Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Help picking a tractor

'HillChick and I are going to move to the farm full time now that Mom's gone and we both got clean check-ups from our oncologists.

I'm going to build a big addition to the existing farm house and I have engaged a fellow to build me a stone masonry furnace. The idea will be to put in a small load of wood morning and night and use the massive stone mass to provide radiant heat. My buddy over on the next ridge had one put into his house and he loves it.

One of my challenges will be hauling tons of fieldstone from the 200 acres back to the building site. I've got stone piles out the wazoo. THe problem is that they have to be dug out and loaded on something and transported up to a half-mile back to the house. Beyond that, I'll need something to mow, put in food plots, collect firewood and keep the roads open.

I have heard really good things about our local MF dealer. I bought my Cub Cadet from him, and I see why he's so well liked by local farmers. He's only 10 miles or so away. There's a Kubota dealer about 20 miles away, and then everyone else some distance further.

I was at the MF dealer and he put me on to a MF 2600 H Series Utility Tractor. Yep, it's a great tractor as far as I'm concerned. 70 hp would definitely get the job done and then some. However the $47 K price tag made me wince.

I need help finding what's going to be the right path. I'm practically tractor-illiterate.

From what I've "researched" if you can call it that, there are some really good tractors coming out of South Korea right now, and I'll be considering one in a couple years. One of the dealers here local sells Bad Boy (which is pretty new on the market) and LC. I asked the difference since both are made in SK. He said just name and price, pretty much the same tractor. The LC being much more affordable. Rural King is another affordable SK tractor.
My only legit advice at the moment is make damn sure you have solid warranty and repair support for whatever you buy. A beef farmer buddy of mine runs all Kubota and plays hell getting parts when things go down.

Quote from a (very funny) friend: women hit menopause. Men hit tractorpause.

Have fun with your toy. I want one too. I’d go Kubota, myself.

Oliver 1650

Check out Kioti, a South Korean version of the Kubota. I have the DK90 with a 90 HP Perkins diesel 4WD with cab. It has stereo, AC and even a little refrigerator in it. It was made in the last year before DEF. There's lots more metal in a Kioti than a Kubota...they're hell for stout. Bucket lift is 3,500 lbs. I'd offer you mine if you weren't so far away. I used it to clear a 12 and an 18 acre field several years ago for planting, but don't use it much now. My little 40 HP Massey does everything I need done now.

I would look in the 40+ HP range tractor with forward assist (aka 4x4), a front end loader, and a set of rear hydraulic remotes from a dealer/shop nearby. I like Kubota, but any of the main brand names will work. Deere, Case, New Holland, Kubota, Mahindra.

We have a 60 HP kubota MX5800 and love it.

Dealer support beats price in my experience.

Quick search in KY

MF Tractor

Sir, Glad to hear you and the missus are feeling well and planning to move into the neighborhood. Yes the 26 series MF tractors are nice units. Hopefully you are looking at 4wd. If it is the dealer just south of town, keep an eye out on the empty lot between the dealership and US27. They will put used equipment out for sale that they take on trade. Including relatively nice 4wd units. Also take a look on the Facebook for the various KY Farm and Equipment groups. You may find something that will fit your needs for significantly less $$$'s. Good luck on your house build / remodel !

Being in the commercial insurance business for 52 yars, we had many equipment schedules, including six rental companies. Common tractor on all schedules Kubota...I asked Why, Answer was, they rarely break and work, work, work. Makes you money. In many states farm equipment is sales tax exempt. Tell the dealer up front you are a farmer looking for a new tractor.

So I bought a Kubota myself. Real nice tractor, power steering, breaks, good ride, easy on controls, not bad on fuel consumption, uses off road diesel just fine.

I would get a 50 hp 4x4 and if it will be worked hard, an M series with hydro clutch, old age and all that, with a metal canopy attached to the ROPS, plus a root rake and a front end loader with a grapple w twin hydrolic rams, right out of the box. A Bush Hog, bush hog Squeeler has a blade tip speed of 1,200 fps so will cut grass and brush both. A landscape rake is more handy with a heavy disc set, than a box blade. You can dig a big hole faster with the front end bucket than a back hoe. Back hoe is better for a long trench or stump digging 12" wide. An 3 point hitch auger with 9 and 12" blades is priceless on 1 1/2 mile of fence with five gates. Get the front end loader with the skid steer quick attach plate at tractor purchase.

Use the site Tractor by net to get details on improvements you can make.

I have a barn kept L 4400, 45 hp standard trans 4x4 with
FEL and sun canopy.
Shkd steer plate
Auger with 9 & 12" blades
Back hoe, largest 3 point hitch hook up
6 square back bucket
6' root rake w 1" thick fork tines
Twin ram 6' grapple
20" cutter head HD disk set
Landscape rake
Box blade with rippers

If you are anything of a backyard mechanic or can hire one...have you considered going with a larger machine of name brands? It's a good option for someone who doesn't mind twisting a wrench now and then. I just recently bought a Case 680 backhoe/loader from the '70's a while back for 2,000. Repacked a weeping hyd cylinder and replaced a couple hyd hoses. A workhorse that runs like a timex.
Even though I'm retired, I still get requests to fix this or that around the valley here, and I'll tell you, these hobby tractors can be a challenge...not the engines or power trains...the damn wiring and electronics and parts situation. These little machines are 'safetied' to death. A neighbor's little John Deere for example...6 sensors have to ennable the damn thing to start, wiring looms as big as your wrist, on a 36 hp hobby tractor, sheesh, hold into the diagnostic nightmare. Another friend has a Branson, it's a hyd fitting nightmare when replacing hoses, don't assume your industrial store can supply JIS or BSP fittings. A tree fell across it last winter, munched the sheet metal hood piece...dealer wants 1,200 bucks for a little 22''x40" piece of sheet metal. The imports are shiny, they are reliable, they don't leak, for a while, but there is so much redundant wiring and safety stuff, plastic that sun ages...I have grave doubts any of them will still be running strong like my old Case a half century from now. Food for thought.

I have a 45 horse kuboto ,had it for 20 years, serviced and changed battery once is all I’ve done. Buy a 4 wheel drive with a front end loader.

I don't think my father has had his 4x4 Kubota with loader quite that long, but it's been rather sturdy with regards to mechanical issues. He keeps it serviced, but it is not babied.

Get on a site like Tractorhouse.com and search for a used one in whichever color you like. Remember, these are not pickups, passenger cars, or big box store lawn mowers but durable machines meant to work all day every day. A decades old one with a couple of thousand hours on it is like a late model pickup with 30k miles and still very viable.

I have a MF 1532 I bought as a demo in 2012, made in 2010 and had 51 hours on it and a quick detach loader. It’s been a great machine. Loader is rated for 1,200 lbs but I’ve lifted more with it, carefully. Considered trading up at one point but the dealer talked me out of it, less emissions stuff to deal with on the older machines. There are times when more power would be handy but this one maneuvers through woods easier and doesn’t tear the lawn up unless it’s really soft.


For hauling heavy loads regularly I’d recommend getting a decent trailer to go with it, or at least counter weight for the back end if you use the loader for transport.

I picked up a New Holland 655D backhoe for $20k... It is infinity more useful than a tractor IMHO.

I am a big fan of the 50 HP+/- Fords... older model without DEF and all that computer crap. 1990 Ford 4610 4WD for $13k would get you by for a very long time. I am in the market for two of them myself at this time.

LS tractors are worth a look, they make a line for New Holland.

Personally I bought a Kubota, they are top 3, but have the weakest hydraulics.
Dealer support is very big in the considering factors.

If you're close to Barlow Farm Equipment, they would be my first call.

I bought mine from there, delivered to NOVA, SAVED $$$$ VS buying local.

I will second the Massey Ferguson, I bought the 60 horse last year and it's a beast, several friends have had LS tractors which are a New Holland knock off and they are like that. Buy whatever attachments you think you will needed with it so you can have it all financed in one package. And rent the attachments you may only needed for a rare occasion. Also had several sets of hydraulic remotes they are life savers. I highly recommend a quality grapple it stays on my tractor more than the bucket. If you are hauling field stones you can pop them up with the grapple and clamp down on them to carry them, it's also great for lifting logs and cutting them without bending over. A hydraulic top link is very nice for easy adjustment of three point implements. I would recommend a flail mower as opposed to brush hog or finish mower. This will be my next purchase with a hydraulic adjustment to go from side to side and tilt.

Hauling heavy loads you will want a big implement for a counterweight. Not many people say they bought to big of a tractor but many say theirs is to small so buy bigger than you think you need

I bought a 45, wish I’d gotten a 50, maybe bigger. I have a 7’ disc, 7’ mower, no problem for it. My son in law had the same, but he was fooling with hay bales. He had a hard time with them, traded for a 60 horse.

My son has a 45hp Kioti that has been very reliable. Its 10 or so years old and he has had one hydraulic cylinder need new seals and that is it other than routine maintenance.

Granted he does not farm with it, he uses it to piddle around on his 170 acre non-working farmland he has plus his 5 acres on land around his house.