case IH 485 48hp diesel with loader?

[teejet]

I am looking at a case international 485, with 48hp diesel and a bushhog 2400 loader. Tractor has 3000 hrs., tires are almost bald, but starts and runs good.The price is $4200. My questions to anyone that knows tractors is, what should I look for before buying, is this a good price, can I put turf tires and how much $?

[jimshack]

maint. records would be a big plus. go over it with a fine tooth comb, look for excessive grease around the axles and loose/sloppy joints. alot of people get scared with that kind of hours but I've seen many farm tractors with 10000 plus hours that get rode hard and put up wet. tires will probably run $1500 or so.

[Birdhunter1]

As Jim said service records are a plus but not a deal breaker (at least to me). If you go look at it go play drive it around a bit, shift the gears in back and forth often and see if they get harder to shift as the trans and engine warms up. before you start it up touch the exhaust to see if it is warm and then look to notice if it has alot of smoke at startup. Might pull the grill off to see how clean he has kept the radiator. Other than that look for any welds that look like crap or look like they aren't supposed to be there.

I don't know where you are in Indiana but I have tossed the idea of selling my Ford 3910 with a loader and 21xx hours on it and I am in Southern I, it is a 2 wd as well and a tad more horsepower. I have found if it is in slick mud or you are trying to back up a steep hill with a load in the bucket or on the forks it can spin but 90% of the time I don't have an issue with it.