compact tractor ideas

Father in law is "looking" at Kubotas. Wants something with front loader and backhoe but 3pt to also brush hog (5ft) with. also wants 4x4 for mud and snow.

Any thoughts on options of new to 10 year old tractors in the 35-45hp range 4x4/loader/hoe/3pt/pto?

in other words, how do the CaseIH/Newholland/Deere/kioti/manhindra/MF in that size compare? compare?

I looked at all of them, bought a Kubota L 3400 . Hard to find a cheap used Kubota, for a reason - they are that good. I"ve had mine of 5 years, and not 1 problem. Btw, the engine, transmission, and critical parts are made by Kubota, not outsourced to China or ?

Not raining on your parade and I AM bias since I made a living selling KUBOTA going to have to look hard to beat the Kubota in that size tractor. Sold a lot of them. One thing he will have to watch now is KUBOTA like all other manufactures is offering several different models with the same horse power but different features. Go ahead and get one of the better transmissions, ie. not pure gear but either KUBTA glide shift or hydrostatic. Will make the loader more usable and overall just a better tractor.

Japan controlled companies all have pretty good stuff, plop down in the seat and see which you prefer on feel and fit.

India and Korea are cheaper, and make useable machines that hold up well. They are not the top of the line, but they are good enough.

China makes pretty good Diesel engines these days, but the rest of the tractors from China are still cheap, breakable, leaky, poorly fit. They are cheap for a reason.

This has been a real hotbed of a market, many companies like Case/ new Holland have changed their suppliers of late, so look into the real maker of the machine, not just who is selling it.

Paul

We have a Kubota 3130 4wd with a loader, and shuttle shift. It's been a great tractor, but it would be nice if it was one size bigger.
Pete

Kubota or JD.

I bought as new Kubota B1750HSD in 1993.

In the 20+ years that I have owned it, it has needed absolutely NOTHING aside from routine oil and filter changes.

NOTHING. Not so much as a fuse, lamp or fan belt.

Looking for another one as we speak. Not to replace the one that I have but an additional, larger one.

Dean

jm; Would you recommend since he wants a backhoe to get the heavier duty TLB series ? I would think he would be better off ? But with your years of Kubota sales are the other ones with the backhoe attachments holding up good ? I know some of the other brands break in half. New Holland I know some had problems with just a loader on them.

INcase.
Most people may not realize that when you lift a 1000 pounds with loader, you are actually putting 2000 pounds on front wheels. It's like a first class lever and the front axle is the fulcrum.

Look at how strong the front axle is, how high it loader can lift, how much it can lift and how fast.

One really needs to know what you plan to do with it. So you need something small to get inside a horse barn, or do you want something big to dig out a 5 ft stump?

Before I would buy any backhoe I would want to see what it can do. I definately wouldn't want a clutch when using the front loader. I definately wouldn't want to get on and off tractor seat to climb on the hoe seat.

Many people have the mind set they need one tractor to do everything. Reminds me of the Shop Smith. One tool to do everything, what an expensive joke.

I would definately hate to remove hoe so I could attach a mower.

Add on loaders and hoes aren't the same as a factory built backhoe. I've seen tractors damaged with both loaders and 3 pt hoes.

I have a Jubilee with a 6 ft finish mower. I have plenty of power, only in the 30 hp range. I really don't see why you need more hp for a 5 ft mower.


I really can't give you any advice on new tractors. My ford is 1953. Farmall is 1950. I wouldn't trade them for a new tractor. My backhoe is a 2004 terramite, T5C and I'll never be without one. It looks like a toy, but it fits my needs perfectly. I have an itch to buy a second Terramite, so I don't have to trailer the one I have to my other property.

All my tractors are gassers, easy to work on, easy to start in sub zero temps, when I need them the most to push snow.

Just something to think about. You don't buy a car without a test drive. Ask the dealer for a test drive before you buy.
George

I own a Kubota and a Deere. Wish I owned 2 Kubotas. By all means get 4wd and hydro trans.
I bought a Kubota B series new in 1989 with a 60in belly mower. All I have done, other than scheduled maintenance is replace one mower belt because something cut it and batteries.

MIKE It is like this IF Backhoe is 80 % of what he is doing , yes then buy the dedicated L 39, but for most home owners the backhoe is just part of the use. We take and make the back hoe mount on the BH 70 & 90 into a rigid mount and extend the loader mount full length of the tractor. That prevents what you see when someone hangs a stump with the hoe, pulls the front off the ground then the sudden drop breaks the clutch housing. You can tear up anything but do not see that problem with our 3 point or secondary mount hoes. People get carried away with horsepower but really something in the 35 hp range seems to fit a lot of homeowners. Gets you where the rotary cutter will cut the tractor width that is something I try to encourage most to do. This is a site dedicated to OLD tractors and as such I try not to say much about new tractors but these folks that tell young folks to go out and buy a 50 yr old 8n expecting it to do it all are really just doing the kid a injustice IF he can afford the newer unit. See so many go buy a paint job overhauled 50 year old tractor. Pay too much first off, then get it home something small say water pump goes , no big deal $ 65 bucks he is going, then next little more expensive break say radiator, 250.00 ,throw in another 200 for something then all of sudden say the clutch goes. Now he spends another 600 so now he is up to 4 grand or so then the motor lays down he either has a 4 thousand dollar chunk or iron or has to put 25 hundred and now has 65 hundred in a 25 hundred dollar tractor. Shows up wanting to trade it and just dies when we tell him we can only allow him 15 hundred. See it happened ever day , however not near as much now as it was 10 years ago. Slowly the younger bunch are wanting new compact 4 wheel drives and willing to spend to have that usable unit. Sorry for the long post.

I bought a 30 horse New Holland (T1510)with loader about 3 years ago. Love it. Like was said, a shuttle shift is so nice, especially with the loader. However, I wish it was a bit heavier. For any job requiring a good pull, I fire up my old Massey TO-35. Even with it being a 2WD, it will out-pull the NH.

I'd have to say look Kubota. I've had an L5030hstc for 10 years now, it has 2000 hours on it. It wears a 7 ft blower all winter doing 10+ rural drives, it does loader work and hays all summer.

I noticed one for sale in our local classifieds that was a surprising low price, looked a little rough, checked it out, it had 24,000 hours on it!! The transmision had been overhauled once at 6000 hours, the engine was rebuilt at 10,000 hours. Thats the second L5030 I've seen with over 10,000 hours already and they were only introduced in 2003.

a bit more info.

It will mostly be used for moving a bit of dirt, brush hogging, moving Christmas trees, pushing snow and hauling firewood.

Backhoe for some light drainage tile work and fixing some ditches. Might "talk" him out of the back hoe. For the money might as well rent one for $200 day once every 2-3 years.

He might trade the 9n. Its too tired. it has served us well but needs, rim, tire, trans work, PTO, loader ect. Its main job is to pull my Case 800 heavy beast out of the heavy Ohio clay mud. (there I added some antique tractor stuff to this post)

Thanks for the inputs

Bought a Mahindra eMax 22 with a FEL. Just needed a small tractor and this fit the bill. Made in Korea and we have a big local dealer. Very good build quality and heavy components. In my mind it was a much better value than the Kubotas. Mahindra also has some that are made in Japan too. However, you can't really go wrong with any of the Japanese or Korean made CUTs. Many of them are made by the same company, just different colors on them. For example my Mahindra is nearly identical to the LS J2023. LS makes the small New Holland.

while I like old tractors best for puttering and working the dirt,
I'm on my third new Kubota.
All 4wd, HST, loader machines.
no problems ever.
Loaders on old tractors are basically a joke, just a shovel replacement.
My 33 hp Kubota with a loader will easily out loader work
my loader equipped Ford 5000. (except for massive weight lifts...even then, I think the Kubota will almost match the lift power, but it's too light even with counterweight)
Biggest complaint with new import tractors, is they are light in weight.
I sprung for the factory backhoe on my new one (should have bought the BH years ago!)
Amazing BH power, too much really for the tractors weight.
Whatever tractor size you think you need, go up at least one series just for the weight factor.
The B7800 I traded in on this last new one had fairly low hours, but every minute was hard loader work in tough clay.
Held up fine, even doing way more than it was designed for.

I did give the LS local dealer a long look. Cheaper, heavier, and
and they advertise they also make the 'other' blue ones.
Went with Orange again, because of my previous experience with them, and I can't afford Green.

ps your post says snow, and heavy clay mud.
all dealers will try to sell you the industrial tired ones they have on the lot.
Be firm, Ag tires or I walk.
My first new one, I let them talk me into the R-4's, better with a loader, resale, blah, blah...........HA, deep snow, ice, wet clay,...totally useless.
traded it in within a year(switching to Ags would have been very expensive)

Everyone with cut tractors and front loader says to get the non-geared tranny but I have a Kubota gear drive with loader and I'm not in a race when loading the cleanout pile from the barn. It doesn't bother me if it takes 7 minutes to load the spreader vs 5 minutes with hst. Most of the time is spent driving to the field and unloading the manure/ sawdust load and returning. The most important feature I wanted was the quik-tach which is compatible with other brands such as Bobcat,Cat and others. I've never owned anything but gear drive and I guess if you haven't had it you don't miss it.