Do you LOVE your tractor?

[CatOnLap]

I searched this forum for the word "tractor" and although there were 175 threads with the word in them NONE was dedicated to tractors alone.

We just took delivery of our new John Deere 2305 with a front loader. its a small tractor and so simple EVEN I CAN DRIVE IT. :winkgrin: You have to understand: mechanical things are not my forté. Mechanical things have been known to curl up and die when I try to turn them on. :no: Sometimes things like chainsaws and weedeaters simply refuse to start if I pull on their cords. :(

We used to have a JD 650 with a loader and a back hoe. Apparently a good tractor and we got a great trade in on it at the dealer, but I never could get it to start. It had about eleventy-seven levers and buttons and pedals to control all the different things it could do, but spacially challenged moi could never remember which lever did what.

But our new tractor came with two hats (mine is pink, hubby has the one with green flames on it). It starts with the turn of a key. There are only two pedals- back and forward, and one main throttle lever. And a gear shift which resembles a car enough that I can drive it, plus all the directions are clearly labeled for when I forget.

So who here loves their tractor as much as I do? :lol:

PS I am totally impressed with the customer service department of JD. They made the whole process easy.

[Bluey]

Yep, I love my current tractor of five years now, a JD 6420.

The previous one, also a JD, I had to use for 18 years and didn't like it at all, but could not afford to change for a more appropiate one for what we do.
"Making do" with it was very annoying, to the point that I would dig post holes by hand, before trying to get the silly thing to work properly.
It was way underpowered, not at all what it was supposed to be, a run where JD had them made in either China or Japan.

The current one is magic, works so well they will have to pry it from my cold, stiff hands, I won't give it up voluntarily.;)

Glad that you got now your own neat JD workhorse.

[MistyBlue]

Mine is a 3 or 4 year old NH TC33DA....and I ADORE my tractor. A woman cannot ask for a better anniversary present. Mine is hydrostatic too...my daughters can drive it. I don't let them, but they can. :winkgrin:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y172/MistyBlue5105/May6th2005Small.jpg
This was my next year's anniversary present...my second best friend on the farm:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y172/MistyBlue5105/000_0088-1.jpg
Yup, that's 17,500 running watts and 26,250 surge watts of power! (WOOF!) Ice storm, hurricane, wind storm....bring it on! :D

[deltawave]

Plopping into the seat of my JD is almost as good for my psyche as getting on a horse. :)

[Cielo Azure]

60HP kubota tractor (4w drive) with front loader. It never lets me down. Yummy!

[Pocket Pony]

LOVE my tractor! Kubota B7800 30 hp - front loader, mid and rear PTO (although we've never used them in 4 years!)...we've got a box scraper, a harrow, a manure spreader, "dumpy" the dump trailer, and Mr. PoPo just bought a used tiller. Looks like we will be using that rear PTO soon, after all!

I cannot imagine doing things around here without it. :eek:

[theoldgreymare]

Not loving our New Holland this week. Just got an estimate to have the PTO repaired....$3000!

[Carolinadreamin']

$3000?!! So, I guess it's out of the question hoping to get something old, not fancy but durable for $3,000?!

[saddleup]

I have a little Kubota, the 26 hp version. I love it. I really only use it to keep the driveway clear of snow for my manure to be picked up every week, or other delivery trucks to have access to the barn, and to occasionally move heavy things or the annual gravel delivery/spread project. It makes this place manageable. I couldn't handle the snow without it. I have the front loader and an adjustable blade in the back.

It's idiot-proof, which is what I definitely needed! Turn the key, step on the pedal, go. We had a huge snow storm on Christmas Day and it really couldn't handle the 3 foot drifts in one pass, but my neighbor came with his big yellow Caterpillar loader and did it for me. That was the only time in two winters that I'd wished for a bigger tractor.

[sk_pacer]

Not loving our New Holland this week. Just got an estimate to have the PTO repaired....$3000!

Busted the internal shaft, huh??

I, on the other hand, still love my John Deere, in fact, with the oncoming onslaught of muck and water, I couldn't survive without it - the safest way to get to the barn even now, considering the sheet of ice that blankets everything. After the worst of it, John is going for a 'spa day' to get new filters, new oil, new light bulbs, and a new fan switch unless i can get the damned thing out myself and sort out the problem. He is also going to get reshod sometime this year as the old tire cleats are getting pretty rounded off, not good for traction.

[mkevent]

We have a Kubota and love it!! It is idiot proof-I operate it!! Successfully!!
This reminds me of a funny story. When I was in sales, one of my customers told me how when he was a kid he mowed the lawn for a company that had mostly union employees. The had a Kubota that they ended up painting John Deere green so the employees didn't give him a hassle for buying a Japanese tractor!

[MistyBlue]

Not loving our New Holland this week. Just got an estimate to have the PTO repaired....$3000!

Well gotta agree with that. One thing I have to say about NH is that they rape their clients BIG TIME on repairs. And without lubricant. :no:
Mine wouldn't start...needed a new fuse and a new battery. I called the dealership and asked if they had it in stock and they said the fuse would be there in 2 business days. I said fine, I'd come pick the battery and fuse up. They said, "Don't bother, one of our repair guys will be in your area that day and will drop it off." I said I wasn't paying for delivery...they said no problem.
Guy shows up 2 days later, charges me a $95 delivery fee!!!!!!!!!!! :eek: Yes, almost $100 to bring a freaking battery and a teeny tiny fuse. NH would not wave the charge.
they also will not answer questions about quirks with the tractor and insist it's brought in or repair guy comes out. Thankfully I can repair a few things on my own, what I can't do my hay guy can for a helluva lot less. And now the local CarQuest orders in my tractor parts for me.
So I do LOVE my NH tractor...but HATE the NH dealership.

[Hilary]

I love my tractor too - MF451. It's big. It's not a lawn tractor. I get "the nod" and "Nice tractor" from the guys at the shop. :) It makes all my hay, moves the manure pile and plows the snow.

Repair rape is not limited to New Holland. Last summer a light came on indicating something with the hydraulic oil. It wasn't due to be changed for another several hundred hours but the guy said that changing it would fix it. And btw, it REALLY was due for their version of the 500 hour service even though I've been doing everything by the book all along.

I changed it myself last time b/c they wanted to charge me $600. It took me a couple of hour and $100 of oil. It was a gigantic PITA. 11 gallons of oil to catch out of the drain and then dispose of? Not so fun.

I was in a time crunch and said "fine, you do it"

Estimate? A little over $600. Much of this coming from the transportation to/from their shop. I asked them to see about any power steering leak since we had to add fluid once a year but can't find a leak, and the bucket control was a bit sticky

So imagine my surprise when they returned my tractor with a bill for $1500 and THE LIGHT WAS STILL ON AND THE BUCKET WAS WORSE!!! As in when I turned on the tractor, the bucket started going up on it's own. I raised holy h*ll .

To their credit they came out and fixed the bucket and told me to work the tractor for a couple of hours to get the light to go off.

Apparently they felt it was OK to charge me for time for looking for the reason the light was on AND changing the oil. I argued that I had been told "the light was on b/c it needed the oil changed" so why did you spend 2 other hours looking for a reason". They took those hours off the bill.

Couldn't find any leaks in the power steering system (so yes, we still have to add oil) after another 2 hours of 'searching'. The steering system lines are less than 8' long. How do you spend 2 hours examining 8 feet of hose?

And the bucket is no better at all than before they did anything to it. The light did eventually go out.

But I love my tractor.

[MistyBlue]

Glad to hear it's not just New Holland.
I am seriously hoping the repair departments aren't doing this because many to most of the horse farm tractor clients are female...I don't think this NH dealership is doing that because when we bought the tractor they insisted on talking to me and not my husband. :) Also...this particular dealership might be the problem. They were fantastic when we bought...but on anything else the costs are ridiculous.
We considered JD tractors...but the issue with those is for the exact same tractor there was a major price difference. Major...not small. I couldn't justify thousands more for green paint. ;)

[Lori]

Mine was a diesel New Holland and I put the majority of the 600 hours on it myself. I picked it new and loved, loved, loved it.
Unfortunately, I lost it in the barn fire in Iowa a couple of years ago. I could not even look at the remains and to this day I still get teary eyed over it.
:(

[Bezysmom]

I have a diesel New Holland and I love it. Had it for about 6 or 7 years. I can't believe the tons of rock dust, manure and stuff I shoveled by hand before I had the tractor and front end loader.

[mkevent]

I think even my husband secretly loves our tractor. We've been giving away our compost via craigslist and my DH (who dislikes the horses and all that they entail) has taken it upon himself to load everyones pickups with our black gold. It's great because it saves me time and everyone treats him like the hero(meanwhile how do they think the compost originally got to those boxes?!)-some people even give us money, which is very appreciated. Now the funny part-DH has a great job which supports the family and everything other than the horses. My job has always been responsible for paying for the horses and ANYTHING farm related-even my barn clothes!(OK-he did buy the Kubota and my Dodge truck) . So here I now am, unemployed, trying to make the horses and farm pay for themselves-we all know how hard that is!Whenever we've been given money for the compost, we actually fight over who gets it! He reasons that since he bought the tractor and is loading it, he should get it. I reason that the only reason we have compost is all the backbreaking work done up to that point-which is all me!! It's kinda funny and pathetic at the same time...

[theoldgreymare]

Well gotta agree with that. One thing I have to say about NH is that they rape their clients BIG TIME on repairs. And without lubricant. :no:........So I do LOVE my NH tractor...but HATE the NH dealership.

That pretty much sums up the way I feel. We love our tractor but I reaaaalllly want one of my step father's old Farmall's. He has two that are fully restored and fully functional. Never thought I would hear the words "now that's a beautiful tractor" come out of my mouth but they are beautiful!

[county]

Not sure I'd use the word love for my tractors but I know I wouldn't be without them all 5 have a job they do here and if I sold one I'd just have to replace it.

[pds]

I love, love, love my New Holland diesel tractor. Sits outside and when the temp is 10 below here in WI it always starts.
4x4, with a loader and I plan to buy a rear mower for it this summer.

[MistyBlue]

My diesel NH starts all the time, every time no matter what the temp is too. :yes: Have to say I'm happy to not have to use a heater for it.
Theoldgreymare...my niece's fiance restores old tractors. He works for a dairy farm/hay grower next door to them and between the two of them they have almost 30 tractors/combines. Every single one looks brand spanking new...even though most are from the 30's to 50's. All have jobs too. I love visiting and oooing and aaahing over the tractos. :D
Bezysmom...so sorry about the barn fire. Those are never easy...losing a newer fave tractor had to be painful. :no:

[Guilherme]

Bought a JD6210 from Tamara's husband. Can't say I "love" it but having an climate controlled cab, air seat, radio, etc. does make life a lot easier! ;)

G.

[camohn]

Our Kubota has been a trooper. We bought it used and it is still going strong 11 years later. Alas ours is NOT as simple as the OPs with all the levers and stuff......the option was available on more expensive models but budget was a big concern at tractor shopping time. They are still expensive!! The Kubotas were less expensive than the JDs though. The PTO and bucket both get used a lot....from drilling fenceposts to composting the poo pile!

[CatOnLap]

someone asked if you can get a relaible used tractor for around $3000?

Uh, good luck with that.

But they are out there if you are tolerant of having no working guages or lights, don't mind it looking ratty, or leaking mysterious fluids here and there, as long as it goes. The hubby, who is mechanical, or at least can drive any machine he can start, had few problems with our old one. The dealer said they were going to clean up our 20year old+ JD 650 and sell it for around $4000, and they would sell the backhoe attachment separately for around $3000. The old one did save our butts this winter when we got 2 feet of snow- hubby plowed out our long drive and the dead end street we live on, early in the morning and the neighbours were thankful.

he cursed the old one regularly. He just sits and smiles at the new one while it purrs to life as he turns the key.

[ponygirl]

Love my Kubota B2910! It's 9 yrs old and I've never had an issue with it at all. 4x4, FEL, mid and rear PTO. Fabulous tractor!

[witherbee]

I love our Branson, Big Red! I have never driven it (try to PRY hubby out of that thing lol!), but I love the job it does. Unfortunately, I hate the dent in the loader - hubby tried to push a tree stump with it and the tree won (it was HUGE). He seems to have to put a dent in anything new we get (like our Dodge RAM pickup), so I don't let him anywhere near my JD lawn tractor (which I really LOVE - little greenie meenie is my therapy!).

Here's our tractor: http://s74.photobucket.com/albums/i245/wtryan/Diamond%20Oaks%20Farm%20Ocala%20FL/?action=view&current=newtractor1.jpg