Homesteading Tips and Resources

So what is a farm without a tractor? That is exactly what we thought. I have scouring the Internet for months, looking for the perfect tractor for our new farm. Like any other major purchase, there are several lists. The two big lists are “What I want” and “What I need”.

I tried to remain practical. We have 12 acres of land with about 1/3 open. I didn’t want a tractor that was too small for the property nor did I want one that was too big (if there was such a thing!). I started with a list of the immediate tasks we would use the tractor for. Here is what I came up with:

• Plowing snow in the winter
• Mowing the back fields
• Moving firewood on pallets
• General landscaping
• Clearing brush and logging the occasional trees from the woods

My list for features also had to be practical. I knew I needed a front end loader,  a three point hitch and around 30-50 horse power. Both make a tractor very versatile. I know this because this is not my first tractor. Having grown up on a farm, I remember the limitations and issues with certain tractors. Having a bucket on the front is a very handy tool. Those were my requirements for features. Oh, and I had a rough budget in mind as well.

The three main web sites I looked at when shopping for a used tractor (buying new was within the budget!) were my local Craig’s List, TractorHouse.com and Machine Finder. Since tractors are pretty heavy, I really wanted to find one local that I could drive and look at. Buying a car online, sight unseen is one thing, buying a piece of farm equipment that may have been subject to a lot more abuse is another. I really didn’t want to make a small vacation out of tractor shopping which is unfortunate because tractor prices and availability seem better in the Midwest. Even after you buy the tractor, you still have to figure out how to get it home.

I looked at Craig’s List a lot, given that I knew I was looking at local tractors. Since NH is a small state, I looked at neighboring states too. I talked to friends who knew tractors. I asked questions. “What do you have?”, “How do you like it?” “Is it big enough for your needs and what do you use it for?” This helped me narrow my list. As possible tractors came around, I called and asked more questions. I used a web site called TractorData.com often in my search. I would come across tractor models and brands that I wasn’t familiar with and I used TractorData.com to look up specs and details.

Narrowing things down was a challenge. I found one tractor about an hour away. It was a 4 wheel drive Zetor with a loader. This was a brand I wasn’t familiar with. Turns out it is popular in Canada and Europe. The tractor was very well priced. About half of what a more popular brand would go for for the same size. However, I decided to pass on this one because of concerns for resale (would I be the last owner of this Zetor???) and the nearest dealer was 1½ hours away. The tractor also had a cab which would be nice in the winter but I was concerned it might be harder to get in the barn and restrict my view.

So back and forth I went. Do I settle for an older, two wheel drive model and take the chance that it will remain reliable or do I spend more upfront, get something newer with less hours, more efficient and safer? In the end, that is what we did. We found our John Deere 4510 just 30 minutes away. It is a 2004 model with about 550 hours on it. I was very familiar with a John Deere 4700 which a friend of might had several years ago and loved it. It was the perfect size, not too big and not too small. The price was a little higher than my ideal budget but in the end I think it was the right choice. The sellers were able to deliver it that afternoon which made it a very convenient transaction.

All in all, we are very happy with our tractor choice. It is modern enough to be safe, easy to drive and has already been put to work. We purchased a set of pallet forks for move firewood and brush and a brush hog mower for trimming the fields.  It is a lot of fun to drive as well!

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