Yessir. straight to it. I made a deal on a new LS MT242H. Making arrangements for delivery today.
Several weeks ago I talked tractors with a coworker. He referred me to a place that sells LS Tractors a town over so I went to see. I looked at the MT226E 25hp and MT232E 32hp tractors. Both were nice, good specs, but the 226 didn't come in Premium but the 232. did and the price was where I wanted to be.
When I started looking at tractors several years ago, I was set on getting a Kioti CK2610, now the 2620. Except in those two years I had bad experiences with both Kioti dealers in my area (they're the same parent owner, what a surprise). Being that a good rule is when buying a tractor you want good dealer support, I turned away from Kioti and towards LS. I hadn't thought about LS tractors until my coworker mentioned them.
I emailed the LS dealer to let him know I'd see him on the weekend. In my mind I was going to buy the MT232 if the final test drive was good.
When I arrived I had my choice of driving any tractor. I hopped on the MT242E, it was sitting next to the MT232E. It ran well, very smooth. The hydraulics were controllable and not jumpy or twitchy. Ergos were comfortable. I parked it and hopped off. Then my dealer dropped a nugget, the 42 horse was only a $1000 more than the 32hp. ****. That's close enough to impulsively say yes. But I stayed composed...mostly, though did tell him now I needed a few minutes to think it over. The money difference in hp was negligible at best, so I decided to take it.
Ultimately the price was right and the financing deal was fantastic, 0%/120mths. Cash to cover taxes, the cash price difference and a box blade the deal was done. Now it's a matter of getting the tractor here. The dealer only had E models, the Economy models. I wanted the H model, the Premium. The Premium comes with the stuff everyone ends up adding anyway - 3rd function, rear valve/controls, adjustable arms, draw bar, emergency kill switch the rear fender and a few more add ons. I decided from the beginning that I'm getting what I want, not skimping to nickle and dime myself then still end up being penny wise and pound foolish.
So, now I wait for my tractor to arrive and to sign the final paperwork. So I guess I should more accurately say, I've
committed to buying a tractor and waiting for it to arrive before completing the deal and signing on the dotted line.
I'm still a little in shock, I bought a tractor. And at random through out the last few days I say that to myself in disbelief. It's not real until it's here. But still. Now I need a new place to park it. And now I've got another machine that goes into the maintenance schedule. I wonder what stuff I'm going to do first? Scrape random gouges in the driveway or badly try and skim dirt along the new fenceline??

I guess we will find out.
Will get pics soon as I can.