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View Full Version : Bought a tractor today!



Larry Edgerton
02-22-2010, 8:23 AM
I promised myself when I finished up my chid support payments I would buy myself a tractor. Last payment was made last month.

I looked for nice old iron for over a year but didn't find anything that fit the bill at a reasonable price so........

I bought a new New Holland T2320, 45 hp., fwd gear model with a TL250 quick change loader, R4 tires loaded with WinterGard, and a set of forks for $20,600 with 0% financing on the balance.

Too good a deal to let slip by, and I am excited by all the work I will no longer have to do the hard way. It has a lifting capasity of just over 2k so will allow me to sell my forklift that was only good on pavement.

Boys and their toys indeed...........:)

Rick Huelsbeck
02-22-2010, 9:31 AM
Ok, so you should already know we are not going to beleive you without Pictures :D

David G Baker
02-22-2010, 10:43 AM
Larry,
Life without a tractor is similar to a life without woodworking tools. I have a 1965 John Deere 2010 that I paid twice the 1965 new retail price. It has problems but it has served me well. Should have bought a new one. By the time I get around to buying a new tractor I will have paid almost as much as a new one cost for my 2010.
Great gloat.

Michael Schapansky
02-22-2010, 10:57 AM
I have a 1990 Ford 1720 with loader. 2wd gear tractor. Could have used 4wd this weekend moving fill up a slope and dumping over the fence. I sure do get a lot done with that thing. I turned over 6 cu yds of compost Saturday and it took 15 minutes. I hate to think how long with a shovel. Also filled in a trench after repairing my broken main water line (trench was dug by hand) and used the rake to scrape up old vines from my wife's gourd patch from last year. A nice tool.

David Christopher
02-22-2010, 11:48 AM
I just sold my little tractor on friday, because I havent use it in a while, its only monday and Ive needed my tractor three times, so now Im looking to get another one

paul cottingham
02-22-2010, 12:13 PM
On our arm we had a 50 or so year old Ford 9N. What a machine. It was the most reliable vehicle we ever owned. We actually considered keeping it after we sold the farm.

Keith Outten
02-22-2010, 3:34 PM
I own a Kubota BX 1500 4WD with a loader that came with 2 sets of tires and had only 50 hours on it. It is small but still pretty handy to have around and I can't imagine not having a tractor.

I have been building my own implements for awhile, I have a pulverisor under construction in my shop right now and hope to have it competed by Spring time. I'm at the point of drilling all the holes for the flat bar spikes which is my least favorite thing to do :(
.

Darin Kauffman
02-22-2010, 3:57 PM
This thread just makes me miss the old farm even more. I need to move out to the country a.s.a.p. My wife might not like the drive, but at least I would have room for a tractor. :)

David G Baker
02-22-2010, 4:13 PM
Keith,
Your 1500 probably has as much or more usable horsepower than my 2 wheel drive John Deere that was listed when new at close to 40HP. I have a local Kubota dealer that I drive past frequently and every time I do I drool. I would like to have a tractor with over 50HP but can't justify the expense.
It is amazing how often I use my FEL to do work that I could never accomplish on my own.
I haven't started making my own implements yet but I have the steel and am waiting for the right plasma cutter to come along.

Dave Lehnert
02-22-2010, 4:24 PM
I keep seeing Bobcats for sale on Craigslist for around 5K to 7K.
would like to have one BAD!!!

http://www.fantasticlandscaping.com.au/bobcat-1.jpg

Jim Becker
02-22-2010, 9:20 PM
Congratulations, Larry.

While I own a smaller machine, (Kubota BX-22 TLB), it's absolutely a workhorse and as you say, makes life a whole lot easier. Enjoy your new "tool"!!!

Joe Mioux
02-22-2010, 9:37 PM
I have a TC33 (Boomer) New Holland and I love it. The only mistake I made was not getting the quick detach and a set of forks. We use the loader for unloadng Semis almost as much as for dirt work.

Joe Mioux
02-22-2010, 9:38 PM
btw: those bob cats can really tear up a yard.

and not just with its loader. Those skid stears do a number on the grass.

David G Baker
02-22-2010, 11:48 PM
Dave L,
I looked at Bobcats when I was shopping for a tractor thinking that it would do what I needed. After talking to people and thinking what I really needed a tractor for I realized that a Bobcat style piece of equipment sat too low to the ground and I would spend most of my time getting stuck. They are great when they are used for what they were built for.
I do wish I had a Bobcat style accessory attachment on my John Deere.

Keith Outten
02-23-2010, 1:02 AM
Keith,
Your 1500 probably has as much or more usable horsepower than my 2 wheel drive John Deere that was listed when new at close to 40HP. I have a local Kubota dealer that I drive past frequently and every time I do I drool. I would like to have a tractor with over 50HP but can't justify the expense.
It is amazing how often I use my FEL to do work that I could never accomplish on my own.
I haven't started making my own implements yet but I have the steel and am waiting for the right plasma cutter to come along.

David,

I agree wholeheartedly about how useful the loaders are, even the small ones are worth their weight when there is work to be done. I can hardly remember having to unload my truck or trailer without the loader and I move pallets around the yard loaded with everything from cinder blocks to stacks of roof shingles. I built a set of trash forks that bolt onto the loader bucket, they aren't pallet forks but they work pretty good. I also use the trash forks in the woods cleaning up brush and pulling thorns and briers from the bushes and trees. I was surprised how well my little BX could pull a four foot box blade in 4WD.

Since my Dad passed away I work alone most of the time and the tractor is sure handy when you don't have another pair of hands on the job.
.

Larry Edgerton
02-23-2010, 8:27 AM
My excuse for buying such a large hobby tractor is that I have to move my shop as soon as I get back home,[still working out of town in Jackson.] and several of my woodworking machines are in the 2000# range. The 2320 will lift 2000#'s with the forks.;) It will be used for snow removal as well, and cleanup on job sites, although I hope to get away from construction in the next few years.

I plan on building a dust collection system that can be unloaded with the tractor, a huge help when my shop is busy. Not that it is busy now, but one can hope.

I have moved my whole life really to a new location. I sold my commercial building, bought this ten acre repo in the country that had a fair size pole barn, a seperate 3 car garage of which I willl use one bay for a spray booth seperate from the shop. I'll need the tractor to ferry pieces back and forth. Not having to deal with dust in the spray area will be awesome! I am building a screened in work area in the back of the pole barn so I can work outside without bugs, and my view will be beautiful Northern Mich. hardwoods instead of just the industrial building next door. Creativity should be much easier in this setting.

The property came with a modular home that was trashed, the people that lived there were absolute pigs. I hauled out six 30 yard dumpsters full of just crap, stuff of no value they just threw wherever. The house is being hauled out by a fellow that wants to rebuild it [?] and I am building a new home on the existing basement, after I bleach and pressure wash it.

I have a 24x56 basement to work around, which has proven tough to get what I want out of, but I am building for cash and it is manditory that I reuse what I can. I have come up with a design that works on the basement. It is a reproduction of an old schoolhouse as the center section, 26'8" wide by 30' long, cantilivered 1'4" over the basement so that the center section stands proud of the two wings on the end that will be 12 and 14 feet on their respective ends. The school house walls will be 11' tall, and the wings 9'. I like the idea of building a classic American landmark with the most modern energy efficient technics.

I am building the house out of structural stress skin panels, 6" walls and 10" nail base panels for the ceilings. This will leave me with 10'2" ceilings in the schoolhouse area, and 8'2" ceilings in the wings as I am fastening the ceiling panels under the structure.

There will eventually be a greenhouse on the Southern side that splits the space between the upstairs floor and the walkout basement. The stairs will be in this semi cold space, sealed of from both the upstairs and the walkout basement with exterior glass doors, but we do not feel this is a problem. Solar gain will keep this space warm for much of the year as it will have masonary heat soaks in the suns path.This will allow natural light to flow basement for my wifes ceramic work area, or whatever pursuits she takes up next.:)

As soon as the shell is up and good enough to camp in we will put up our house in town for sale. Hopefully the market will pick up so I can get some of my money out of that house[overbuilt!] but if I have to dump it I will just to get rid of the morgage. At that point we will be debt free, except for the tractor payment which is 0%, and life will be a touch simpler. Lots hopefully, but we all know how life can throw you curves.

I have always loved to garden, but have not had the spot to do it for some years. That will change as well, and soon we will be enjoying one of lifes great pleasures, home grown tomatos.:D

I am so looking forward to having my shop next to my house! I come up with ideas I want to try in the evening, but I really hated the industrial setting of my last shop, and the several mile drive to do some little thing, so I just wouldn't do it. This will be awesome, my wife, who I love very much, can just walk across the yard to see me, or I her. My drawing board will be in the house, steps away from the shop, instead of miles away. I save on gas, on lunch costs, don't have to pay commercial taxes/energy costs, but most importantly, I can work in a creative enviroment with out the distractions that come from an industrial park.

Those distractions cost me a finger a couple of years ago when a backup beeper made me lose concentration for just an instant. In an ironic twist the restoration I am doing now is for the owner of the steel company who's truck was backing up.:p

So........ The tractor is just a small part of a larger plan for a change back to a simpler life that I once enjoyed.

Oh yea, I just renewed my subscription to Mother Earth News:)

Dave Lehnert
02-23-2010, 5:04 PM
btw: those bob cats can really tear up a yard.

and not just with its loader. Those skid stears do a number on the grass.

Yes, but how cool would you look on a Bobcat vs a tractor? :cool:

Larry Edgerton
02-26-2010, 9:01 AM
My tractor was delivered, got to play with it clearing out 3/4 miles of driveway that had not been plowed all winter. I am happy with my purchase.

Funny thing though....

When I bought my tractor it was parked between a couple of 300ish HP four wheel drives with duals. It looked like a cute little tractor. When they delivered it and I saw it next to my pickup, suddenly it looked much, much larger!:)

David G Baker
02-26-2010, 12:50 PM
Larry,
No photos, you ain't got it! :D