[007 Bond]

Originally Posted by jeepster

whats the lowest price for Kubota? where?

i want to buy 2 of them. (small tractors)

local dealer is quoting 4.25L.

I strongly recommend you to have a look at new force orchard tractor. A highly FE 3cyl engine with all new front axle in now being offered. production of this new tractor has commenced from last month & has got a good response, hence quantity is being ramped up from this month.

[jeepster]

Originally Posted by 007 Bond

A highly FE 3cyl engine with all new front axle in now being offered. production of this new tractor has commenced from last month & has got a good response, hence quantity is being ramped up from this month.

i have seen the old orchard OX-25.

checked their site no mention of changes. *: Force Motors LTD.
looks like they are .

[007 Bond]

I would suggest you to check the tractor in personal as web site may take time to update, already some 200 new ones are rolled out.

[wildsdi5530]

I see a lot of tractors in Urban Bangalore for various uses like transposting people, water carriers, for carrying construction material. These vehicles manage very well in urban traffic, often overtaking luxury cars. And everyone gives way for a tractor. This gave me an idea of a perfect CEO carriage.
A tractor can be picked up at very low interest rate and has govt. subsidy. Also build a mini camper to be towed. Will this not provide the ultimate in affordable luxury. Its practical, will not be affected by govt. policy, and cheap.

[sibitg]

Anyone using a KUBOTA A211N tractor ? This is 4x4 21HP mini tractor. Let me know its prons and cons? And any better suggestion in the mini tractor range?

[condor]

Originally Posted by sibitg

Anyone using a KUBOTA A211N tractor ? This is 4x4 21HP mini tractor. Let me know its prons and cons? And any better suggestion in the mini tractor range?

Kubota by itself is a well known brand. IMO, one important point is to have the service centre not far from where you plan to use it. While the technicians may come and service the tractor, they too would have specified areas where they travel to.

ex: in Bangalore south, company service centres are there in/near Anekal. Not much in Harohalli, but you may have in Kanakapura or Ramnagara.

Else, at least some means to haul the tractor to the service centre in case required. Hiring another vehicle for such a trip would work out expensive.

Also, suitability of a particular brand in any place (for the soil type) can often be seen in the number of a company's tractors in that place.

*

Do you require a 4x4 ?

[sibitg]

Originally Posted by condor

Kubota by itself is a well known brand.
Do you require a 4x4 ?

Thank you very much for the details. Regarding 4x4, does this really useful for a mini tractor. To my understanding, tractors are designed to have maximum traction on the rear wheels. Is there any scenario, where those small front wheels can really help a tractor to pull out of situation?
Also which brand has least maintenance cost and better warranty coverage ? Is it Mahindra, Kubota or anything else? Thanks again.

[condor]

Originally Posted by sibitg

Thank you very much for the details. Regarding 4x4, does this really useful for a mini tractor. To my understanding, tractors are designed to have maximum traction on the rear wheels. Is there any scenario, where those small front wheels can really help a tractor to pull out of situation?
Also which brand has least maintenance cost and better warranty coverage ? Is it Mahindra, Kubota or anything else? Thanks again.

My cousin used to have a service shop for John Deere. From my little understanding, the point about the newer brands like John Deere, Kubota etc is that these tractors are better if serviced by (company) trained mechanics, using specified oils and parts. TAFE, Mahindra, Eicher etc are easier to maintain in that respect.

The front tyres are for stability & turning. The rest of the work is done by the rear wheels.

What you could do is, for a bad case scenario, hire a tractor locally - most would be in the 3x hp range. Or a mini tractor, and see how they perform. You would spend about 900-1000 per hour rental for these, and you can judge if that can suffice.

These 4x2 tractor guys wont come if the land is slushy.

Unless one sees the actual situation where you plan to use, the suggestions are not going to be easy to come by. in the 2x hp range, the Indian brands have options - check them out. And btw, they can pull quite a bit.
(Back in our native, we have been long time owners of TAFE tractors.)

[condor]

Originally Posted by sibitg

Regarding 4x4, does this really useful for a mini tractor. .

As I had mentioned, will need your exact use intention and land details to say anything, even if not fully qualified to answer your question. Points like what crop do you plan to have and the spacing between rows will also help.

A 4x2 tractor is basically an engine + gearbox, and the rear wheels driven directly from the gearbox. This simple construction is what makes them capable of loads despite their relatively lower torque and power.

Alternatively, check the Swaraj Code - while it's more a mechanised farm equipment, the height can be raised or lowered depending on the height of the crop.

Also, at least many tractors have separate left and right brakes - IIRC even the TAFE 241 (A small lever helps lock them together so that it can act like a single brake lever to act on both rear wheels together). This split also helps in turning the tractor, even if both front wheels are up in the air due to excess load at the back.

[sibitg]

Originally Posted by condor

Alternatively, check the Swaraj Code - while it's more a mechanised farm equipment, the height can be raised or lowered depending on the height of the crop.

Thank you very much for the details. I was checking the dealer network in our area. Looks like only Mahindra has a shop close to us.

[maddy42]

What tractor to buy?

We have a Tafe Massey Ferguson 36 horsepower tractor which is in 2wd format for the past 30 years, but the kind of equipment available plus the drastic labor shortage being faced has made me get back on the search bandawagon.

I am trying to make this easier for anyone who is getting into this same issue.

Please go through these points before you get into this rabbit hole.

Do you need a tractor?
If you have the cash flow to manage its payments or make a complete payment, please go ahead. But if you are a small scale subsistence farmer, be aware it can be very expensive and ruin your life.

Are you a large land holder? More then 10 acres cultivated with two crops a year?
Full size tractor is better suited.

Do you plan on running the tractor on rent?
Look at a 35-50hp range of tractor. Do you plan on using it for ploughing or pulling trolley load. As bigger tractor can have mileage issues which could affect your profitability.

Do you have a small land holdings or orchards or areca farms?
Mini tractor is suitable as it provides maneuverability and also lower cost of maintenance.

What is your budget? Does your budget include budget for Accessories ie Trailer, Plough, rotavator etc?
Below 7 lac has a wide range of 2wd below 40hp tractors. Above 7lac includes 4wd and bigger size tractors above 55 hp.

Which brands to choose?
This is the most confusing, Best suggestion is research for showrooms and service centers in your area.
Check the local mechanics, tractor rental drivers for their feedback.

The following are some of the names which come to my mind. None of it is a recommendation.

• Mahindra
• Massey Ferguson
• Eicher
• Swaraj
• New Holland
• John Deere
• Farmtrac
• Kubota
• Sonalika

These are to name a few. I may have missed some.

Now that you have the brands shortlisted, look for the Technical specifications.

• Horsepower.
• Torque
• CC
• Engine type
• Gearbox
• PTO
• Load capacity
• Fuel consumption.
• Hook type
• 2WD or 4WD

Lastly there are very few tractors which are akin to the ones you see in the west in photos. So do not expect a Cabin and Air conditioner as they are not offered by all. Even a top is optional in some brands.


Do check the websites, reviews on youtube, visit the showrooms talk to your neighbors before making a decision.

The salesmen can be a bit pushy, so you will get pushed and overwhelmed. Hold your ground.

Happy Shopping! Do offer your feedback and opinion as i didnt want to start a new thread for the same.

Maddy

[khan_sultan]

With labor shortage reaching critical proportions in villages, hence reliance on mechanized farming is becoming necessary. for this, I recently bought a small tractor, Mahindra Jivo 305 4WD for personal use.

In small tractors category, it is good power (27 HP) and max PTO power (approx. 24). The primary use case is for sugarcane crop using the trench method. It has a narrow width of 44 inches will make it suitable for sugarcane crop planted at 60 inches gap (line to line) The tractor will be for operations with equipment like rotavator (42 inch), tiller, harrow, spray machine and ferry sugarcane to the mill (all equipment for small tractor size only)

While choosing the mini tractor, the options were Kubota & Mahindra. All others were not even considered in this specific category.

My short list was (4x4 mandatory)

• Kubota B2441 (5.75 Lakhs)
• Kubota B2741 (6.00 Lakhs)

Both of above are very popular and have very good feedback from farmers for sugarcane trench farming. Very good comfort, car like driving, less "tractor noise", heating and less fatigue for driver.

• Mahindra OJA 2130 (6.5 Lakhs)

Kubota is taking away the small tractor market from Mahindra and OJA is an attempt by Mahindra to make a small tractor in 3 cylinder and they take engines from YANMAR and then have clever automations for farmer/driver to make their farming life easy. (for example, automatic PTO control, disengaging PTO and lifting equipment's on turns at end of field/ reverse gear, and many such small things).
I was impressed by the OJA but this is a new product and as the tractor will be primarily used by the farming help boy in village, hence did not want to many electronics in the tractor for now.

• Mahindra Jivo 305 (6 Lakhs but discount of 1.2 Lakhs so final price of 4.8 Lakhs).

The Jivo 305 is a 2 cylinder tractor from Mahindra is a typical tractor that one would expect.

I personally was inclined towards Kubota but the discount offered by Mahindra made me choose the Jivo 305. While Kubota & OJA are 3 cylinder and the 305 is 2 cylinders, I can live with that for now and use the money saved on buying equipment's for the tractor. The top link, hitch are standard accessories with the tractor and the front bumper and canopy I bargained along with the Tractor.

One of the key decisions in choosing the tractor was also the service support in the village area. Mahindra has wider network and reach in villages.

[maddy42]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

With labor shortage reaching critical proportions in villages, hence reliance on mechanized farming is becoming necessary. for this, I recently bought a small tractor, Mahindra Jivo 305 4WD for personal use.

I personally was inclined towards Kubota but the discount offered by Mahindra made me choose the Jivo 305. While Kubota & OJA are 3 cylinder and the 305 is 2 cylinders, I can live with that for now and use the money saved on buying equipment's for the tractor. The top link, hitch are standard accessories with the tractor and the front bumper and canopy I bargained along with the Tractor.

One of the key decisions in choosing the tractor was also the service support in the village area. Mahindra has wider network and reach in villages.

Congrats Khan sir on this purchase. The mini tractor vs regular size can be confusing as the pricing is nearly the same. Were you able to get any state level subsidies on this purchase? I was surprised when i was told even the basic necessity like a hood or a front bumper is sold as a accessory.

Buying a 4 wheel drive tractor today is a sensible decision as the unpredicatable rainfall can cause the soil to become too mucky and difficult for a 2 wheel drive tractor to plough a field without getting stuck.

Kubota is slowly picking up especially in the owner driver segment. But the one tractor brand i am seeing more frequent is Sonalika! The founders story is inspiring to say the least and he has close to 7% market share.

Lachhman Das Mittal was born in 1931 in Punjab's Hoshiarpur. Mittal has completed his Master of Arts (English & Urdu) from Panjab University.He used to work as an insurance agent with LIC. In 1970 he began manufacturing wheat threshers with the help of local blacksmiths in Hoshiarpur, Punjab. The following year his family went bankrupt and by 1970 his net worth was Rs 1 lakh. He said, "Once I applied for dealership of Maruti Udyog but was rejected. Today, I give out dealerships."[9] LD Mittal has Net Worth of 2.31 Billion He is listed #82 Richest person of India by Forbes Magazine.

[JediKnight]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

With labor shortage reaching critical proportions in villages, hence reliance on mechanized farming is becoming necessary. for this, I recently bought a small tractor, Mahindra Jivo 305 4WD for personal use.

Surprising that there are labor shortages considering we get news reports all the time that India has record un-employment. It is because people are getting freebies or work under MNERGA/equivalent in their villages hence do not want to venture out ?

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by JediKnight

Surprising that there are labor shortages considering we get news reports all the time that India has record un-employment. It is because people are getting freebies or work under MNERGA/equivalent in their villages hence do not want to venture out ?

In villages of Western UP, the workers/labor is local to the area and not from other parts of the state/country.

Now, with various govt schemes, the worker population (family) gets free ration/other schemes that gives them free food without doing anything. The outlook of workers is that if you have food to eat today, then why think long term or for future. The same person will not work as farm labor but will work as construction worker (just an example) in a city and slog. A recent trend seen, courtesy cheap mobile data, is youth who could be working wasting time making reels/seeing reels/social media/youtube etc.

Many activities in farming are very time sensitive and need to be done within a short span of few days and that is the time when labor shortage is felt the most. At the same time, employment as farm labor is not guaranteed full time and is seasonal at best, so no guarantee for workers to get regular income if they want to work as farm labor.

So, in summary, it's not one thing but a complex web of social environment + govt schemes + other factors that make labor in villages for farming unavailable/scarce, when needed.