Landtrac/Farmtrac 300 DTC

I no longer live on the family farm but in the past few years I purchased and have been improving an adjoining 7 acre plot - which is now mostly planted in pines. This year I decided to begin looking at tractors again - including Kubota, JD, and others - new and used.

I ended up buying a new Farmtrac 360 DTC (39 hp) 4WD tractor and front end loader (FEL) 3 months back - for several reasons:

1. The Farmtrac dealer is local (Mike's Tractors - Brookhaven, MS - see his web site www.mikestractors.com). 2. I have known the Farmtrac dealer and his family many years. His honesty is well known in the area. He used to teach AG at the local high school. His teaching term included many tractor overhauls "by-the-book".
3. I test drove the Farmtracs (several times) and really liked the many features of the 360 DTC.
4. The Farmtrac dealer's shop is clean and organized. The workers (including his son) are friendly and extremely helpful with all of my requests.
5. Farmtrac offered 48-month zero-percent financing. My credit rating allowed me to secure the loan with no money down. (Why use my money with 0% financing?) Kubota and JD offered nothing close to this deal at the time I was looking.

I now have close to 50 hours on the tractor - and have been very impressed with its many features. I usually keep it in 2WD to mainly see when 4WD is needed - which truly is amazing when needed. The FEL has been amazing too - I have used it to clear some of the undeveloped parts of the land removing trees and undergrowth up to two-inches diameter with ease. It easily makes debris piles for burning. I work around larger trees and cut them later with the chain saw. With 3 ranges and 4-speed shift there are 12 forward and 12 reverse speeds. It is easy to find the exact speed for a particular application. Shuttle shift forward and reverse is a really neat and convenient design.

Other equipment that I have purchased includes box blade, landscaping rake, 6-ft finish mower and Tuff-Top (in matching blue).

It may still be a little early to say this - but I would presently highly recommend the Farmtrac shuttle-shift 4WD tractor to anyone. For a small tractor it has proven to be quite a machine compared with any of the tractors I have ever used.

I'm with you - I just saw a LandTrac 300 DTC for the first time and was impressed. I drove it around the lot and it turned great, the front end loader seemed to respond well and it was easy to shift and move around. It had all the bells and whistles of the high end John Deere of like size and was much less expensive. And.. it appeared to be of extremely good quality. I'd sure like to talk to someone who is intimately familiar with the little tractor. At this point the only draw-back I can see is the potential for poor resale value since its an "Off-Brand" tractor. But...if its a good machine, then who cares.
Dave

Thanks for the review of your new tractor. Glad to hear you're happy with the 300DTC. Since I posted my message I've been in contact with the LongAgri marketing folks. They've provide me with the comparison figures for the JD4310. The 300DTC either equals or exceeds all specs except those pertaining to some of the Front End Loader performance stats. The stats say that the FEL on the 300DTC is not as quick/fast in operation as the JD's; i.e., 5 seconds to raise and lower the FEL vs. 2 seconds for the JD. Probably not much of an issue but would appreciate your thoughts. The loader on the 300DTC is however stronger as I recall. The 300DTC comes standard with a bunch of options which would cost thousands extra for the JD which is already priced above the LandTrac.
Thanks Again for your review.
Dave

Rod

Jon