Buying Advice Overwhelmed by All the Options!

[Parkanzky]

We recently moved to a new home. It is on 4.2 acres, which is all wooded except the very long driveway. There's also basically no landscaping at this point. The woods has not been cared for and there is thigh-high brush everywhere. I'm looking for a compact tractor to clear the drive, clean up and maintain the woods, help out with the landscaping and to play with like a kid in a big sandbox.

My father-in-law has a Deere 955 and a ~100 HP Case tractor that I've spent a good bit of time on. I'm looking for something similar to the 955 (~30 HP, 4WD and Hydrostatic). I've been reading about implements and will want a loader with a bucket and forks and a front-mounted snow blower from the dealer. Then I'll buy a box scraper and a flail mower (Caroni?) to hook up to the rear separately.

There are a couple of John Deere dealers, a couple of Kubota dealers, a Case and a New Holland dealer within reasonable distance of me (49301). I've tried finding other options but frankly don't have the bandwidth to compare that many tractors anyway.

I've been to the Deere dealer and determined there that if I go green I'd be buying a 2032R. I've also looked at the Kubota dealer and he's steering me to a 3350 and preparing a quote. I haven't been able to get on the Kubota yet, but overall I liked the control layout on the Deere. I think that I'll prefer the side-by-side hydrostatic pedals to the rocker-type on the Kubota. I haven't made it to the other dealers, but it looks like the 30C would be what I'd be looking at from Case and I haven't looked at New Holland at all yet.

So what advice can you offer?

The Kubota has a bit more capacity than the Deere, but the ergonomics don't seem quite as nice to me. The 30C looks more capable yet, but I think it's going to be more money and a bit harder to trailer (It weights ~3000#, vs. ~2000# for the other two). Whatever I buy needs to fit through a residential garage door (so ROPS) and I'd like to be able to pull it behind a full-size SUV someday.

 

[Rocky Hoffler]

Welcome to the world of tractors seems as thou you have given this some thought. sounds like a scut is probably the right size for your needs. I would recommend 4wd and a loader in whatever brand you choose when buying new you can take your time and shop around. nothing wrong with getting quotes some equipment is cheaper bought from other than dealer good luck

 

[jaydee325]

There is an LS dealer in Lowell. They advertise on Craigslist.

Also, the LS forum on this site is very active so check it out.

 

[jeff9366]

If you intend the dealer to provide periodic maintenance plus repairs, it is important the dealer be reasonably close.

You will have to pay for transport and it is expensive to transport a tractor on a HD trailer, pulled by an HD truck, driven by a driver mechanic, with commercial insurance on the truck and load, plus fuel and depreciation.

Here is sample cost for a 40 mile transport to a dealer:

40 X 4 legs = 160 miles X $1.50 per mile = $240. (This would be 5 hours for the driver including ramps, tie downs, listening to the owners woes and collecting $$ on return.). Transport cost is not covered under warranty.

 

[jeff9366]

The Kubota has a bit more capacity than the Deere, but the ergonomics don't seem quite as nice to me. The 30C looks more capable yet, but I think it's going to be more money and a bit harder to trailer (It weights ~3000#, vs. ~2000# for the other two). Whatever I buy needs to fit through a residential garage door (so ROPS) and I'd like to be able to pull it behind a full-size SUV someday.

These weights do not include optional FEL and bucket. Specs for weight and width are with R1/Ag tires. R4/Industrial tires, usually paired with an FEL equipped tractor, will be somewhat heavier and a good bit wider.

I strive to keep everything mechanically simple. A Flail Mower has a huge number of parts relative to very simple Rotary Cutter. (Bush Hog)

As you intend to use a Box Blade be sure the tractor has RIGID stabilizers at the Three Point Hitch. The Kubota B3350 does. You do not want TURNBUCKLE stabilizers when using a Box Blade, they bend too easily.

 

[Parkanzky]

Good point on transport. The Deere dealer I'm working with charges (I think he said...) $80 round-trip to pick up and drop the machine off for maintenance or a repair. I think it's a flat rate within some sort of service radius, but it happens that I'm about 25 miles from the dealer, so that fits your ~$1.5/mile estimate.

I got a quote today from the Deere dealer for a 2032R with loader (61", 48" forks, ballast box and a 54" front-mount snowblower on R4 tires. He's asking ~$28,750 out the door (including freight, assembly and taxes).

I also got a quote for a Kubota B3350 w/loader, quick attach 54” bucket, pallet frame and 36” forks, and 63” hd snowblower w/hydraulic chute rotator. List price is $32,059. Selling price is $29,682. Another $700 off if I pay cash. He didn't say in the email exactly what that includes. I'm assuming it includes freight and setup, but does not include taxes. I have an email out to him to clarify.

If it's true that the Kubota price doesn't include taxes, then the Kubota is quite a bit more expensive than the Deere. I think that the Deere is more than enough tractor for my 4.2 wooded acres and my drive (although I'd have liked the wider snowblower).

Right now I'm leaning toward the Deere based on the test drive I've had and the prices. I haven't driven a Kubota yet though and both dealers are trying to get loaders installed so I can scoop up a bit of dirt.

Thoughts?

Also, I was going to finance the Deere because 0% is "free money." I am sure I'd make more than $700 in dividends on my money, so financing still seems like a better deal on the Kubota. But I've been wondering just how free that money is. What does it cost to set up the loan? Also, I hadn't considered insuring my tractor. But I assume that it's required for financing. How much does that cost?

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[Parkanzky]

These weights do not include optional FEL and bucket. Specs for weight and width are with R1/Ag tires. R4/Industrial tires, usually paired with an FEL equipped tractor, will be somewhat heavier and a good bit wider.

I strive to keep everything mechanically simple. A Flail Mower has a huge number of parts relative to very simple Rotary Cutter. (Bush Hog)

I know that the loader and things like tires (especially loaded) will add weight. But if the Kubota starts 1000# heavier, then it will be even more heavy after I add implements. The SUV I'm thinking about buying my wife tows a bit over 7700#. I think that I can probably haul the 2032R with loader and something on the 3PH with that, but the Kubota would really be pushing it.

 

[jeff9366]

When comparing tractor prices, compare tractors of the same weight, which is APPLES TO APPLES. Price per pound of similarly equiped Deere/Kubota models are about the same.

You want tractor insurance if you are a newbie. You are going to bang it up learning. Kubota insurance would be $400 per year with $250 deductible; they pay readily. Insurance covers transport for repair. (My local Kubota dealer pulled one customer's large Kubota out of customer's pond TWICE within two years, hauled it in and replaced entire engine TWICE and Kubota KTAC insurance paid without demure.) Also, tractor theft is significant as there are not VINs nor titles for tractors. Stolen tractors are seldom recovered.

In Florida, ag and forestry equipment is sales tax exempt. Check the situation in Michigan.

If you finance @ 0% you will loose $700 discount. Deere or Kubota the same.

I have had three tractors, one Deere, two Kubotas, each larger; none with loaded tires. Do not have the tires loaded if you have four wheel drive. You can have it done later if you feel the need, which I doubt. You want to compact soil as little as possible. I drive over residential lawns in 2-WD mode with my 5,400 pound L3560 without damage regularly. It is much heavier than what you are considering, but R4 tires are also much larger.


FINANCING @ 0% LINK:

Search Results - TractorByNet.com

 

[coobie]

I would also look at LS & Kioti brand tractors before you make your final choice.

 

[Parkanzky]

When comparing tractor prices, compare tractors of the same weight, which is APPLES TO APPLES. Price per pound Deere/Kubota models are about the same.

You want tractor insurance if you are a newbie. You are going to bang it up learning. Kubota insurance would be $400 per year with $250 deductible; they pay readily. Insurance covers transport for repair. (My local Kubota dealer pulled one customer's large Kubota out of his pond TWICE within two years, hauled it in and replaced entire engine TWICE and Kubota paid without demure.) Also, tractor theft is significant as there are not VINs nor titles for tractors. Stolen tractors are seldom recovered.

In Florida, ag and forestry equipment is sales tax exempt. Check the situation in Michigan.

If you finance @ 0% you will loose $700 discount. Deere or Kubota the same.

I have had three tractors, one Deere, two Kubotas, each larger; none with loaded tires. Do not have the tires loaded if you have four wheel drive. You can have it done later if you feel the need, which I doubt. You want to compact soil as little as possible. I drive over residential lawns in 2-WD mode with my 5,400 pound L3560 without damage regularly.

I was confused about weights. The respective websites list the Kubota at 1896# and the Deere at 1973#. I must have seen a weight for the Kubota with the loader or something and it got stuck in my head. So they are about the same weight.

Thanks for the note about loaded tires. I was trying to sort out whether I wanted a ballast box, loaded tires, or both. It's sounding like I should get the ballast box and skip the tires.

I have quotes from two different dealers that both have sales tax on the purchase, so I don't think I'm going to be able to avoid that.

 

[DuckSlayer1017]

I would get the loaded tires. That way you don't have to mess around with a ballast box and you wont be temped to pick up something with the box removed. I've been there on my Dad's JD 2320 and didn't like the feeling. My tractor weights about 3300 lbs with another 500lb of beet juice in the tires. The R4 tires leave no marks on the lawn. You said that you have a lot of trees on your property. The ballast box will make it harder to maneuver in the trees because of the extra length. One more thought, if doing loader work with a back blade or box blade you may not have the same ballast as having the ballast box on. It could affect your stability while doing dirt work with the blade on instead of the ballast box. If the tires are loaded then you don't even need to think twice about it.

 

[jeff9366]

I was trying to sort out whether I wanted a ballast box, loaded tires, or both. It's sounding like I should get the ballast box and skip the tires.

Use your Box Blade as counterbalance. Weight BEHIND the rear axle, on the Three Point Hitch, relieves stress on the front axle and front axle seals which are heavily stressed when the FEL is full and the tractor is bouncing over uneven ground.
Loaded tires provide provide weight but no counterbalance. Counterbalance weight is twice to thrice more effective pound per pound because it is cantilevered behind the tractor.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

I wouldn't put much emphasis on the HST pedal differences between the Deere and Kubota. My Deere garden tractor and my Kioti DK50SE both have the side by side pedals, and my Kubota has the typical Kubota pedal. Both types work fine, and transitioning from one to the other is not an issue.

There are more important differences to focus on.

 

[arrow]

In your case where you are requiring a size limitation, rops need to be less than 84". You want to clear up some of your woods but believe me when I tell you that you'll do this once. After that it grows in so fast, you'll give up that notion of going into the woods to "clean them up". You are correct to want to get a tractor in the 30 hp range. This will come in handy to run a 4' bush hog. You are not logging (or you didn't say you were) so you do not need that much weight. The B series Kubota is a good bet. Poop Deck ^ wisely states no matter what you get you'll become used to it. I hated my new Mahindra when I first got it when i kept comparing it ergonomics wise to my old JD 750. Now after a year, the Mahindra shuttle is infinitely faster than the 750 was control wise.

Nothing beats up a piece of equipment faster than "the woods" and is why one dealer is recommending the larger heavier tractor. If the woods is going to be a one or two off thing, get a tractor based on how you'll use it mostly and have some other guy with a land clearing cutter go in for you. I spend most of my time in the woods so a Mahindra 3016 with shuttle and ag tires comes in handy as one needs as much ground clearance as possible in these New England type woods. These woods tend to be very dense with many ground obstructions. I professionally logged this type of wood for 30 years and these woods would even do a job on logging skidders. If I were not doing woods stuff, one of the Max series tractors would be a much handier machine for me.

 

[Parkanzky]

In your case where you are requiring a size limitation, rops need to be less than 84". You want to clear up some of your woods but believe me when I tell you that you'll do this once. After that it grows in so fast, you'll give up that notion of going into the woods to "clean them up". You are correct to want to get a tractor in the 30 hp range. This will come in handy to run a 4' bush hog. You are not logging (or you didn't say you were) so you do not need that much weight. The B series Kubota is a good bet. Poop Deck ^ wisely states no matter what you get you'll become used to it. I hated my new Mahindra when I first got it when i kept comparing it ergonomics wise to my old JD 750. Now after a year, the Mahindra shuttle is infinitely faster than the 750 was control wise.

Nothing beats up a piece of equipment faster than "the woods" and is why one dealer is recommending the larger heavier tractor. If the woods is going to be a one or two off thing, get a tractor based on how you'll use it mostly and have some other guy with a land clearing cutter go in for you. I spend most of my time in the woods so a Mahindra 3016 with shuttle and ag tires comes in handy as one needs as much ground clearance as possible in these New England type woods. These woods tend to be very dense with many ground obstructions. I professionally logged this type of wood for 30 years and these woods would even do a job on logging skidders. If I were not doing woods stuff, one of the Max series tractors would be a much handier machine for me.

I'm not ruling out the Kubota because of the pedal. It's just a difference that I noticed and I do think that I prefer side-by-side. All the levers on the Deere seemed to be right where I wanted to reach them when I played with it. I'll see if the Kubota feels the same way when I finally get to drive one (nobody around here seems to have any assembled at the moment).
The ROPS on all these tractors is higher than a residential garage door when it's up. So I'll have to have it folded to park. It seems like there's no getting around that unless I build a "shed."

I want to do the initial clearing (cutting all the brush out of the wooded area of our property), then I'll see how it goes but I will at least want to keep a couple of narrow paths clear all the time. Any "logging" will be confined to hauling out downed trees or anything I cut down trying to make the woods nicer to look at. It won't be enough that I would mind having to cut the trees into chunks to pull them to the burn pile. I envision cutting anything I haul out to shorter than the width of the bucket. A lot of the existing "landscaping" is bordered by pine logs (probably from clearing the spot for the house 7 years ago). There are also a couple of really large brush piles at the back of the property. One of my first projects will be to gather all of that up and burn it.

There is no way to burn wood in the house, so I won't be splitting firewood or anything.

 

[TSO]

Welcome from the thumb area.

Like others have mentioned, check out LS tractors as well. (If you haven't already learned, LS makes the compact tractors for Case & New Holland, so if you've looked at those brands, you've already seen LS .... and buying directly from LS will save you a considerable amount of $$$)

For example, you can probably get an LS XR3032 or XR3037 hydro CAB tractor with loader, for $24k-$26k. If you haven't considered a cab, consider it, especially If you're going to be blowing snow with it in the winter (you'll be dry and warm, listening to the radio) or mowing in the summer (you'll enjoy a dust & bug free, air conditioned zone). I converted from open station tractors last year and have never looked back!

Just don't pass up at least considering LS ... you'll get way more for your money.

If you have a Massey dealer, check them out too. They make a real good tractor, albeit at a bit higher cost.

Good luck!

 

[Parkanzky]

I would get the loaded tires. That way you don't have to mess around with a ballast box and you wont be temped to pick up something with the box removed.

The Deere dealer told me that loading this size tires would only add a couple hundred pounds and not behind the axle. He told me that I'd still need a ballast box to work the loader, even with loaded tires.

 

[Parkanzky]

Welcome from the thumb area.

Like others have mentioned, check out LS tractors as well. (If you haven't already learned, LS makes the compact tractors for Case & New Holland, so if you've looked at those brands, you've already seen LS .... and buying directly from LS will save you a considerable amount of $$$)

For example, you can probably get an LS XR3032 or XR3037 hydro CAB tractor with loader, for $24k-$26k. If you haven't considered a cab, consider it, especially If you're going to be blowing snow with it in the winter (you'll be dry and warm, listening to the radio) or mowing in the summer (you'll enjoy a dust & bug free, air conditioned zone). I converted from open station tractors last year and have never looked back!

Just don't pass up at least considering LS ... you'll get way more for your money.

If you have a Massey dealer, check them out too. They make a real good tractor, albeit at a bit higher cost.

Good luck!

I'll need to check out the LS tractors. Their website doesn't allow me to configure a tractor online so it's hard to know the deal there.

I can't do a cab. The tractor has to fit through a residential garage door. So I need to be able to fold ROPS. I've used my father-in-law's ~90-100 HP Case tractors with and without cabs and liked the climate control in the cab but didn't like the extra hassle to get on and off the tractor. It was also a bit of a pain when we did anything in the woods (I always felt like I was destroying the cab with limbs and that broken glass was an imminent threat).

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

few notes.

Kubota L3301 is basically the same price as a B3350. Just does not have a mid-pto, which it sounds like your not using.

careful on using weights off the spec sheet, they are WAY low. You can't trailer anything bigger than a BX on a 3k trailer.

IMO.. these are big tractors for 4 acres. B2620 maybe worth looking at.

 

[Parkanzky]

few notes.

Kubota L3301 is basically the same price as a B3350. Just does not have a mid-pto, which it sounds like your not using.

careful on using weights off the spec sheet, they are WAY low. You can't trailer anything bigger than a BX on a 3k trailer.

IMO.. these are big tractors for 4 acres. B2620 maybe worth looking at.

I need the mid-pto for the front-mounted snowblower (which is the main way I'm justifying this purchase to my board of directors).

I looked at the 2025R and the B2620, but I'm reading that I'd need/want more PTO HP to run a 5' flail mower. I don't want to drop engine size to save a few thousand dollars and then regret the purchase later.