Well... So far I have talked to:
Foothills tractor about a Mahindra EMax 22
Ag-Pro about a John Deere 1023E
Fouts Tractor about Kubota BX23S
Branson about a 2400
Some dealership in Atlanta about a Yanmar
So far, apples to apples, the best deal on a small tractor locally is a John Deere 1023 for $12,500 with 60 month bumper to bumper warranty and 60 month 0% financing. The next best deal seams to be the Mahindra eMax 22 from Foothills for $13,500 with 60 months bumper to bumper and 60 month 0% financing. The Mahindra is all steel and is quite a bit heavier than the John Deere and if you add the excavator to both tractors, then the Mahindra is the better deal at $18,000 vs $22,000 for the John Deere.
The thing for me that has led me away from the used tractor market - where I started - is this:
Let's say I buy a used tractor for $10k and pay cash for it. Well, I basically have pulled $10k out of my savings to buy a pig in a poke. On the other hand I can buy basically the same tractor new for $12k with a 5 year comprehensive warranty and 0% financing and $10k of my savings stays in my investments.
Tractors ain't like cars and drop like rocks in depreciation. With most cars it makes sense to buy used. With tractors apparently, not so much.
To add to this, I've talked to a few more dealerships and the best deals I've found so far are:
1. The John Deere 1023 with FEL for $12.5k with 60 months, full warranty, 0% financing, and free pick up and delivery. ($218 per month for 60 months)
2. A used Mahindra Max22 with FEL and 384 hours for $7500 (I would of course just take the money out of savings and buy this one.)
3. A new LS 125 with FEL and backhoe for $16.5k but it only has a 24 month full warranty and a 72 month power train warranty and 5.9% financing ($240 per month for 72 months)
Not that familiar with the LS tractors, but I've watched some videos of a guy that does lots of stuff with his and the little tractor can get it done around the homestead. Plus the LS tractor has a lot of features that other tractors in the same class don't have.
I'm still leaning towards the John Deere, mainly for the warranty and the 0% but also because I have been talking to a guy in Huntsville that has an almost brand new backhoe for it and I can buy it for $4k cash.
I'm going to look at the Mahindra on Friday and bringing cash just in case, but I don't know how big a deal it would be to find a backhoe for it later, plus I'm not 100% sure I want to take that much of my liquid assets and invest it in a used tractor with no warranty, knowing as little as I do about tractors in general.
If I go the John Deere route I don't have to worry about anything except a $218 payment every month. No issues with maintenance or repairs for 5 years. And even if I buy the backhoe attachment, I'll still only have $16.5k in it and I can always add some pull behind attachments later as I figure out what I need. The warranty will take me through to retirement and then it will be paid off when I retire.
However there is a lot to be said for buying the used Mahindra and remaining debt free, and just dealing with any issues and repairs as they come up. And hope I could find a backhoe later when I feel like I could really use one. The other thing about the Mahindra, is that if I ever decided I wanted more tractor, based on used tractor prices I have been looking at, I could easily get my money back out of the Mahindra.
