Tractors

[Cashboy]

I have been looking at buying a tractor and implements for the farm in Kumpawapi - Udonthani province.

The farm is only 20 rai but I am looking at buying another 20 rai over the next 3 years.

I was thinking of hiring out the tractor with driver to other farms as well.

 

What manufacturer and model size would you farmers recommend?

 

Should I buy new or second hand?

 

 

[Ron19]

I does depend on what you want to do with it. The farmers in our area swore by Kubota but now seem to be going for Yanmar as below. I don't know what the reason is, could be a reliability problem with Kubota.

 

 

[farmerjo]

Hi Cashboy,

I think it comes down to horses for course's.

Rice,sugar,cassava,others?

That will determine what size tractor and implements you decide to purchase.

The pto is also a major consideration,540/1000.

[Gary A]

I looked at Kubota and on the way home saw a Yanmar dealer. I stopped and looked at Yanmar. The Yanmar was more advanced with what they call Synchro Shift. It is on the steering column and without grinding and changing gears, you can go forward or backwards. That is very handy for small rice paddies and excellent when you are using the front blade. I bought a Yanmar. It really doesn't get hard use or a lot of hours put on it. It has been trouble free for about eight years now. It has eight gears forward and reverse plus a two speed power take off.

[Cashboy]

3 hours ago, farmerjo said:

Hi Cashboy,

I think it comes down to horses for course's.

Rice,sugar,cassava,others?

That will determine what size tractor and implements you decide to purchase.

The pto is also a major consideration,540/1000.

At the moment the 20 rai (8 acres) is used as follows:

8 rai of sugar cane

4 rai of yasmin rice  (1 crop)

4 rai of sticky rice (1 crop)

2 rai of ponds

The rest is farm buildings and unused land.

But shall increase the farm to 50 rai over the coming 5 years. I am waiting for Thais to sell at realistic prices instead of hearing their fantasy figures.

 

I intend to try and plant more food for home consumption and more fruit trees around the plot as opposed to just rice and sugar cane.

I also intend to do a lot of building work so will probably buy a front bucket loader for the tractor and maybe a deatchable back hoe or later a Kubota track digger machine.

I also would like to buy and pull a trailler on the tractor  and Toyota Hilux (possibly in the future with a Kubota tracking digger).

It also probably have to power a water bore machine  http://hydra-jett.com/1573687.html using the PTO.

 

The Yanmar EF 494 T looks interesting and on par with the Kubota L5018 DT which is 620,000 bt before discount.

 

Any idea what discount for cash one would get off the Kubota retail prices one should get for the tractor and accessories (plow, harrow, rotary and front bucket).

I recall that at one time Kubtioa wrere offering 50% off the implements when bought with new tractor.

 

What about a second hand tractor or am I better off buying new in the long term?

 

[Gary A]

45 minutes ago, Cashboy said:

At the moment the 20 rai (8 acres) is used as follows:

 

8 rai of sugar cane

 

4 rai of yasmin rice  (1 crop)

 

4 rai of sticky rice (1 crop)

 

2 rai of ponds

 

The rest is farm buildings and unused land.

 

But shall increase the farm to 50 rai over the coming 5 years. I am waiting for Thais to sell at realistic prices instead of hearing their fantasy figures.

 

 

 

I intend to try and plant more food for home consumption and more fruit trees around the plot as opposed to just rice and sugar cane.

 

I also intend to do a lot of building work so will probably buy a front bucket loader for the tractor and maybe a deatchable back hoe or later a Kubota track digger machine.

 

I also would like to buy and pull a trailler on the tractor  and Toyota Hilux (possibly in the future with a Kubota tracking digger).

 

It also probably have to power a water bore machine  http://hydra-jett.com/1573687.html using the PTO.

 

 

 

The Yanmar EF 494 T looks interesting and on par with the Kubota L5018 DT which is 620,000 bt before discount.

 

 

 

Any idea what discount for cash one would get off the Kubota retail prices one should get for the tractor and accessories (plow, harrow, rotary and front bucket).

 

I recall that at one time Kubtioa wrere offering 50% off the implements when bought with new tractor.

 

 

 

What about a second hand tractor or am I better off buying new in the long term?

 

 

 

 

If you can find a farang with a tractor that he bought new and with not too many hours on it, that should be OK. Dealers make worn out tractors look like new and I'd avoid them. 

[Ace of Pop]

Work Permit ?


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[Hereinthailand]

38 minutes ago, Ace of Pop said:

Work Permit ?

Stupid Question, just looking to stir up comments, nothing to do today ? Farming isnt allowed by foreigners so no work permit allowed. Now tell us how long you have been here and all the people you know blah blah blah

[Ace of Pop]

Most Ferangs just buy the Farm for Wife n Workers not walk around like Worzel Gumage, least the ones i know dont  

[farmerjo]

Kubotamax are a second hand tractor at most new dealers yards.

Like Gary says,stay away unless they have only a few hours on them.

They do come at least with a warranty period.

Big tractors have been working a furrow most of their lives and smaller one's in mud.

I have seen a few 47 hp kubota's with bonnets up working a rotary harrow in rice fields from overheating. 

[farmerjo]

30 minutes ago, Ace of Pop said:

Most Ferangs just buy the Farm for Wife n Workers not walk around like Worzel Gumage, least the ones i know dont  

I do otherwise i would be stuck in the workshop repairing everything.

Two birds,one stone.

[weegee]

Just make sure you buy a YANMAR....and you will be ok. Dont buy 2nd hand in Thailand unless you know the previous owner and what he used the machine for.....

If you want any parts for the Yanmar....just google YANGMA, and you will get the same genuine parts that are supplied here, which are made in China....lol.

[kickstart]

I am going to go against the grain ,why not buy a Ford 6610, 82 hp  with the land the op has ,and his expansion  plans he will do no more than100  hours work a year? , including some contract work  with 82 hp  on tap ,the tractor will not  be working over hard ,complied with  50 hp Japanese  tractor , doing a similar job , with out checking on prices you should be able to get  6610 for 3-400 000 baht ,maybe cheaper . 4 wheel drive would be nice, but more expensive   farmerjo  has one ,for his 100 rie . 

Some one is going to say ,a second hand Ford  in Thailand ,will be an oil burner ,well shot ,  have seen many  a  Ford ,straight off the boats ,on to a farm ,used for a few years ,then the owner spends 30- 40 000 baht  on a rebuild ,then they go on for another  10 years ,one near me ,had a  new paint job , new Ford stickers, looked like a new tractor ,labour  is still relatively cheap ,these Fords are easy to work on ,spare parts  are easy to find ,not over expensive , our local sugar cane  mill  is open ,over the  few weeks they will be plenty of  6610's hauling  sugar cane ,15 ton of cane ,about 8 ton on tractor and trailer they just keep going ,and going .

Ps, I do not work for Ford ,just been observing  for the past ,lot of years . 

[Gary A]

Kickstart makes a lot of good points Those old Fords will go forever and all the mechanics are able to work on them. Parts are readily available. The problem is that they are big  heavy tractors and most are used by per hour drivers. Hobby and small farmers tend to want much smaller tractors. My little Yanmar is an EF312. Four wheel drive 31 HP. As far as preparing ground for sugar cane, it is cheaper to hire someone with a big Ford to do the ridging for planting. That only needs done every three or four years. My rototiller is big enough to cover the wheel marks and the three disk plow is better for small rice paddies or other crops. It struggles to move truckloads of dirt but it gets the job done. To me a smaller tractor made more sense than a big Ford unless you plan to do custom work. That brings up another problem, the drivers won't take care of your equipment and they will beat the hell out of it. My small Thai wife is comfortable driving the little Yanmar and after a lot of practice she is able to back up and maneuver  both the big and small trailers. She earns extra rice from pulling tak taks and their trailers out of the muddy fields. Tak taks are useless pulling trailers of rice out of muddy fields.

[wayned]

Too bad you're no going to grow corn or beans.  I could get you one of these.  I've imported three from the US in the past 4 years.  I've never seen a new tractor around US mostly Ford 6610's, 8210's and a lot of small Kubota's.  There's three brand new Class sitting on consignment at the New Holland dealer, but there's no new Ford, New Hollands , Yanmars. Izekis or Kubotas to be found anywhere.  Our Coop uses all of the above, all bought used.

[farmerjo]

Can i add,whatever you buy make sure it's got FWA.

You will regret it if you don't.

[Hereinthailand]

Kubota made a wise business decision years ago to build a plant here to manufacture tractors thus no import duty so they can sell tractors cheaper than anyone else. Saying that I would not buy one as I think like in the us over the years as they got more market share quality went down. The yanmar would be my choice right now for a small to mid size workhorse, but the ford is the best choice in a large size machine for all the reasons stated in other posts. Import duties and customs are the biggest factors holding down agriculture advances in this country.

[wayned]

6 hours ago, farmerjo said:

Can i add,whatever you buy make sure it's got FWA.

You will regret it if you don't.

I second FWA!  But I do know someone that thinks that tracks are the best thing since sliced bread but can't remember exactly who!

[farmerjo]

4 hours ago, wayned said:

I second FWA!  But I do know someone that thinks that tracks are the best thing since sliced bread but can't remember exactly who!

It's funny you should say that Wayned

This latest track machine i have is old but the real deal.(370,000 baht)

Light foot print,85 horsepower,three point linkage with down force pressure,

540/1000 rpm pto,front blade,air conditioning,two spare hydraulic remotes

and gps installed.

If i had of bought that when i came to Thailand there would have been no need for the other two tractors and a heap of implements with a saving in excess of a million baht.

So it's very important to way up the pros and cons of where you are now and where you want to be in ten years time.

 

[wayned]

6 hours ago, farmerjo said:

It's funny you should say that Wayned

This latest track machine i have is old but the real deal.(370,000 baht)

Light foot print,85 horsepower,three point linkage with down force pressure,

540/1000 rpm pto,front blade,air conditioning,two spare hydraulic remotes

and gps installed.

If i had of bought that when i came to Thailand there would have been no need for the other two tractors and a heap of implements with a saving in excess of a million baht.

So it's very important to way up the pros and cons of where you are now and where you want to be in ten years time.

 

Can't wait until you install the satellite TV antenna!  If it could clean the house, cook and do laundry I might be in the market for one!

[farmerjo]

16 hours ago, wayned said:

Can't wait until you install the satellite TV antenna!  If it could clean the house, cook and do laundry I might be in the market for one!

Sometimes if there's to much rar rar.there's no better place to hide. 

[Cashboy]

On 1/3/2017 at 1:26 PM, farmerjo said:

It's funny you should say that Wayned

This latest track machine i have is old but the real deal.(370,000 baht)

Light foot print,85 horsepower,three point linkage with down force pressure,

540/1000 rpm pto,front blade,air conditioning,two spare hydraulic remotes

and gps installed.

If i had of bought that when i came to Thailand there would have been no need for the other two tractors and a heap of implements with a saving in excess of a million baht.

So it's very important to way up the pros and cons of where you are now and where you want to be in ten years time.

 

 

That looks a really nice bit of kit and very clean.

How old is that machine?

Where did you find that and pick that up from?

 

 

[farmerjo]

It's 17 years old.I bought it from a Lopburi machinery dealer.

I'm a mechanical fitter by trade so do all my own maintenance and repairs.

Knowing your machine and finding a good after market parts back up system is the key and been challenging to set up initially.

We have a lot of heavy red and blue clays here which used to make it impossible to get on the land after august till november.

Land up your way maybe more user friendly loam or sandier soils which drains better which a normal tractor with the steel wheel extensions will be suffice if needed.

I went and looked at another machine like mine around Chonburi,it was a Mitsubishi MKM-100,450,000 baht,more horsepower,tracks in better condition although the paint work was faded.

Unfortunately the salesman was not on site and the other employees seemed hesitant to talk to a farang.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy4DHMgkiAY

[JaseTheBass]

Too bad you're no going to grow corn or beans.  I could get you one of these.  I've imported three from the US in the past 4 years.  I've never seen a new tractor around US mostly Ford 6610's, 8210's and a lot of small Kubota's.  There's three brand new Class sitting on consignment at the New Holland dealer, but there's no new Ford, New Hollands , Yanmars. Izekis or Kubotas to be found anywhere.  Our Coop uses all of the above, all bought used.

Do Ford still make tractors? I thought New Holland bought that division?

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[Rc2702]

On 02/01/2017 at 9:58 AM, Ace of Pop said:

Work Permit ?


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Record player

[Cashboy]

On 1/8/2017 at 1:04 AM, farmerjo said:

It's 17 years old.I bought it from a Lopburi machinery dealer.

I'm a mechanical fitter by trade so do all my own maintenance and repairs.

Knowing your machine and finding a good after market parts back up system is the key and been challenging to set up initially.

We have a lot of heavy red and blue clays here which used to make it impossible to get on the land after august till november.

Land up your way maybe more user friendly loam or sandier soils which drains better which a normal tractor with the steel wheel extensions will be suffice if needed.

I went and looked at another machine like mine around Chonburi,it was a Mitsubishi MKM-100,450,000 baht,more horsepower,tracks in better condition although the paint work was faded.

Unfortunately the salesman was not on site and the other employees seemed hesitant to talk to a farang.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy4DHMgkiAY

That mitsubishi looks good also.

I gather the parts would be easier to get hold of as well as a Mitsubishi.

The 3 point will take standard tractor plows and farrows?

Of course you have to leave it on the farm and can't really use it to take trailers onto the roads.

 

[farmerjo]

You would have to do your research on parts in Thailand but are more common worldwide.

Yes the linkage is universal and with pin adaptors can use cat1-cat3 implements.

You could run a trailer behind to cart sugar as the tracks are rubber and ok for dirt road use.

Biggest downfall with them is they only have a top speed of about 10 kph which is why standard wheel tractors are more popular with greater ground speed,also the wear and tear factor.

I would way on the side of caution if you intend to hire out whatever tractor you end up with unless you inspect the land prior,have seen many a tree stump destroy implements and rocky ground take chunks out of plough discs,not to mention a rear tyre on a decent size tractor will set you back 20k plus.Lastly Thai operators have a weird way of operating by using the foot throttle to control rpm and ground speed which quite often causes over heating of engine and hydraulics.Maybe different parts of the world do it differently but i was always taught to find the right rpm and gear in relation to load and leave it set.  

Are you any closer to having a preference on a brand,model and horsepower?

[Cashboy]

13 hours ago, farmerjo said:

You would have to do your research on parts in Thailand but are more common worldwide.

Yes the linkage is universal and with pin adaptors can use cat1-cat3 implements.

You could run a trailer behind to cart sugar as the tracks are rubber and ok for dirt road use.

Biggest downfall with them is they only have a top speed of about 10 kph which is why standard wheel tractors are more popular with greater ground speed,also the wear and tear factor.

I would way on the side of caution if you intend to hire out whatever tractor you end up with unless you inspect the land prior,have seen many a tree stump destroy implements and rocky ground take chunks out of plough discs,not to mention a rear tyre on a decent size tractor will set you back 20k plus.Lastly Thai operators have a weird way of operating by using the foot throttle to control rpm and ground speed which quite often causes over heating of engine and hydraulics.Maybe different parts of the world do it differently but i was always taught to find the right rpm and gear in relation to load and leave it set.  

Are you any closer to having a preference on a brand,model and horsepower?

 

I have read everyone's coments and am inclined to buy new now as believe that if I maintain it should last many years.

 

I am thinking of going for Kubota because there seem to be so many dealers and hoping therefore easy for replacement parts and competative prices.

The Kubota L series has a proper loading bucket available and think that this would be useful for construction work as intend to build some farm buildings and a small house.

I am also looking at a detachable back hoe from South Korea that is available for Kubota machines.  I am not sure if they are any good though but see them on USA web sites.

 

The farm is only 20 rai and I am hoping to buy 16 rai more soon.  

I am looking at the tractor being able to be contracted out to other farms if in demand but not that bothered.

 

I was looking at a Kubot L 5018  (50 HP)

Not sure whether to get the L 5018 VT (list price 635,000) or L 5018 DT (list price 620,000)  as not sure what the difference is.

Kubota Front Loader Bucket LA588 (list price 178,500 )

Kubota Disc Harrow DH 245 - 6F  Heavy Plus  (list price 46,300)

Kubota Disc Plow DP 224 F  Heavy Plus 2 (list price 40,300)

Kubota Rotary (about 63,000)

 

I am interested to see what discount I can get on an order like that.

A few years back i saw 10% off the tractor and 50% off the implements when bought at the same time as the tractor.

 

From my experience with Kubota in Udonthani last time, you go in get a price with a good discount, hesitate and they give you a further 10,000 bt discount and then leave it a couple of weeks and you then keepm getting phone calls from the dealer offering a further reduction in price.

 

I shall look at building a trailer for it that can also be towed by a pick up truck.

 

I am serious considering buying a water bore drilling tool to run off the PTO of the tractor.

 

It would probably make more sense, money wise, to just hire a tractor when required for 20 to 40 rai but looking long term at expansion of the farm and want to have a go myself.

 

I welcome for any advise and criticism to contemplate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 11, 2017 by Cashboy

[farmerjo]

I think the 50 horsepower range is about right and flexible to your needs,good choice.

Considering you place a high value on the FEL and building work,did you have a look at a sugar cane loader and what sort of buckets,work platforms could be used on it.

https://www.google.co.th/search?q=sugar+cane+loader+ford+6610&espv=2&biw=1360&bih=662&tbm=isch&imgil=wQHx5K_jrj8wOM%3A%3BNyx7EWSqlp2_CM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.kailashtradingcompany.in%252Fsugarcane-loader.htm&source=iu&pf=m&fir=wQHx5K_jrj8wOM%3A%2CNyx7EWSqlp2_CM%2C_&usg=__nuYKPiilMrDcAcm88ymG8ZmG1pE%3D&ved=0ahUKEwi6s4PbzbvRAhXGpo8KHS_hCXEQyjcIJg&ei=P_B2WPqXDsbNvgSvwqeIBw#imgrc=wQHx5K_jrj8wOM%3A

 

[farmerjo]

http://www.sksthailand.com/content-FrontLoader-4-4757-50039-2.html