Kubota B7510 or 7610

maxtractor · Apr 25, 2004

I am thinking about buying a new tractor I have narrowed my choice down to a Kubota B7510 or B7610 I have priced them with my local dealer. Both tractors would come with a 60" mmm and a 302 fel. The price is about $800 more for the 7610. Is three more horses worth it? I will be mowing about three acres (all hills) and maintain my drive (also on a hill) and do general loader work, grading and landscaping. I have been mowing the same area for several years with a Kubota B6100. It has been great but I want a larger tractor. Does anyone have any experience mowing with these tractors? How well do they mow?

To20Chris · Apr 26, 2004

I started out looking at these same two machines, but I got concerned about the light weight and ladder frame construction. However, I was not planning on mowing except for occational brush hog work, mostly FEL and BH work. For mowing the light weight is a benefit, for digging a heavier unit is better. Between the two I had pretty much decided that the B7610 was worth the increase. If you can step up to the B7800 I believe it has the re-inforced frame, but I couldn't swing that.

After much research I decided to go with the Kioti CK20HST for the heavier construction and more features (ended up with an LK3054 instead, but that's another story!). It might be worth checking out if you have not looked at it. I made a post about my buying decision on the Kubota B's vs the Kioti CK20 Here

Price differences vary a lot from reagion to region and dealer to dealer. Good luck!

luvbug · Apr 26, 2004

maxtractor, Have you looked at the Tractor reviews section for the B7610 kubota? I posted one on the B7610 and I absolutely love it. I was debateing like you if we should go with the 7610 or the 7800. After talking with other people (farmers, land owners, contractors) about tractor size and which implements they have we decided bigger is not always better. My friend has an 18 year old 17hp Kubota with a loader and back blade on it and he has not complained about it once. It might take two trips to do the job instead of one but it keeps coming back for more. (They use it for snow removal, building driveways, pulling felled trees etc.) After test driving the B7800, B7610, and the B7510 with a loader on the front of the tractors we went for the 7610 for the little bit more in price over the 7510 and we are very happy with it. With the 7610 you can get a bigger FEL (LA352) instead of the LA302 and the mid PTO is standard on the 7610.(correct me if I'm wrong on that one) After shopping 6 or 7 other manufactures we could not pass up the value of the Kubota. One other thing that we liked was that Kubota builds their own products not like the green and blue guys do, and they don't out source for parts. There are cheaper tractors out there, but you get what you pay for and Kubota has been around for quite awhile and they sure don't look like they are going anywhere. So good luck with your decision, it's a hard one to make. My advice is drive them more than once and for more than 5 minutes. Make sure you test drive them with a FEL on the tractor so you can get a feel of it. Then go home, wait a day to think about it and then go back and test drive them again and if be, go home and think about it one more time. If the dealer gets mad about what you are doing then go to another dealer because the dealer should HELP you not SELL you on the tractor.

WiJC · Apr 26, 2004

the b7610 is the best tractor there is and that is what you should get! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

seriously though...i too looked at the 7510/7610. in the end...i figured the 7510 would be enough tractor for me...BUT...that also meant i knew the 7610 would be for sure. if i was spending that kind of dinero, whats a little extra to be sure.?.

also, if the 7510 can do it...the 7610 should do it with less effort. less effort = lasts longer. (generally)

both are nice tractors. if you can spare the $, it would be hard to go wrong with the 7610.

John

maxtractor · Apr 26, 2004

I have read great things about Kioti. In fact the only knock on them seems to be a sparse dealer network. I checked the Kioti web site and the nearest dealer is over 40 miles away. That is just not practical for me. Especially since I have a good Kubota dealer close by and probably a half a dozen within 40 miles. I would definitely consider a Kioti if they had a good dealer near me. I don't have a New Holland dealer very close either. I looked at the green tractors but that color of paint seems to cost $2000.00 more in my area. So, for me the best bet seems to be a Kubota. The real questions is which one. I hate to spend money on extra horse power I don't need, but I don't want to wish I had more either.

Koz · Apr 27, 2004

I faced a similar decision 2 weekends ago and picked the 7610.

It is a bit wider (4"??) than the 7510 which should make it a little bit safer on a hill that I mow back-and-forth versus up and down. Also, I was concerned about the 7510's performance with a 60" deck in a thick field that I mow that is also on a slight grade.

Keep in mind that you will also need to upgrade from the 302 loader to the 352 (another $200). Even though Kubota's literature says the 302 will work on the 7610, it will not (probably becuase the 7610 is wider).

I didn't get my tractor yet. Initially, I was told that delivery would take 1-1/2 weeks. Now, i'm being told that another week or so is required. The tractor is sitting in Columbus, so my guess is that my dealer wants to combine the shipment with another tractor to minimize his shipping costs. If it goes beyond the additional week, i'm not going to be happy and am inclined to tell him to get it shipped immediately.

fishdoc · Apr 27, 2004

So far I love my 7610. Do the math...... an exta thousand dollars over 3 years works out to about 93 cents a day for the extra hp..... I agree with the comment on the 352FEL

Richard

maxtractor · Apr 27, 2004

I know the 352 FEL is heavier duty, but why won't the 302 FEL work on the B7610? I am concerned about this because my dealer has the 302 FEL on both the B7510 and B7610 I am considering.

Koz · Apr 28, 2004

I looked into this because the 7610 (hell, even the 7510) stretched my budget far beyond what I originally intended to spend. For me, the 302 was perfectly suitable.

Based upon the glossy literature, I instructed my dealer to price the 7610 with the 302 loader. He initially said that was fine (although he felt the upgrade to the 352 was money well spent). A day or so later, he called back and told me that his technician told him about the 302 loader not working on the 7610. I pointed out that the literature says otherwise and requested that he contact a factory rep to verify.

Before hearing back from him, I called two other Kubota dealers and spoke to sales and service. Both dealers initially said that the 7610 required the 352. When I pointed out to them that the glossy said otherwise, they laughed and said thats why it is important to work with a knowledgeable dealer.

The original dealer called back and said that the glossy was incorrect and that Kubota had already changed the text for future brochures. Unfortunately, many of the incorrect brochures have been issued.

Unfortunately, I see this kind of thing happening all the time. I work as an engineer in the HVAC industry, and we frequently need to rely upon printed literature provided by companies such as Carrier, York and Trane. Over the years, we have discovered many, many significant errors that in some cases resulted in incorrect equipment being installed in a building. This is aggravating because the building owner typically is of the opinion that the engineer screwed up the design.

Even if your dealer is saying that the 302 will work, I suggest spending a couple hundred more and getting the 352.