Considering buy a B6100 - Looking for advise

[the drew]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advise. Looking to buy my first real tractor and am struggling with a choice.

What I'm looking for:

The main requirement for me is snowblowing in the winter, my driveway has a steep incline to get on to the street... without measuring I'm guessing around 20-23 degrees. I live in the snow belt of east coast Canada; we get a decent amount of snow in the winter. So, I'm looking for something that can handle a good snow load, while blowing up hill. Obviously, I need 4wd and 4wd tractors and slim picking around here. There's three for sale right now within my reach:

1984 Kubota 6100D: 2500 hours. Comes with a 3pt woods mower and a hydraulic front mount blade. No blower, but the price is right so I can still buy one. Has turf tires. Looks decent, but is definitely well used. Not as clean as the others. Is 2500 hours getting near the useful life of the tractor?

1988 John Deere 650: Comes with a cab and no attachments. Looks in great shape. Its priced between the Kubota and the other Deere.

1989 John Deere 650: Looks great. Comes with a 2 year old blower, mower and a couple other things. about 1500 hours Only thing is it's almost twice the price of the Kubota.

What do you guys think?

Right now I'm leaning towards the Kubota, based solely on price. It's smaller than the Deeres though, which worries me about traction.

 

[newbury]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advise. Looking to buy my first real tractor and am struggling with a choice.

What I'm looking for:

The main requirement for me is snowblowing in the winter, my driveway has a steep incline to get on to the street... without measuring I'm guessing around 20-23 degrees. I live in the snow belt of east coast Canada; we get a decent amount of snow in the winter.

Excuse me, I'm FROM Vermont, in Virginia, moving to Mississippi, what is a "decent amonunt?". In Vermont I've seen 30" snowfalls, in Mississippi 2" is decent.
And 23 DEGREES is fairly steep for driving on snow.
For example here is 30 degrees, admittedly 7 more degrees.

So, I'm looking for something that can handle a good snow load, while blowing up hill. Obviously, I need 4wd and 4wd tractors and slim picking around here. There's three for sale right now within my reach:

1984 Kubota 6100D: 2500 hours. Comes with a 3pt woods mower and a hyrdorlic front mount blade. No blower, but the price is right so I can still buy one. Has turf tires. Looks decent, but is defineilty well used. Not as clean as the others. Is 2500 hours getting near the useful life of the tractor?

1988 John Deere 650: Comes with a cab and no attachments. Looks in great shape. Its priced between the Kubota and the other Deere.

1989 John Deere 650: Looks great. Comes with a 2 year old blower, mower and a couple other things. about 1500 hours Only thing is it's almost twice the price of the Kubota.

What do you guys think?

Right now I'm leaning towards the Kubota, based solely on price. It's smaller than the Deeres though, which worries me about traction.

I think you should RENT a tractor of that size and try going upslope in wet slippery conditions. And plan on blowing downhill.

 

[Wolfy]

I used to have a Kubota B5200. I am not sure that it had the power to run a snowblower. For 3 years though, it cleared my driveway, with a 5 ft grader blade. Heavy snow would stall it or push it around. My dad used to have a John Deere 750. I spent a lot of hours with it clearing the driveway with the bucket. His neighbor has a horse farm and had a 650 that he cleared the stalls with. All very good tractors. I will say John Deere is much better for parts, though seldom needed.

 

[Egon]

The Kubota with front blade will be challenged plowing uphill. That's even with chains on. I'm assuming some heavy wet snow if you are on the East Coast. I'm not familiar with the other tractors you have mentioned.

General thoughts: on small tractors a loader will work better than front or rear blades. Snow blower would be preferable but should be at least 16 to 20 horse power. Chains are a great help. On 23 degree slopes with wet heavy snow and temperatures around 0C you may not get back up without chains. ( experience with Kubota B7100 )

 

[GPintheMitten]

I had a B6200 4wd hydrostatic with turfs. With rear chains it was good in snow. I had a rear snow blower. Less horsepower than I prefer but I did have an oversized blower. With a 48 in blower it would do the job but likely would need to blow on the downhill slope.

I put a counter weight on the front to offset the weight of the blower when lifted with the 3pt. I sold it with about 1000 hours on it to buy my current tractor. Taken care of with fluid and filters they last a long time.

 

[Baby Grand]

First, if you haven't done so already, go get some data on these tractors using the TractorData website:
TractorData.com - information on all makes and models of tractors

About the B6100:

At 2400 hours, it's seen some use, but I'd be more interested in the overall condition than the clock.
Worn paint & furniture is to be expected, but I'd avoid a physically beat up machine.
For sale by the original owner, with records of maintenance would be a big plus.
38.4 inches wide, so a 48" rear blower is about as close to matching size and power of the tractor.
If there was a 42" option, that would be a better match, but I don't see anything like that available.
The PTO has 3 speeds: 540/750/1000, so that gives a little more flexibility, if the blower can handle the higher speeds.
First gear, low, at PTO speed will crawl along at 0.7 mph, which is probably about as fast as you'd want to go for heavy snow or anything over 8" deep.
-Jim

 

[SPYDERLK]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advise. Looking to buy my first real tractor and am struggling with a choice.

What I'm looking for:

The main requirement for me is snowblowing in the winter, my driveway has a steep incline to get on to the street... without measuring I'm guessing around 20-23 degrees. I live in the snow belt of east coast Canada; we get a decent amount of snow in the winter. So, I'm looking for something that can handle a good snow load, while blowing up hill. Obviously, I need 4wd and 4wd tractors and slim picking around here. There's three for sale right now within my reach:

1984 Kubota 6100D: 2500 hours. Comes with a 3pt woods mower and a hydraulic front mount blade. No blower, but the price is right so I can still buy one. Has turf tires. Looks decent, but is definitely well used. Not as clean as the others. Is 2500 hours getting near the useful life of the tractor?

1988 John Deere 650: Comes with a cab and no attachments. Looks in great shape. Its priced between the Kubota and the other Deere.

1989 John Deere 650: Looks great. Comes with a 2 year old blower, mower and a couple other things. about 1500 hours Only thing is it's almost twice the price of the Kubota.

What do you guys think?

Right now I'm leaning towards the Kubota, based solely on price. It's smaller than the Deeres though, which worries me about traction.

I have experience blowing ~16" snow with a front mounted 50" snowthrower on a BX 1500 [15HP HST Kub]. It was fine because of the HST allowing infinite adjustment of speed. All hp is used going 1 mph on level ground. ... Based on this, I believe there would be problems with 15HP climbing a 23 degree grade with a fixed ratio trans at 0.7mph while throwing a lot of snow.

The higher HP JD would probably get past this hurdle. ... I know its the money, and HST is more, but its sorta priceless when youre very close to the PTO hp barrier and have to move too.
,,,larry