L3240 or L3430

[IHUNT]

I am looking at a L3240 DT with a LA 724 bucket, R4 ind. tires and a BH80x backhoe. I want to use it to take stumps out of a 2 acre clear cut and create a food plot. I also have 10 acres of woods that I just want to clean up. Salesman say this is a tough tractor and I would enjoy it's performance. Dealer is asking $ 29800.00 for the package. The L 3430 just caught my eye. Any suggestions on what tractor to buy for my retirement toy.

 

[Bob_Young]

As I recall, the power advantage of an L3430 over the L3240 comes from an increase in engine displacement (100 cu. in. vs. 90 cu. in. if I'm not mistaken). Therefore, there's more to it than just a simple horsepower advantage. Torque should be noticeably greater as well....the L3430 will have more guts.

Beyond that, how addicted are you to bells & whistles? The L3430 has a lot, the L3240 even more. But naysayers like me will point out that the L3240 is, to some extent, unproven; while the L3430 is a known quantity.

If prices were comparable, I'd opt for the L3430 in a heartbeat...less than that if there's a bottom-line advantage. Let the other guy have the bleeding edge technology. I'll take proven performance over bragging rights any day. Ten years from now they'll both be "obsolete".
FWIW
Bob

P.S. Oh, yeah....welcome to TBN where spending other people's money gives meaning to our dreary deskbound lives. In that vein, make sure you consider HST before signing the sales order. Loader work is downright fun with HST.

 

[IHUNT]

Hi Bob, thanks for your input. First of all let me say that I am a green horn to buying tractors. I have used they in the past but always wanted one of my own. My wife of 22 years told me to go for it. You said the HST transmission is a good idea with the backhoe. Does that take some getting used to. I thought I would go with the FST because the Clutching doesn't bother me and I would have more control. Am I wrong thinking this way. I will be going back to the dealer on Saturday. I will be looking at tha L 3430. It sounds lick it is a proven machine.

 

[Bob_Young]

Hi Hunt,
After being a gearhead for years, I've been pretty much won over to HST for yard chores and FEL work by my little B7610. On a gear tractor, the back-and-forth motions of loader work naturally require shifting between reverse and a forward gear. Too often the gears don't line up for a direction change and the clutch has to be let out for a second in neutral to give them a spin before trying again. This can really slow things down after awhile. Reversing direction with HST doesn't require any clutching at all and is as simple as rocking your foot backward or forward.

But, more important than that, is how easy it is to 'feather' the loader's approach when moving forward depending on how much you feel the bucket is digging in.

As an example, say you were moving snow piles back from the edge of your driveway. If the bucket digs in too much, it'll tear up your grass. If not enough, it'll ride up over the bottom layer of snow and not do a clean job. If you get the angle just right, it'll do a clean job without damage to your grass. But the only way to tell if it's right is how it 'feels' as you move forward.

With HST you can easily slow to a crawl, get the feel for what's happening, make minor bucket angle adjustments and then push quickly into the load under power....all without ever touching the clutch or the throttle. Doing this with gears results in a lot of clutch slipping and/or engagement cycles, all of which contribute to clutch wear and operator fatigue.

Before I got the B7610, I moved snow with my L4300 which is both geared and a bit of a beast. My driveway still bears the scars. For field work (plowing, discing, dragging), however, I prefer gears. It gets the most power to the ground.

I wouldn't worry about HST being hard to learn. It's far simpler than gears and much more precise.

Hope this helps.
Bob

 

[IHUNT]

Bob I want to thank you again for your time and input. I beleave my mind is made up with the HST. My dealer told me today if I were to go with the L3430 that I would be adding $2000.00. I will most likely go with the L3240. I would rather keep the two grand in my pocket. Your neighbor from Maine.
Chris

 

[Tractor Dr.]

Just curious...isn't the L3240 32.5 HP and the L3430 34HP? I have the KUBOTA2007 full line brochure and that states the L3240 has 32.5 HP yet I've read in some other posts that the L3240 is in fact 34 HP not 32.5 HP. Do you or anyone else know the answer? I'm curious because I am on the cusp of purchasing either the L3240 or the L3130. The 3130's are hard to find since they're last year's model. A local dealer quoted me a price on a L3130HSD of 19,500 with R4 tires L514 loader and 66" bucket. He wanted $380 extra for the quick detach FEL.

A different dealer quoted me a price on a L3240HST+ of $20,300 with LA 514 FEL, quick detach FEL & loaded tires. Does this sound like a decent price?

Also, does the brush guard come with the FEL or is that separate?

Thanks,
Tractor Dr.

 

[Bob_Young]

Hi Tractordoc,
Checked the Kubota specs for the L3240. My earlier post was in error. Kubota went to the 100 cu. in. engine in the L3240; same sized engine they used in the L3430. In addition, the GROSS HP is listed at 34. Gross HP does not take into account the HP lost to driving hydraulic pumps and engine accessories (like the alternator).

NET HP is sometimes used in the specs. It takes the loss to accessories into account and is always lower than Gross HP.

A better measure of tractor "Grunt" than HP is engine displacement (cu. in.). It normally reflects the engine's capability to produce torque, regardless of HP rating. The larger the engine, the more guts; other things being equal. I get the impression that Kubota was forced to go to larger engines across the L40 line because the ULSD fuel produces less power than the old LSD. The L3130 had a 90 cu. in. engine.

I haven't priced any Grand Ls, but think that $800 more to go to the larger engine and the improved Grand L HST on an up-to-date model is probably money well spent.

The brush guard is normally part of the FEL on Kubotas.
FWIW
Bob

 

[texbaylea]

Just curious...isn't the L3240 32.5 HP and the L3430 34HP? I have the KUBOTA2007 full line brochure and that states the L3240 has 32.5 HP yet I've read in some other posts that the L3240 is in fact 34 HP not 32.5 HP. Do you or anyone else know the answer? I'm curious because I am on the cusp of purchasing either the L3240 or the L3130. The 3130's are hard to find since they're last year's model. A local dealer quoted me a price on a L3130HSD of 19,500 with R4 tires L514 loader and 66" bucket. He wanted $380 extra for the quick detach FEL.

A different dealer quoted me a price on a L3240HST+ of $20,300 with LA 514 FEL, quick detach FEL & loaded tires. Does this sound like a decent price?

Also, does the brush guard come with the FEL or is that separate?

Thanks,
Tractor Dr.

Please double check but if you think that you will ever want to add a backhoe I believe that you need the 700 series FEL for the L3240 or L3130. I would recommend getting that FEL anyways because of it greater specs and usability. The brush guard was standard with my FEL.

Vernon

 

[Tractor Dr.]

Thanks to each of you for your valuable input. After much thought and a sleepless night last night, I decided to go with the L3130. I got the dealer to come down some more on his price which made me feel better about the deal. There is still only a thousand dollars difference between the two prices but I needed that thousand to buy an attachment. This tractor will primarily be used in a residential application so I don't need a whole lot of bells and whistles. I fell in love w/the L3240 but I couldn't justify that extra thousand in my head. I told my wife I was going to spend a certain amount of money and not anymore than that. I held true to my word. I will sleep tonite.

 

[cheesehead]

Congratulations on your choice. I'm assuming that you went with 4 wheel drive (a must) but you didn't indicate what transmission or loader you picked.

I'm nearing completion of clearing and leveling 2.5 acres that were heavily wooded using my L3130 HST. The task would not have been achieved without it and I've found that when the tractor goes to the shop for maintenance that productivity around the place really drops.

Sorry to get to you late but nobody has addressed price or package so far and I wanted to make you aware of some things that may not have been obvious to you.

1.) Kubota financing on a new tractor is the way to go especially if you have the manoy in your hand. They will finance the tractor and the attachments for 0%/36 months on a Grand L. This means you have more capital to work with as you can take your cash and earn interest that can be applied to payments later. The only hook is that they'll require insurance which is easy to accomodate. Just bring your homeowners policy to the dealer and it should suffice for use on your property.

2.) Has the dealer told you that the L3130 gets a $750 instant cash rebate (as do all Grand L30 series tractors)? This may help finance a bump in HP or an extra implement.

3.) If you don't have the means to transport the tractor home, negotiate transport of the tractor home as part of the price. I'm only 6 miles from the dealer and this could have been a $75 charge if I had not asked for it to be waived.

4.) Maintenance by the dealer on this equimpent is not a cheap item. The first maintenance is at 50 hours, is critical to perform and costs a bundle if you don't have your eyes open (my total bill was $614). Now is a good time to negotiate the first maintenance to be included in the price, even if it increases the cost (remember the 0% financing). Remeber the transportation charges in number 3.) above.

5.) Another item to negotiate now is the shop manual. Kubota definitely makes some money back on this item (mine was $125) but it's doubtful the dealer pays anywhere near that cost. Ask now and you may be fiancially rewarded.

6.) You are missing two valuable implements from your list given the space you are maintaining: a mower and a box blade.

6a) A box blade is probably in your must have category as that 2 acre lot will look like the face of the moon when the backhoe is done with it. The teeth on the blade will tear out the remaining stubble while the blade will help level the ground. I also assume the 10 acres has a dirt road that can be maintained by a box blade a few times per year. I've never heard anyone complain about a box blade being too heavy. In fact, the best box blade is the heaviest unit you can buy as it will also be used as ballast for loader operation when space is tight and the backhoe is off. Great advice that I got from this site is that a bent box blade is useless, so my purchase led me to a unit built out of 3/8" steel that will stop thop tractor cold before it will bend.

6b) If you don't have the mower side covered think about it now. A rear mower can be added at any time but remember the 0% financing will cover attachments. If you really think a belly mower (MMM) is what you want, get it now as the dealer has a lot of work to do for its installation and that cost will be a lot higher later. This will include the need for a mid-PTO which requires the transmission to be dry for installation (there's about $150 of hydraulic oil in a full HST transission). A mid-PTO can also be useful if a front mount snow thrower is in your future.

7.) Did you get the LA723 loader? This is a must have on this tractor as I've been able to use every single bit of it's lift capacity (and needed more on a lot of occasions). It's easy to slow down for jobs that should have more horsepower (few) but it's more difficult to cut that pallet of material (or a new tractor implement) that you want to lift off the delivery truck in half.

You will enjoy your new purchase whatever you decide to do. Happy tractoring and the site, as always, enjoys pictures.