9 years ago I was in the same position.  I looked at used tractors and I just couldn't find one that I wasn't taking a risk on repairing in the near future.  Unless things have changed all of these tractors are made in the far east including John Deere and New Holland (Ford) and of course Kubota.  

I also looked at Massey Ferguson but shied away from the Eastern European brands because of the problems with their parts and warranty work.  You can find parts for a 75 year old JD, or Ford, but not much else.  I bought a Ford (now New Holland) 38 PTO HP Diesel compact 4WD tractor.  It is big enough to do a lot of work and small enough for me to pull on a fifth wheel trailer with my truck at about  7,500 lbs. total weight.  4WD allows the tractor to pull implements and do the work of a much larger 2WD tractor because of the additional traction.

I haven't had any problems to speak of in the past nine years and I could now sell my "used" tractor and get a new one without spending too much additional money.  I bought a front end loader with the tractor and I have never taken it off.  I have a box blade, brush hog, finish mower, offset disk and grain drill that I use for planting food plots and mowing.  

I wouldn't hesitate to go with John Deer, Kubota, or New Holland tractors.  Dealer location, initial pricing and parts costs would help make the decision easier.  Check on the cost of an air filter, oil filter and transmission filter for each brand and see if there is a big difference in price.

Get a Kubota!

Having worked at a kubota dealer...
You will probably pay way too much at a dealer for anything used. The dealer I worked for charged way to much for most of what we had on the used line. therefore it sat thier for along time. Also just because its on a dealer lot dont mean its not a total pile O' Shit. Several times we got tractors in that were junk. We put just enough work into them so that they would run and so we colud sell em but there was often quite a few things that needed fixed on them. The stuff that we got in that was total junk we sold at auction As alot of dealers do. If you buy at an auction be damn weary of what your getting into.
IMO dont buy any tractor from a dairy unless you know the person well and what they used it for. Ive seen tractors a couple years old that were rusted piles. Running a tractor constantly to scrape clean a freestall barn and clean a manure pit corrodes everthing real bad. Also its hard on seals.
If your looking for a used Kubota Id try the Late 50 series they are good tractors and you can still get parts for them if needed. Somthing like a 3350 might be on the order of what you want. If you have the money you can just buy new Kubotas hold thier value pritty well You sholud be able to talk a dealer down some. I looked into our dealer price book one time to see what we sold stuff for and what we paid, Its crazy for a 4610 GST 4WD we paid somewhere around 28k We soldthemfor 32 or more.
Also right now is the absolute worst time to buy a tractor. Everyone and thier brother is looking to buy right now. Even the over priced piecers will sell well right now.
You should try buying around Jan-Feb which In my experience is the slowest time of the year.
And if your looking for implaments I cant say enough good about Land Pride. Especially thier commerical stuff is great. Whatever you do dont buy A MODERN or you will pay later those things are complete junk! I think they have the daycare center paint the damn things.
I can try to answer whatever questions ya got.

Ebay... Learn it, use it

Nothing runs like a Deere!
Its like little gas motors you can buy cheap or get a honda that will last a life time.  Same thing with John Deere.

I can't speak for John Deere but New Holland tractors on the other hand are made in the states, in fact there are several models that are made in Racine Wisconsin, they come off the same assembly line as the Case MX series tractors, the larger ones are nade in Fargo, ND and East Moline, Ill. they make the smaller lawn tractors(IIRC)

Nothing kills a deere like a magnum

I'd buy a Deere, it's just like buying Caterpillar. Yes they are usually more expensive, but yes their resale value is almost always alot higher. 10 years down the road do you want to own a wore out Kubota or an older John Deere? Buy green.

Edited to add: Check garage sales, many good deals to be had there, probably cheap guns too.

My Dad's John Deere was made in Columbus, GA by John Deere.  It's a 920, I think.  I don't remember the number.  32 hp hydrostatic, 4wd with a loader.  Great tractor.

Buy John Deere tractors and buy other brand implements.

I bought a new Kubota L3010 from Jennings Equipt in Puyallup a couple years ago.  They had the best price at the time.  The tractor, 4wd diesel, loader, back scraper was just under 19k, all new.  It does everything I ask of it and I have never had any problems.

[url]http://www.efcconstruction.com/Images/farmer.gif[/url]

Do you really want a tractor, or was the whole reason of this thread an excuse to post that pic?



Kernel got himself a smokin' deal on a Kubota off ebay.  You may wanna come down and talk to the tractor boys in town that were big customers of the gun shop.