We're building a horse barn in Montana. The nearest dealers are in Billings (Kubota and Deere), and after research it seems like Kubota is probably the better machine. We need to be able to stack square bales of hay, muck out stalls, and plow in the winter. We need a cab, because the weather is pretty severe. I would also like to be able to fit a backhoe for some relatively light digging. Which Kubota should I buy? Where should I find a good used one, and how much should I pay? Thanks very, very much for any advice!
Buying Advice Help choosing a Kubota, please
- Thread starter rroubaix
- Start date
- Views: 2436
davatk
Gold Member
Hmm, kinda depends on how much snow plowing, how much do the bales weight etc. Just on first guess I'd say a Kubota B series - the B3030 can be purchases with a cab. Craigslist is a good place to find used tractors. How much you pay depends on exactly what you are looking for.
If you want to get educated more on tractors and what your needs might be, contact Brady Barlow at Barlow Equipment in Kentucky. (Barlow Equipment - Home of the Kubota Tractor Package Builder) I'm sure he'd be glad to help you ascertain your needs, and will give you a bottom dollar price on a new one. He has a stock of good used tractors as well. If you decide to purchase from him he will deliver it to you very reasonably.
Hope that helps.
Good luck !
crazyal
Super Member
I would keep an eye on tractorhouse.com once you narrow down your choices. I remember reading about some cab models not being able to have a backhoe but I really haven't paid much attention since I already own a backhoe.
whistlepig
Elite Member
You have to decide the size you need first. Pick the implements you wish to run and the power of the tractor to do so. The PTO attachments were the biggest consideration for me. These required the most power. I picked the size of the PTO implements I needed to run and that determined the size tractor I needed.
leonz
Super Member
The proverbial what if- If you are familiar with a decision tree or the Ben Franklin Close where all the plusses are placed on one side of the paper and the negatives are on the othe rside and se whether you have a positive balance or neagtive balance in the end.
Everything depends on your pocket book.
1. hay
a. is it standard hay bales with wire or hemp sisal or polyester baling twine-dont worry I am getting there-
b. or are you using the big rectangular bales that have to be hacked open with chain saws or the round ones? Are they wrapped or naked? I would buy a Wolagri mini baler for small round marshmallows; you can buy a Wolagri with a bale wrapper on the baler or a separate mini bale wrapper that is towed or stationary.
2.horse manure
a. how big are the stalls? are you set up with a single steel gate panel for the walls and doors which can be opened up wide in one panel to allow easy cleaning?
b. are you going to load and tow a small spreader or are you simply stock piling till the snow stops in July?
c. if you are going to clean and dump you want a grapple with some hurricane fence attached to grapple side to avoid spillage of the manure- I would if it was me anyway-Hated wheel barrows full of manure and running them up the plank to the pile hoping it did not fall over before I got to the top of the pile.
d. if you think you have a wide enough center space you automatically dont have a wide enough space for numerous reasons
1. blind spots from the tractor corner posts and shadows created with the doors open
2. read number 1
3 read number 2
4. read number 3
5. read number 4
Your lighting with translucent light panels and or electric lighting, you need much more light only because of blind spots and shadows.
the tractors turning radius will fool you with the front end loader in the lowered or raised position as you will need to add a huge arc of travel to the lenght of the tractor for turns into the stalls or blowing snow adding at least 5 feet to the length of the boom whileyou are turning gives you room to move slowly and avoid the dreaded crunching sound and the horses are placing bets on how soon a hole ends up in the wrong place and if they can get in the grain bins.
3. a cab is a must in your part of gods green earth; and a block heater is a must, I use a kerosene salamander to warm up my wheell horse only because I dont like problems and its easier on the engine and transmission when its hot before it moves.
My fathers neighbor loves her BX2350 now the BX2360, and it has a hard cab with hard doors, and a kubota high out put heater defroster, and front an rear wipers, yoiu want all the work lights and a high out put alternator as a matter of necessity as the extra lights are piece of mind and a beacon should be standard equipment for snow blowing on lanes and on or near roads.
A snow blower and rear chains and loaded tires should be number one your list as you will have a front end loader anyway and it couters the front end loaders weights,and you can buy a rear blower which will work well with a cab and dual remotes to control the chute and spout.
Its no secret I like pronovost snow blowers because they are built for canadian winters and farms snow removal and you could buy a pronovost to mount on the front end loader frame that is powered by the loader hydraulics too. but it is a smaller tonnage snow blower versus the 5 Puma models that will work with the BX tractors. the rear mounted snow blowers from Pronovost will move more snow with less work/energy per foot of cut as it is 540 rpm versus the front units powered by the 1000 rpm mid mount PTO.
And there is less work to installing the rear mounted pronovost blower as it is a three point hitch unit, and you can buy s pronovost in season with lttle waiting versus the RAD blowers built for Kubota as they are always behind as they build a lot of attachments for a lot brands.
Using a rear snow blower allows you top get rid of the snow the first time and put it where you want it to go and be done with it.
The BX 2660 is a tractor than has been very well recieved by the folks who bought them. loaded tires are must for traction and will help in mucking the stalls a lot.
Unless you order a high end cab for your tractor when you order a new tractor or buy a used tractor from many of the fine dealers who advertise here you risk getting a cab that is low end very noisy and does not defrost well and will let fumes up through the floor of the cab which has been a common problem with the B3030 cab discussed by many owners.
And if it is a low end cab and you have to spend a lot of seat time snow blowing your stuck with no remedy. Unless you can verify the cabins quality with the information sheet its not a good decision.
The Laurin tractor cabins are excellent in quality and they have three models with the Eclipse being the best one with many basic options already included in the base models.
The Kubota 8540 vineyard and orchard utility tractor has a pressurised cabin with filtration from what I rememberand excellent sealing as it is ment to spray pesticides and herbicides which is why it has the pressurised cabin.
the backhoe-
if you have light digging renting a small backhoe crawler will cost you less money as you are only planning on light digging-but many folks do buy a back hoe and are always finding more work to do with them etc.
In the end its all up to you; and whatever decision you make you have to live with it. Spending more good money up front on a good tractor like the BX2660 and ordering the cab separately will not cause you problems years down the road as you will know what you are buying up front and its quality when you order it.
You should order the dual rear remotes to give you more flexibility to run rear attachements like a pronovost snow blower with the hydraulic controls optionfor chute and spout (which are standard equipment on the Puma Line of rear blowers and the loader mounted hydraulic drive snow blower.
my thoughts anyway
leonz
Last edited:
art
Super Member
I know they work with the large square bales a lot in your area, are these the ones you need to work with?
taborekle
Gold Member
I don't believe that the B2920, 2620 or 2320 have the quick coupler on the FEL bucket, which is probably something that you would like to have. That way you can keep the FEL on, but drop off the bucket and attach very quickly and easily a pallet fork mount, (or other mount) which could be very useful in stacking bails of hay.
I believe that the B3200 and larger Kubota's have that feature. The B'30s all have that feature. For Montana winters, I'd take a hard look at the B3030HSDC. That's the bottom of the line. After that you're looking at L and M series.
I believe that the B3200 and larger Kubota's have that feature. The B'30s all have that feature. For Montana winters, I'd take a hard look at the B3030HSDC. That's the bottom of the line. After that you're looking at L and M series.
Grateful11
Veteran Member
leonz has some great points. We recently purchased an L3940 HST with ROPs,
non-Cab, A cab simply doesn't work for us in what we needed it for, moving
round bales, cleaning out cow sheds, barn stalls, etc. the ROPs even has to
folded down to get into our sheds and the barn as they weren't built with
enough clearance. The Grand L series is one awesome piece of equipment
especially for loader work. My son used it for the first time today and he says
it's easier than driving his car with the auto throttle and the forward and
reverse right under your foot. So far it's been able to handle round bales
ranging in size from 42" to 50", completely full buckets of manure and dirt
and we have only loaded the rear tires, no wheel weights or weight boxes
on the rear.
non-Cab, A cab simply doesn't work for us in what we needed it for, moving
round bales, cleaning out cow sheds, barn stalls, etc. the ROPs even has to
folded down to get into our sheds and the barn as they weren't built with
enough clearance. The Grand L series is one awesome piece of equipment
especially for loader work. My son used it for the first time today and he says
it's easier than driving his car with the auto throttle and the forward and
reverse right under your foot. So far it's been able to handle round bales
ranging in size from 42" to 50", completely full buckets of manure and dirt
and we have only loaded the rear tires, no wheel weights or weight boxes
on the rear.
