A routine question about bale carting kit has opened up one of the clearest divides in farm machinery buying. A farmer running a large-framed Case IH Puma asked The Farming Forum whether to fit a front end loader to it or buy a used 120hp loader tractor, and the conversation that followed shows the trade exactly where handling budgets are being fought over: between the tractor-mounted loader, the telehandler, and the increasingly attractive dealer offer on a new loader tractor.
By TFF News | 3 September 2026 | Machinery
The conversation drew 106 visible contributions between 25 and 28 July 2026 and has been viewed 4,415 times on The Farming Forum. Contributions attracted 146 reactions in total, an average of 1.38 per contribution. These figures describe a single self-selected conversation, not a representative survey of UK farms.
Two camps of exactly equal weight
Classifying every contribution by theme produces a dead heat. Twenty-four contributions argued the case for a tractor and loader, and twenty-four argued for a dedicated handling machine, whether telehandler, loading shovel or forklift. For suppliers, the significant point is that neither camp shows any sign of conceding.
The tractor camp leant on field performance and versatility. One contributor was blunt about the original question: “120 hp tractors can be a bit light for modern bales. Fix up the Puma with a loader.” Another put a number on the sweet spot: “Personally I think 140hp 6cyl is about the ideal size for a loader. Nimble enough overall but chunky enough to handle a bit of weight on the front.”
The handler camp was equally settled. One mixed farmer running two telehandlers dismissed the alternative outright: “Loader tractors are one trick ponies.” The same contributor also described the exposure that comes with that commitment: “If the telehandler stops working the whole farm grinds to a halt in minutes.” Several others said a second handler had cost less than a new front end loader would have done.
The money question
Cost and finance appeared in twenty-four contributions, and the figures quoted deserve the trade’s attention. Retrofit loader prices of £12,000 to £16,000 fitted were mentioned by several contributors, with one putting it plainly: “10-13k id say for a loader it’s a lot but wouldn’t buy you much of a tractor/loading shovel”. That price point is doing real work in purchase decisions, because it invites the comparison one contributor made directly: “But for the same price as a good spec new loader for 6 cyl tractor you can buy a telehandler that you’re happy to leave in the field overnight.”
New machine promotions cut through the conversation repeatedly. One contributor reported: “New Deutz 5125 with loader, wheel weights, 3 year warranty, 0% finance are in dealers yards for around £65k”, and later pointed to a nationwide promotion on the same range. Those offers land in a market that is recovering from a historic low: the Agricultural Engineers Association recorded 8,791 tractor registrations in 2025, the lowest full-year figure in its records, with registrations up 22.3% in the first half of 2026 according to AEA figures reported by Farmers Guardian. Aggressive finance on stock machines is exactly what a trade fighting for a smaller pool of orders would be expected to run, and this conversation suggests it is registering with buyers.
The used market carries the doubt
Twelve contributions turned on the condition risk in second-hand kit, and the tone was set early by a heavily reacted piece of sarcasm: “Buying second hand loader tractors is always plain sailing”, which drew seven reactions and immediate agreement that the opposite is true. The same worry made the case for new: “Far better than buying a used loader tractor with buggered front axle, knackered pins / bushes, and a twisted boom?” One contributor who went new on a compact loader summed up the justification: “As expected- I use it every single day. It will never earn me much directly but is buying back lots of time.”
Weight, tyres and the state of the field
Weight and stability featured in fifteen contributions, from light 120hp tractors getting lively under modern 600kg-plus bales to the case for wheel weights and heavier six-cylinder frames. Ground damage gave the tractor camp its sharpest commercial argument, aimed squarely at anyone selling straw: “In a more normal year an 8t telehandler on little wheels at 50psi makes a terrible mess. I would be very reluctant to sell straw to anyone loading with a big telehandler.” Tyre pressures, not lift capacity, may be the detail that decides which machine is welcome in a rented or contract-farmed field.
What the trade should take from it
Nothing in this conversation was settled, and that is the finding. The same budget of £12,000 to £65,000 is being claimed by loader manufacturers, telehandler dealers and tractor brands running finance promotions, and farm by farm the decision is turning on building sizes, ground conditions, labour and how many jobs one machine must cover. The unresolved question for suppliers is which of those constraints their next offer actually answers. On the evidence here, a keen price alone does not close the argument, because both camps believe the other is buying the wrong machine.
Read the source conversation and analysis
Read the full conversation on The Farming Forum here.
Download the full conversation analysis as a PDF slide deck: Add a loader or buy a used loader tractor: conversation analysis.
This conversation had been viewed 4,434 times on The Farming Forum when counted on 3 September 2026. Want your brand in the room when farmers talk machinery? Book advertising with Agri Web Media.