kubota backhoe with smaller machine?

[tickridgescott]

I am considering a L3430 with FEL for 18,200 with HST brand new for 18500. Is this a good price? Also, this is my max budget. I do have need for a backhoe which I would probably need to rent at least half a dozen times in the coming 2 years. I am considering moving down to a smaller machine with backhoe so I can stay in 18500 budget. Is this advisable?

The other thing I am keeping in consideration is staying with the 3430, getting a backhoe and going way over budget, but then my thinking is that the value will hold better and in 2 or 3 years I can sell the whole rig at a fairl high resale value.

I have 50 acres but maintaining and working with about 5 acres...clearing work, drainage, house site prep, driveway maint. etc.

any advise, help is greatly appreciated. thanks, this is a great site.

 

[Volfandt]

Smaller TLB? Are you thinking about the BX23 perhaps?

The BX23 w/a 60" MMM will run anywhere from $16.5K to $18K. Subtract anywhere from $1500 to $1800 if you don't need the MMM.

The BH has a 6' reach and it comes w/ either the 10" or 12" bucket. It runs off of the tractors hydraulics and is easily detached w/o tools.

The FEL is 48" & is rated at 460lbs lift. It too is easily detached w/o tools.

The MMM, FEL & BH can all be mounted at the same time and they don't interfere with eithers operation.
Since the FEL & BH combined are around 1000lbs, I will be removing them when I primarily mow to lessen the weight/footprint on the lawn.

The 3PH is considered a limited Cat1 since the size of the tractor doesn't allow for it to work full size Cat1 implements. There are SubCUT sized implements for it tho so depending upon what your planning to work, these implements should be easily available at most implement dealers/stores.

It is a good little TLB and will dig all day long for you but since it has such a small bite large jobs will obviously take longer.
I've been working mine alot lately and it'll dig it's little heart out but you have to work within it's limited capabilities.

Good luck in your quest
Volfandt

 

[jim_wilson]

People ask these questions all the time on these forums. In my opinion the best way to approach this is to take a real hard look at the jobs you want to do - and the jobs you might want to do down the road and what capabilities you will need to get them done. By this I mean - do you have a lot of digging, will you be want to move a lot of rocks - and how much will they weigh, do you have any sort of work like digging up stumps or trenching that will require a backhoe - and how deep and how big are the stumps, etc.

When I bought my BX23 I basically sat down and wrote out all the jobs I though I would have to do and how much I thought each one of those jobs would cost me if I had to rent equipment to get them done. Since I mostly get stuff done on the weekends and at night after I get home from work I also factored in a certain percentage of loss on rentals since typically if you sign up for the rental and they deliver it and then it rains out all day you still pay. Rentals also mean you are wedded to the piece of equipment for the day if you want to get your money out of it.
By the time I added this all up I came to within about 3/4 of the cost of buying the BX23 so that plus the fact that I just wanted one by that point made the decision pretty easy. If I come to a point where I no longer really need the tractor I know from watching resale values that I will be able to recover decent money on the tractor. Factoring all of this together means that if I sell the tractor in the end these jobs will cost me less $$ out of my pocket than the rentals would have. It costs me more time because a trackhoe rental would dig faster than the BX23 backhoe for example, but I dont have the time diversity that I get by owning the tractor.
I also financed the tractor at 0% for 3 years which means that every month I really dont pay much more out of my pocket than I would have by renting a piece of equipment 2 days a month.
$18,500 will get you a BX23 with a mower deck - or it will probably get you a B7610 with a backhoe - and the B7610 will get more work done than the BX. I would suggest starting off however with figuring out what the exact jobs are you need to get done - you may find that there are rocks too big to lift with the BX - or to much digging to do that will take too long with the BX. Doing this will help narrow down the choice of tractor you really need vs what you think you need , or want.
I would also suggest using the financing as a tool to get the tractor you need - if you can get 0% you can might be able to spend more than the $18,500 by spreading it out over time and make your money go farther.

 

[rbarker]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I am considering moving down to a smaller machine with backhoe so I can stay in 18500 budget. Is this advisable?)</font>

Just be careful that you don't wind up buying a smaller tractor so that you can get the hoe and then find that neither one meets your needs or expectations.

 

[hambob]

While I was looking for my new machine, my dealer quoted $18,500 for a B7610, fel and bh and $17,300 for a B7510, fel and bh. I ended up with the 7800 and am very satisfied. I have only put about 3-4 hours on it. I had about 50 hours on my B7500 and liked it, but after it was stolen, took the oppertunity to upgrade. I don't think anyone would be sorry for getting a bigger machine as long as they have enough property to turn it around.

 

[AndyMA]

Some have been suggesting a BX instead of a L34 class machine. These aren't even in the same league. I have used the backhoes on both machines and the one the BX while useful for minor chores, is tiny. the L34 backhoe can actually get some serious work done. With you acreage and the type of work, I think you would be very disappointed with a BX (or even a B series machine). I am one who almost always gets a backhoe on my machines since I need it when I need it and would find renting pretty useless, That is unless, I had a specific task to do and that was it(then I would rent). I would suggest you stick with your first choice machine (or competative equilavent) and get a price with a backhoe. Over the term of the loan, the adder per month may be not too bad. BTW, I have nothing against the BX. I think it is a very cute machine and if I wanted a nice lawn mower, wheel barrow replacement that would be used to plant some shrubs, dig a few shallow trenches, and lived on small acreage, I just might get one.

Andy