What to buy? Looked at MF1533, TC30, L3400, etc

JCS_in_KY · Dec 3, 2005

We've got 20 acres, about 13 of which are wooded. Uses for the tractor will be bushhog work on about 5 cleared acres and 3 wooded, we'd like to till up a few acres for farming, maintain about 1100' of gravel drive, do some grading, move trees, old sections of concrete, etc out of the woods, running a auger for fencing and planting, and some snow removal. I may also use the tractor for some occasional work around town doing bush hog work and some light grading. At some point in the future I may add a backhoe but I'm not sure yet. So far I've look at four tractors 1. A Massey Ferguson 1533 with 8x8 syncro shuttle trans and a Bushhog 246 midmount FEL. Tractor 2 is a New Holland TC30 with 9x3 trans and a factory FEL. Tractor 3 a Kubota L3400 GST with factory FEL. I also looked at a John Deere 790 but the Deere dealer here gives very poor service and it's a long drive to the next dealer so I think I'll stay away from them. I've looked over all four tractors and Monday am going back to test drive all of them. What do you all think of these tractors and which would be the best to own? John

thcri · Dec 3, 2005

I think you won't make a bad decision of any of the above tractors. I would spend more time with the dealer, which one do you think is going to give you the best service after the sale. Then which one fits your butt the best and gives you the best feel. Then if they are priced comparitively buy the one you like based on the above two questions. Otherwise all three are good rigs.

murph

SWB · Dec 3, 2005

The three tractors have very different transmissions with the 1533 being synchronized, and the TC30 not. I don't think the L3400 comes in a GST version. You either get a HST (hydrostatic) or a gear driven which is like the TC30. The TC30 also comes in a HST version. All three tractors will do the job. In my opinion, seat comfort and ergonomics are very important and that is an individual decision. But if you spend anytime in the tractor seat, the overall comfort should be a very important part of your decision. A good dealer is also very important and you will be lucky if you have more than one dealer for each brand of tractor near you. If the one servicing your brand of tractor is a bad dealer and he is the only one nearby, then you are stuck with having one bad experience after another. Good luck.

JCS_in_KY · Dec 3, 2005

( I don't think the L3400 comes in a GST version. You either get a HST (hydrostatic) or a gear driven which is like the TC30. )

You are right about the transmission, I meant to say gear driven for the L3400, not GST. Do you think it's worth getting the tractor with the syncro trans over the gear driven? Also what about the difference in PTOs, Live on the TC30 and L3400 versus the independent one on the 1533?
John

JCS_in_KY · Dec 3, 2005

Also I should mention that we have a dealer here that carries New Holland and Massey Ferguson. They have excellent service from what I've heard. I live 17 miles from their location and they will deliver free of charge to my home and spend some time going over the operation of the tractor and the use of any implements that I purchase with the tractor. During the two year warranty period if their are any problems with the tractor they will come to my home to pick it up and bring it back when the repairs are completed. Their reputation and excellent service is what is making me lean towards the Massey Ferguson or New Holland over Kubota or Deere. John

kossetx · Dec 3, 2005

If you want a raw opinion, out of those 3, I have liked the MF1533 the best. It seemed bigger, was more open, fit me better, I liked the transmision better and that joystick mount w/o having to hold your arm up all day for FEL work seemed to be a plus, had tilt, folding rops, which also was nice. I may end up with one.

SWB · Dec 4, 2005

I have sat on all three and driven the L3400 and the 1533 around the tractor yard. I have owned a Massey Ferguson before and currently have a Case DX35 which is essentially a New Holland painted red. Although Case doesn't have the equivilent of the TC30, all the other tractors in the boomer line are duplicated in the Case line and made in the same factory. All three manufacturers make good tractors. The L3400 gear and TC30 gear are more basic tractors. The 1533 is more refined and the syncro should make it a lot easier to shift. I also like the ergonomics on the 1533 with the joystick on the fender rather than on the FEL for the L3400. For me the 1533 seat is a lot more comfortable and the L3400 the least comfortable, but the comfort of the seat is an individual thing, although there have been many negative comments in this forum about the Kubota seats on their basic tractors. You have to decide yourself which fits you better. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the tractors, but personally I lean towards the 1533.

SWB · Dec 4, 2005

I should probably point out that the quotes I got on the 1533 were the highest: around $15,000 for the tractor and $4,000 for the FEL. The L3400 and TC30 should come in at around $12,000 for the tractor and less than $4000 for FEL. At least around here. An internet site in Texas shows that you can get an L3400 and FEL for as little as $14,570. Go to: www.deenimplement.com/ and click on monthly specials.

JCS_in_KY · Dec 4, 2005

I'm not home now so I don't have the exact prices I was quoted but I believe that the MF1533 was roughly $17,500.00 with loader (I'll post the exact prices later and see what you think of them). The loader they want to sell me with it is the Bushhog 246, it looks like a good loader but I didn't see the control for it. Will it use a fender mount joystick like the MF one does or is it in a different location? I've never bought a new tractor from a dealer before but we are assuming that it's like buying a new car where the dealer normally has a little room for play with their asking price?????
John

N80 · Dec 4, 2005

I know it is frowned upon to suggest other tractors than what the original poster mentioned, but given your needs and your price ranges, I'd look at the Kubota L4400 rather than the L3400 _if_ you are truly considering tractors in the $19,000 range. I went through this process myself and got the L4400. As mentioned, any of the tractors you've listed will be great, including the L3400 which represents a real value in the gear drive model. But the 4400, I think, gives the most power for the dollar. I'd say its JD counterpoint is the 990, another great machine worth looking at.

But a lot of it comes down to what you really want and need. The reason the price of the L4400, which has more hp than most CUTs, is low is that it is very basic. Gear driven. No frills. It does have a cupholder. I just feel that in order to use the tractor in the widest variety of situations power is an issue and the L4400 has a lot and yet remains a small tractor that can still operate in tight places (like woods and trails and around a house.)

Apologies if this is off topic, but having similar needs and having gone through the same research for machines in roughyl the same price range, the L4400 turned out to be the right machine for me.

JCS_in_KY · Dec 4, 2005

George, Thanks for the info on the L4400. I looked at the specs on them and the price but I think unfortunately it's just a little out of our price range. Originally we were looking to spend around $14,000.00 max if possible but it looks like we can spend a few thousand more and that's about it. That leaves us with the MF1533 at the top of our price range. One option I thought of was to buy a more expensive tractor now (L4400 etc.) and add a FEL in a year or so but I've got work to do here that requires it immediately, so I don't think that's an option.

Here are the prices I've been quoted locally:
Kubota L3400 with factory FEL and gear drive:$15,200.00
New Holland TC30 with factory FEL and gear drive:$15,000.00
Massey Ferguson with Bushhog FEL and 8x8 syncro:$17,600.00 (the price on the MF includes a grill guard which I don't think was included with the others).

How do those prices sound? Also is it a big advantage to have the mid-mount FEL on the MF compared to the front mount on the other tractors? It seems like it would be easier to work on the engine with the mid and the dealer says it's much better but I don't know much about either one so I need some advice on that.
John

SWB · Dec 4, 2005

I think those prices sound reasonable. You appear to have a good dealer to work with. However, you never mentioned how you like driving each tractor and how comfortable each was for you to drive. If you are going to be spending any time operating one, and it sounds as if you are, then ergonomics should be a big factor in your tractor buying decision.

N80 · Dec 4, 2005

I'm not sure about the prices. All I can tell you is that I paid about $18,500 for my L4400 and FEL. I'm not sure what you mean by "front mount" on the FEL. On my 4400 it mounts just forward of the drivers position with frames that run back to the rear axle housing. I'm 99% sure the 3400 is the same. This, to me, seems like the best and strongest arrangement. Also, the brush guard comes with the FEL on the 4400, and again, I'm pretty sure it does with the 3400 as well.

I think, if your budget won't extend to the L4400 or the JD 990, then I'd go with the dealer that I felt the best about. I'm sure the L3400 is nearly what the 4400 is, but if I didn't have a good feeling about the dealer I'd look somewhere else.

JCS_in_KY · Dec 4, 2005

( However, you never mentioned how you like driving each tractor and how comfortable each was for you to drive. If you are going to be spending any time operating one, and it sounds as if you are, then ergonomics should be a big factor in your tractor buying decision. )

We haven't driven any of them yet, each time we've gone to the dealers it's been late in the day just before closing and we've only had time to look at the tractors and sit on them to try each one on. Tomorrow I've got a full day set aside to go to each of the dealers and drive all of them. Hopefully after that I can eliminate one or two of them from my list.

In regards to the question about the mid-mount FEL the dealer told me the Bushhog 246 is a mid-mount design which would make the FEL stronger and also it would be easier to work on the tractor because when the FEL is raised there will be no FEL structure around the front of the tractor like there would be with a "front mount FEL". Is there any truth to this?
John

JerryG · Dec 4, 2005

On a mid mount there is no wrap around frame going around the front of the tractor. The MF loader for the 1500 series is also a mid mount. The independent pto works great on the 1533s, be sure to check it out when you go over the tractor.

JCS_in_KY · Dec 6, 2005

I went and drove a few tractors today. The two that I liked best were the MF 1533 and Kubota L3130. I think I've decided against the L3400 and TC30 because I'd like something with more FEL capacity and a little heavier tractor. I went to another MF dealer because they were supposed to have one in stock with the MF loader rather than the Bushhog one that my local dealer has. I was anxious to try it but unfortunately as soon as I arrived the salesman told me it had been sold and was waiting on a truck to be delivered so all I could do was look it over. I was able to drive a 1533 with 12x12 trans but it had no loader so I couldn't try that out. I drove the L3130 but it was kind of hard to compare the two since it was a HST model. To me they both feel about the same handling wise and comfort wise. The MF feels just slightly better to me but I can't really pinpoint the reason why it does. I definetly prefer the lower gear ranges with the MF over the 3130 but I'm assuming the GST would give me more lower range choices than I can get with the HST. The only thing mechanically I saw that bothered me on the MF 1533 was the exposed power steering hoses down below the frame but I suppose the chance of catching them on something is slim and if necessary I could fabricate some type of shroud to cover them. Some here seem to think the L3130 is underpowered but unfortunately it was hard for me to tell just running it around the dealer lot. John

N80 · Dec 6, 2005

What kind of price are you looking at for the 3130? I'd suspect it would be significantly more than a gear drive 3400.

rk246 · Dec 7, 2005

I don't know about the 3130 being underpowered, I have been using one from the dealer around my place that they let me try out, It has done everything I asked of it, that being said I did decide to go up to the 3830 for the extra hp, it was a great amount more, same size tractor, just more hp.....

JCS_in_KY · Dec 7, 2005

The price they were asking on the L3130, GST with 723 loader / quick attach with 66" bucket was $18,650.00. I think the HST was about $900 more. The MF1533 with 12x12 trans, 1525 loader, quick attach and 66" bucket was $18,900.00. The other dealer had the MF1533 with 8x8, and the Bushhog 246 loader for $17,600.00. I'm going to call them tomorrow and see what kind of price they can give me with the 12x12 and factory loader, they might be a little less than the place I went today.
Given the choice between the MF1530 and the L3130 which would you choose?
John

JerryG · Dec 7, 2005

Given the choice between the MF1530 and the L3130 which would you choose? /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif