Go BottomDo I really need a tractor
 | souledout
Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 3 MA 
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2004-03-13 79792
I have a 3 acre lot. It is pretty rough: zero lanscaping, 1.5 acres of meadow, 1.5 acres of woods. It takes me about 3 hours to mow the meadow with my 20 year old dinky Deere rider. I have back trouble, and now recently a new shoulder. My doctor says my digging days are over. So here's the question - is it worth the money? I want to do a lot of landscaping, dig footers for an elaborate deck, and dig a small pond, build a stone wall. I also have a 500' driveway that needs snow removal regularly. I'm considering the BX23 TLB with a 54" deck at about $17500. I'm feeling like this is an expensive toy. What do you think?
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 | kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 5764 NW Oregon 
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2004-03-13 79793
Get a tractor. Use it for a few years to dig and haul stuff around and blow snow. If a couple years from now you decide you don't need it you'll still get 80% or more back on resale and you'll have saved your back and shoulder a lot of grief and have had some fun. ....
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 | Peters
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 3034 Northern AL
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2004-03-13 79797
Figure out what it would cost to have someone do it for you and then calulate from Kens numbers. If you are not in love with the machine after 2 years sell the thing and you will still be money in the bank. ....
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 | DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2004-03-14 79811
I got a better idea..... figure out what just one more major surgery will cost, not just the dollars but the pain, the stress, the endless visits to the physical therapist......
$297 a month for tractor payments starts looking pretty cheap. ....
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 | harvey
Join Date: Sep 2000 Posts: 1550 Moravia, NY 
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2004-03-14 79812
Even better! explain to your Dr all the requirements you have to accomplish. He can write a prescription for your needed digging and lifting aid and your insurance will buy it for you.
Seriously hiring someone and getting fit into their schedule is a pain. Getting someone for just a couple of hours is a bigger pain. Doing it yourself with a wheelbarrow is even worse.
You ain't taking one dime with you and there is no point of a widow with money so spend it on something that will make your life easier. ....
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 | grinder
Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 677 central Maine 
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2004-03-14 79813
Not sure if your married, if you are you never,never refer
to your tractor as a TOY! This is just another tool you need
to get that "damn yard fixed up".
....
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| hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 3583 iowa
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2004-03-14 79814
soledout; Just remember the old rule of business. "You want to work real hard, save every dime you can so your widdows second husband can really live it up." Like was said in a prior post a CUT will allways have good resale. I just got a new 4410, I traded a 2000 model 4300 on it, I got a good trade and my trade in (4300) was sold within days. Frank. ....
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| Abbeywoods
Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 110 New England
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2004-03-14 79830
So how long do you think you are going to live? A century, maybe two centuries? Or are you like the rest of us and don't know. The clock is ticking my friend, how much is the personal satisfaction of self-reliance and the fun of running your own machine worth to you? Hadn't you better get on with it now, instead of thinking it was something you wanted to do, when down the road you are wearing your pampers and laying in some old duffer's home?
I'm way over double nickles, I've had one heart attack and just started to recover from surgery on my spine. I work a ten hour day for an aerospace company, and run my own landscaping business after 3:30pm and on weekends. Why? Simply because I'm having too much fun, I enjoy my life to the max. Dont' you think you deserve to enjoy your life, no one is going to do that for you. ....
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 | Art White
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 6898 Waterville New York
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2004-03-14 79843
I consider the BX not an option but a must have for you and your health! The value added to your property might cover the whole cost of the unit. ....
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| hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 3583 iowa
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2004-03-14 79851
Souledout; Just another thought on the serious side of your question. I too have had some medical problems in the past, a Cut is the best therapy ever invented, get the tractor. From a standpoint of justifying the investment, lets say you buy the new tractor for 17500 and on the same day buy a new car for 17500, wait five years trade them both in for new ones, Your CUT will probably be worth 60 - 80 percent of what you paid for it and the car maybe 15%. A personal example, we bought a new Venture van in 02 with more gozmos and worthless doodads than any body could possibly need. In December 03 we thought about trading it for an 04 model till we learned that the 02 with 38K on the odomoter was worth 12500 on a trade, it window stickered for 30 grand when we bought it. Wowzer what a wake up call. I don't like to drive rust buckets, but the 02 shurely is a long way from that. Enjoy your new "Investment", Frank. ....
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| souledout
Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 3 MA
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2004-03-14 79861
Perfect. Exactly want I needed to hear. I will buy it on Monday. Thanks for the encouragement.
Thomas ....
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| snogless
Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 25 Central New York
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2004-03-14 79890
Not only am I struggling with the problem of which tractor (see "which Kubota to buy") but I am also dealing with the issue of spending that much money in the first place. I really enjoyed reading some of these posts that point out the need to enjoy life. Thanks for taking a little of the stress out of the situation for me too, you guys. ....
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| JAZAK5
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 276 coxsackie,ny
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2004-03-14 79896
cant add anything more to what has been said HOWEVER I have never had a problem spending someone elses money ;) ....
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| Treb55
Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 5 Ca
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2004-03-15 79994
Wow! This is my story. Souledout sounds like my twin. I am recently retired with a diagnosed heart condition and several "BAD" disks in the lumbar area.
I only have a bit over one acre with a small fruit orchard. I teeterd over the want or need issue along time before I made up my mind and bought a BX23.
Best investment I ever made. I don't care if I just use it once a week. It's there anytime I need it and it's already save both my ass and my back.
The old ladies next husband may get it after I'm gone but I'm enjoying it now.
"GO FOR IT" ....
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 | beagle
Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 1333 Michigan
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2004-03-15 79995
I'm being buried with mine. ....
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| kubotaguy
Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 360 Shepherdstown, WV
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2004-03-15 79996
I can't show my wife too much about my machine or she's liable to bury me with it!!!!! ....
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 | blizzard
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 282 Central Maine
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2004-03-16 80008
The older I get the more I wish I'd followed the rule 'Work Smarter Not Harder'
Work is work though, even with my L3130HST helping. What I have found is that I can tackle jobs I would not otherwise even consider doing myself. At the end of the day, (or maybe even an hour or two) I still have my share of aches and pains, the difference being they are not too severe and usually are gone by next morning. Each person has to evaluate his/her physical abilities, and try to work within a safe envelope. It does no good to avoid hand-digging a footer only to wrench your back attaching the equipment to the tractor, or doing simple maintenance.
By all means, get a tractor if you need one, can afford one, and realize that the tractor will do a great portion of the work, but there will still be a human component.
I wish I had my tractor 15 years ago, when I could really give it a workout!
Best of Luck,
bliz ....
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