Help me decide, Kubota B2601 VS Mahindra VS Kioti

[ErnieR]

That's exactly how we buy. Dependability matters more than anything else, with build quality and dealer history being the best indicators we know.
We've done better by buying top quality USED equipment that has been maintained, over brand new lesser or unknown quality. That goes for cars, tractors, trucks, and tools too.
Sometimes that means being willing to buy something used for more than other brands are selling for new.
If the hours are low & condition good, I now think of something used as being "proven" and tend to put that on equal footing to something else new with a warranty.

We weren't always that way and we bought low end mostly on price because we thought we couldn't afford to buy top of the line equipment. But experience has proven to us over and over that top quality is cheaper in the long run. But a big part of this is that we prefer to keep our same equipment. I'd guess we are sort of bad for the new economy, although in times past that was a value famiiar to a lot of rural people. Things change.

Somewhere in here is an expectation that if something is to last, it doesn't get abused and gets at least minimal routine maintenance.
rScotty
rScotty

This makes a lot of sense Scotty, and funny this subject comes up just after my cousin and I discussing possibly looking for a low hour well maintained rig. Quite honestly spending up to 30K on a new tractor for the little bit I値l actually use it, well used, in many ways certainly makes good economical sense. Ideally something possibly pre emmisions. Maybe I don稚 even need a 35hp, when possibly a smaller 25hp might suffice

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

It depends on what you want to run off of your pto? So far, I think you've only indicated that you'd like to run a rotary mower? How big a mower? Any other pto driven tools in your future? Wood chipper? Stump grinder? Tiller?

I'm running a 6' rotary mower off of 32 pto hp (37 engine hp) with no complaints. I personally wouldn't want to go any less in pto hp, but that's just me, and *my needs*. I'm also looking at getting a pto driven snow blower, and a pto driven tiller. Maybe a pto driven wood chipper, if whatever new place we move to next needs a lot of tree removal work done.

There's another member here with the same tractor I have, only his isn't cabbed. He's running a pto driven wood chipper, and he says that's about the only time he really wishes he had more hp than the 32 he's got from his pto.

Just try to envision all your powered equipment needs before you buy (whether new or used, doesn't matter). It would be rough to buy something, only to find out it doesn't make enough power for what you need it to do at your place.

 

[montelatici]

Most would not recommend the B2650 as an upgrade to the B2601 since the L2501 is about the same price and much more tractor.

 

[rScotty]

This makes a lot of sense Scotty, and funny this subject comes up just after my cousin and I discussing possibly looking for a low hour well maintained rig. Quite honestly spending up to 30K on a new tractor for the little bit I値l actually use it, well used, in many ways certainly makes good economical sense. Ideally something possibly pre emmisions. Maybe I don稚 even need a 35hp, when possibly a smaller 25hp might suffice

Glad to hear there's at least one more person who feels that way. I just don't see the advantage to buying new instead of well-maintained used. After all, tractors were meant to last 5 to 10 thousand hours. That's pretty much a lifetime. And to be rebuildable during and even after that time. Ten and twenty years ago tractors manufacturers competed on quality and reliability to build their brand names. Other than emissions, I don't see that new ones have any advantages in options and technical.... maybe the reverse. And I'm not convinced that profit has not become more important than build quality.

Well, I do see one advantage to new, and that is convenience. Dealers are convenient. Finding a good used one takes some effort. But if I can buy a top of the line older tractor for less than the price of a new one from the "second tier" then that seems more appealing. And it pays me in dollars for the effort in finding it.

In the world of boats and marine equipment it is common to have a "survey" done when buying used boats. People do that for houses too. So a survey is an option for the person who isn't mechanical.
rScotty

 

[shooterdon]

I had my fiancé participate in the buying process. We went through what we needed to do, and what would be nice to do. I found a spreadsheet was extremely helpful.

She also test drove the finial contenders. In my case it was not just to get buy-in on the investment, but she needs to be able to blow snow and get firewood if something happens to me. Those were the necessities.

Cannot overstate the value of a good dealer. Regrettably, in my case, that took both JD and Kubota off the list and their prices were significantly higher.

You will face a compromise whatever you select...just make it a good compromise.

If you are handy with wrenching and can live without a tractor for a period of time if it breaks, a good used machines is worth considering.

 

[coobie]

I had my fiancé participate in the buying process. We went through what we needed to do, and what would be nice to do. I found a spreadsheet was extremely helpful.

She also test drove the finial contenders. In my case it was not just to get buy-in on the investment, but she needs to be able to blow snow and get firewood if something happens to me. Those were the necessities.

Cannot overstate the value of a good dealer. Regrettably, in my case, that took both JD and Kubota off the list and their prices were significantly higher.

You will face a compromise whatever you select...just make it a good compromise.

If you are handy with wrenching and can live without a tractor for a period of time if it breaks, a good used machines is worth considering.

shooterdon hit the nail on the head "THE VALUE OF A GOOD DEALER" IMHO is what you need to look for.How long have they business,service & parts??Google reviews and such..

 

[ErnieR]

as a matter of fact i do really like the deere, as far as pricing goes i was pleasantly surprised at how deere came to bat and made every attempt to compete, once the dealing was done, the only people less than deere were kioti - but to be fair, no one has a tractor in the segment i was in looking at a lighter weight with a 72 inch MMM and 38/30 engine/pto hp. Big Difference in a lighter tractor for mowing. My daughter and wife like to mow and they love it as well. I have had a couple WTY items but my dealer has been great from dealing with them on my old deere and this new one. A great dealer is worth the $$. I was able to get a great deal with Deere - they came down considerably from the MSRP. I used the build your own feature on their website to perform my calculations.

I called another kubota dealer just because I wanted to know what i could get close to in their unit, studied Mahindra/LS ( they are a combined dealer here ) and have two other locations in the state. No Branson or Kioti close enough to really consider but i did call them just to feel them out. They both seemed negotiable over the phone. The CNH/CIH dealers in our area are BIG and have been around a long time. They were fairly negotiable but didnt have a tractor in my segment either with less weight. CIH seemed more interested in my business vs CNH but could have just been the dealer.

Kubota was by far the most $$$ and both dealers were similar in attitude/stuck on their prices. Mahindra was higher than LS but they had a ho hum kind of attitude when i went there and never pursued me, I called them back for more pricing/options info and still they never followed up. Kubota never called me back. The CIH salesman called me back 2 times and he said he understood my situation and wished he had something for me, he wanted to work with me.

They all knew i was serious and a cash paying customer. I had a trade if they wanted or if not i would buy their unit and sell mine on my own.

The deere salesman was young and dealt with me through email primarily, interesting how generational traits are predictable. He called when i asked but his follow up has been via email as well. Not that I mind just funny how times change. Im an old school in person handshake kinda guy.

My experience was fun, got to drive and see a lot of things. Different features/technology. Oh if i had the $$$$ the toys i would have HA!!!!

I liked the grand kubota, I liked the simple LS, I liked the beefy branson, ( saw those at the state fair ) never got to see a kioti maybe at that fair this year ?

I liked the looks of the massey 1734/1739 and i liked the CIH 35C vs 35A but you are getting up there in size/weight/price on those up into the 3 series Deere size

The LS/CNH and CIH are all going to be comparable due to them being made similar with just different specs.

LS was just slightly less for the same unit when you get out of the Economy units.

I love the quick connect mower deck for the girls and myself so i can get it off easier - that was a big selling point - enjoy your research, take your time, i dont plan to keep mine forever but for now its what i needed - one of these days i will likely trade it and get something else so i wanted good resale also.

Haven稚 even looked at the JD痴 and we drove around a huge Deere dealer this week and they didn稚 have one single small tractor without a cab on it that I have no interest in. Besides, I can稚 imagine what my Dad amd great uncle would think of they were here knowing I have a used JD 345 riding lawnmower in the shed, ouch, haha. Mostly green in this area but dad was passionate about red.

I知 the same as you, doing business, a few emails is ok but I prefer to either talk on the phone or in person and as we were truthful a mans word and his handshake is as good as any piece of paper it痴 written on but the worlds sure changed ..

 

[Ricn]

Choosing HP needs is difficult unless one has used different hp ratings before on similar ground. We have several older tractors with more HP but when buying another in compact size I went with the 2501 and could not be happier. We mow 3 -25 acres of tall grass using a five ft brush hog and flail mower both and never have an issue. PTO HP is often misunderstood by many, it all depends on each persons ground, what is being mowed, how fast you want to mow, and height of the grasses being mowed. Ours is a mixture of different pasture grasses having lots of rye grass that gets up there pretty quickly; the 2501 mows just fine in mid range speeds for most everything but a few thick areas on a slope, then I use low range for maybe 15 minutes. Any tractor the OP asked about is capable of the tasks given proper size. Everyone has their favorite but dependability and dealer support are king IMO, not price. Yeah, Kubota does not dicker much on price and maybe they shouldn't with such well built tractors in several size ranges plus being made by Kubota and not from parts all over the world, but we all have choices to make so I understand price is often most important to some and I do respect that. We looked at several brands before the 2501 and decided the dealer support and the fact I liked the seating and comfort of the 2501 best made our decision. Adding three rear ports and a fast hitch makes it very easy and quick to use regardless of my task at hand, so much so the Wife gets on it and mows too! We live out west where used Kubota's are hard to come by; I looked and looked for a nice 3 to 5 year old machine but finally bought new as the zero down zero interest trumps cash outlay every time when buying around here. Used Kubota's being very high priced here.

Ricn

 

[ErnieR]

Re: Help me decide, Kubota L Series, VS similar Mahindra VS Kioti vs ?

Beginning about thirty-three horsepower most tractors have Diesel Particulate Filters.
A few Tier IV compliant tractors between 26 and 75 hp use DOC (Diesel Oxidation Catalyst) conversion. Mahindra is one. Mahindra has DOC of similar construction to DPF. Both the DPF and the DOC are honeycomb ceramic filters which supercede the muffler.
The DOC forces engine exhaust over a honeycomb ceramic structure coated with platinum, palladium, and rhodium. These catalysts oxidize carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons into carbon dioxide and water at hot exhaust temperature.

Mahindra has a DOC oven hot all the time, DPF tractors have an oven hot intermittently.

There is no free lunch.

Great info Jeff and much appreciated !! Is there one type system that most prefer you get the other. Just wondering if the DOC type could from extreme and constant heat burn out quicker or in my case rust out quicker (from lack of use)

 

[ErnieR]

It depends on what you want to run off of your pto? So far, I think you've only indicated that you'd like to run a rotary mower? How big a mower? Any other pto driven tools in your future? Wood chipper? Stump grinder? Tiller?

I'm running a 6' rotary mower off of 32 pto hp (37 engine hp) with no complaints. I personally wouldn't want to go any less in pto hp, but that's just me, and *my needs*. I'm also looking at getting a pto driven snow blower, and a pto driven tiller. Maybe a pto driven wood chipper, if whatever new place we move to next needs a lot of tree removal work done.

There's another member here with the same tractor I have, only his isn't cabbed. He's running a pto driven wood chipper, and he says that's about the only time he really wishes he had more hp than the 32 he's got from his pto.

Just try to envision all your powered equipment needs before you buy (whether new or used, doesn't matter). It would be rough to buy something, only to find out it doesn't make enough power for what you need it to do at your place.

I guess you’re right I haven’t really mentioned that the Narrowest OEM FEL offered and for certain a Rotary Mower and again if it’s a 60 vs a larger 72” I’m perfectly fine with that and if need be I just move slower to get the job done right. As far as a wood chipper I just either burn any larger brush piles or make smaller cottontail rabbit safe havens. We here in this part of Ontario don’t really see enough accumulatiive snow to warrant having a tractor blower. The warn blade I got for a Christmas gift about 10yrs ago for my 700 Yamaha Grizzly has been used about 3 times. I already have one of those landscape box blades with removable fines and also has the hinged roller on the back of it, not sure the name but I figured I’ll keep that for sure. Other than that I’d thought a Sickle mower would be handy for cutting down the side of municipal and property perimeter ditch banks but they sure aren’t cheap.

I’ve run enough equipment to know I do require whatever I buy to have enough weight to cut and shave dry/compacted soil as I want to degrade our front lawn and to be undergunned will only frustrate me.

I’d like to think a “good used” Kubota L2501 (or similar) might suffice or an pre emmision unit.