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Best place to buy a tractor?

Monsterbuck

Monsterbuck

Active Member
Where is the best place to find a good deal on a used tractor? Looking for something in the $5,000 to $10,000 price range. Hopefully 40p or more.

Looking at Craigslist, E-bay, Tractor House.

I assume dealers are going to be priced a lot higher than the private market but maybe I'm wrong?

How about farm auctions? Are pretty good deals common or do farmers bid up the prices?
 
I'd start with craigslist, or even better, statewidelist.com (craigslist bundled by state rather than town).
 
Searchtempest is the best way I've found to search craigslist. The first thing you need to decide is what you need in a tractor. What will you use it for? Then you can start looking for something to fit your needs. Are you brand specific? How many hours a year? All the options you listed can have great options from time to time. Need to check them all, but first you need to know what you are searching for.
 
MK M GOBL said:
Searchtempest is the best way I've found to search craigslist. The first thing you need to decide is what you need in a tractor. What will you use it for? Then you can start looking for something to fit your needs. Are you brand specific? How many hours a year? All the options you listed can have great options from time to time. Need to check them all, but first you need to know what you are searching for.
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As a newbie here what options do you recommended?
 
Sligh1 said:
MFWD!!!!!

I can't imagine a tractor with 2 wheel drive, insane!
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I was going to ask about that. Wasn't sure how important 4wd was in a tractor. I know I would never buy a truck without it but there sure are a lot of 2wd tractors out there.

Ok, so here are my impressions of what I should look for. This is based on reading and no actual experience so PLEASE chime in if I'm off...

3pt hitch and PTO are a must for running implements.

HP at least 40 or more. Based this on implement recommendations that suggest 10hp per foot. So a 4ft tiller or mower recomends 40hp a 5ft 50 HP, etc.

4wd sounds like a must have?

Hours/age. This is tricky. How many hours is too many and how old is really getting too old? Old cars are a lot easier to work on but newer cars are so much more reliable. Is a newer 40 horse better than a 1960's 50 or 60 horse? Is a 1960 John Deere going to be less trouble and last longer than a 2008 Chinese tractor?

What else is critical and what is just a nice option to have? Is looking for one with a loader a big deal for a small acreage?

Thanks for any advice!
 
You can run a 5 ft tiller through just about anything with 35 hp. Same with mower, even bigger, but weight becomes and issue before HP with most smaller tractors. The loader is great just to keep the weight on the front tires and allow you to steer....you will find plenty of other things to use it for as well. Since it is your first tractor, I would definately recommend a newer off brand tractor over and older JD. 500 hrs is barely broken in if it has been taken care of.

What are you going to do with it?
 
from growing up on a farm my whole life i can tell you that you will find something to use a loader for jsut about every day. i would highly recommend one.

FWD is definitely nice, but for what it sounds like you're using it for, it is in no way a neccessity.
 
I have a JD2010 Ive been thinking about selling. It pulls a 6' disk just fine through untilled soil. I believe its 35-40hp and in the 1960s range. Its a great looking tractor and has been taken very well care of. its perfect for doing food plots or just mowing. If your at all interested let me know Ill send you some pics.
 
We made the upgrade from a Ford 8n to a 67' JD3020 and then got a JD4020 cab with a front loader. These two can do ANYTHING that we have asked for them to do on food plots. Both were 7,000-9,000. The 3020 had 5700 hours on it and was a cherry tractor, but we drove to Nebraska to get it. Well worth it in my books. Since then we have added a 12 foot hydrolic heavy disc, 5 ft brush hog, , 4 row planter, and are about to get a 3 point spreader. Like I said, for food plots and what we do with our tractor, it has been well well worth our investment.
 
MK M GOBL said:
You can run a 5 ft tiller through just about anything with 35 hp. Same with mower, even bigger, but weight becomes and issue before HP with most smaller tractors. The loader is great just to keep the weight on the front tires and allow you to steer....you will find plenty of other things to use it for as well. Since it is your first tractor, I would definately recommend a newer off brand tractor over and older JD. 500 hrs is barely broken in if it has been taken care of.

What are you going to do with it?
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Mostly food plot planting and mowing. Possibly snow plowing drive. Probably other uses I don't even know about yet.
 
antlerfreak said:
I have a JD2010 Ive been thinking about selling. It pulls a 6' disk just fine through untilled soil. I believe its 35-40hp and in the 1960s range. Its a great looking tractor and has been taken very well care of. its perfect for doing food plots or just mowing. If your at all interested let me know Ill send you some pics.
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Send me pics and what you are wanting for it.
 
If you are just a food plot farmer I would think a Compact between 30 to 40 hp with front wheel assist and loader would be the ticket.

If you could find a nice used Kubota, JD, New Holland, or something along those lines would be great. If you go with a Hydro tranny they will use more Hp.

We use a 34hp Montana with a 5' tiller, it works great. I use the loader all the time, with the smaller compact it is easy getting to hard to reach areas.
 
That kind of money you could pick up a 4020 JD or 3020 JD with power shift last for ever. Watch for farm sales !
 
here is the only pic I have at the moment. Im asking $5,000.00

jd2010_IMAG0266.jpg
 
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Can somebody tell me the difference between a narrow front and a wide front. (Besides the obvious for those smart flecks out there).

I've been leaning toward a wide front end based on my assumption that it will be more stable.
 
Monsterbuck said:
Can somebody tell me the difference between a narrow front and a wide front. (Besides the obvious for those smart flecks out there).

I've been leaning toward a wide front end based on my assumption that it will be more stable.
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for just messing around on the yard and such, a narrow front is actually kind of nice sometimes.
 
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