what new international do you recommend?

What I am farming is 25 acres here. I have 4 pastures in giant bermuda and raise horses and cattle. I need a tractor that will handle any kind of haying equipment I might get for here and also a loader for all the other chores I keep having to borrow the neighbors Kubota for.

We also have another 100 acre farm a few hours away that I need to clear once again and get pastures and fence ready to go on. I'll be spending a lot of time logging that one before it's ready to move to again. I'll definitely need a loader there and 4 wheel drive.

So the tractor needs to be relatively light. I'd say under 9000 pounds so I don't tear up my truck transporting it, and it needs to have some power, around the 100 HP range.

I'm looking at the new JX 95 4 wheel drive with the 20 speed trans, air conditioned cab and all the other bells and whistles. Do ya'll think this would be a good choice? I just noticed McCormick has a few comparable ones online too but I don't know of any dealers around here that sell them. I'm stuck right in the middle of John Deere country and we only have one case dealer that I try to stay out of. They got me for 40 bucks for a oil filter on my super C once and I haven't forgotten it. Out east at the dealer I worked at they were only about 5 bucks. Anyway, what do you all think I should do for a tractor? I would love to find a super M now but I don't think one would do everything I would need it to do without some major modifications.

Gordo

G

I had looked at their M9000 real hard for a while. It's one tough tractor. Honestly the only problem I ever had with them was removing the cab to split them. Those things use more bolts than they could ever need! I doubt if I bought a new one though that I would ever have to split it. Oh and they run the AC hoses through the A pillar around two sharp corners. I had to replace a lot of those hoses and it was not an easy job. I know they fixed that problem a long time ago though. Plus, I am so meticulous with my maintenance here that I doubt it would ever wear out. That JX 95 I was finding in the south and midsouth with a loader, cab, AC and 20 speed for around 33K on a new one. SOme were as high as 40. Here it's 41,000 without the loader. That adds another 8000 to 9000 to it.

Call me picky but If I can save a buck I will. That's actually a substantial difference though. I had the same problem in PA though. I've lived all over the world with 20 years in the Navy and Army and have a good feel for what things cost in different places. I actually used to rate cost of living in a country on the price of a budweiser. 7 dollars a can in Japan back in 85 to 25 cents a can in East Africa in 1990. You get the picture. This area is probably a 5 dollar a can place. In Pa my big gripe was the taxes. When the county we lived in was making plans to put a water meter on my well and charge me for my own water then passed a law requiring plates on my tractor and 4 wheeler we said enough is enough and moved out. Now down here I spend a small fortune irrigating so I don't know if I really won that one. Oh well. I do wish I could afford buying a new tractor here local but I doubt I can. Not if I can get it for 10,000 less somewhere else.