Kubota B6000

iamdes · Apr 1, 2008

I am interested in purchasing a kubota b6000. 4wd
I have 40 acres and 11 stream crossings. lots of hills. This summer I need a vehicle to get up on there with a chainsaw and some tools to eradicate invasives, grape, honey suckle, barberry...clean up tops of trees.....also to just get around. I do realize that this tractor is quite small, pto goes in reverse, there is no loader on this tractor. It comes with finish 3pt mower.....Can anyone give me any thoughts on what to look for in terms of the shape it is in? Do they climb well? things to look for and whether or not I should invest in a machine like this. I feel fairly confident that the man selling this tractor is straight forward and has been responsible with maintenance. What is the status of parts.

sandman2234 · Apr 1, 2008

I have a close friend who purchased a B6000, and has been happy with it. We don't have any hills around here, but it does everything he wants it to do, which is clear shooting lanes and till up food plots. He bought a 5' finish mower from me (cheap!) and re-routed the belts to allow for the reverse turning pto. It didn't take him long, but he is rather gifted when it comes to building stuff. One of his biggest complaints is the legroom afforded by the short wheelbase. He is considering building a spacer to extend the wheelbase, to accomadate his longer legs.
I suggested he rebuild an old 4' bush hog that I gave him, for clearing heavier brush, but he put heavy duty blades on the finish mower, and it is working fine for him, so I just keep my mouth shut, until he gets a chance to tackle it.
We looked into building a front end loader for it, but really don't have a good use for it. We are really just a couple of guys with too much time on their hands and a lot of spare junk to build stuff out of.
David from jax

iamdes · Apr 2, 2008

thanks David,
that's some good info. I also have an allis chalmers D14 with a 7' bucket so I am looking at this little kabota 6000 as something just for sneaking around trees and maybe moving around small logs and tops. Anybody else have any experience with these in terms of parts, climbing ability, going through occasional muddy spots? what to look for when I drive it?

Joel

sandman2234 · Apr 2, 2008

Which tires does it have on it? Is it FWA(4wd)?
Take a look at the rear pto shaft, to see if it is the 16 spline or if it has an adapter to take 16 spline to the standard 6 spline. Those adapters are available on the 'net, for about $50 if I remember correctly. I do know my buddy was tickled pink when I sent him the link for that part. I was tickled pink when I found it, because he wanted me to build the darn thing.
If you find a tiller for it, hollar at me and I will ask him for the part number of the blades he uses. It requires a small amount of grinding to make them fit correctly, but saves a lot of money in the cost of new ones, if you can find them.
David from jax

iamdes · Apr 2, 2008

it has the ag tires front and rear, and 4wd

Blagadan · Apr 2, 2008

I don't have a b6000 but I do have a B7100 4x4. I bought mine about 6 months ago for general property work and for spraying. I am amazed at how strong these little kubotas are.
I have turf tyres and I find it hard to get stuck. It just about goes everywhere I want it to go. I would love to fit agri tyres but I just haven't found a need for them (so far).
Outside of my own property work, I maintain about 4-5 miles of hilly woodland trails, some of them are pretty tough to walk up. But the kubota climbs with very little effort, even when I have a trailer on the back.
I would recommend you extend the wheels out to their max position to improve your stability.

If you know the guy thats selling, why not ask him if you can borrow the kubota for the weekend before you buy it, just to see if it fits your needs?

Most importantly, be careful. If you are "4 wheeling" with the little bota. They are real fun and will go places others wont, but they can be a bit tippy, I found since I added front weights to mine it makes climbing slopes a lot less of an effort, certainly a lot less wheel spin, same for going downhill in low gear using engine braking... spreads the weight out more over the 4 wheels I recon.

Is there a rops (roll over bar) & seat belt fitted?

iamdes · Apr 2, 2008

Thanks Blagadan,
I was thinking about adding ROPS to it if I were to go that route. Good suggestion on the expansion of the wheels. Does this model expand as well?
A friend of mine made some comments via email this am. You may want to start at the bottom.

here they are as well.

some of them are pretty steep but there are logging roads that exist from way back when. They traverse back and forth and roll in between the steeps.

As long as I bring a trailer or some sort of carry all on the back I think I could get my saw, gas backpack sprayer, and a few tools and walk from a safe part.

exciting. Thanks John

On Apr 2, 2008, at 10:43 AM, John Hughes wrote:

Joel

With four wheel drive the Kubota will certainly climb and descend hills well. The only concern I would have is that it has a fairly high center of gravity and it may be apt to tip sideways if youæ±*e on a really steep slope.

ATVs have a relatively wide stance and a lower center of gravity. In addition you sit lower to the ground on an ATV. That makes them less likely to tip over.

I donç¨š know how steep your slopes are though.

Regards
John

From: joel heaton iamdesigns [mailto:iamdesigns@comcast.net]
Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2008 7:10 AM
To: John Hughes
Cc: Richard Heaton
Subject: Re: kubota B6000

Thanks John good to hear from you also.
I got a grant from the USDA over the next 3 years to erradicate grape, honey suckle, barberry and regenerate oak. My Logger was up there all winter pulling out stuff. So I want to get something small I can carry a chainsaw, a backpack sprayer, tools and such so I can go up every few days to continue throughout the property by the end of the summer.

Do you think the 6000 can handle going up slopes and such?
Its either that or an atv. But I have a feeling the kubota will hold its value over a longer time. ATV's seem to wear out eventually.

I like the idea that this one comes with a finish mower as my other mower is getting pretty old.

joel

On Apr 2, 2008, at 9:58 AM, John Hughes wrote:

Joel

Good to hear from you

On the Kubota 6000 the folks next door have that tractor. I think itç—´ about 12 HP. Like the one pictured in the Craigç—´ List ad it has no bucket but it does have a three point hitch and a PTO. They have a 48 Woods finish mower and it does a great job for them. They also have a roto-tiller but rarely use that any more.

Itç—´ a great machine. IçŸ¥ sure you would get a lot of use out of it.

John

charlz · Apr 2, 2008

What part of the country are you in?

I believe the b6000 is grey market (someone correct me if I am wrong) so I am not sure about parts availability. I have a b7100 and these tractors are older... parts are needed sooner or later.

What will you be doing with all the stuff you cut out? Piling and burning? If you are going to be moving much stuff around I could see a loader with forks or even a grapple as being indespensable.

My 7100 is gear and the only thing I think I might like to change is have a HST as I do a fair amount of loader work. Otherwise these older tractors are built solid and strong considering their HP ratings.

Charles

GaryE · Apr 2, 2008

iamdes,

I sold my B6000 a couple of years ago... It was a bad decision. It is a great little tractor. I used it to cut fields and haul logs. It will work well to get you into tight areas and haul out logs as long as you understand it's limits. It is a light tractor with a lot of power for it's size. On more than one occasion while I was pulling logs from the draw bar the front end came off the ground. If you are careful... it will do what you ask it to do.

As far as parts go, I had no problem getting anything I needed from my local Kubota dealer. Have no fear, it is not a grey market tractor.

Gary

MJPetersen · Apr 3, 2008

GaryE said:
As far as parts go, I had no problem getting anything I needed from my local Kubota dealer. Have no fear, it is not a grey market tractor.

It is my understanding that there is a US version and a Grey market version of the B6000. I really do not know the differences between the two, but it is one of the rare instances where a japanese tractor and a US model share the same model number. For all practical purposes they are the same tractor, but I understand that there are some subtle differences.

I know this because a bit over a year ago I was looking for a tractor and seriously considered the B 6000 and 7000. Finally decided that I would prefer the 7001 for its 3 cyl. These are all grey market tractors imported to Poland from Japan. I researched rather extensively the different models in that category.

Mike