New to the Orange Club

[Fear]

Where to start? Oh the IMPORTANT PARTS!

Soon to be taking possession of a brand spanking new L2501 and toys. Comes with the 60" front loader, 60" box blade, bought a 60" finish mower and the backhoe attachment with 12" bucket.

We have been living on small acreages for the last 20 years. Over these 20 years I have worn out 4 riding lawn mowers. Each time I get close to wearing one out I start looking at tractors then get scared away with pricing. 5 years ago we loved to a nicer small acreage, more trees a little bit more land. Once this started I have been renting a backhoe once a year to maintain the drive and do some erosion control. We have a "dry creek" running through the front part of our property.

Long story short, I bought a really good riding lawn mower this last time and lost the excuse for upgrade, but we have started doing more work around the property. I spreadsheeted the costs of backhoe and bobcat rentals for the next 5 years for projects and driveway maintenance... Showed that to the boss and got the greenlight for tractor sourcing.

I checked the Mahindra dealer for an eMax25 and implements, then checked the Kubota online pricing. got scared. Got approved for financing on the Mahindra and decided to call the Kubota dealer for an actual quote.

Long story short with the Kubota financing the better orange tractor winds up being cheaper over the life of the loan in spite of costing a good bit more.

I initially wanted one of the subcompact Kubotas, but after reading some reviews and checking pricing I decided to go with the L2501. It is a little bigger than I need but was cheaper than the subcompacts while again being in my opinion a better piece of equipment.

Anyways that is my Tractor Story.

As for me, when I am not working or doing projects at home I enjoy playing with grandkids or ignoring life from the chair in my impressive video gaming room

 

[Lil Foot]

Welcome aboard, sounds like you have done your homework & were overdue for some orange in your life!

 

[skeets]

I do hope you understand there is some dues here,,,, PICTURES MAN PICTURES we love our tractor porn and will cover your dues for a life time
Welcome to the orange

 

[Fear]

Welcome aboard, sounds like you have done your homework & were overdue for some orange in your life!

I have been researching tiny and small tractors for 10 years. We just were not at the point where I could take the leap on them. I have a strong dislike for second hand equipment and tools and new was outside of reality for us. Not sure why the aversion to used as I am ridiculously frugal... outside of tools and video gaming. I buy used trucks over new because I am frugal (cheap) but I tend to form a close personal bond with my tools

I do hope you understand there is some dues here,,,, PICTURES MAN PICTURES we love our tractor porn and will cover your dues for a life time
Welcome to the orange

The tractor porn will have to be posted Wednesday evening or Thursday evening depending on delivery. Dealer had to go pick up the backhoe attachment from one of their other sites. Salesman said Thursday at the latest.
We did get the pedal tractor with loader and front bucket for the grandkids. They will be super stoked when it arrives. We are very involved grandparents and get the babies every other weekend, at least

In the mean time a picture of my favorite ladies.

Fully clothed

Undressed for action

Funny that the service cart I bought 6 years ago matches the tractor I just bought

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Fear,

Congrats and Welcome!

You assessment is a wise way to make a big financial decision. I just ask my wife. She was a Cost Analyst in the AF for 20 years and always looks at the cost for renting vs buying. Even as a skeptical wife early on, she now admits that our slightly used Kubota has largely paid for itself already in three years and we will be money ahead come Fall when we plan to do much more yard work out front.

I am on five acres, most of which is inaccessible by tractor. Yet, I have used this thing so much and so often that, at Homey 'Po rental prices, the L3800 is paid for. I needed an excavator once so I rented it. Great. If I need it again, I'll rent it again. Otherwise, the FEL and implements are all I need.

Take care of it. Go slow at first. Be safe. Have FUN!

Ray

 

[RonBoyBX25D]

Welcome to the orange addiction, you will be amazed at what you can do & the savings you get by DIY. The grandkids will love it too, someday I will have some to show the way.

 

[85Hokie]

Welcome to the orange addiction, you will be amazed at what you can do & the savings you get by DIY. The grandkids will love it too, someday I will have some to show the way.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^What he said !!!^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[Tooljunkie]

Welcome to the forum. Looks like you will fit right in.lots of great people here willing to share their wealth of knowledge. I am suprised to see the word"frugal" used by someone else. Parsimonious is a word i also use when frugal just wont do it.
I am a huge fan of new to me good used stuff. Free is my favorite color.
My little kubota is nowhere near new,but its the handiest outdoor tool on my property. Moving stuff is a big thing,aparrently i collect stuff.

Snap-On drives right into my yard,as its my place of work as an auto repair business. Would love to replace all my cheap tools with snap-on but it would be a fortune.

Enjoy you new "investment"

 

[Daren Todd]

Snap-On drives right into my yard,as its my place of work as an auto repair business. Would love to replace all my cheap tools with snap-on but it would be a fortune.

Enjoy you new "investment"

50$ at a time my friend At least that's what a I've been doing for the past three years since the matco tool man drove his truck off into the lake to collect the insurance It adds up over time

 

[Fear]

Fear,

Congrats and Welcome!

You assessment is a wise way to make a big financial decision. I just ask my wife. She was a Cost Analyst in the AF for 20 years and always looks at the cost for renting vs buying. Even as a skeptical wife early on, she now admits that our slightly used Kubota has largely paid for itself already in three years and we will be money ahead come Fall when we plan to do much more yard work out front.

I am on five acres, most of which is inaccessible by tractor. Yet, I have used this thing so much and so often that, at Homey 'Po rental prices, the L3800 is paid for. I needed an excavator once so I rented it. Great. If I need it again, I'll rent it again. Otherwise, the FEL and implements are all I need.

Take care of it. Go slow at first. Be safe. Have FUN!

Ray

My spreadsheet skills and maths coupled with failing knees in my early 40s is what got me off the floor and job site into an office With the right graphing skills you can prove any point you want with a set of numbers

I actually drove a tractor on the weekends and all summer long for 5 years before I started driving at 15. Grew up in the panhandle of Texas. Decided farm life was way too boring for me and moved to "the big city"

Welcome to the forum. Looks like you will fit right in.lots of great people here willing to share their wealth of knowledge. I am suprised to see the word"frugal" used by someone else. Parsimonious is a word i also use when frugal just wont do it.
I am a huge fan of new to me good used stuff. Free is my favorite color.
My little kubota is nowhere near new,but its the handiest outdoor tool on my property. Moving stuff is a big thing,aparrently i collect stuff.

Snap-On drives right into my yard,as its my place of work as an auto repair business. Would love to replace all my cheap tools with snap-on but it would be a fortune.

Enjoy you new "investment"

I own a good bit of "cheap tools" not a fan of Crapsman but Harbor Freight tools can't be beat for certain tasks. All my wrenchs above 1 1/4" are China Specials as well as a good percentage of my hammers and clamps. For everything else there is Snapon and Matco

50$ at a time my friend At least that's what a I've been doing for the past three years since the matco tool man drove his truck off into the lake to collect the insurance It adds up over time

After 30 years of giving money every week to the tool guys I finally figured out the way to stop. DO NOT GET ON THE TRUCK. For the last 10 years of that my wife started asking if I really needed two of everything....
Spent most of my life working as a mechanic, industrial maintenance tech, and or carpenter when I needed a change or extra money.

 

[Fear]

Another bit about numbers, my wife informed me last night that it is very telling that I spent more on our new "lawn mower" than I spent on my last 4 trucks combined.

My reply "Yeah, but I still have 3 of those 4 trucks"

Count down is 1 to 2 DTT (Days Till Tractor)

Going to call the dealership, again, here in a few minutes.

 

[n3ckf]

I got my b2601 yesterday! Fun. Already discovered the annoying engine cutoff if you stand up while using the pallet forks...

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[Fear]

Another bit about numbers, my wife informed me last night that it is very telling that I spent more on our new "lawn mower" than I spent on my last 4 trucks combined.

My reply "Yeah, but I still have 3 of those 4 trucks"

Count down is 1 to 2 DTT (Days Till Tractor)

Going to call the dealership, again, here in a few minutes.

Dealership is installing the backhoe right now. Paperwork in the morning tomorrow with delivery tomorrow afternoon a good possibility

Might have to take an early day off to go play with the new toy tomorrow.

 

[redmaher]

My two orange babies.

Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk

 

[Fear]

OK so...

Signed the documents on Wednesday and expected a Thursday morning delivery. Delivery guy for the dealership got the days schedule mixed up. Which means I had taken Thursday morning off to take delivery of the tractor, was called at 10am and told it wouldn't be till 3pm. So I went to work...

Delivery guy called at 11:30 am and told me he was loaded and on his way... Dealership is 20 minutes from my house, work is 50 miles away..

Anywho, I am a happy camper.

Day of the signing and the little guy got his shared tractor.

Grand-daughter gets to sit on my tractor before I do.

Tractor comparison, she decided mine is almost as cool as the grand kids tractor. But just almost, mine apparently takes fuel, hers runs on food and water. Pedal power is better because it does not impact the environment... She is 8

Family picture, just because.

The tractors "working" together. Actually just a safe staged shot because she asked.

Anyways, I went to the dealer to get a B2601, FEL, Backhoe, 60" pull behind finish mower and box blade. It was the size I wanted would fit our 2 acres well and serve ok in the event we get the 6 acres next door next time it comes up for sale.

The dealer had a package deal on the L2501, I really had no interest in the mid PTO of the smaller tractor. The package deal made a L2501 with FEL and boxblade cheaper than the B2601 before FEL and boxblade.

The only downside is really a good thing anyways. It pushes me to thin out the trees a little bit more so that I can get the L2501 between them better.

I went back and forth over the addition of the backhoe. I really only need it once in a while and it adds a good bit to the price. But I would really have regretted not tacking it on when I got it so I did. When my construction company went belly up one of the things I held on to the longest was an old worn out Case backhoe. Really useless on a job site and a PITA to use around the house due to the size and the staggering amount of Hyd fluid it leaked, not to mention the complete lack of brakes. But I was always shocked at how many uses I found for the backhoe attachment. About 5 years ago I was offered a way more than the worn out old girl was worth and accepted the offer after the purchaser was made aware of all the faults of the machine.

Anyways, again, that is My Tractor Story

Hopefully between doing brakes and axle seals on the F150 this weekend, pulling the big block and 4 speed stick out of the 65 Chevy and prepping for a small block AND trying to get some more front end parts on the 91 3/4 ton Cummins Dodge this weekend I can get a few more things tore up around here....

Just kidding, going to do the brakes on the F150 so I can go to work next week and play on the new tractor all weekend