Have quick attach forks, bucket, and grapple. Use them on a regular bases . Takes about 3 min to change from one to another. If your gonna buy a tractor, and have woods, a farm, or property with lots of trees then a quick attach is a must.
Mike, just had this video pop up on my feed. Spot on! I have sold my first tractor (it's being picked up tomorrow) and am replacing it with one that has a factory cab, 2 sets of rear remotes, adjustable link arms, and fluid in the tires! The open station does 100 percent of the jobs that I needed a tractor to do.....a cab unit will do 95 (doesn't fit in the cattle barn)....but the amount of time spent in the cold and hot makes the cab unit so much more desirable. The 1st tractor suited my needs well but those needs changed with a move to a bigger property. You are spot on with those 5 things to get right away. Oh, it really helps to keep the wife happy when she asks for goats, chickens, dogs, rabbits and trucks by not saying NO. The added tractor cost may be slightly over looked by ones "better half" that way.
5 excellent points! Not only is the parts ordering process a pain for rear remotes, they're SUPER expensive over the parts counter. Ordering remotes when the tractor is new will cost you around $400. To install after the fact will cost $1500 for parts alone, not including labor. Definitely buy with at least one set, even if you're not sure you will need them. I'm not a fan of water or beet juice in rear tires. Give me a couple sets of good ol' fashioned wheel weights.
One more thing I think is important, that is 4-wheel drive it sure helps a lot getting in and out of places. It also helps a great deal if you have a loader, you won't need as much ballast or an attachment on the back for weight.
Those are great questions for new owners to remember before they buy a tractor and I ended up buying a second tractor because I didn't get a front loader on my first tractor. I keep a brush hog attached to that tractor constantly now since I use that implement constantly during the Spring, Summer, and Autumn. My second tractor uses the other implements on it and that works for me.
Mike, this is great info for those co soldering buying a tractor for the first time! I’m happy to say I did my research before buying my Kubota L4060. Your 5 key points a dead on: Cab, yes (cold Canadian winters and buggy summers); SSQA, yes, no question; rear remotes (SCV’s) - the Grand L comes with two up here but I added a third so I can have top and tilt plus have one leftover for the attachment (like hydraulic swing on a blade); rear wheel ballast, yes - not rim guard but another non-toxic nonfreezing product (not quite as dense as RimGuard); wheel spacing - a compromise between wide enough to allow for rear wheel chains and good stability but narrow enough to get through the forest without making freeways. I’ve always wanted to ask.... why did you get out of the business? You know tractors well and speak of your time at the dealership frequently and usually fondly.
Great advice 👍 Every tractor I have ever bought new I made sure that it had the power beyond kit on back also . It’s really easy too add a extra hydraulic control then .
My advice on picking a color: buy one that will be in business 5-10-15 years from now. If you can’t get parts the tractor is useless and no one will buy it from you. Look at BobCat , they made tractors then decided to stop, now they’ve thrown their hat back in the ring but how long before they stop again??? Good luck getting parts from their first series. My color of choice is Kubota, been around and ain’t going anywhere anytime soon!
I bought my first tractor 2 years ago. I wish I had remotes. I wish I had a quick attach. Wish I had wider wheels (and also non-ag tires) So you're right on the money Mike.
While a cab is nice, there are a couple of things to consider. I mow around trees and low limbs and vines will tear up a cab. The other thing is that Air Conditioning repairs are expensive and more common than typical repairs especially for non - commercial owners
AC also uses quite a bit of HP. a loss of 4-5 HP can be a 25% loss on some smaller models. Although I don't think it would be noticeable just mowing the lawn, I did read on a forum that one guy couldn't run his tiller with the AC on
My biggest issue is horse power. I needed a smaller tractor for maneuvering in tight places but the slopes I'm on puts my engine and hydrostatic transmission in an argument. If they made a 60 hp subcompact would be ideal.
Mike an additional item is PTO power. People don't think enough when buying a tractor is the amount of pto power required for rear implements they have or may want to buy to take care of their homestead. I watched alot of videos from different youtube homestead channels and nothing is mentioned. example someone buys a 100 acre homestead with 75 acres of pasture land they they want to maintain either by mowing or hay making. Well the person should think about what size of mower, 8', 12', or even 15' batwing or size of hay baler and make sure that they buy a tractor that will support the pto power required to run the implement.
Good advise, I bought the cab and got the tires loaded by the dealer when I purchased it, never thought about the quick attach, I'm happy it does everything I need it to do.
Mighty good info, Mike. Some of things I wish I had known when I bought my first tractor 15+ years ago but I surely know them now (smile). Serious costs to upgrade/modify some things later that I would have easily paid up front. Thanks and have a fine Friday and upcoming weekend. Full-watch.
Front tire track width vs rear tire track width vs loading ramp width to get it on the trailer and back off safely. My tractor has the fronts ride the far edges of the ramps while they are spaced for the rear to ride the inside edges of the ramps. Its a bit tricky to not have a ramp flip out from under the tractor...
If I could add 2 more items: A quick-hitch on the back-end is nice to have from the get-go. Ditto for having 2 or 3 hooks welded to the loader bucket by the dealer.
Great information Mike. I'm a firm believer in spending up front if you can afford it, rather than making add ons or upgrades later, which usually cost more. Thanks for another great video.
When buying tractor think about jobs that tractor going to do, how servicing going to be carry out n order parts, fluids, grease those little things will save dealership servicing cost.
All great tips Mike. As for the cab, you forgot about the reason of getting old and not wanting to brave the elements anymore.LOL You should be about ready for a cab tractor, not that I'm saying your getting old HA HA.
Have you ever had to deal with a set of John Deere or International or case or Massey Ferguson spin-out rear rims if you have I have vast experience on these they are a nightmare to deal with you are right set the wheels where you want them at the dealership and leave them alone the problem with the spinout rims is they keep working loose on you
I had a 2005 cabbed 4320 JD and sold it then bought a 2017 Mahindra 5555 open station and am just as happy. Cabs are nice but in my opinion over priced unless you farm with them all day.
thats why kubota lets ya choos a cab or openstation options wich why love kubota plus kubota has skid steer adapter or euro alo quick attach wich nice kubota has more options
I have my tires filled with rim guard, but I have found it is not enough. In hindsight I would have also bought wheel weights. When using my grapple on my mx5800 the rear tires are always coming off the ground. I swapped my wheels to the widest width, due to my hilly terrain. I should have had the dealer do it. What a pain with filled tires.
Thank you for the information I am one of those guys. I planning on a sub compact and good information I might also need to know? Didn't know about the wheels interesting.
You nailed it Mike. I would add considering front remotes and extendable lower inks. I had a smaller 1720 New Holland and tried the quick attach 3 point hitch. I hated it. My last two tractors had extendable lower links. Like them better. Much better. And last but not least. Buy the dealer.
Mike, what is the reason for people pricing old tractors at such ridiculous prices? One example is a guy posted a Ford 9700, showing 12xx hours, but meter had turned over, and tractor wasn't in that great a shape, is asking $13000.00 for it.. Seems everyone has over priced their old tractors for some reason.
Thanks for posting this video. What is the difference between fluid ballast in the tires or wheel weights. Will the ride feel any different between these two options...?
Hère is real newbie mistake that I made. Found a very low priced used compact tractor - exactly what I needed. But it was a Lamborghini, a division of Deutz-Fahr - all good, excellent product - the Deutz-Fahr dealer was nearby - till it wasn’t. I know, pretty sure dumb huh?
How does something like Rim Guard affect your fuel economy on a subcompact? Does a few hundred extra pounds of weight end up using a lot more while mowing or brush hogging?
Nothing I'd be worried about. Every tractor functions better overall the heavier it is. If your only mowing it might not be worth buying a compact tractor.
Hi Mike, thanks for the video. Do you know where I could get an adapter for my John Deere 2720 front and loader to a mini universal skid steer attachment?
Mike, I have a question about tractor buying out of state? I found a Kubota tractor in Iowa that is new but its a 2019 model? I live in Louisiana so its not like I can just drive there. what should I do or be on the lookout for on a situation like this?
I'd wonder why it's been there so long. The rubber parts could be starting to degrade a little having set that long, there could be some moisture in the fuel tank, watch for seat cracks from being out in the sun and the weather. Kubota's paint seems to hold up pretty good, but paint could be starting to fade. Those are the things I'd be worried about.
Hi Mike, would you buy a tractor with 33 hours on it but is 9 years old? No warranty. How on earth do I come up with a value on a machine like this. Thanks for the great video's.
Claude, I'd consider it if it were cheap enough. There will be a lot of rubber/gasket components that may need to be replaced. Any guide book on value is going to be way higher than it should be because, at least in my opinion, a tractor with too few hours starts going down in value after a certain point. That would make a good video...
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look at the pto rating range on the attachment. Since the tractor was made 21-29 years ago, expect the pto hp to be a little less than rated pto hp when manufactured. If it can handle a 5 foot brush cutter more than likely it is a light duty brush cutter (i.e. cutting 1' or less brush)
