How are 3 point attachments classified? Are they proprietary to the manufacturer?
Also is a $30K budget for a TLB ~60HP range reasonable to expect something decent?
I agree the older Massey gear is OK, as long as it is the older gear. Also Case and International before the FIAT takeover is OK. The problem with Massey and Case etc. is that spares are hard to come by, and you will be looking for used parts most likely. JD on the other hand are well supported by parts with tractors going back years, just like Caterpillar. Both those companies reckon correctly, that keeping old gear running well, is worth any amount spent on advertising. They are correct about that.
The Kubota gear will not be as old as a lot of gear from iconic manufacturers.
Also it would be helpful to know where you live, as different areas have had different proportions of trusted lines, largely because of dealer network.
A long term family owned dealership can, and does, change what is around locally, to a significant degree.
As far as hitches, they are standard, but have different categories and then there is the "quick hitch".
The article will explain.
So you will need to purchase implements for the class of hitch you have.
Having said that I would not purchase a tractor with a hitch below class 3. HP is not the whole answer. My JD model A had a class 3 and was 39 HP.
However because of the enormous torque and heavy flywheel, it easily out plowed my neighbors Bobcat with a 60 HP Kubota.
I also had a class 3 on my JD 420 that was 29 HP. If you do end up going for an older tractor, don't be put off by the rated HP. Older tractors will often outperform their modern counter parts. I have seen JD model As on the ergometer at Rollag, peak out at around 65 HP, when rated at 39 HP.
I'm not a huge lover of the quick hitch, which is now generally the rule on more modern equipment.
One other issue, tractors older than the fifties only came with rocker arms and not a three point hitch, unless a Ford or Ferguson. This was because of the famous handshake agreement between Harry Ferguson (the inventor of the three point hitch) and Henry Ford. Edsel Ford managed to abrogate the agreement displaying his legendary stupidity, and then the three point hitch was public domain. Being a 1948 tractor, my model A did not have a three point hitch, but one was easily fashioned, so it always had a class three hitch when I owned it. The 420 being 1958 always had a class three hitch.
If you live in driving distance of
Rollag Minnesota, then you really should get to the annual Labor day weekend Steam Threshers Reunion.
This is a massive site, where around 1600 skilled machinists and mechanics spend the summer on site in a caravan park and restore and keep a vast array of tractors and other implements restored and working. It is a huge site in a really beautiful location.
If you attend you would get the education I think you require, before embarking on your tractor adventure. You see number plates there from just about every state in the union, every year.
If you want to come, I would be more than happy to host you, and give you the grand tour.
I have always attended in my well oil stained overalls. The one year I did not, as I had been asked to escort a party of four. That year a guy with a Waterloo JD series tractor, had to be towed out of the morning parade. He did no know how to adjust the clutch, which is in the belt pulley. I saw him struggling with it, and gave him a hand showing him how to set the clutch. He gave me a big thumbs up, as he want past the grandstand in the afternoon parade. Needless to say I got absolutely filthy!