And the Winner is............

[chim]

...........going to be determined tomorrow. Here's the short version of a long story. Wanted a cab tractor and some more horses, but too many places a cab wouldn't fit. Gave up on the cab and figured the cab could be a removeable DIY project reserved for cold weather use.

Found a great deal (on a larger tractor than I really want) on Craigslist. It was a lightly used Bobcat CT335, but the guy decided not to sell it. Then he re-listed it on CL for more money (still a good deal) but told me it was sold when I called about it. I don't know if he really sold it or was afraid it would have been unhappy at my place.

Looked at a bunch of used tractors - lots of money being asked for some pretty rough looking units. Came to the conclusion a brand-new tractor wouldn't be all that much more than a really clean used one. Besides, a warranty would be good.

Right now we still have the ol' Ford 1210 and the Kubota B7500. They both have 5 foot RFM's and the B7500 has a loader. When I told Wifey the plan of selling off the Kubota, Ford (and a Jeep Wrangler we don't use), she said "Don't you want to keep the Ford for trimming around stuff?" Jumped on that one with a "That would be a great idea, Honey". You can tell she was raised on a farm because she keeps referring to equipment listed in the next paragraph as "Garden Tractors".

Today I left specs with Kioti, Bobcat, Mahindra and Kubota dealers for CK30, CT230, 3615 and L3200. All are to be HST with a loader. Told them all that I'd like to have the prices by the end of the day tomorrow and be done with the deal this week. Delivery of the tractor would be later this week if feasible (all had their respective tractors in stock). The Mahindra dealer may be at a disadvantage because he's quoting a 36HP tractor. I want 30HP minimum and it's not my fault Mahindra goes from 28 to 36. I'm sure any of these would be very satisfactory.

All are giving me a separate price for a care package of necessary fluids and filters for the initial change.

It's going to be interesting. I don't have final numbers from any of them, but one dealer did tell me the price would start with a 1 and a 5.

 

[creekbend]

Best wishes. I hope everything works out positively for you.

 

[Woody65]

I am interested to see what quotes you get. I am also shopping for the same model tractors from Kubota, Mahindra and Kioti. So far Kubota came in at 19,700 for FEL with QA bucket on the L3200. I will be checking back to your thread to compare quotes. Good luck.

 

[chim]

Woody, with prices like that you need to slide one state to the south. Both "Orange" dealers were a good bit less than that before we began negotiations. I don't know where they'll finish up till the end of the day, but the Kioti dealer was the one who (just barely) broke through the $16K barrier before the race got started.

After looking around quite a bit any of the four would be great for me. Each has certain things that are appealing and unappealing to me.

The Kioti has a very sturdy appearance to it, as does its twin Bobcat.

The Kioti's loader looks flimsy compared with the Bobcat's loader.

The Bobcat dealer seems a little proud of his machine compared with the Kioti.

The Mahindra's extra HP is attractive, and it's a shame they don't have something that is an "apples to apples" HP version to compare. To me it appears just a little bulkier than the others.

My B7500 has been a great example of reliability for that orange brand and the 'Bota loader is really sturdy and looks to be the most user-friendly with regard to getting it on and off. The platform area is more open and unfinished looking than the others. After seeing the excellent homebrew cabs here I hope to come up with a DIY cab before Winter that will be short enough to fit where it needs to. The open expanses of the L3200 would need extra work to be closed up.

 

[oandhsales]

You can stop by Manheim and I will show you a 40 with loader and a/c in the same price range you may be interested in.Good luck with what ever you do.

 

[chim]

Looks a bit tall for my garage - is it over 7'? What is the warranty? Your site says 1 year parts. Another (sundownequipment.com) says 2 years parts & labor. Also, does Foton offer a hydro? Hydrostatic trans is a must.

 

[oandhsales]

The Foton's with hydrostatic are made in Korea. I do not carry them. Everything I have in stock is manual.The TB404 is 8'3" tall and the TE354 with cab is 7'8". The warranty comes down to your dealer. I would put my record on warranty up against any other dealer.

 

[chim]

KUBOTA.

In the last couple of days I found myself rooting for the Kubota. Could be due to the excellent track record the B7500 had over the last 10 years, or because the platform had a sort of familiarity to it. The L3200 feels like a B7500 for grownups.

The loader attachment is more user-friendly than some. I remove the arms and bucket from the B7500 for mowing and assume I'll be doing the same with the next tractor. The L3200's QD fittings are right there at the joystick. Some of the others are unhandy at best. Grovelling about under the platform to access the QD fittings doesn't appeal to me.

The Kubota L3200, Kioti CK30 and Mahindra 3016 were all just barely south of 16K prior to taxes and within a day's pay of each other. The Mahindra 3616 and the Bobcat CT230 were neck and neck at 17.5K. I understand the Mahindra price because of the extra horses. Can't quite grasp why the white Kioti should cost that much more than the orange Kioti.

Separate line items for the filters and fluids ran between $100 and $150.

Icing on the cake is that after all the pencil sharpening the Kubota dealer made me an offer for the B7500 I couldn't refuse. It was at the lower end of what I expected to get through a private sale, but since it was used as a trade it was worth 6% more because of the reduced sales tax on the transaction. It was also a relief to avoid the scammers, tire kickers and bargain hunters encountered when selling a big ticket item privately.

Today the L3200 is still in a crate, so assembly, prep and delivery will be next week. I do have one very nagging issue and that's tire selection. I spec'd R4's because I had good luck with them over the last 10 years. At this point I'm second guessing that maybe I should have chosen turfs after reading several rave reviews. I can still make that change (and pocket $500) by switching to turfs in the next day or two. When I bought the B7500 back in '02 there was a similar quandry choosing between R1's and R4's.

 

[Woody65]

Woody, with prices like that you need to slide one state to the south. Both "Orange" dealers were a good bit less than that before we began negotiations. I don't know where they'll finish up till the end of the day, but the Kioti dealer was the one who (just barely) broke through the $16K barrier before the race got started.

After looking around quite a bit any of the four would be great for me. Each has certain things that are appealing and unappealing to me.

The Kioti has a very sturdy appearance to it, as does its twin Bobcat.

The Kioti's loader looks flimsy compared with the Bobcat's loader.

The Bobcat dealer seems a little proud of his machine compared with the Kioti.

The Mahindra's extra HP is attractive, and it's a shame they don't have something that is an "apples to apples" HP version to compare. To me it appears just a little bulkier than the others.

My B7500 has been a great example of reliability for that orange brand and the 'Bota loader is really sturdy and looks to be the most user-friendly with regard to getting it on and off. The platform area is more open and unfinished looking than the others. After seeing the excellent homebrew cabs here I hope to come up with a DIY cab before Winter that will be short enough to fit where it needs to. The open expanses of the L3200 would need extra work to be closed up.

Chim, Congrats on the purchase!! The price I got of $19,700 was the L3200 with FEL QA bucket and loaded r4's. I believe your quote was the same except for the QA bucket and loaded tires??? That still leaves about 3 grand difference in price. That dealer was on Long Island, but I will be heading up to Oneonta, the area that the tractor will be located, and seeing the Bota dealer there. We will see what he can do on price. I am leaning towards the Bota but still considering the Kioti and Mahindra. Again, congrats on the purchase and lets see pics when she arrives!!

 

[chim]

Thanks Woody. The dealer said he could fill the tires now or later with an antifreeze solution for $150. Since I had a loader on the B7500 and never had the urge to remove the bucket from the loader frame in the 10 years I've had it, I told the bidders a pin-on was fine with me.