Wonder if anyone out there has any reasonable advice regarding the purchase of a tractor?

I have seen a 2nd hand one locally for 95K Baht, it is quite tidy and looks reasonably maintained.

The make is Chinese - it's a Taishan 2500. There are no attachments with it, will need to buy these separately.

I have around 20 Rai, clay/heavy soil that hasn't been turned for about 6 years.

Never had a tractor before, but am getting fed up of pushing the 6.5HP Honda around for days at a time just to keep the ###### grass down.

If anyone knows of this tractor, or generally tractors, could point me in the general direction of what to check. I am OK with the mechanics regarding diesel/petrol car/truck engines, but what are the specific things to check on a tractor?

What about price? Do you reckon it is reasonable/value?

Have been quoted 20K for a 6 blade plough, seems a fair price.

Many thanks

This is second hand information so take it for what it is worth. (Maybe nothing). I looked for a second hand tractor for a couple of years and asked a lot of questions during those two years. All who were in the business told me to avoid Chinese tractors. Parts are apparently difficult to get and according to them you WILL need parts. A LOT of parts. I couldn't find what I was looking for so I bought a new Yanmar. It is a four wheel drive and has 30 horsepower. It has enough power but is not heavy enough to pull a four disk plow. The tractor weighs about a ton. It runs a 60 inch rotary tiller very well and it pulls a three disk plow pretty well. The disk blades are 20 inches in diameter. The 6600 Fords pull a four disk plow and those blades are 24 inches in diameter.

This is second hand information so take it for what it is worth. (Maybe nothing). I looked for a second hand tractor for a couple of years and asked a lot of questions during those two years. All who were in the business told me to avoid Chinese tractors. Parts are apparently difficult to get and according to them you WILL need parts. A LOT of parts. I couldn't find what I was looking for so I bought a new Yanmar. It is a four wheel drive and has 30 horsepower. It has enough power but is not heavy enough to pull a four disk plow. The tractor weighs about a ton. It runs a 60 inch rotary tiller very well and it pulls a three disk plow pretty well. The disk blades are 20 inches in diameter. The 6600 Fords pull a four disk plow and those blades are 24 inches in diameter.

The JSSR auction in Bangna has 67 farming tractors for sale on 21-23 September at Bangna.  www.jssr.co.th

Traditionally you can get a servicable Ford 3000 for 100,000.  

10hp Jap tractors start at 25,000 and 25hp go under 100,000 depending which make to go for.   Kubota and Yanmar being the best choice as they have readily available parts.

My experience from my 20 Rai is that for you should be OK with a 20 hp tractor for 90 % of your needs.  I don't think you are going to need to break up 20 Rai everyday!   Rent a big ford to come in and break up your clay for a day and sit back and watch the fun.

After this a 20hp Kubota will work really great. Now if you have 50 rai then we have a very different situation.

PS Stay very far away from Chinese tractors!

Thanks Guys for the advice.

Guess my heart was ruling my head...I WILL keep away from Chinese tractors.

I will check out the Ford 3000, didn't really expect to be able to get Fords in that price range.

Cheers!