Anonymous Poster
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- Sep 27, 2005
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I have been looking at the Kubota L3010, New Holland TC33D and John Deer 4300 all with Hydrostatic transmission (HST) and R4 tires. From the specification sheets it was not easy to tell the real difference between them. A couple of the dealers offered to bring them out to my place for me to try. I talked the third one into it and arranged to have them out all at the same time. This is easer said than done but I did get them to overlap by a couple of hours. I lined them all up and took a few digital pictures. I will post them if people would like to see them and the web master will permit the files. This is already a long post but I hope it will be useful.
I have 14 acres total; 8 acres that was old farm land (now weeds) that I will be turning into pasture and 2 acres that will be cleared of brush and made into lawn/pasture. I have planted about 100 trees and a hedge around the property that I will need to maintain. The ability to get under and around the trees has led me to pick these mid size compacts. If I was just working the pasture I would probably look harder at the top size in this series.
I have seen many times on this forum that the dealer can make all of the difference. All of my dealers in Tucson have been extraordinarily helpful. This has taken the dealer factor out of the equation. I also do not come into my evaluation with any brand preference.
I had each dealer bring out a different 5' wide 3pt implement; box scraper, disk and a rotary tiller. I picked these because I was after implements that would take the most power. Aside from front loader work, pulling a box scraper digging in heavy and loading up with dirt was the biggest strain on each. I ran the same box scraper and disk on each tractor. I also used the implements in the same area and soil conditions.
All of the tractors performed the tasks admirably. All power claims seemed to be true. They all stalled or bogged down about the same. I was expecting them to over heat but with temperatures of 105, 106 and 108 Deg F (no, "it is a dry heat" is bull, that is hot!) over my three test days there was no sign of trouble from heat.
Kubota L3010 with LA481 Loader: New unit 3 hours on meter.
Negatives; I asked the sales man to demonstrate the removal of the loader. Four pins must be removed and a support bar on each side dropped down. Problem was it would not come off. A bolt holding the frame on the loader interfered with the tractor frame. The loader is apparently assembled at each dealer. They send a bag of bolts (with lots left over at the end) and the service people take it from there. I went back to the dealer a couple days later after they replaced the bolt that was interfering. It unfortunately took a half hour to have two salesmen demonstrate the "easy" removal of the FEL. They say it should be quick after a little practice. One of the hydraulic connectors is hard to grip since it is very close the frame. Can anybody comment on taking the Kubota FEL on and off on a regular bases? Other than the engine running, none of the electrical worked. Turns out it had been on display at the fair and all of the fuses were removed. Very disappointing since I could not check the work lights. No sign of over heating but I could not watch the temperature gauge. I must give the dealer a break on the electrical because he did not have time to check out the tractor before he brought it out. He only had about two hours notice before I arranged for a demo and he dropped the unit off. The engine compartment side panels are metal but to replace them was difficult, they had to be placed in just the right position to get them to latch, especially the front panel, which also has an electrical connector to fuss with when removing it. My biggest problem was the accelerator pedal. I could not find a comfortable position for reverse. The body work gets in the way when I attempt to use my heel. The cruise control lever is clumsy, but the pedal is smooth so I may not need to use it as much.
Positives; Although the specs do not confirm it, the speed in range 2 seemed much faster than the competitors and it still had plenty of power to drive in and pull out a full bucket.
It is quiet and relatively vibration free. The forward throttle is very smooth and comfortable. This unit looks more like a tractor than the competitors. This comes from larger diameter front and rear tires and a longer front hood. Very quick FEL movement and dual motion.
John Deere 4300 with 420 loader: New unit with 3 hours.
Negatives; I again asked the salesman to remove and replace the loader. During the process he had to lift the front wheel of the tractor with the bucket. This revealed a large hydraulic leak on a rigid line on the bucket frame. He broke out his tool kit and fixed it on the spot but it is very bothersome that a fitting from the factory was not tight. The cruise control worked fine driving on smooth dirt but when disking it would eventually allow the tractor to stop. When asked about this later he said they just changed the pedal configuration at the factory and the magnet on the cruise control would not hold in bumpy conditions. Not encouraging that the factory did not test the modification in field conditions. They are changing the pedals to reduce the force needed to operate them, the problem is I still had a sore knee after operating this tractor 2 hours and that was with the new pedals. The vibration and noise on this tractor is the worst of the three. I ran the New Holland and JD next to each other, moved from seat to seat and all I could hear is the rattling of the JD, even from the NH seat. Only single movement on FEL. Very long flexible rear PTO control, very hard to make fine adjustments. Near the rear PTO up/down lever is the PTO engage lever that is easy to grab by mistake. Hydraulic lines for steering are protected from the front but exposed from the rear, if backing up over brush they could get snagged. Has anybody torn their hydraulic steering lines?
Positives; The FEL goes on and off very easy. It truly does remove from a latch that can be reached from the drivers seat. Very good V shaped guides when pulling up to it to reattach. Starts with turn of key (No PTO engaged) no need to pull out of gear or push in clutch. With PTO engaged the tractor stops if you get out of the seat.
New Holland TC33D No FEL (the loader the dealer was going to attach for the demo did not arrive, expect to put on a Great Bend 240); Used tractor with 153 hours.
Negatives; The specs say it is the same speed in reverse as forward but it only crawled in reverse. The dealer said this could be adjusted. Has anybody changed the maximum reverse speed or is this not really possible? The PTO speed indicator is a light on the dash; in direct sunlight with a little dust on the display the lights are very hard to read. Head light illumination is non-uniform, but good peripheral coverage. Without the FEL it looks like an overgrown lawn mower. Fenders do not cover much of the tires. I assume if I spin the tires in mud I will sling mud everywhere. Must put shift lever in neural before starting. The dealer finally got there loaders in and I looked at one mounted. I did get to remove it part way without any problems but could not really put it through its passes. It was on a new tractor ready for a customer to pick up and I did not want to scratch it up. The movement up and down was slow compared to the Kubota.
Positives; Very quiet smooth ride, down right peaceful after running the JD. Very nice air piston seat, soft up and down and it felt firm side to side. The 20 degree rotation of the seat did help remove some of the strain on my neck when watching the rear implements. Ridged rear PTO lever in comfortable position for my hand and it had good markings plus a height stop. Very good access by lifting hood. Easy to pull radiator screen, filter and battery. Pulled a bigger load in drag box before stalling. Easiest of the three for implement changes. It had the deluxe PTO link but what made it easy was the full float position that let the links move up and down by hand.
The JD is out of the competition but after all of this evaluation I am still having trouble deciding between the Kubota and the NH. Any contradictions or comments on my observations would be appreciated.
I have 14 acres total; 8 acres that was old farm land (now weeds) that I will be turning into pasture and 2 acres that will be cleared of brush and made into lawn/pasture. I have planted about 100 trees and a hedge around the property that I will need to maintain. The ability to get under and around the trees has led me to pick these mid size compacts. If I was just working the pasture I would probably look harder at the top size in this series.
I have seen many times on this forum that the dealer can make all of the difference. All of my dealers in Tucson have been extraordinarily helpful. This has taken the dealer factor out of the equation. I also do not come into my evaluation with any brand preference.
I had each dealer bring out a different 5' wide 3pt implement; box scraper, disk and a rotary tiller. I picked these because I was after implements that would take the most power. Aside from front loader work, pulling a box scraper digging in heavy and loading up with dirt was the biggest strain on each. I ran the same box scraper and disk on each tractor. I also used the implements in the same area and soil conditions.
All of the tractors performed the tasks admirably. All power claims seemed to be true. They all stalled or bogged down about the same. I was expecting them to over heat but with temperatures of 105, 106 and 108 Deg F (no, "it is a dry heat" is bull, that is hot!) over my three test days there was no sign of trouble from heat.
Kubota L3010 with LA481 Loader: New unit 3 hours on meter.
Negatives; I asked the sales man to demonstrate the removal of the loader. Four pins must be removed and a support bar on each side dropped down. Problem was it would not come off. A bolt holding the frame on the loader interfered with the tractor frame. The loader is apparently assembled at each dealer. They send a bag of bolts (with lots left over at the end) and the service people take it from there. I went back to the dealer a couple days later after they replaced the bolt that was interfering. It unfortunately took a half hour to have two salesmen demonstrate the "easy" removal of the FEL. They say it should be quick after a little practice. One of the hydraulic connectors is hard to grip since it is very close the frame. Can anybody comment on taking the Kubota FEL on and off on a regular bases? Other than the engine running, none of the electrical worked. Turns out it had been on display at the fair and all of the fuses were removed. Very disappointing since I could not check the work lights. No sign of over heating but I could not watch the temperature gauge. I must give the dealer a break on the electrical because he did not have time to check out the tractor before he brought it out. He only had about two hours notice before I arranged for a demo and he dropped the unit off. The engine compartment side panels are metal but to replace them was difficult, they had to be placed in just the right position to get them to latch, especially the front panel, which also has an electrical connector to fuss with when removing it. My biggest problem was the accelerator pedal. I could not find a comfortable position for reverse. The body work gets in the way when I attempt to use my heel. The cruise control lever is clumsy, but the pedal is smooth so I may not need to use it as much.
Positives; Although the specs do not confirm it, the speed in range 2 seemed much faster than the competitors and it still had plenty of power to drive in and pull out a full bucket.
It is quiet and relatively vibration free. The forward throttle is very smooth and comfortable. This unit looks more like a tractor than the competitors. This comes from larger diameter front and rear tires and a longer front hood. Very quick FEL movement and dual motion.
John Deere 4300 with 420 loader: New unit with 3 hours.
Negatives; I again asked the salesman to remove and replace the loader. During the process he had to lift the front wheel of the tractor with the bucket. This revealed a large hydraulic leak on a rigid line on the bucket frame. He broke out his tool kit and fixed it on the spot but it is very bothersome that a fitting from the factory was not tight. The cruise control worked fine driving on smooth dirt but when disking it would eventually allow the tractor to stop. When asked about this later he said they just changed the pedal configuration at the factory and the magnet on the cruise control would not hold in bumpy conditions. Not encouraging that the factory did not test the modification in field conditions. They are changing the pedals to reduce the force needed to operate them, the problem is I still had a sore knee after operating this tractor 2 hours and that was with the new pedals. The vibration and noise on this tractor is the worst of the three. I ran the New Holland and JD next to each other, moved from seat to seat and all I could hear is the rattling of the JD, even from the NH seat. Only single movement on FEL. Very long flexible rear PTO control, very hard to make fine adjustments. Near the rear PTO up/down lever is the PTO engage lever that is easy to grab by mistake. Hydraulic lines for steering are protected from the front but exposed from the rear, if backing up over brush they could get snagged. Has anybody torn their hydraulic steering lines?
Positives; The FEL goes on and off very easy. It truly does remove from a latch that can be reached from the drivers seat. Very good V shaped guides when pulling up to it to reattach. Starts with turn of key (No PTO engaged) no need to pull out of gear or push in clutch. With PTO engaged the tractor stops if you get out of the seat.
New Holland TC33D No FEL (the loader the dealer was going to attach for the demo did not arrive, expect to put on a Great Bend 240); Used tractor with 153 hours.
Negatives; The specs say it is the same speed in reverse as forward but it only crawled in reverse. The dealer said this could be adjusted. Has anybody changed the maximum reverse speed or is this not really possible? The PTO speed indicator is a light on the dash; in direct sunlight with a little dust on the display the lights are very hard to read. Head light illumination is non-uniform, but good peripheral coverage. Without the FEL it looks like an overgrown lawn mower. Fenders do not cover much of the tires. I assume if I spin the tires in mud I will sling mud everywhere. Must put shift lever in neural before starting. The dealer finally got there loaders in and I looked at one mounted. I did get to remove it part way without any problems but could not really put it through its passes. It was on a new tractor ready for a customer to pick up and I did not want to scratch it up. The movement up and down was slow compared to the Kubota.
Positives; Very quiet smooth ride, down right peaceful after running the JD. Very nice air piston seat, soft up and down and it felt firm side to side. The 20 degree rotation of the seat did help remove some of the strain on my neck when watching the rear implements. Ridged rear PTO lever in comfortable position for my hand and it had good markings plus a height stop. Very good access by lifting hood. Easy to pull radiator screen, filter and battery. Pulled a bigger load in drag box before stalling. Easiest of the three for implement changes. It had the deluxe PTO link but what made it easy was the full float position that let the links move up and down by hand.
The JD is out of the competition but after all of this evaluation I am still having trouble deciding between the Kubota and the NH. Any contradictions or comments on my observations would be appreciated.
