Best low budget 4WD tractor

[Guest Gimlet]

I'm thinking about a getting an oldish but serviceable 4WD tractor. I've got various enterprises in mind to keep me employed during the summer months when I'm not hedgelaying and a a lot of them involve tractor work. Light duties - general small scale woodland work - trailering firewood, extracting coppice materials, running PTO saw bench/splitter etc, fence post whacker, topper, flails and so on. May fit a fore end loader at some point for brash clearing when I'm hedging. So smallish (60-90 hp, not a compact).

As well as various other jobs I've got some ongoing coppice work and scrub clearance on fairly steep ground so 4WD is needed to cover all bases.

 

Not a high budget, maybe £6000 (will be driven on main roads, maybe some distance so needs to be roadworthy with a decent cab. 

Something generally reliable and dependable with good parts backup. David Browns seem very popular with small operators but I can't seem to find any 4WD drive models and most are getting long in the tooth. Quite a few tidy 85 hp Case and John Deeres about at around the 7K mark but no idea what would be best and what to look out for/ be aware of. How many hours is too many etc. All advice gratefully received. 

 

 

Edited April 8, 2019 by Gimlet

[Conor Wright]

Maintenance history is more important than overall hours. 

 

Plenty of nice smaller machines out there, you may want to consider forestry guarding if travelling over stumps..

 

Same explorer 70 could suit? Nimble and reliable.. prone to oil leaks though, can be found cheap at times. 

Fiat 80 90, some had reverse drive. Could be a game changer with a forestry trailer.

Db are a workhorse, many are rusty now but still mechanically sound.

 

Others with better knowledge will be along to give you some more details!

[spuddog0507]

Just a point if your not up on the type of machine your looking for, get some one who knows about them even if you have to pay them it could pay dividends for you, there is a lot of machines out there that have been neglected early on in there life and that all reflects later in the machines life, i would say your better off upping your budget and getting something newer, lad down the road from me bought a MF 4wd about 3 years ago but has spent more on repairs than what he gave for it,

[Guest Gimlet]

Thanks. Yes, I will definitely take someone knowledgeable along. Buying a lemon could finish me. I have two brothers both in farming and I know a few people in the agri machinery business. 

 

Another thing. How do I determine what towing weight a particular model can handle and pull legally on the road? 

Edited April 8, 2019 by Gimlet

[woody paul]

£6000 is a low budget for a 4wd tractor that will be any good but you may get lucky if you look carefully. 

[Guest Gimlet]

What sort of budget would you recommend?

 

Not looking at this one particularly but how does this seem:

https://www.agriculturaltrader.co.uk/listing/21362

Edited April 8, 2019 by Gimlet

[Conor Wright]

10k is more realistic, but 6 can grab a bargain, but you'll have to be quick!

As regards that particular one, tyres are over half worn by the look of it, so may not cope well in muddy forests.. without seeing a machine in the flesh it's impossible to know. Hear it run, try all the gears, adjust the lift, make sure the radio works!

 

[gdh]

Random thoughts:

If you're looking second hand try and find one that has been well serviced. Hours should only be used as a guide - 5000 hours running a firewood processor is better than 3000 of haulage for example. 

 

My experience tends to be with larger tractors but I find that 6000 hours of average use is where you start to get major issues. The flipside of that is might have just had a new gearbox etc if you buy it at that age.

 

Look at the tyres, if they need replacing you'll easily spend 1-2k.

 

Aggriaffaires is worth a look but it's better to go private with a local or through a dealer for backup.

 

If you're looking at running newer machinery check it's got enough spools.

 

There's a ton of minor checks to do when buying but I'll leave that to someone who knows better than me.

[difflock]

My take on this topic is the lack of supply, i.e. such tractors essentially stopped being bought as 1st line agricultural machines a significent number of years ago, and of the pool left from the 1960/70/80's, most were 2WD and a lot got exported.

Therefore there is significent demand for the "wee hand" 4WD, actually to such an extent Zetor has introduced a model, the Minor to cope with unsatisfied smallholder demand throughout Europe.

The only farming market that continued to buy these handy 4WD's new was the livestock farmer, and they (mostly) simply trash them.

Btw, look at Tunstall tractors, they generally carry a representitive selection of decent properly vetted or described stockman tractors.

As commented, tyres are a significent expense.

Marcus

hmmm, I no nowt about Gordon Agric, but looks a "contender"

http://www.gordonagri.co.uk/view-stock/used-tractors/deutz-fahr-dx-3.90-4wd

Edited April 9, 2019 by difflock

[swinny]

All i can say is its easier to buy something than sell something!

 

Even if your carefull on all the checks something can still go wrong woth the tractor.

 

Make sure you have decent back up for your brand of tractor with a good dealer etc nearby.

 

6k wont get you much. Tractors seem to have risen in price from a few years ago. 

 

Also cabs should not be welded as voids insurance 

 

Last time I bought a tractor it was over 10k mark and still wanted plenty doing to it.

 

Smaller tractors are often dearer than bigger ones! More people want a smaller nimble tractor. 

 

If your going to use it a lot then i’d double your budget and leave some ontop fpr repairs and service to bring it up to par....

 

Serious business to me is running a tractor on the road, they need to be spot on!

 

For me to upgrade from my tractor now i’d end up spending 25-35k to get something to keep me satisfied.