Fixin' to buy a new tractor

I went with a New Holland TC55DA-EHSS was the last small loader/tractor we bought.

Whatever you decide on, if the Deere comes with an electro-shuttle shift, get it. You'll love it for loader work. :)

Another tip. If it comes with the industrial tires, try to keep the front tires from going flat for long because if they bust off the rim, they're a real ***** to re-seat. O.k., that's two comments. :redface:

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Did you try seating the bead with ether?
 
My little New Holland lives at the cabin 30 miles from the nearest road. I had a couple of front flats that broke the bead, too. One while wallowing in the snow for the last quarter mile off the creek and through the woods on it's arrival trip. Very inconvenient. It did it a second time. The tire shop put a tube in it. I haven't had a problem since.
 

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Where I was in TX the mesquites made tube type tires impossible, the tubes wouldn't last a day. There was this purple tire sealer goo though that worked great at providing a puncture proof liner in the tire.
 
Where I was in TX the mesquites made tube type tires impossible, the tubes wouldn't last a day. There was this purple tire sealer goo though that worked great at providing a puncture proof liner in the tire.

We foam fill everything, worth it in the long run.
 
I'm just sitting here getting backhoe jealousy. Most of my projects I want to do next summer require one, and the little Ford ain't gonna cut it. :)
 
I'm just sitting here getting backhoe jealousy. Most of my projects I want to do next summer require one, and the little Ford ain't gonna cut it. :)

If you have the capital, you can use an old back hoe for fuel costs for a season. I've done several pools over the years and I just buy a back hoe for $2500-$4000 and sell it for that, or more, when I'm done with the project.
 
If you have the capital, you can use an old back hoe for fuel costs for a season. I've done several pools over the years and I just buy a back hoe for $2500-$4000 and sell it for that, or more, when I'm done with the project.


I do, but I'm not finding not much is currently available. We're back into a beginning of a construction cycle here, that was dead for a little too long, and construction places cut equipment purchases too far back. Normal cycle, but a bad time to be shopping big Tonka toys, I guess.

None of my projects are anything but personal stuff that won't make money, or even raise property value, so I can wait. Or just hire a backhoe guy when the time comes. We're talking digging out an area to put in a proper retaining wall, and a few radio tower bases, is all. Not even as big as a swimming pool but I'll probably be picky about how the wall thing is done.

Doing it slow with my own gear and only myself to cuss at if I don't like it, is a significant draw, instead of having to run the risk of some hoe driver who doesn't want to listen, doing it "their way". Haha. Plus if I hired one, I'd want to do the project in full all at once, and with my own gear and a non-critical timeframe, I could do it in sections. It's just an erosion thing on a hillside and I'd like to see how little can be done to stop it, without doing a massive project that would stop it cold, but be red times as expensive as necessary.

A good General Contractor would be another option and let them herd the cats, but most would laugh at the tiny size of the project.
 
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