Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction Tractor for maintaining small places

Snrub, you said something that reflects an ever growing suspicion on my part. "But used as the size tractor it is on utility jobs"....that's my worry.

This situation reminds me of an incident years ago, when I was at the Deere dealership. A large part of our customer base were farmers. They used equipment everyday, and were well versed in what one might reasonably expect out of a machine. This one family had owned Deere products for decades, including their lawn equipment. Deere had just introduced the replacement series for their bulletproof,but long in the tooth, 400 series garden tractors. These folks bought the first one that rolled into our showroom.

I got a call the same afternoon. They weren't happy, claiming the new tractor was a shell of its former lineage. After a few trips out to the farm, adjusting everything under the sun, I had to agree. It finally culminated in a three way phone call between myself, the customer, and Deere. And I listened while the Deere rep attempted to quantify the new tractor's shortcomings by saying that it was really more of a yuppie tractor. His exact words.

Dead silence. When my customer did finally speak, he left no doubt as to his thoughts on Deere's decision to discard the old platform.

I'm wondering if that's where I am with this new one. I don't need high and low beam headlights, taillights,turn signals,7-pin trailer hookup, suspension seat, cruise control, tilt wheel, or parking brake alarm. All of which this has new tractor has. What I do need is a tractor that will run into a stone pile and come out with a full bucket. No horse stalls to clean out here.

I need a tractor that will hook onto a heavy duty, 5' bushhog, and take it uphill into the woods to mow brush and saplings. I need it to pull a 60" box blade full of stone. Those are the three hardest chores I need a tractor to accomplish, and I'm talking a total of less than 30 hours a year for that. The rest of the time it an be a wheelbarrow, with a chainsaw or two in the bucket.

When I get home tonight, I'm taking it down to the pond's where a conveniently large, mature Beech lives. I know that tractor won't even shake it, everyone reading this knows it won't shake it, but I need the tractor to NOT know it can't budge that tree.