I'm Thinking About Purchasing a Small Ag. Tractor...Any Opinions?

[John]

My wife and I have wanted to purchase a new Ag. tractor for our little farm (10 acres) for about seven years now. We almost took the plunge back in late '97 however, that's when I decided I wanted to up-size my 4x4 to a larger one hence, the purchase of my '98.5 Ram. I had also done exhaustive comparisons between all the smaller tractors on the market (below say 35 HP). My short list came down to Kubota and John Deere in that order. Both tractor brands are pretty well represented in my area too. I was (at first) mainly interested in the purchase of a John Deere 1070 back in '97/'98 until several friends of mine suggested I look at Kubota. Even though I'm primarily a "Buy American" kind of guy, it was pointed out to me that ALL John Deere tractors 1070 and below are made in Japan by Yanmar. I thought, sure ( ). The Kubota dealer even went so far as to tell me precisely where to look on the JD tractors to see all the "Made In Japan" stickers and casting marks. After a subsequent examination of said JD tractors, it was absolutely amazing, he was precisely right! He later told me that the only thing made in the US about them is the assembly...and that's it!

Hmmm ( ). Then I decided to look at John Deere's larger 4x4 tractors. Made in USA however, the Diesel engine was made in France. And I just hate crap made there! [and that was well before 9-11-01 and the second Iraq war).

Fast forward to now. I'm again contemplating the purchase of a small Ag. tractor...Kubota as well as John Deere. Since my initial investigation I have talked to owners/loyalists of both camps, one of which was the owner of Kiwi Fencing Co. which uses Kubota tractors exclusively. [btw, he used to have several JD tractors] I had a lot of time to talk to him because I contracted them to install all my posts (pile driven) for my 9-wire New Zealand fencing. Although he had a 45 HP as well as a 54 HP machine at my place over the course of several different weeks, they both performed very impressively.

I guess what I want to know is which tractor brand is the best way to go any why? I'm currently leaning toward the Kubota however, nothing's etched in stone.

Opinions? TIA

BTW, one non-negotiable item, it has to be be a 4x4! As I have sloped property, live in Western Washington (i.e., mud) and need to use the tractor all 12 months out of the year (part time of course), I have found this an absolute requirement.