I spent weeks researching 25-40hp tractors before pulling the trigger. I had a deposit on a like new 50 hour 2015 Deere 3038E that was coming in on trade at a Deere dealer in Ohio. I had a couple of weeks before that unit arrived, so I did research into and looked at many competitive units, including Kubota, Kioti, Tym, Mahindra, Branson, LS, and New Holland. I quickly realized that the FEL and 3-point capacities of most of these were far greater than a similarly priced 3038E, and there were many more useful features on those brands as well. I came close to buying a like new 3520 Branson, but it was near Tulsa, and I would have needed to make a special trip and rent a trailer and drive my "never been driven in a winter" '04 F250 to pick it up. When I saw the new local CL listing for the Mahindra and after looking at it (48 hours, always garage kept with bush hog, front snow plow, rear blade) at the same money as the Deere (which was an excellent deal), I immediately bought it. As for the Kubota, I looked at the L model, but new ones with features comparable to the Mahindra and others were priced much too high, and there were no used ones around. There was no dealer close to me, and the one I visited wasn't very enthusiastic about his machine. I also noticed many low hour E Series Deere tractors for sale in my area, and good prices. Why were so many people selling their virtually new tractors, and at such low prices -- were they not happy with them? I think all of the compact tractors these days are good quality and reliable, but when you compare them head to head in features, weight and capacities, for the dollar, it seems that Kubota and Deere are not at the top. The fact that there are so many Deere and Kubota tractors sold is a testament to their marketing, well known reputation, dealer coverage and thousands of happy repeat owners. If their products lacked quality or were over priced, they wouldn't sell as many as they do. For every happy Mahindra or Branson owner there are probably 10 happy Deere and Kubota owners. In many cases, having more features, tractor weight, or more lift capacity, is less important than owning a more recognized brand name with a dealer the owner can trust and is geographically convenient. Would I be happy with an E Series Deere or L Series Kubota? Absolutely, they're great machines. It's just that I couldn't justify spending the same money for less features, weight and lift capacities, which to me were all important factors. I feel that I lucked out in my purchase, especially since my dealer is 30 minutes away and is a very established and reputable New Holland dealer, with several locations, and highly focused on customer service. I think everyone on this forum has different factors that are important in the purchase and ownership of a tractor, and that's what makes it so interesting.
