Posted by Dave on March 19, 1998 at 06:51:12:
In Reply to: best tractor? posted by Susan on March 17, 1998 at 22:12:22:
: We just bought a little 4+acre in Western Washington. We need to a tractor to prep and mow/maintain the property. I have 2 horses to do most of the "mowing". But, I need a tractor. My father is an old farmer/construction man (who loves JD's) but says a Ford is best for our needs. Its about a 2% grade with a bit of aswell to it. I want a front-loader (for snow and poop) with a disk and maybe a box scraper. I've been looking around, but I'm not sure what to look/ask for. I don't want to get taken advantage of (I'm female). What's the best older tractor and can I expect to pay more than 4k for one (my budget is tight)? Any advice about where to look and how much to pay?
You've already gotten a lot of good advice on tractor features (ditto on the loader advice!). Here's one more consideration--what kind of dealers/parts stores are nearby? If you are going to use the tractor for real work, it nice to have parts availability within a short drive. You especially appreciate this when you've got limited time to work a field, clean the barn, etc. and the water pump, generator, starter, etc. goes out and you can't wait a week to finish. This is another plus for Ford, JD, IH, and MF, and often a negative for brands that no longer exist.