I've been looking for an affordable small tractor for a couple of years, but don't really know that much about them. I have a lot more experience with excavators, skid steers, bulldozers and telehandlers over the years. I'm not tied into any particular brand, and in general low hours means more to me than date of manufacture. JD and Kubota are the most common brands I see around here. At the end of the day I'd like something around 30 hp with a loader, backhoe, cultivator and maybe a snow blower. I've been told by the local dealer to avoid any Kubota earlier than the mid 90's due to parts availability. I haven't gotten any such warnings about the JDs. I'm going to look at a 1996 JD 870 with a loader and hoe on its this week. 1,000 hrs on the clock and in the pics paint looks good. Asking price on that one is 16,000. Any advice?