Most bulletproof 30-35hp Kubota tractor

[newbury]

<snip>
Are there any 90's tractors worth considering?

1995 M4700

bought in 2012 for $11,500.
I've had to put about $800 into repairs, mostly for 2 front tires ($600).

If you've got time look at auctions by small government entities. Some run their equipment into the ground. Some maintain their equipment like they will keep it forever but replace it arbitrarily, when it passes an age or they get a flush of funds.

 

[diesel85]

I got this list from TractorData.com and massaged it a little bit...

I think there are some overseas machines on here, but it's a good starting point.

B2910 30 hp 2000 - 2005
B3000 30 hp 2010 - 2013
B3030 30 hp 2006 - 2012
B7800 30 hp 2003 - 2008
L1-315 30 hp 1988 - 1991
B2311 30 hp 2018 -
B3150 30 hp 2014 -
GL301 30 hp 1996 - 2001
L3130 31 hp 2003 - 2007
GL32 31 hp 1990 - 1992
GL320 31 hp 1993 - 1995
L1-325 31 hp 1988 - 1991
L2950 31 hp 1990 - 1993
L3200 31 hp 2011 - 2014
B3200 32 hp 2008 - 2015
L2900 32 hp 1994 - 1999
L3000 32 hp 2000 - 2003
L3010 32 hp 1998 - 2002
STV32 32 hp 2006 - 2014
GL33 32 hp 1990 - 1992
GL321 32 hp 1996 - 2001
GL337 32 hp 1996 - 2001
GL338 32 hp 1993 - 1995
B3300SU 33 hp 2010 -
B3350 33 hp 2013 -
L3301 33 hp 2014 -
L2850 34 hp 1985 - 1990
L3240 34 hp 2007 - 2013
L3400 34 hp 2004 - 2010
L3300 35 hp 1994 - 1999
L3410 35 hp 1998 - 2002
L3430 35 hp 2003 - 2007
GL367 35 hp 1996 - 2001
GL368 35 hp 1993 - 1995

 

[diesel85]

I like that M4700... it's got a nice 5 cylinder engine in it too.

 

[JWR]

Location updated. I have thought about pusher boxes, but I have a 7' snow bucket on my S250 Bobcat. It's works okay, but I'd like to get away from snow banks, as it's always windy around me, and bigger banks equal bigger drifts. I'm also looking at a snowblower for the Bobcat, but they seem hit or miss as how good they work. My old boss has a b7300, with front mount snowblower, and that thing is unstoppable. Wet snow, powder, it doesn't matter.

There's a L3130 gst about 4 hours from me for $10,700. It looks good but the seller is a tractor jockey.

Are there any 90's tractors worth considering?

The price on that 3130 does not sound bad but I know what you mean with the seller being a "tractor jockey." Makes you hesitate.

A couple of thoughts based on what you posted:

1) An L3400 might fit pretty well. My pasture renters use one and being around it I like the thing. Bigger/heavier than your 9200 for sure but I do not know if they have a mid PTO or can have one added.
2) Someone else suggested B2150 ? I have 2 of them and they do fit the "bulletproof" concept. Gutsy lovable little beasts. Will stand anything and generally cannot be stalled under load. 4cyl not 3. Most std tran models (both of mine) have 3 ranges one of which is creeper which I find very good doing (rear) snowblowing. B2150's all seem to have mid PTOs. Both mine do. The B2150 would be the best small tractor in the 20 some HP range EVER MADE if they just had a synchromesh tranny. Unfortunately they are not synchro at all. I'm no fan of hydrostats bigger than my B2200 lawn mowing rig and no experience with the B2150 hydro version.
3) Another thought: In your situation as described up to this point (and what you do for a living) I lean to doing this: Use a snow blower on the front of that skid steer instead of a tractor. You have plenty of hydraulic pump to drive one. Put rubber tracks on the skid steer and a hydraulic motor driven snow blower. I am not real attracted to the front mount blowers on Kubotas because of the reliability questions and problems seen reported on these forums. Go read a few for your own impressions. You have 1 or 2 front blower choices on the Kubota and 25 or 30 choices with the skid steer. Far better chance of finding a good one used.

 

[Mikefromcny]

The price on that 3130 does not sound bad but I know what you mean with the seller being a "tractor jockey." Makes you hesitate.

A couple of thoughts based on what you posted:

1) An L3400 might fit pretty well. My pasture renters use one and being around it I like the thing. Bigger/heavier than your 9200 for sure but I do not know if they have a mid PTO or can have one added.
2) Someone else suggested B2150 ? I have 2 of them and they do fit the "bulletproof" concept. Gutsy lovable little beasts. Will stand anything and generally cannot be stalled under load. 4cyl not 3. Most std tran models (both of mine) have 3 ranges one of which is creeper which I find very good doing (rear) snowblowing. B2150's all seem to have mid PTOs. Both mine do. The B2150 would be the best small tractor in the 20 some HP range EVER MADE if they just had a synchromesh tranny. Unfortunately they are not synchro at all. I'm no fan of hydrostats bigger than my B2200 lawn mowing rig and no experience with the B2150 hydro version.
3) Another thought: In your situation as described up to this point (and what you do for a living) I lean to doing this: Use a snow blower on the front of that skid steer instead of a tractor. You have plenty of hydraulic pump to drive one. Put rubber tracks on the skid steer and a hydraulic motor driven snow blower. I am not real attracted to the front mount blowers on Kubotas because of the reliability questions and problems seen reported on these forums. Go read a few for your own impressions. You have 1 or 2 front blower choices on the Kubota and 25 or 30 choices with the skid steer. Far better chance of finding a good one used.

I've found another l3130, loader, R4 tires, 1300 hours for $8500. I may try and go look at it tomorrow. I agree a L3430 might be a better bet, but this seems like a deal.

I've been eyeing an eskrine snowblower for the Bobcat. It's priced pretty reasonable. Skidsteer snowblowers seem pretty hit or miss on how well they work, some great, others throw powder 15'.

Ican't say as I've heard anything bad about the Kubota snowblowers, but my experience is limited. Looks like I'll have to poke around the forum some more.

As far as the b2150 goes, it looks like my b9200 is the predecessor to it. Same V1200 and all. It's a good little tractor, but 10hp would be better.

 

[JWR]

Mikecny -- you probably know more about this than I do but the GPM ratings for hydraulic motor devices and the match up with the pump capacity on the host machine make all the difference in the world. I have tried to run hyd motor driven brush cutters both large and small on my MF 2660 81 horse tractor. The specs on the big one (e.g. around 14gpm needed, very heavy 5ft brush cutter) were very misleading and it was bogging down constantly. Learned that even though the tractor supposedly put out around 17gpm that the hoses were too small, the valves were not set up to allow free-wheeling when the juice was cut off, etc. Turned out unsat and I sold it. Got a Lane Shark brush cutter that fits the FEL last year -- it only "requires" 10 gpm. I put on larger diam hoses and the mfr has it setup to freewheel when the pressure is cut off. With those changes it works great, does not bog down, etc.

I had a dealer tell me (who was equipping tractors with hydraulic driven snow blowers for an airport) that initially they were bogging down and unsat until he brought it back in and put larger diameter hoses on, etc.

From what I've heard your skid steers have a lot higher capacity hydraulic pump to run stuff than most farm tractors. More common for them to have the "high flow" capability.

I think the lesson is (if you are going to run hydraulic motor devices) make sure the hoses are larger I.D. than for other applications and make sure that the host machine specs for GPM output read as if they are overkill for the motor and driven device. Do all that and your hyd motor snowblower will work well.

 

[nybirdman]

I had a L3130 HST/723 loader ;purchased new in 2004.Great all around tractor;traded up for a cab.
I believe they also made a GST version.

 

[Ortimber]

I don't know if you are dead set on a Kubota, but the late 1980-1995 Ford/New Holland tractors in that size range are as bulletproof as I've seen.

 

[rbargeron]

........Are there any 90's tractors worth considering?

Yes, they all are. The trick is finding one that's for sale. People tend to keep them - and for good reason. To move up from the B9200 in tractor strength but keep the solid construction of the earlier models, the L3250 has a lot going for it. There's one listed here currently. These are from the short period when model numbers were lower than actual hp. (later it was renamed L3450 and L3650) Good grunt in a compact package. V2203 4-cyl, 8 speed gear trans. IMHO one of the models Kubota got famous with. Have fun hunting - Dick B

 

[JWR]

...Yes, and the L3250 has a synchro transmission, a huge improvement over my older B2150's.