Posted by J Hare on March 26, 1998 at 12:03:08:
In Reply to: John Deere 970 v Kubota L3600 GST v Boomer 1925 posted by Lisa on March 18, 1998 at 16:05:22:
: I have a small pine tree farm w/ about 5 acres of grass to cut. I need a tractor with a front loader, auger, and belly mower.
: I have looked at the JD 970, Kubota L3600, and Boomer 1925. I think these are all about in the same class, although the boomer is smaller and lighter. I also think I need 4wd.
: Which do you think is better or more suited for my purpose?
: What is a good price for each?
: Thank you for your help.
: Lisa
I also looked into all these models (JD 855 vs 970) and here's
what I found.
I liked the kubota, it just didn't thrill me. Loader operation
wasn't as smooth, hooking up belly mower and removing loader was
more difficult. I insisted on doing this myself a couple times
on each of the tractors.
The 855 and Boomer are both hydrostatic and pretty comparable
except the Boomer is Bigger and has slightly more loader and
3pt hitch capacity) I found the 855/955's belly mower to be
super easy to put on and take off. Takes me about 5 minutes
now. My wife doesn't hesitate to hook up the loader or the
mower whenever she needs it.
I liked the controls much better on the JD. The Fwd/Rev
pedals on the right with master brake above. The left side
has the split R/L brakes which makes it a breeze to stomp on
the Left brake and the FWD or REV pedal and pivet out of a
tight place. This made much more sense than the split brakes
on the same side as the FWD/Rev.
Turning radius was better on the Boomer with an option, but
I found that the JD being slightly smaller in size turned
just as tight. The Boomer with that supersteer made loader
operation a little dangerous since the thing got kinda tippy
even when carrying a heavy load. I practically had to drag
the bucket. :)
I pull alot of stumps, lug tons of firewood, drag bolders and
rocks and after working the 855, am glad I didn't go with the
Boomer. Its center of gravity felt much higher and that
might have been a problem in several situations I encountered.
The final deciding factor? The JD fit in my garage with 1" to
spare. :) 855 downside: no drink holder...