By Keith Gribbins

 

A small tractor can be a versatile piece of iron. Ask any farmer, landscaper or large estate owner — a compact utility tractor is a great way to tackle that long “to do” list hanging up in your garage. Cut the grass, mulch the flowerbeds, bale hay, spread gravel, level a field, install that sprinkler system and then pick up dinner — it can tackle almost all of those labor-intensive chores.

If each Monday brings a whole new set of daily duties and odd jobs, then a tool-carrying tractor (with a nice set of attachments) might be the perfect solution. In fact, compact tractors (classified as compact utility tractors under 40-PTO hp) are one of the largest segments of compact equipment on the market today. In 2004 alone, approximately 160,000 compact tractors were sold in the North American marketplace, according to the manufacturers CE surveyed, and this year sales seem to be holding steady.

“In 2003, the industry experienced dynamic growth — it exploded. In 2004, it was still growing, but at a little bit slower pace. And this year it’s flattening out a bit.
We’re thinking around 160,000 for this year as well,” explains Sean Sundberg, brand manager of compact utility tractors with John Deere’s Worldwide Consumer & Commercial Equipment Division.

According to the Association of Equipment Manufacturer’s (AEM) June 2005 U.S. AG Flash Report, compact tractors sales have been slightly down this
year — 67,976 were sold from January to June, while 72,923 were sold from January to June in 2004 (that’s a percentage change of -6.8 percent). But even with that small drop in sales, manufacturers are still selling loads of machines.

“We’ve had excellent growth this year,” says Sean Bifani, Kubota product manager for compact tractors. “But the compact tractor market on a whole appears to be down a few points, depending on what statistics you look at.
I think the last two years of growth have been staggering for the market. This year is seems to have leveled off, but I’d have to say Kubota is doing very well right now.”

Industry sales are still huge and a growing number of companies are looking to cash in on those big numbers. The three market leaders are still Kubota, John Deere and New Holland — all three of which have decades of history in the compact tractor business. But over the last few years a number of manufacturers have been growing their market share in the industry — companies such as KIOTI, Mahindra, Cub Cadet, Case IH (a sister company of New Holland), Allmand, Massey Ferguson, McCormick, Branson and Homier. And not only is the number of
manufacturers increasing in the industry, but so are the numbers of models and choices.

“You look at the choices out there and go, ‘Wow. How do I pick the tractor I want?’” says Bifani. “Well, we don’t make it complex for our customers. We offer a tractor for almost every need at a variety of different price points. The best buying tip I could possibly give is to consult your local dealer and dig into their experience and find out what is going to best fit your needs.”

In fact, finding a qualified and convenient dealer will be the first step to buying a good compact tractor. CE suggests you drop by a variety of local dealers and test different brands to help jumpstart your selection process and give you a good idea of what makes a quality dealership.

“The dealer should have the interest of the customer as a top priority,” says Jackie Proctor, marketing coordinator for KIOTI. “They need to be willing to advise the customer on proper maintenance and how to properly operate the machine. And it’s important for your dealer to be able to provide parts and routine maintenance to your tractor [in a timely fashion].”

There are many ways to judge a good dealer. How long has the dealer been around? Do they have a good service department? How fast is maintenance turnaround? How friendly is the staff? What kind of local knowledge do they have (from ground conditions to equipment hauling laws)? Will they work with you on financing and warranties? And hey, can you get a demo?

“I’m going to want to at least put that tractor in the environment of where I’m going to use it to make sure I’m comfortable with it and to make sure it’s going to do the job,” says Sundberg. “Most of your better dealers will have a demonstrator unit at the dealership lot. Some dealers have a loader pile or an area where you can cut some grass, so you can play with it. Or make a request and ask, ‘Would it be possible to bring this machine out to where I’m going to use it and make sure it can do what I want?’ Not everyone will do that for you, but that kind of tells you who you want to do business with as well.”

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Jumping in the Driver’s Seat
Getting the chance to test drive a tractor is the perfect opportunity for buyers to explore their options — crunch those specs, quiz your dealer and get hands-on understanding of each tractor’s features. The best place to start is in the driver’s seat. Jump on the machine, strap on your seatbelt, wait for operating instructions from your dealer and then take it for a spin.

Take at least 15 to 20 minutes to get a good feel for how the unit operates. How easy are the controls? How simple is PTO engagement? How quick is the tractor? What kind of pushing power does it have with gravel or mulch? How safe does it feel? How high does the loader go up (and how quickly)? How complicated is the transmission? Overall, how easy is it to use?

“Ease of use is an important factor to consider,” says Sundberg. “There are a lot of baby boomers who are now buying these machines and being older, they don’t want to struggle with a rotary cutter or other rear implements, trying to put a driveshaft on. We’re looking at ways to make that easier to do and we’re also looking at ways to make this machine more user-friendly — more automobile like — so they can start using it almost immediately.”

Tracking performance features like ease of use is just as important as getting out and kicking the tires of your demo unit (while grilling your dealer with questions). A good place to start is horsepower range (both PTO and engine horsepower). AEM categorizes compact tractors by PTO horsepower — the rating of the power take off system for implements off the rear of the machine (i.e. how much power goes to the attachment). Typically 40 PTO hp and below are considered compact tractors, although some manufacturers will categorize 50 or 60 hp and below as compact.

The most popular PTO horsepower range for compact tractors is 20 to 25 PTO hp, according to the manufacturers CE surveyed. The most popular engine horsepower range is 25 to 30 hp (machines typically in the $15,000 to $20,000 range). But manufacturers know that every customer needs a distinct machine, so they make multitudes of horsepower categories for every type of buyer.

“There are a lot more competitors in the marketplace than 10 years ago, and there’s a lot more choices now in terms of horsepower,” notes Bifani. “If you look back 20 years, you had only a 17-hp tractor, a 25-hp tractor, a 30-hp tractor and a 34-hp tractor. The selections were a lot less abundant than they are today.”
Today, Kubota offers more than 20 different PTO horsepower choices in its L Series (24 to 44 PTO hp) and B Series (12.5 to 23 PTO hp) compact tractors. To decide on the right PTO horsepower for your compact tractor, you will need to consider your application, implement size and jobsite.

“You must consider the size of the job that you will be performing with your tractor — the terrain, soil and turf conditions — and match your tractor according to gross engine horsepower and PTO horsepower,” explains Proctor. “When choosing an implement, you should consider the PTO horsepower of your tractor, the tractor’s weight and consider the category of the three-point hitch. All tractor three-point hitches are classified as a category [typically from Cat 1 to Cat 4] to ensure that the implement will fit the tractor. Implement horsepower requirements should never exceed the horsepower output of the tractor.”

A good rule of thumb is to make sure your engine and PTO horsepower are similar. There will always be a discrepancy between the two specs (some parasitic loss of energy from the engine to the implement is unavoidable), but the smaller the discrepancy, the more efficient the tractor.

Along with questions on horsepower, make sure you ask your dealer about the tractor’s transmission choices — gearshift or hydrostatic? Today’s compact tractors come with two main transmission choices. A gearshift transmission is where an operator needs to manually use a clutch to change gear ratios between the engine and the drive wheels to lower and increase speeds and change direction, while a hydrostatic transmission doesn’t use a clutch — like an automatic transmission on a car.

With an infinite amount of speeds and no clutching, hydrostatics are much easier to drive for novice tractor operators, which has made them the most popular choice. But hydrostatic transmissions tend to be a little bit more expensive (typically about $800 to $1,000 more) and some might argue less efficient in certain applications.

“Consider carefully the choice between a gear-driven or hydrostatic transmission,” says Bifani. “For certain applications — like box blading — a gear-driven transmission may be a better choice. In ground-engaging applications, you might find a lot of strength and more versatility in a gear-driven transmission. It’s going to give you more power to the wheels at a greater number of speeds. It’s going to offer more control, depending on your soil conditions and departure angle. There are a lot of benefits outside of price where a gear-driven transmission is going to come in handy and a lot of people prefer them from a traditional sense.”

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Trimming Down Your Options
Besides horsepower and transmission, good compact tractors will have a long list of other features and options to inspect — wheels, attachments, price, safety, maintenance and those bells and whistles (like comfy cabs and air conditioning). Consult your dealer about jobsites and applications and the staff can help you trim down your choices when it comes to outfitter options.

A good place to start is with the tires. Picking the right set of wheels will keep jobsite restoration to a minimum and traction and speed to a maximum. The worksites of your compact tractor can help you select from one of the three main tires options: Ag tires — a heavy-duty tread designed for traction in muddy and tough terrain conditions; turf tires — a less aggressive tread meant for applications such as mowing and well-manicured grassy surfaces; or industrial-tread tires — a tread with excellent traction, yet soft enough to do minimal damage on turf surfaces.

“Our standard tire is typically an agricultural tire. You can also select an industrial tire, a great all-around tire, or a turf tire, for sensitive mowing functions,” explains Bifani. “An Ag tire, for example, is not a good selection for turf applications. An industrial tire is a less aggressive, very durable and more versatile. It’s going to be good for a wider variety of purposes away from the field, including residential or commercial applications.”

Coordinate your tires with your jobsite and application — same goes for your selection of attachments. A tractor is a pretty useless machine without a good set of attachments, so decide what jobs you need to do and then pick your perfect set of implements. The most popular implements today are backhoes, landscape rakes, mowers, posthole diggers and loaders.

Backhoes: Designed to dig deep holes and trenches, backhoe attachments can be used to help excavate for drainage, septic tanks, trees, sewer lines and other underground services. Tractor backhoes typically dig up to 8.5 ft in depth and cost between $8,000 and $14,000.

Landscape Rakes: Used to clear an area of debris, landscape rakes can remove rocks, brush, limbs and other material from a rough patch of land. They are also used to perform a final surface finish for seedbed preparation. Most compact tractor landscape rakes come in 5- and 8-ft widths with price ranges from $500 to $1,300.

Mowers: The most common compact tractor mowers are either finish mowers or rotary brush mowers. Finish mowers are used to maintain yards and well-groomed grass (belly or rear-mounted), while rotary cutters are used for maintaining pastures and fields. Finish mowers range from 5 to 22 ft in width and from $1,800 to $27,000 in price. Mowing widths for rotary cutters are typically 5 to 20 ft, ranging in price from $1,300 to $18,000.

Posthole Diggers: Posthole diggers bore narrow, but deep holes for fences, deck footings, trees and other excavating applications. Most tractor augers dig 3 or 4 ft in depth and cost between $230 and $1,900. Augers are available in various sizes, lengths and auger drives (hydraulic or planetary).

But the most popular implement would have to be the loader for the front of your compact tractor. Most units sold today come standard with a loader.

“It’s on nearly every tractor now,” says Sundberg. “And you can get different buckets — say a clamshell bucket that you can operate hydraulically. You can get heavy-duty buckets and larger, high-volume buckets for moving mulch. There are all types of different things you can do.”

Buckets and attachments are just another piece of the tractor puzzle. Safe and maintenance-free operations are two other pieces of that purchasing formula. Make sure the compact tractor you demo is designed with a variety of quick check maintenance items. Check for engine oil, hydraulic oil, air filters, fuel filters, battery, radiator and a simple PTO system. If you can’t readily get to things
like dip sticks and filters without flinging off panels, you should consider that heavily into the purchase price. Safety is just as important.

“If you are not buying a cab tractor, the machine is required to be equipped with a ROPS [roll over protection structure], as well as a seatbelt,” points out Proctor.
“The customer should be comfortable sitting on the tractor. Controls should be in easy reach and easy to understand. You should be able to reach all safety devises such as engine and PTO stop. Be sure to consult your owner’s manual for safety features and be sure to abide by your manufacturer’s safety guidelines.”

Keith Gribbins is managing editor of Compact Equipment.