Help to decide between L3800 and L4400 and attachments

[rogerius]

We never own a tractor, but now after a long summer spent on our farm in weekends, we need advice on which tractor between L3800 and L4400 is best for a 100 acre hobby farm.
We need the tractor for minor excavation and hauling, to build some access roads, mowing about 3-5 acres of tall grass and weeds, and maintain 30-40 acres of cedar woods (8 to 12 dia).
What attachments are you recommend (good to have)? Is it better to buy new ones from the dealer or used ones from market? Any price for those?
Thank you.

 

[TripleR]

Without more detail on specific tasks, terrain etc. I would go for the L4400 since you will be building roads at which I believe the L4400 will be better due to the extra weight and power.

Again based on the limited information, my choice of attachments for a hobby farm as you describe will be a Front End Loader, two sets of rear remotes, a good quality medium duty rotary cutter, good quality box scraper. Also depending on what type of roads you are looking at building, a good quality back blade would be nice. I don't use a back bade, but if you are going to be running ditches alongside your roads, it will be very handy.

Since you are tractor novices, I would probably recommend going with a new machine. We often buy used, but my brother is a mechanic who can really save us money on repairs.

I usualy recommend renting something close to what you think you might want to get a feel for it as to fit and capability. I also think it prudent to look at all of the top makes in your area to find the one that fits you best. I obviously prefer Kubota, but others make excellent tractors also.

 

[teg]

What's your budget? Largest tractor you can afford, L4400. As for implements, used if fine... IF you can find it in your area... most of mine are used and I saved a bunch of money ...IF you don't count my time rebuilding the used stuff. If you don't weld, I would recomment buying new.

IF you plan to build roads, really good Box Blade and get Hydraulic Toplink and sidelink... you can do with out it but it's nice to have. A grapple up front if you plan to be handling brush.

How much reading have you done on the site so far? I would research a lot more before just going out and buying one.

 

[LD1]

I agree, for 100 acres, get the most you can afford. Since you even mention the L4400, I assume you can afford it.

And since it is a cat 1 3PH, used implements are WAY cheaper than new. As long as you have a decient shop and welder, thats the route I'd take. You can buy a decient used rear blade, box blade and bushhog all for the price you would likely pay for just a new bushhog.

 

[Robb71]

The L4400 seems like a small tractor for 100 acres to me, but not knowing what the other 60 or so acres not described consists of it's hard to say.
If you're financing, a new tractor with 0% is probably the best way to go. If you're paying outright and have decent place to take it for repair in the area a low hour well taken care of tractor is not a bad option.

For the attachments, a FEL and box blade are a good starting point.
And a mower of some sort. Probably a 6 foot brush hog rotary cutter would be needed for the mowing you mentioned.
Depending on your idea of minor excavation, a backhoe might be needed. It could be cheaper to rent a backhoe when needed as they are a very expensive addition. Hard to tell from a distance what would work best for you.

 

[ritschner]

Since you did not mention driveline options you were considering, you might think about the choice I had to make. Mine was the choice between an L2800HST or an L3400 manual trans. Both have a live PTO and they were also the same price. Thinking my wife might use it :confused3:I decided on the L2800HST. With 10 acres and approximately 100 oak trees to maneuver around and quite a bit of loader work to do, I am glad I chose the HST over the additional power. If you can afford the L4400HST, the extra power is the way to go. If your budget is borderline, you may want to consider an L3800HST over the L4400 manual trans.

 

[rogerius]

Thanks to all for advice. Here is more info about the farm: there is around 45 acres on 4 parcels of clear land with a moderate flat land (maybe 5-10deg slop max.), on all these parcels was no activity for more than 20 years so in the summer time the grass and weeds are quite tall. I'm thinking to cut the grass only on one of these where we are planning to build the cottage and the pond, so with an used bush-hog I'll do the job. The rest of property is wooden area but on only 50 acres I can have access (dry land); the rest is a swamp. To pull the trees out from woods I'll need a winch, and also to repair/maintained/build the access roads I'll need a box blade and a front loader. Below I put together a list with some attachment based on your feedback, so please let me know if I missed something, or you thing it will be valuable to have.
- Front loader new with the tractor
- Bush hog
- Box blade
- Winch
- Grapple
So, based on all these extra info, do you still think the L4440 is really what I'll need and is worth to spend minimum 5000$ to have it compare with L3800?

p.s.: what is the difference between live-continuous PTO on L3800 and one live-independent PTO on L4400.

Thanks again.

 

[LD1]

p.s.: what is the difference between live-continuous PTO on L3800 and one live-independent PTO on L4400.

Thanks again.

Since you are tractor shopping and their are a lot of different options and terms out their, read this TractorData.com - Power Take-Off To clear some things up on the PTO differences for you.

 

[Robb71]

How much snow plowing do you foresee?
Are you planning on growing anything or keeping any livestock?
Or is it just a weekend/summer place until retirement?

 

[TripleR]

You can do all of this with a 3800 or maybe even smaller, but there is no substitute for weight and power when pulling. I have used smaller tractors, but prefer a bigger one for this.

A lot depends on how often you will need the power, if only occasionally, a rental could be considered.

Some guys with more logging experience can probably give better info.