Buying Advice 2008 Kubota L3400 vs 2008 John Deere 3203

[wschoborg]

Need to purchase something in 30+ HP range, with FEL & 4wd, Hydrostatic. Hours on both machines are low for age (below 300). Please let me know your thoughts and experiences on either (or both) of these. Thanks for your help.

 

[Thomas]

Welcome to TBN.
L3400 can have jerky 3pt hitch.

 

[wschoborg]

Thanks Thomas. I have read that they are jerky elsewhere. Is this only when raising and lowering or during "steady" use?

 

[varmint]

Some are jerkier when lowering with a load than others, just like human beings. Our L3400 isn't a problem, but I am not doing 3 point tasks where smoothness is critical. Ours is fine for simple scraper blade type work. I like the beefiness of the L3400's rear end, and the overall design and build- seems, to me, to be a well balanced tractor in terms of weight/power. Our previous tractor, a Kubota L3130, had about the same power but much more weight/traction, but at the cost of lawn damage and speed.

All that said, I know nothing about the Deere. Hopefully, you could test both machines before buying? Do you have local dealer support, should you need it? We have never needed dealer support in 15 years of Kubota ownership- I buy filters and such wherever cheapest, pretty much.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

We have had an l3400 for several years now and never any problems with it. Have around 700 hours on it now I believe.

 

[k0ua]

Thanks Thomas. I have read that they are jerky elsewhere. Is this only when raising and lowering or during "steady" use?

The "Jerkyness" manifest's itself in this manner.

With a load on the 3pt, when you try to raise the 3pt Slowly the 3pt will come up in s series of "shudders" as you move the control slowly. If you move the position control lever rapidly the hitch will raise smoothly and only have 1 "jerk" at the end of travel. At no time will it ever be "jerky" in lowering. That is simply bleeding oil out of the drop rate valve, back to the tank, and will always be smooth.

It is these "shudders" that make precision control to feather out a pile of materiel you are dragging with a blade a PITA.

Many users do not ever notice this because they never raise the control slowly trying to "feather" a blade for instance. Many just yank their control rapidly to raise the 3 point hitch, it will raise smoothly all in one motion, and they are happy.

Also not all L3400's have the exact same response. Apparently.

 

[k0ua]

By the way my Old L3400hst was about as bad as any I have seen. I swapped it for a Kioti. Kubota's official position is if you wanted a smooth raising 3pt then buy a Grand L. The L2800, L3400, L3200 and L3800 are "economy" tractors and do not have the premium control and feedback components in the 3pt.

It is said that the new L3301 and L3901 do not have this problem.

 

[mkr7734]

By the way my Old L3400hst was about as bad as any I have seen. I swapped it for a Kioti. Kubota's official position is if you wanted a smooth raising 3pt then buy a Grand L. The L2800, L3400, L3200 and L3800 are "economy" tractors and do not have the premium control and feedback components in the 3pt.

It is said that the new L3301 and L3901 do not have this problem.

My neighbor has a Kioti, it is very slow compared to our 2006 3203 JD but the Kioti guys here are a tight bunch and you can take it anyway you want. They are like dogs on a boon if you say anything they don't like. Our JD 3203 has 460 + hours on it and I can't speak of parts cost because I have never needed to get "any" other than oil filters and oil. The one thing that I could of done better is have the 300CX loader not the 300 loader. The 300 loader is lame at best but it will pick up anything you put into the bucket. The three point hitch is smooth and has good lift and power. I made my own Aux Hyd system to run the snow plow tilt, JD does not offer aux Hyd on the 3203. It is their bottom line machine and marketed to sell better and more costly machines. But it does what we need and is very fast and has great power in both high and low ranges compared to the Kioti with three ranges and the Cub my other neighbor has with three ranges. They have great power in low and good speed in high but the mid range lack torque. I have a lot of run time on all of them. Both of those are 27 HP machines I think.
Try them out and you decide.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

My neighbor has a Kioti, it is very slow compared to our 2006 3203 JD . . . .

What does that mean? In what way is it slow? And which model is it?

. . . but the Kioti guys here are a tight bunch and you can take it anyway you want. They are like dogs on a boon if you say anything they don't like. . . .

Forgive us for liking the tractor we bought. I guess that privilege is reserved to John Deere owners.

I don't think you will find the Kioti owners are any more or less defensive about their tractors than anyone else. Most of us participate in this forum and try to help people who need advice on buying a tractor. I don't give a rip what kind of tractor anyone else buys, so why should I attack someone for choosing another brand?

Kioti owners on this forum do consistently point out that Kioti (and LS) tractors typically provide more features at a given price point than brands like Kubota and Deere. That's not opinion; it's fact. If you disagree, then let's line up a few models of comparable Kioti tractors and John Deere tractors and compare features and prices. Whether the price-to-feature ratio is important to a potential buyer is for them to decide. But don't fault us for giving them the information or letting them know another choice exists.

By the way, I own a Kioti, two Kubotas and a John Deere Garden tractor. I'm not brand loyal.

 

[Gafn]

Best advice I can offer....

Get the dealer to loan/rent to you one of each model - take them home for a weekend and perform the exact same tasks with each.
Then buy the one you like the best.

Also look into the lesser big brand names like Kioti, LS, Branson, you might be able to get a new tractor (with full warranties) for the cost of the used Main Brand ones your looking at.