Looking at getting a new tractor

[daytime dave]

I priced a John Deere 2025 with a loader, back hoe and flail mower. I'll trade in, give away and otherwise get rid of all my other tractors except the Farmall Cub and the JD X758.

Anyone have experiences with similar sized tractors and equipment? I don't need the back hoe for much, but they are handy. Any other brand you guys might suggest?

[HenryFan]

If you can live without the back hoe, price a Kubota LX 2610 SU. It's a compact tractor with 24ish horsepower and no mid-mount PTO. It has a slightly larger frame/body and to me, it is more comfortable than the subcompact tractors. Mine has a front-end loader and I paid extra for a third function to use a grapple. The grapple is an exceptionally useful implement and, at least to me, is much more useful than a back hoe. I don't use mid-mount mowers, so the absence of a mid-mount PTO is fine, it probably saved me a dollar or two. Four wheel drive is a necessity if the tractor has a front loader but you know that.

I am a John Deere fan and one of my tractors is a JD 3043D and the other is a Kubota L3033. I stay with Kubota and JD because of build quality and also, parts availability. Parts availability can be problematic with some tractor brands. I don't want to name which brands may have difficulties in parts availability since I have only owned JD and Kubota but I have read on tractorbynet and Green Tractor Talk of frustrated owners with certain brands.

Also, the presence of a dealership is important. I don't want to drive two or three counties away to buy a filter or a part.

Good Luck with your search and purchase.

[Sir Henry]

I have a Kubota BX2680V-1 with a 60” belly mower and I deleted the front bucket because my Branson has a bucket. It’s also a 23.3 hp which means no DEF. And it has a cup holder.

I don’t suppose my Cub counts.

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[BrokenolMarine]

We have had really good luck with our Kubota L2501. It does 95% of the things we need done around here. We don't have a need for a belly mower either, but do have the bush hog, bucket, box blade, pallet forks, hay speers... And a neighbor with bigger tractors and heavy equipment for that other 5%.

I wanted the pallet forks for building my range, but Miss T was surprised at how useful they have been. She uses them in brush cleanup, first to pile up downfall, then to pick up the piles and move them. She moves other impliments, pallets of course, round bales, square bales, water cubes...

One thing... Check the reviews on your dealer. The kubota dealers in the area here, all of them, owned by one person. Customer Service not high on the business model. We order on line, and my mechanic does the work on my tractor.

[HenryFan]

BrokenolMarine is right about pallet forks. I have delayed finding a set of pallet forks for my Kubota out of cheapness because my neighbor has two tractors with pallet forks but at some time, I want to add them.

[rickhem]

I have a Deere 3520, which at 37 HP, is a bit bigger engine than what you're looking at, but physically very similar, so it fits in all the same places. It's listed at 30 HP at the PTO, and I run a six foot brush hog with it, mostly just cutting the edges of fields, and keeping some trails from getting overgrown. I'm thinking I would have preferred a flail mower, but I really didn't know much about them when I got my brush hog. Mine originally had a backhoe, but the guy I bought it from sold that prior to me buying the tractor. All the hydraulic connections are still there though. Since you'll cover the mowing duties with the X758, the center PTO would only be for a snow blower, and with me having a plow for the snow right now, I'd prefer the snow blower. I'll jump on the pallet fork bandwagon too. I bought forks a couple years ago, and when I take the plow off in a couple days, it's the pallet forks that'll go on, not the bucket. Moving all the fallen trees and branches off the trails, and off the edges of the fields, is much easier with the forks.
A good local dealer is a nice bonus. There is a place called MacFadden & Son, a farm equipment supplier and auction site, that's less than a mile from me, and Townline Equipment is another half mile from there. MacFadden is a Mahindra dealer, but sells all kinds of accessories. Townline is a Kubota dealer. I can just drive my tractor to either place in less than 5 minutes, that's a nice thing. I bought my brush hog from MacFadden's, and am just about to have Townline fill my tires with Rimguard. MacFadden is having their spring auction this Saturday, lots and lots of stuff there, check their on-line auction site to see if there is anything close to what you're looking for.

Late Edit: As someone that has a Deere, I'd give thought to getting something that uses the "skid steer quick connect" or whatever it's called, instead of the JD hook and pin system for mounting stuff on the loader arms. There are way, way more options for stuff using that skid steer system.

[Hatchdog]

I have a 2004 JD 4310 32 hp. This unit has a larger frame than the series you are looking at. Originally I bought it to mow fields, plow snow, drill post holes and other chores. The place I lived at was flat and I liked having a larger framed tractor for that work. Currently I live in a wooded hilly area. No longer have fields to mow but do use it for lots of chores. Now that I live in a less level area I wish I had the smaller framed tractor like the model you are looking at. Just earlier this week I drove down to the bottom of my place and some stretches of my “road” are pretty sloped side to side and the pucker factor for a tip over was present. I made the road for a side by side with lots of suspension not the tractor.

I use clamp on pallet forks and having forks is wonderful. But I wish I had bought a pallet fork unit that attaches to the loader in place of the bucket. As warned, the forks have slightly bent the bottom of the bucket. Not a problem for what I use it for, gravel, dirt, snow, etc.

This tractor is 22 years old and has 1400 hours on it. Lot’s of hard work and while maintained yearly not babied at all. So far I had one minor electrical issue and one front wheel seal fail. That’s it. Not bad for the years of hard service it has provided.

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[Mags]

Search for a used one. Considerably less expensive.

[BrokenolMarine]

We bought the skid steer connection for the front of the tractor and the Kubota quick hitch for the three point in the rear. Slick... Love it. One of the reasons we didn't go bigger is the filter that has to periodically run at high rpms to clean itself, then costs a couple hundred dollars to replace when the time comes. The salesman assured us that the 2501 with 4wd would handle nearly every job we'd encounter on our small farm, and he was right. I couldn't see spending the extra money for more power, (arr, arr, arr...) When we might need it once every six months or once a year... And all the associated costs would be higher. Smart decision.