[AT] tractor shopping

[Dan Folske]

With the extra snow this winter my old 1850 Oliver has been getting quite a workout moving snow around home and in the oil patch. I've decided it is time to add a newer tractor to the line up (read: better cab--heater--AC for summer use). 

Anyone know anything about a Case-IH CX100, Case IH 5240, or Ford 7840? All of these are MFWD.  What I'm really looking for is a 276 or 9030 bi-directional. If I decide to stay with a plain 2wd it will be a 3488 or 186 hydro or maybe a 5088 from my neighbor although reverse is too fast for my snowblower. I've used my son-in-law's JD 6420 MFWD and it is a nice tractor but 3 to 4 times what I am willing to spend. It does also seem like the guys with the late model Deeres had more fuel related problems when we were bouncing around from -15F to -30F in December and January although not half of what the truckers coming north with heavy fuel were having.