1st time poster and buyer

[Georgia Swamp]

I lurked around here a couple years ago when I first bought my property and finally decided that a tractor wasn't in the budget at the time and bought a 60" exmark. Well I got all my bills paid for except my house so its tractor time. The two I have been been looking at are Kubota 3901L and the JD 3038e. When I was looking at tractors JD was more expensive than the rest. I have been pricing LS JD and Kubota. I can get the JD $1250.00 cheaper than the other brands. I have been pricing them with box blade FEL rotary mower. I have done a good bit of research on the 2 and find most people are leaning toward the Kubota. My question is, is 1250 enough to sway you to the JD? I personally know the owner of the JD store because I bought a couple Polaris's from him a few years back, so I know I have a great dealer if I go with JD. Thanks for any info

 

[davesl708]

Hi. Welcome.

I am sure you will be able to get several opinions on tractors.
I favor my Kubota. Had a small JD mower. Got rid of it. Use the Kubota for all jobs. Price will be less of a factor if you plan to keep it for a long time.

 

[Citydude]

$1250.00 less and a good dealer you trust would put me in the JD.

 

[Streetcar]

A good dealer is the most important thing with tractor purchase

 

[SRMN8R]

A good dealer is the most important thing with tractor purchase

Yep. That's solid advice right there.

 

[mecan]

Like the dealer, like the tractor, and it's cheaper? Should be pictures of the new tractor not questions

 

[varmint]

The "good" dealer may, or may not, be a factor. In 14 years of owning three Kubotas, the only time I contact a dealer is when I need filters and fluids. Not all that much, and in any event I buy from Messicks in PA more often than the local guys. I am seeing my neighbor have issues with his brand new JD 5055e that he really shouldn't be having. In his case, a good dealer would be a benefit. If my Kubotas had issues, they were sorted out by the time I bought them used. No issues from my point of view.

 

[GManBart]

I don't think the dealer makes much of a difference these days. Most machines never go back to the dealer, and small parts/filters are easily sourced online.

I don't own a Kubota, or a Deere, but there are some reasons why the Deere costs less. One, it only has a 2-range hydrostatic transmission, which is a big negative in my opinion....low is too low, and high is too high in many cases. 2-range hydros belong on garden tractors, not farm tractors. Second, the Deere uses an aluminum transmission housing and rear end housing...not a good thing. Those are two areas you want strong and heavy. That's at least partially why the Kubota weighs around 600lbs more...which is often a good thing. The Kubota also has more pump flow, which helps with cycle times on the FEL. Lastly, the Kubota FEL goes 10" higher, which can make a big difference. The two loaders appear to have similar max weight capacity, but that's because the Deere has so much less lift height (lift capacity decreases as lift height increases). In short, at the same height, the Kubota loader will have more lift capacity.

What LS did you price? For similar machines LS (and Kioti) are usually thousands less expensive than Deere, Kubota, Mahindra, and Case/NH.

 

[paulfun9]

I really wouldn't let the dealer sway me one way or the other. I would pick the best tractor for me based on its own merits and if I didn't like the dealer who sells that brand I would go to a different dealer. In this case there is no way I would choose the JD as its the econo model with an aluminum rear housing which I don't trust and would constantly be fearfull of when it will fail as well the loader is not easy to remove and it has a 2 speed HST The aluminum housing is more than enough to keep mw away from it but knowing how much more effective a 3 speed HST is and how much better it is when service needs done to simply remove the loader by themselves would also keep me away.

So in this case I would choose the Kubota over the JD but I would not overlook the Kioti or LS as they are both very good machines. In fact from everything I have gathered here even with the changes to the Kioti line up this year the CK series would most likely be at the top of my list especially since I belive they went with the dual pedal system for the HST as I find no comfort with the single HST pedal no matter how I place my foot when operating it.

 

[Georgia Swamp]

I just priced a kioti here is a list of the prices I have got with fel, bush hog, box blade, all dealers are in Ga and tax not included
ck3510hs $19,215
ck4010h $20,615
3038e $21,570
3901hydrostat $22,900
new Holland boomer 37 $23,500
ls xr3037h $23,150
I think I am going to go look at the kioti in the morning.