Buying Advice cab tractor

[rideit]

I've been spending some time on this and other sites trying to learn enough to make an informed decision. There are a lot of great threads and they have already been very helpful. Thanks!

I recently bought a place on 7 acres with a 500 ft driveway. I am looking for a tractor with front mount snowblower for keeping the drive clear. I will also use the tractor for landscaping and dirtwork. I believe I have narrowed it to either a Kubota B3000 or a JD 3720. I can tolerate and indeed enjoy cold weather activities, but given the option of blowing snow in a heated cab while enjoying a cup of coffee vs being bundled up and freezing, I'll take the heated cab. I am certain either of these tractors will be plenty of machine, but the JD is obviously much more capable. The JD (and blower and FEL) I'm looking at is used (160hrs) and the Kubota new, so it isn't much of a price difference.

So here is my question. Can I get either of these through a 7 foot door? I know the published specs would indicate that I can't, but what if I put smaller tires on? What if I ran the tires low? Does anyone have any experience "shortening" either tractor?

 

[Gregs JD1023]

Hi rideit,
This may not be much help but I recently purchased a JD1023E and had the same problem with my garage door. The ROPS alone is about 1/2" too high for my standard 7ft. door. However, it folds and for now I can drive it into the garage (a note sits on my dash "fold ROPS before entering garage". The issue is I'm waiting for my Curtis cab and once installed it won't matter if I fold the ROPS. I looked at several options, even changing my garage door to a higher one. However, I just gave in and purchased a 12' x 16' shed with a 8' x 8' roll up door. Works very good and I don't have to keep the note on my dash. I also have room to park my FEL inside when I don't need it and through the winter when I have the blower attached.

I think your tractor choices, Kubota or JD, are larger units than what I have. My experience is the Kubota ROPS is a little shorter than the JD. Smaller tires would help but I would be careful about that if the machines are FWD. Changing the back wheels may not match the front for rpm when in FWD. Check with dealer on that. Also, do not consider lowering the pressure in the tires. The tires are engineered for a certain tire pressure and can be dangerous when low in pressure. Hope this helps and good luck on choosing your tractor. They are both good units but I vote for the JD.

Regards Greg.

 

[rideit]

That is what I'm afraid of....buy a tractor today and end up needing a new shed tomorrow!

I'm guessing by the lack of replies that there is no easy way to lower either tractor by a couple inches. Too bad JD and Kubota have not come out with a cab tractor that would fit through a 7 ft door!

 

[LAWALLSTRACTOR]

That is what I'm afraid of....buy a tractor today and end up needing a new shed tomorrow!

I'm guessing by the lack of replies that there is no easy way to lower either tractor by a couple inches. Too bad JD and Kubota have not come out with a cab tractor that would fit through a 7 ft door!

Rest assured that if the did that everybody would be complaining about head room in the cab.
If you have a TYM dealer near by, check out a T293 Cab tractor, as it may squeak under that 7' door.

 

[DavesTractor]

I think a 3616 Mahindra cab is about 85", but I happen to know that the 3016 tires will fit and they are shorter. It would be very close, but it might fit. That is a Mitsubishi built machine and very nice.

 

[wolc123]

Just so you know, an open-station JD 4120 with the rops folded down easily fits thru a standard 7 ft door and is far more capable than either of the machines you are looking at. Warm hat, boots, and coveralls are relatively inexpensive.

 

[rideit]

Just so you know, an open-station JD 4120 with the rops folded down easily fits thru a standard 7 ft door and is far more capable than either of the machines you are looking at. Warm hat, boots, and coveralls are relatively inexpensive.

Open station may be where I end up, but I hope not. Factory cab means I could blow the driveway open before leaving for work and not have the added time of getting geared up in warm clothes and having to shower afterward to get the diesel smell off. When dressed properly, I can be comfortable in an open station no matter what the weather. Warm gear and a snowmobile helmet will keep anyone from being uncomfortably cold. But it takes time to get that gear on and more time to take it off and put it away. I assume we all like to save time. If not, why would anyone have a 60" MMM vs a 42?

 

[wolc123]

I use an open-station 4120 with rear blade and 400X loader to keep my driveways clear. Although they are not that long, considerable parking area around my barns and the house driveway combined probably add up to about as much square footage as your 500 ft drive. I rarely clear the snow before leaving for work in the morning. In the Northern snowbelt region where I am, it seems that most of the snow falls in the late afternoon, so I can usually clear things out good in the evening. My wife rarely needs to get out during the day anyhow, and if she does, there is a 4x4 pickup in the barn that will get her out if need be. My 4x4 SUV also gets out thru almost anything. My usual snow-clearing routine involves plugging in the block-heater as soon as I get home from work (you need one of those for sure with a diesel in the winter), and then clearing the snow right berfore going to bed. Luckily, I have a ton of room for stacking snow, so the blade and loader work very well. If you are limited on space, I can see where a blower would be nice, and a cab would sure make things better with one of those. The snow-pushing ability of the 4120 with loaded R1 tires and no chains really amazes me. I cant remember ever even getting the tires to spin. An open 4120 would also cost a good bit less than either of the other cab tractors you are looking at if that is a factor.

 

[Ductape]

The only factory cabbed tractor I think you'll get in a 7' door is the Kubota B3030 / B3000. If it were me, I'd look for a leftover B3030. You will want to get it with the R4 tires for an easier fit, as they are a little lower profile than the turfs. I DO fit my B3030 with turfs in my 7' overhead door, but I did have to modify the trim around the door opening, and I have to keep my door fully open using a squeeze clamp or something similar, as the door naturally wants to rest in the curve of the rails. Perhaps an electric opener might be able to be set so the door is fully open?

 

[rideit]

Spoke with a Kubota dealer this evening and he measured the height of the b3000 at 83 inches with r4's. I excitedly went home and measured my door. It's 82 inches. There is a trim molding I could remove that would gain me 1/2 an inch. I'm close but not there. I can't raise the door. It's a sub garage - the main garage is directly above this garage and has a spancrete floor. The header above the door is a steel beam. Considering I'm only needing another inch or so is it reasonable to think I could mill down the cement to gain my inch? The other option is to keep the tractor in the main garage above which does have an 8 foot door. The issue with that is that I don't want all the attachments in that garage. I guess I could rig up a dolly of sorts that I could position in the doorway in the lower garage, drop the loader or blower on the dolly and then push it to an out of the way corner. Seems more complicated then just having a tractor that fit both garages to begin with. So do I give up on the cab, consider milling down the floor, or is there another way to gain an inch? Run the tires low? Are there after market tires that would be a little lower profile?