Hi,
i was wondering if anyone could help. im looking for a compact tractor below £2000. it will be used for mowing.
the only place i have been able to find a dfecent tractor within my pricerange is ebay - but im not so keen on buying something i havent seen or tested.
does anyone know of a place where i can get what i want for the price that is preferably not an auction. And any suggestioons as to the make model that i need?

thanks for any help

Are you looking for a compact tractor or a ride-on lawnmower? If it is a
ride-on lawnmower, then try Focus DIY. We bought one from them a couple of
years ago (under £1,000) and we have been quite happy with it.

We have also bought items from ebay - in particular a compact tractor(Iseki)
complete with rotavator and a tipping trailer. We are very pleased with both
items. I think the secret is (a) be prepared to ask realistic questions of
the seller and (b) look at the seller's feedback. One thing always to bear
in mind with ebay is the cost of transportation. We were lucky with both the
tractor and trailer - neither were a million miles away from us.

Jeanne Stockdale


"Mithral_j" wrote in message
...

Hi,
i was wondering if anyone could help. im looking for a compact tractor
below £2000. it will be used for mowing.
the only place i have been able to find a dfecent tractor within my
pricerange is ebay - but im not so keen on buying something i havent
seen or tested.
does anyone know of a place where i can get what i want for the price
that is preferably not an auction. And any suggestioons as to the make
model that i need?

thanks for any help


--
Mithral_j

Thanks for the reply - i already own a great ride on but i think i am demanding too much of it. as a result i feel i should get a compact tractor
thanks for your advice on ebay although i am slightly nervous about spending my hard earned cash on something i havent seen

would you reccomend iseki as a good make?
thank you



"Are you looking for a compact tractor or a ride-on lawnmower? If it is a
ride-on lawnmower, then try Focus DIY. We bought one from them a couple of
years ago (under £1,000) and we have been quite happy with it.

We have also bought items from ebay - in particular a compact tractor(Iseki)
complete with rotavator and a tipping trailer. We are very pleased with both
items. I think the secret is (a) be prepared to ask realistic questions of
the seller and (b) look at the seller's feedback. One thing always to bear
in mind with ebay is the cost of transportation. We were lucky with both the
tractor and trailer - neither were a million miles away from us."

Jeanne Stockdale

If you are only looking for something for lawn mowing, then my hubby thinks
that a compact tractor is not the right tool. You really need a dedicated
ride on lawn mower/tractor. Had a quick look on ebay and for example
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...ayphotohosting
might be suitable.

A lot depends on the type and size of area you are mowing. If it is
relatively small and flat, then the cheaper single fixed deck should be
fine. If it is uneven and a large area, a floating twin deck would be more
suitable.

Carry on looking on ebay but see if you can find something that you could go
an view. Also try local hire shops. We have one near us who also sells
second hand machines.

Jeanne Stockdale

"Mithral_j" wrote in message
...

Thanks for the reply - i already own a great ride on but i think i am
demanding too much of it. as a result i feel i should get a compact
tractor
thanks for your advice on ebay although i am slightly nervous about
spending my hard earned cash on something i havent seen

would you reccomend iseki as a good make?
thank you



"Are you looking for a compact tractor or a ride-on lawnmower? If it is
a
ride-on lawnmower, then try Focus DIY. We bought one from them a couple
of
years ago (under £1,000) and we have been quite happy with it.

We have also bought items from ebay - in particular a compact
tractor(Iseki)
complete with rotavator and a tipping trailer. We are very pleased with
both
items. I think the secret is (a) be prepared to ask realistic questions
of
the seller and (b) look at the seller's feedback. One thing always to
bear
in mind with ebay is the cost of transportation. We were lucky with
both the
tractor and trailer - neither were a million miles away from us."

Jeanne Stockdale


--
Mithral_j

Sorry for the late reply and thankyou for yours. the item you describe on ebay is almost exaxtly the same as my current one (although a bit cleaner and newer)
the problem i have is with collecting wet long grass - cutting down 2ft long grass, i also get fed up with those silly belts snapping, punctures and getting stuck. i also tow alot (wood fired rayburn) uphill.
is a mower the right tool or compact (with the latter i also ofcourse have the option of a whole host of other tools)


"If you are only looking for something for lawn mowing, then my hubby thinks
that a compact tractor is not the right tool. You really need a dedicated
ride on lawn mower/tractor. Had a quick look on ebay and for example
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...ayphotohosting
might be suitable.

Jeanne Stockdale"

Given what you want to do, then a compact tractor is going to be the best
option. Iseki and Kubota seem to be the best buys - although not
particularly cheap. A couple of useful websites for you to look at are
www.smalltractors.co.uk and www.minitrac.co.uk Both of these have new/used
tractors and accessories for sale

Good luck

Jeanne


"Mithral_j" wrote in message
...

Sorry for the late reply and thankyou for yours. the item you describe
on ebay is almost exaxtly the same as my current one (although a bit
cleaner and newer)
the problem i have is with collecting wet long grass - cutting down 2ft
long grass, i also get fed up with those silly belts snapping, punctures
and getting stuck. i also tow alot (wood fired rayburn) uphill.
is a mower the right tool or compact (with the latter i also ofcourse
have the option of a whole host of other tools)


"If you are only looking for something for lawn mowing, then my hubby
thinks
that a compact tractor is not the right tool. You really need a
dedicated
ride on lawn mower/tractor. Had a quick look on ebay and for example
http://tinyurl.com/6yhtt
might be suitable.

Jeanne Stockdale"


--
Mithral_j

Thanks for the speedy reply.
unfortunately theyre all above my budget
i guess ill just have to wait for the right one to come up
thanks for all your help
Mithral


"Given what you want to do, then a compact tractor is going to be the best
option. Iseki and Kubota seem to be the best buys - although not
particularly cheap. A couple of useful websites for you to look at are
www.smalltractors.co.uk and www.minitrac.co.uk Both of these have new/used
tractors and accessories for sale

Good luck

Jeanne"

On Tue, 19 Oct 2004 15:34:43 +0100, Mithral_j
wrote:


Thanks for the speedy reply.
unfortunately theyre all above my budget
i guess ill just have to wait for the right one to come up
thanks for all your help
Mithral

Just be very careful of the amount of work it's done and of the
quality of the maintenance its's had if you're looking for something
really cheap
You can get landed with some very large repair bills. We've just had
one for over £1800 - this is for a well maintained 10 year old machine
that has worked hard and long (about 5000 hours - the engines are said
to be good for 10000 hours) and it has been used carefully. Most of
the cost - over £1100 was labour, that's around 3 days work at £45 per
hour. Some repairs require the machine to be split in two and the
engine to be removed - this was one of them.

=================================================

Rod

Weed my email address to reply.
http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html

"Rod" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 19 Oct 2004 15:34:43 +0100, Mithral_j
wrote:


Just be very careful of the amount of work it's done and of the
quality of the maintenance its's had if you're looking for something
really cheap
You can get landed with some very large repair bills. We've just had
one for over £1800 - this is for a well maintained 10 year old machine
that has worked hard and long (about 5000 hours - the engines are said
to be good for 10000 hours) and it has been used carefully. Most of
the cost - over £1100 was labour, that's around 3 days work at £45 per
hour. Some repairs require the machine to be split in two and the
engine to be removed - this was one of them.

=================================================

Rod

Weed my email address to reply.
http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html

Hi Rod,
Just wondering what make and model your machine is and where the repair was
undertaken.
We have an Iseki 2160 .
Regards
Pete www.thecanalshop.com

Thanks for the reply - can i ask which areas these repairs were in so i have an idea where to check on the tractor for problems. may i also ask on which make this was and should i avoid these?
again any ideas of quality dealers (also cheap) or should i buy privately
thankyou for sharing you knowlege
mithral

"Just be very careful of the amount of work it's done and of the
quality of the maintenance its's had if you're looking for something
really cheap
You can get landed with some very large repair bills. We've just had
one for over £1800 - this is for a well maintained 10 year old machine
that has worked hard and long (about 5000 hours - the engines are said
to be good for 10000 hours) and it has been used carefully. Most of
the cost - over £1100 was labour, that's around 3 days work at £45 per
hour. Some repairs require the machine to be split in two and the
engine to be removed - this was one of them."

On Wed, 20 Oct 2004 14:15:23 +0000 (UTC), " Jeanne Stockdale"
wrote:


Just wondering what make and model your machine is and where the repair was
undertaken.
We have an Iseki 2160 .
Regards
Pete www.thecanalshop.com

Answering you and Mithral. This is a Kubota B1750HST, imho one of the
best of the bunch. We bought it 'ex demo' with 250 hours on it about
10 years ago. Since then it's done 5000 hours of work, some of it
operating implements designed for slightly larger tractors. It's
worked hard but been well maintained. This is only the second major
repair we've had done and I can only really justify spending that much
on it because we have a backhoe made only for this tractor - that is
indispensible to ourselves in the garden and to the estate building
team. Labour costs are around £45 per hour at our local Kubota dealer.
We know and trust the folk there from the MD to the fitters and
storekeepers and would be happy to recommend them to anybody. There
are probably cheaper firms around but we like to work with people we
can trust. The dealer is Major R Owen Ltd of Penryndeudraeth and they
operate over the whole of North Wales, Mid Wales, Cheshire, Shropshire
and a good bit of N W England. Their rep drops off spares etc for us,
collects/delivers machines and shows us anything new he thinks may be
useful to us. Most items are left with us for a few days for us to
test under our conditions. I would expect this kind of service from a
good dealer but not from the cheapjacks. We need good kit, operating
properly to run this garden on a minimal staff so we use suppliers who
can deliver that.
We own and use 2 Kubota machines and I've operated and evaluated
several others as well as the New Holland equivalent models and I've
never been tempted to change to another make or another dealer. I
can't comment on other makes but I think good maintenance and the
choice of a suitably rated machine are more important than the label
on the side when it comes to getting good service from the machine.

=================================================

Rod

Weed my email address to reply.
http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html

"Rod" wrote in message
...

Answering you and Mithral. This is a Kubota B1750HST, imho one of the
best of the bunch. We bought it 'ex demo' with 250 hours on it about
10 years ago. Since then it's done 5000 hours of work, some of it
operating implements designed for slightly larger tractors. It's
worked hard but been well maintained. This is only the second major
repair we've had done and I can only really justify spending that much
on it because we have a backhoe made only for this tractor - that is
indispensible to ourselves in the garden and to the estate building
team. Labour costs are around £45 per hour at our local Kubota dealer.
We know and trust the folk there from the MD to the fitters and
storekeepers and would be happy to recommend them to anybody. There
are probably cheaper firms around but we like to work with people we
can trust. The dealer is Major R Owen Ltd of Penryndeudraeth and they
operate over the whole of North Wales, Mid Wales, Cheshire, Shropshire
and a good bit of N W England. Their rep drops off spares etc for us,
collects/delivers machines and shows us anything new he thinks may be
useful to us. Most items are left with us for a few days for us to
test under our conditions. I would expect this kind of service from a
good dealer but not from the cheapjacks. We need good kit, operating
properly to run this garden on a minimal staff so we use suppliers who
can deliver that.
We own and use 2 Kubota machines and I've operated and evaluated
several others as well as the New Holland equivalent models and I've
never been tempted to change to another make or another dealer. I
can't comment on other makes but I think good maintenance and the
choice of a suitably rated machine are more important than the label
on the side when it comes to getting good service from the machine.

=================================================

Rod

Weed my email address to reply.
http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html


Thanks fot the info.Sounds like a good firm to deal with. I will bear them
in mind when I need something.
Presume they will do Iseki as well.

Pete

Thanks for replying
you machine has been well used then. what you have said reinforces my decision to try to get a kubota or iseki.
thank you

"Answering you and Mithral. This is a Kubota B1750HST, imho one of the
best of the bunch. We bought it 'ex demo' with 250 hours on it about
10 years ago. Since then it's done 5000 hours of work, some of it
operating implements designed for slightly larger tractors. It's
worked hard but been well maintained. This is only the second major
repair we've had done and I can only really justify spending that much
on it because we have a backhoe made only for this tractor - that is
indispensible to ourselves in the garden and to the estate building
team. Labour costs are around £45 per hour at our local Kubota dealer.
We know and trust the folk there from the MD to the fitters and
storekeepers and would be happy to recommend them to anybody. There
are probably cheaper firms around but we like to work with people we
can trust. The dealer is Major R Owen Ltd of Penryndeudraeth and they
operate over the whole of North Wales, Mid Wales, Cheshire, Shropshire
and a good bit of N W England. Their rep drops off spares etc for us,
collects/delivers machines and shows us anything new he thinks may be
useful to us. Most items are left with us for a few days for us to
test under our conditions. I would expect this kind of service from a
good dealer but not from the cheapjacks. We need good kit, operating
properly to run this garden on a minimal staff so we use suppliers who
can deliver that.
We own and use 2 Kubota machines and I've operated and evaluated
several others as well as the New Holland equivalent models and I've
never been tempted to change to another make or another dealer. I
can't comment on other makes but I think good maintenance and the
choice of a suitably rated machine are more important than the label
on the side when it comes to getting good service from the machine.

Mithral_j wrote in message ...
Hi,
i was wondering if anyone could help. im looking for a compact tractor
below £2000. it will be used for mowing.


Have you considered one with hooves, not wheels? You might be able to
get a servicable one for a few hundred quid, and although the running
repairs cost a bit it sounds like you could provide most of the fuel
from your own resources!

An interesting idea - and not without its own advantages.
But unfortunately impractical for my purpose
Thankyou for the idea anyway


"Have you considered one with hooves, not wheels? You might be able to
get a servicable one for a few hundred quid, and although the running
repairs cost a bit it sounds like you could provide most of the fuel
from your own resources!"