First check yo see what the farmers in the area are using in newer tractors. That's a good indication of how good a brand is as far as support. Then you need a slight education as to who support what. AGCO is Allis Chalmers, Oliver, White and a few others. CaseIH supports Farmall/IH, Case and Ford. Newholland supports Newholland and Ford plus anything CaseIH sells.
2nd thing is to know that with what you stated you are going to have to have a 3 point hitch system. A tractor that cost 1K can add up to more than 3K by the time you add an aftermarket 3 point, live hydraulics and power steering. So if you add a 1K 3 point to say a 3500-5K AC D17 now you have 4500-6K into it just to use it.
ROPS is important especially for new folks like you. There are companies that make and sell them as aftermarket items. Be aware that they are not a whole lot of good if you wind up pined under the ROPs because you failed to install a seat belt or to use one.
Area will make a difference as far as value. Here 10-12K will buy a nice, just about bullet proof Ford 3000 or 4000. It will buy a larger tractor with cab, hit and miss if the AC works though. Now don't get me wrong because there are other tractors out there that are good too.
Just a quick look at CL ads shows a 4630 Ford with a very nice loader with joystick control and quick-tach bucker, what appears to be very good rubber, shuttle shift too at the very top of your price range. Couple of 3/4000's in the 4-6K range. 5900 Ford with loader (bigger still)
http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/000/2/6/268-ford-5900.html for under 10K. Now these are just examples of what's out there and cost. Now I happen to like Fords but there are other tractors out there that are as good and if dealer support is needed sometimes better, again depending on the area.
Now one guy said look at the 300 to 400 series IH tractors (Farmall). While I own 2 Farmall tractors I would not recommend those. At best they have the 2 point Fast Hitch. Just not as good a system as the 3 point IMO. 3 point lets you make much finer adjustments when needed. And finding 2 point implements can be a pain. Be one of the last ones I would recommend. Same with any Allis Chalmers with the Snap Coupler. IMO both tractors should be run away from for what you want to use them for. Nothing wrong with either tractor, just not what you describe needing and lacking a 3 point makes both less desirable.
Now in a full sized tractor finding something with a cab shouldn't be too hard in the 5-10K range but it's hit and miss if it has AC and it works. Just gotta check the area. May well be worth your money to pay a mechanic to go out and look something over for you.
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Today's Featured Article - Listening to Your Tractor - by Curtis Von Fange. Years ago there was a TV show about a talking car. Unless you are from another planet, physically or otherwise, I don’t think our internal combustion buddies will talk and tell us their problems. But, on the other hand, there is a secret language that our mechanical companions readily do speak. It is an interesting form of communication that involves all the senses of the listener. In this series we are going to investigate and learn the basic rudimentary skills of understanding this lingo.
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