Kelago
New member
Spent 2 hours "test driving" the L3010 this morning which the dealer was kind enough to deliver and pick-up. Here's a novice's initial impressions; (though, as stated elsewhere, I did use a larger Kubota for about a month 2 years ago, model unknown): the people in this forum who have written that it is wise to go as big and as powerful as one can afford are absolutely right. While the L3010 did most of what I asked it to do, in many instances I could have used more "break-out" power and horsepower. And this may seem a naive impression, but I think I would have felt more confident (maybe even felt safer) on a larger tractor. Most of the work I did was plowing into the thick growth surrounding the stone walls; first with the loader high in the air, then bringing it down on the "brush," lowering and curling the bucket inward to ground level and backing out.
I would then approach the thicket with the bucket just above ground level, head straight into the mess, and lift up and curl out the bucket and back out. Doing this two or three times to the same area eventually cleared it. As for the HST, this was my first experience and I can't say I'm convinced that this is the way to go, despite the fact that everyone, to a man, has stated unequivocably that this is the only way to go if one is going to do a lot of loader work; especially the back and forth kind of work I did this morning. I have always owned vehicles that required a clutch to shift gears and just stepping on the back of the pedal to go back and the front of the pedal to go forward seemed awkward; (not to mention weird, as when I found myself moving one way or the other without intending to). But that is not the fault of the tractor, of course, but the operator. All in all, I have nothing negative to say about the L3010. It's a fine machine and I am sure that, had I more experience with one, I probably could have gotten more from it. Time to look at the L3710 or even the 4610. Of course, with the bigger tractor comes the sacrifice of the backhoe, a trade-off I am now willing to consider...
Kelago
I would then approach the thicket with the bucket just above ground level, head straight into the mess, and lift up and curl out the bucket and back out. Doing this two or three times to the same area eventually cleared it. As for the HST, this was my first experience and I can't say I'm convinced that this is the way to go, despite the fact that everyone, to a man, has stated unequivocably that this is the only way to go if one is going to do a lot of loader work; especially the back and forth kind of work I did this morning. I have always owned vehicles that required a clutch to shift gears and just stepping on the back of the pedal to go back and the front of the pedal to go forward seemed awkward; (not to mention weird, as when I found myself moving one way or the other without intending to). But that is not the fault of the tractor, of course, but the operator. All in all, I have nothing negative to say about the L3010. It's a fine machine and I am sure that, had I more experience with one, I probably could have gotten more from it. Time to look at the L3710 or even the 4610. Of course, with the bigger tractor comes the sacrifice of the backhoe, a trade-off I am now willing to consider...
Kelago
