 10 AC. I've got one of the only lots that had never been logged so all the trees are old growth hardwoods but that covers about 4AC with the rest being lawn. I need something to mow the grass and I know I should get a dixie chopper or some other 0 radius mower but I've always wanted a tractor. The good news is that there is almost nothing to mow around so I'm hoping a cool tractor will work aided by my craftsman riding mower for right next to the house. I'll be doing a little sculpting, gardening, and other stuff around the lot so the tractor will get used.

The bad news about the housing market is that I haven't sold my old house and probably won't for up to a year. This puts a crimp on my budget leaving me around $4k to spend. 

Here's what I think I want. About a 20-30 Hp tractor, prefer diesel but not strongly, with a FEL and finish mower. I'm looking for something built in the 70's but could go older. I'm very handy with a wrench so maintenance doesn't scare me but finding time for maintenance is another problem. I also love really old tractors like Ford 9N, IH, farmall and they are plentiful and cheap out here.

Here's what I don't want. I will not buy a chinese product, period! They have poisened our pets with melamine, poisened our kids with lead paint, and poisened their own infants with tainted formula. Why would anyone buy something from them?

Thoughts or suggestions???


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

Welcome to Tractor Forum Robert! What price range or limit have you considered? Another thing to consider is the size of the tractor for 10 acres, you don't want to go too big as this could become cumbersome to manuever as well as the size of the impliments to go along with it. Do you want a simple gearshift tractor or do you want a few features like a power reverser or even hydrostatic drive?


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## robertsmau (Nov 9, 2008)

I've got hydrostatic drive on my lawn tractor and really like it but in the $4k price range I doubt I'll get it. I don't even know what a power reverser is.


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

The other thing I forgot to mention was are you planning on a tractor with a front end loader? If so, 4WD will be a BIG plus with a FEL. 

Did you have a particular price range you are considering?


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## robertsmau (Nov 9, 2008)

Until I sell my house I can only afford $4-5k but if I wait another year I could double that. I would really like to have FEL but I'll admit that I don't really need it.


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## robertsmau (Nov 9, 2008)

Here's a tractor that looks interesting

http://charlottesville.craigslist.org/grd/897715082.html


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

Yanmar builds a great little tractor. That is 2WD tractor with a FEL. For very moderate FEL use, it would be fine but you will find that the tractor will have traction problems with much moderate or heavy FEL use.


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## robertsmau (Nov 9, 2008)

If it was your money, what would you buy?


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

I think I would keep an eye out for a used John Deere 4WD 790, 770, or 750. These are real well built and reliable tractors that were built by Yanmar for John Deere. I think I would go with a FEL as they increase the utility of the tractor tremendously. 

Some of the tractors you mentioned are old time farm tractors and they were great machines in their time and still are but not as well suited to a very small residential acreage as the newer generations of compact tractors. They will get the job done though. The Massey Ferguson 135 is a very popular choice in this group. 

Bare in mind this is my personal preference. There are many other brands out their in this size class that will work just as well. 

Try browsing around on Tractor House to get a feel for what's out there and pricing. 

http://www.tractorhouse.com/


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## mongoose_1 (Apr 1, 2006)

> I would really like to have FEL but I'll admit that I don't really need it.


You don't realize how much you need a FEL until you have one! With ten acres, you will find many uses. 4wd is a must with FEL, especially on compact.

BTW, Welcome to TractorForum!


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## chrpmaster (May 5, 2004)

The Yanmar 2000 is a great tractor and if it runs well with a loader that is a pretty good price. I picked its smaller brother (YM 135) a year ago to pull a finish mower and have been very impressed. It sips the fuel and is very powerful for the size engine it has (13 hp). Don't get too focused on hp since an 18-20 hp tractor will do most everything you mentioned. You might need more hp if you are looking at a gas engine but not for diesel. If you land is fairly flat you can easily get by with 2 wheel drive. It keeps the costs and maintainance down. There are lots of nice Yanmars for sale in the $2-3K range. Add a nice used finish mower for another $700-1000 and you are good to go. 

They are easy to work on and to get parts for. If there is not a parts dealer locally there are several good ones online like LMTC (http://www.lmtcompany.com/index.html) and Hoye Tractor (http://www.hoyetractor.com/). They are also great sources of info before you buy anything. Check with them for parts availability since there are some "orphaned" Yanmars that didn't have a lot of sales here in the US and so the dealers didn't carry parts for them.

Stay far away from any that say they are "reconditioned" in Vietnam. Lots of problems.

You could always get the tractor and mower this year then add the loader after your house sells. 

Andy


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## robertsmau (Nov 9, 2008)

It sold before I could go take a look. I think a Yanmar like this or an older John Deere 790 or so would be best. I'm going to hit the big dealer in town and see what they say.


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## robertsmau (Nov 9, 2008)

What do you guys think of something like this as a starter, priced at $3000

"The model is 1300Da, the D indicates it to be 4x4, I've had it for a little over a year, I bought it from Stormer Tractors, in NC, I can't tell you much about maintance, other then I installed a new battery, and cables, and had the oil changed when I bought it, it has 338 hrs, I have no way of knowing if they are correct or not, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were. the unit is in pretty nice condition, I only purchased it to do some ground work around my house, I have put about 16 hrs on it grading, and pulling up shrubs and leveling out some of my garden, and in so doing burned less then a tank of fuel, I aso let my next door neighbor use it to level up some fill when he repoured his driveway, that is about all. It has been stored inside since I've had it, I also have a draw bar that goes with it, It has a class #1-3 point hitch, hydrolics and everything works excelent. Thanks for asking."


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## Simpleprestige (Apr 20, 2007)

I think I would wait and then buy something a little more costly but will be what you want and less maintenance. I never buy anything I have the slightest doubts about. The way i see it, if i need something, I'll either buy the best possible or wait til I can afford it. I waited 2 years to get my 3520 and I contemplated smaller tracors. used and new. I finally deduced that I would go a little bigger than I wanted and I would go new just because I didn't want to deal with any of those DPO's as Chrpmaster likes to call them (Dumb Previous Owner)


The way I see it, that money was well spent and I couldn't be happier


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## chrpmaster (May 5, 2004)

I agree with SP's point that if you can wait a year or two and are able to save the cash to get a new one you will be happy. My problem is that with a wife and 3 kids, new is not going to be in my budget for a decade or two. 

I don't think that is a bad price if it is in as good shape as he says. That is on the high end of a used price range for those little Yanmars though. Yanmar made two models of the same tractor. One for sale in the US and one for sale in Japan. Yours is the Japanese model and when they are imported to the US are called "grey market" tractors. I have the US model of this tractor and it is a YM135. Mine is the two wheel drive version but is a great little tractor. It is one of the smallest models they made and fits easily in the back of a full sized pickup. I like how much power it has given that it is not physically much larger than a big garden tractor. I run a 5 ft finish mower on it and though I was told it was "too small" for the mower it does great. Since mine is a two wheel drive model I only paid $1500 for it and I knew the guy selling it had just rebuilt the engine so I was comfortable with the price. 

Mark777 is our local Yanmar expert. He can tell you all the technical specifications on this model.

I would check it out closely and maybe find a local repair shop that can give you an opinion. It would be well worth an hour of a mechanics time to have more confidence in the mechanical condition of it before you buy. Same as getting an inspection prior to buying a house. If the seller is honest he won't mind you having it checked out before you buy. Especially since you are not familiar with compact tractors and diesel engines.

Andy


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## robertsmau (Nov 9, 2008)

The little Yanmar sold but the local Kubota dealer has a nice little tractor that looks interesting. It's a 1985 Ford (don't remember model #), around 20hp, 4wd with FEL, 1800hrs. They are going over the entire machine and replacing the rear main seal, clutch, filters, bucket and fresh paint. They will sell it for $6k with a short warranty. 
Before I spend the big money I think I should get something that I can learn on first. I've heard some storied of just stupid stuff people have done with the first tractor.
I'll get the model number and get back with you guys.


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