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by flagrant_taco 1019 days ago
Oh I have absolutely looked for an older tractor. Finding a model with parts still somewhat easy to find limits the market, finding one that hasn't rusted out in a field for 20+ years is even harder. The only ones I found within 300 miles of us over the last 12 months were either rusted to hell, clearly lazy paint jobs covering rust, or collectors items that were restored and priced out of the market.

In addition to that, old tractors aren't as capable as modern tractors and are heavy as hell. If the health of the soil is a concern it lsso not ideal to run a 3,000-7,000 pound tractor across the field regularly.

Dont get me wrong, more days than not I wish we had a tractor to make certain jobs easier. I've yet to find one that fits in our budget, is clean enough to be reliable, has parts available when it breaks, and can meaningfully improve the tasks we regularly deal with.

I the meantime we have a Kai truck (Japanese minitruck) that weighs next to nothing and does some serious work around here.
2 comments
theodric 1019 days ago
Something like a Kubota L2000 (or any of the many similar ones ranging 12-40HP) fits the bill for semi-modern-ish, light-ish, small-ish, capable-ish, and cheap-ish. It can even run a bucket loader. If I can get one with a mower, roller, and sicklebar tossed in, in Ireland, for €7000, I'd imagine the U.S. will have the same available at half the cost. Don't give up. Bar one guy in Donegal, EVERY regen ag hippie farmer I've met (who didn't go under) was all "we don't need a tractor" at the outset and owned one inside of 5 years. Any sweat you spend doing things a tractor can do better and faster inside your cost envelope is sweat wasted. https://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/006/8/8/6882-kubot...
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lowkeyoptimist 1019 days ago
Why limit the search to 300 miles? I imagine paying for shipping on a cost effective tractor would be worth its weight in gold in the long run. (financial situations very greatly I know)
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dakna 1019 days ago
It's one of those things where you have to take a look in person before you buy it. 600 miles round trip is relatively easy to drive in a day without staying overnight.
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