@Gearhead660, when I got my first tractor I didn't even really know what I was doing, the closest dealers (Kubota and JD) were about an hour away from me, both also didn't have the best reputations.
I orginally went to buy a weed whacker and saw a little orange tractor sitting in the front lot, it was a ck2510hst, I ask a few questions about it, it came with the fel and backhoe, low financing rate for 3 years or something like that, since at the time I didn't have a truck payment or anything I decided to pull the trigger, I got the smaller tractor and did a few jobs around the house, I learned quickly that the 25hp was very limited in what I actually wanted to do (digging stuff, moving rocks, building retaining walls, fire wood) but I figured I was just going to have to deal with my mistake and eventually sell the machine at a loss.
During the winter I was at the same dealer buying shear bolts for the snow blower, the owner of the place who sold the machine was there and ask how I was liking it, I was blunt and truthful, basically said I made the mistake and bought to small of a machine for what I needed, the owner asked me to wait 10 min at the store because he was making a phone call, he asked how many hours I had on the machine ( I think it was under 50) he came back out of his office with a piece of paper, it had the trade in price on it that was almost basically what I paid for minus taxes, he said to go home take pics of the machine and send them to him, I did and when he saw a slightly used tractor he ask when he could pick it up, with in a week I was sitting on something in my garage that was almost double the hp, much bigger fel & back hoe, same payment as the other machine just extended by 6 months. It happened very quickly but that dealer made things right. After I got the bigger machine a co-worker wanted to get one, I recommended the dealer, he went there and was also treated very well, my co-worker basically bought the same machine as me, just with a cab and linked peddle, he also had a few issues with bad computer software on the re-gen system, same dealer went out of his way to send his own guy to repair the computer on site, then the guy had an issue because it was winter so the dealer paid out of pocket to flatbed the machine to his shop to fix it correctly and timely.
I also this past spring blew a hydro hose on the hoe right at the fitting when I was digging a huge stump (totally my fault since I wasnt careful) I called the same dealer to get the part, the dealer was very up front with me, sent me to the auto parts place up the road to get the hose, basically the dealer said, I can get you the hose at $100, or you can go to the auto parts store and pay $50 for the same thing. Just a very honest place. IMO the dealer is what makes the machine, whether you own a backhoe, tractor, skid steer its only a matter of time before something will break, you don't want a flakey dealer when you need something, you want a place that's honest, assertive and wont give you the run around on things.
