First I want to tell you that buying a tractor isn't easy. It's not like a used car that you just search around find one hundred, look at five, and buy one. People don't sell tractors. They pass them down generations. They'll let them rot in a field because one day they're going to fix it up.
I've been looking for a couple of months but didn't get serious until a couple of weeks ago. Target was 30-50hp diesel, front end loader, and a bush hog. I found a David Brown Case on CL that seemed to have what I wanted. I contacted the lady through email and asked some questions. Everything seemed good so I told her I could come the next week. She replied that any day that week was fine so I responded that I'd be there Monday at noon. No response. I sent another email. No response. That Sunday evening I sent an email saying I couldn't drive 4 hours if I didn't hear from her. No response. Ad is still up.
Ok so I move on. There's two in Gainesville. Preferred is a industrial Massey Ferguson that's looking for trades. I call the guy and ask if he has a cash price. Turns out he's the make an offer type. When will people realize that just gets them low ball offers? The other is a Kioti that is smaller than I want but looks good and has the loader and bush hog I'll need. I text that guy and ask some questions. He answers them and then in the middle of the night he sends a text that if I send a deposit he'll hold it for me. In the morning I tell him that I'd want to look at it first. Last Thursday I load up and go look at Massey Ferguson first. I get there and I see old signs for equipment repair. Turns out the 80 year old guy used to do repair but he's retired now. Says he got this one in on trade. We walk up and first I notice that the hydraulic lines are severely cracked. He goes to start it and it's a very hard start. Looking at leaks and general condition I know this isn't the one. Time to move onto the Kioti. I text the guy asking if I can come look at it. He replies that he thinks someone is going to give him a deposit "sight unseen". Little hairs are raising up. Ok I tell him I have cash and can buy it that day. Ten minutes later he responds that he's sold it. Didn't feel good about the interaction and sure enough a few day later his ad is flagged for removal by CL. Pretty sure he was just trying to get people to send him deposits and there was no tractor.
Get home and look more. There's a "trucktor" on MP with an International badge and another David Brown down towards Tampa. Call the David Brown guy as it looks real nice. Turns out he's a retired guy and buys tractors and fixes them up as a hobby. Not a total rebuild but a good going thru to make sure they're good. He says there's someone in line ahead of me but he'll let me know either way. Friday morning I get up and start doing stuff around the house. Look at my phone and I see that he called an hour before. I call him back and he says that the guy passed but when I didn't answer he went down the list and it's sold to someone else. Ok then. Message trucktor guy and he's available Saturday afternoon from 1-6. I've found an auction in Georgia Saturday morning so plan is hit auction and if that doesn't work look at his.
Saturday morning I get all excited heading to the auction. I know there's a smaller Yanmar that looks good and some larger ones. Get there and check out the Yanmar. Good shape other than one cylinder leaking. I figure $3k is my max. I'm watching things and listening. I figure out that this isn't a one time auction like I thought. Seems they do this often and everything there is people trying to make profit instead of just liquidating stuff. Not the good buyers auction I wanted. There's like rows of E36 M3 laying on the ground in lots. Sure enough they start out on the rows of E36 M3. It's taking forever then I hear the auctioneer say after the next row they'll do the vehicles. Cool the Yanmar comes up first. It gets over 3k before I can even raise my hand. Sells for 4.5k. Next up is a Massey that you can see fluids dripping off it just sitting there not running. Bidding gets to $1400 and no one else. The guy that owns the land says he'll take 2k. Nope no one interested. They half heartily try to sell a Ford 3000 and then basically say that no one is interested in the tractors so they're moving on. WTF. There's another Ford 4000 I think that has a loader. I walk up to the boss man and tell him I'm interested in it. He says it's not his but he'll find the guy that owns it. I hang around another 30 minutes and leave. I later find that tractor on CL for 16k. Nope all the nopes.
I'm getting discouraged but I message the trucktor guy and tell him I'll be there in an hour. He's already given me the address. I get there and it's a storage yard. Looks like a personal one but locked gate. Message him that I'm there and he replies that he forgot and had to leave. Says he can meet me Sunday. Ok head home and then back the next day. He's there. Only thing his ad said was that it needed a battery so I brought one and jumper cables. We walk up to the tractor and he says "There's only one thing wrong with this tractor. This is missing a screw. It goes there." He holds up a shaft with a gear on it and I look to where he pointed. I see the hydraulic pump hanging in the air. I glance at the bucket sitting on the ground and tell him that I couldn't even load it with the bucket down. He swears it's a great tractor and everything works. Hydraulic lines are probably older than me and scary to even think of operating. There's a gas tank sitting behind the seat that someone rigged up at some point. I see an external hydraulic ram on the three point where I'm guessing the internal hydraulics failed and the fix was to drill the three point arm and bypass them. I tell him that it's not the tractor for me and he ask me what it's worth. I start adding up cost to fix stuff and tell him that I wouldn't pay over $1k and even at that I wouldn't want it. He said he had an offer of $1800. I told him he should take it.
Get home and trying to figure out where my life took a wrong turn. Should I have been nicer to that kid in kindergarten that ate his boogers? I definitely shouldn't have broken up with Melinda in 5th grade to go with her best friend. Bad choices in life. I start thinking about my search and realize that I'm looking at tractors that have been listed for a while. They're still there because no one wants them. The good tractors are selling fast so I need to jump on them fast. Sunday night I'm looking at MP and I see a Massey Ferguson 265. Front end loader, grader, and an auger. Looks like an honest working tractor with faded paint and not a spray can rebuild that's hiding all kinds of sins. I look up the specs and wow 60hp and damn it's heavy. More than my trailer can haul. Ok so I message the seller and say that I'm interested but it's too big for my trailer. Could they possibly deliver since it's only 30 miles away. No response.
Monday morning I think maybe the deliver part scared them. Message again saying that wasn't a deal breaker and I could get a tow company to haul it if needed. She responds! Hell yeah! She ask when I want to look at it. I tell her I can get there at noon. Couple of hours later she says they'll be home at 3. I head to Gainesville early since I need to go by the property and find someone to haul it. As I get into town I see a United Equipment Rental. Hmmm betcha they know who can do it. I walked in and a very nice lady gave me the info for the people that hauled for them. Great. I know the town the tractor is in but not the address. I decide to go to the town because dyintorace has already sent me info on a race car/ trailer in the same area. Figure worse case is look at that. I get into the area around 2 and sit at a gas station. No word at 3:15 so I message her and she said it'll be 4:30. Ok. Then at 4 she says they're home if I want to come look at it.
I drive up and there the tractor is with an older man sitting on the tire. I get out and walk up as we start to talk. Hoses aren't brand new but they all look to be in very good condition. He starts telling me about it and what they've done to it. Head is rebuild because he had to change the exhaust manifold and while you're in there it's only 8 more bolts. Brakes have been rebuilt. All around it's the best tractor I've looked at. The ad said the price was firm and it's a fair price so I hand him a stack of folded up 20s and call the equipment mover to arrange getting it to the property. They say that particular driver has a doctor's appointment in the morning and it'll be a noon pickup. I take some pictures and tell the seller that I'll be back at noon Tuesday to meet the driver. I drive off thinking to myself that I just exchanged a stack of $20s for a piece of paper saying that I own a tractor that may or may not be there in the morning.
I had passed a country Mexican restaurant on the way out there so I look it up and it opens at 11am the next day. Hmmm ... everyone that knows me well knows I love some Mexican so I figure I can get up at 8am get there by 11am have lunch then pick up the tractor. I also find a bush hog up in Georgia that seems like a decent deal. Plan on loading up my trailer here in Jax so that I can go get it. That means Grandma Stampie's F150 needs to come off the trailer in the morning. I wake up at 8am and see that I have a missed call 1 minute old. It's the equipment mover's dispatcher. Call back and he says that the driver is done at the doctors and can head that way if I'm ok with it. I'm still half asleep and thinking wait that doesn't give me any time naw noon is good. Dispatcher says the guy will just wait until noon then. I get the impression they're waiting on me. I get in the shower and wake up more and realize I don't want to cut into this guys time with him probably not making money. I call the seller. He's good with earlier. I call the dispatcher say go get it and I run out the door to get to Gainesville in time. No time to unload the F150 so I decide I'll take what's known as the world's sketchiest tiny trailer to get the bush hog. I get to Gainesville and head to Rural King to get a Diesel can. Leaving there I get a text that the tractor is loaded and heading to me. Ok so now I have more than a piece of paper for all that cash. Head to the property and unload the Devin. Driver calls and he's almost there. Unloading went well and I parked Trent in his spot.
I head up to Georgia thinking great I'm 3 hours early so I'll get home at a decent time tonight. Get there, the Bush Hog is a Bush Hog. Pay the man and we load it. His wife then says hey your trailer tires are low on air. They offer to fill them up. Only thing I can think is this is the heaviest load I've put on it so maybe I just didn't notice. Also think in my head that I have a 50/50 chance of making it the 120 miles back to Gainesville with the tires intact. I know there's no where nearby to do anything about it so I head out. About twenty miles down the road I glace back and notice the top of the Bush Hog is swaying a little. About two seconds later I see rubber fly up into the air. Nothing happens. No lurch no wobble. Everything is smooth. I almost doubt what I just saw. I pull over to a side road and yep it blew.
Hit Google real quick. There's a tractor/equipment sales place a mile down the road. Drop the trailer and head there. Nope they ain't got nothing. There's a Tractor Supply Co on the edge of Jacksonville 20 miles away and then the next choice is a Northern Tool 35 miles in the same direction. TSC only has one wheel with what I need at $220. I head to Northern Tool. They have a stack of what I need so I grab two wheels/tires, a simple scissor jack, and a tire iron because I don't want to go home to grab my stuff. Get all the way back and with a little effort and two hours after the tire blew I have 100% more tread than before.
I head back to Gainesville and drop the trailer with the bush hog. I'll go back later this week and play with them both. I finally get back home at 9pm dead tired.
