My best gal and I have been contemplating purchasing a tractor for home use on our 2.4 acres of property. As I'm getting older some chores/projects are becoming a bit of work. My basic initial requirements are Loader, Belly mower and Backhoe. Additional implements will likely come with time.
Of course 80% of the time it would be used for lawn mowing duties, with plenty of dirt/gravel movement for home improvement projects and the occasional Virginia Blizzard/hurricane cleanup. The first "at hand" project is stump removals followed by some grading/leveling and potentially a french drain or two. The property is sloping (I have almost flipped the rider in a few spots while learning the yard) and we do have some trees/obstacles to maneuver around. My fear is wishing I had more power (of course) with the downside of having something too big that is overkill after the first initial use (wase of money?). This is something i plan on keeping to the grave (mine or its) as an investment for our future property uses and the kids/grandkids move away and i don't really want to deal with all the ins and outs of rental equipment.
My search has taken me to 2 models to choose from equipped with my desired equipment and are roughly the same size, though they are not quite apples to apples comparison, the JD is classified as a Sub-Compact and the Kubota is a Compact. As equipped the Kubota is $3k more than the JD. I will consider other Mfgrs recommendations I just don't know what else is out there.
1. John Deere 1025R (the 2xxx Series seemed too big and doesnt seem to have a belly mower option)
2. Kubota B2601 (the BX series seemed to small)
Both models seem equally capable and oddly enough they both have about the same engine Hp with an edge to the Kubota as it is a "real" tractor and the 3 point hitch will be compatible with any full size attachments
I have looked on the secondary market around here and anything worth having is either used up or priced like the wheels are made of gold. I also don't want to spend a lot of time fixing other peoples problems, i make enough of my own...
Thoughts and recommendations?
Thanks in advance