What tractor has this combination of features?

[Whitbread]

Hey guys, through a series of fortunate events over the last 5 years, I've ended up with two tractors for very good deals and I'm thinking it might be a perfect opportunity to sell them both and upgrade to one larger/slightly newer unit.

The two tractors I have are both mid 90s new hollands. The first is a 500 hour 1620 with soft cab and factory front mount blower that I added a turbo and hydraulic top/side links to. The other is an 800 hour open station 1520 with the factory loader that I converted to skid steer quick attach. They've both been fantastic and have served well. But, only 1200lbs of lifting capacity is quite limited for handling logs. That's the main reason for considering selling the pair for a larger tractor.

The tractor will only ever grade driveways, snow blow driveways, run a skidding winch, run a pto chipper, load/unload logs from the gooseneck, load/unload pallets of freight shipments from semi's, and basically be an off road fork lift. I'm not 100% opposed to buying a brand new tractor, but I'd prefer to purchase a used unit for the obvious cost reasons if one can be found with the features I'm after.


So that brings me to the main question at hand, does anyone know of a particular tractor that has all the following features? Or am I chasing unicorns?

-Smallest overall size with the most HP/loader capacity. I absolutely love the size/maneuverability of the 1520/1620. Neighbor has a NH2120 and it's significantly more cumbersome for woods use.
-35-45hp
-4x4 and mechanically controlled hydrostatic transmission. Don't need/want the fancy features I've seen Kioti tout with their electronic hydrostats.
-Direct injection engine. IDI diesels always run hotter at full load and start harder in sub zero temps. I know basically any brand new tractor will have a DPF. Does anyone get still get away with only a DOC? I believe Mahindra was for a while...?
-Mid pto and available factory front mount blower. I'm not backing up for the five different 1/4-1/2 mile long and hilly driveways I maintain.
-Quick attach loader with 1600+lbs lift capacity
-Hard cab with heater
-Needs to fit through a 94" tall door opening if possible
-High mounted fuel tank. A low hanging plastic one is begging to get punctured out in the woods. Can always build a skid plate, but would be easier not to have to.
-Non electronic rear PTO engagement. My pto chipper has a 200lb flywheel and it is much nicer to gently engage it vs slamming it on.
-Needs to be under 12' long from the front bumper to the end of skidding winch to fit on the dovetail of the trailer with the log bunks on. I set the loader forks on top of the second bunks of logs currently, and it works perfectly.



Thank you in advance everyone!

 

[Carl_NH]

Since you mentioned Mahindra, the 1635 or 40 series Cab, HST, lifts 1650 Lb, is 90" height, top fuel tank. has direct injection and no DPF.

However its best part of $40K with Mid PTO, and third function etc. You have a lot of utility and flexibility with two tractors vs 1.

If ! were you, would sell one - the 1620 and keep the 1520 for skidding, and a new/used unit for snow, and loading logs, chipper, etc.

 

[dodge man]

To me it almost sounds like a compact track loader or skid steer would be better. I think a tractor you want might be to long. A skid steer probably isn’t going to do a winch though.

 

[4570Man]

I’d consider keeping one of the tractors and looking into a skid steer.

 

[rScotty]

You want a lot of lift in a small tractor.... so it needs to be heavy and powerful. And pre-tier IV. If you run across a Kubota L39 TLB and could find one that has the 3pt hitch option instead of the backhoe that would come close.
Short 72" wheelbase, 6500+ lbs, 40 hp, can lift close to 3000 lbs with FEL or 3pt. Good PTO. They are 12 speed GST or GlideShift with shuttle. All pre-emissions. Heavy over-built tractors. Kubota made and sold it from 2005 to about 2015.
Generally known as a bullet-proof tractor. They have a nice heavy 4 post canopy, but Kubota didn't make it in a cabbed model.There were aftermarket cabs made for them, but rarely bought.
rScotty

 

[ericm979]

My Woodmaxx 8H chipper has a 200 lb flywheel and it's geared up to turn twice as fast as the PTO which doubles the intertia. My Branson electric over hydraulic PTO has no problem starting it up. It doesn't slam it into gear. The clutch slips just a little (far less than a human would) so it starts up softly. The PTO clutch is a wet multiplate unit and can be replaced without splitting the tractor. The PTO also has a brake so you can stop the attachment fast if you need to. For normal operation I throttle down first then turn off the PTO to reduce wear on the brake.

I wanted a tractor with this type PTO so I could engage or disengage it while standing next to the tractor. That's super handy when running a chipper or forestry winch. But the other features I detailed are additional improvements over the older main clutch type PTO.

Bransons are IDI with mechanical injection and a DOC+DPF that rarely if ever needs a regen. So it may not meet your cold starting requirement though there are plenty of people running them in parts of the country that get cold. Mine is an older one that doesn't have the ability to do regens. New ones can do them if needed.

The current Branson 20 series (35hp and up) have a 2600lb loader capacity. Mine's 2200 but can still pick up some good sized logs.

Mid PTO and good loader capacity may be a difficult combination to find. All I can think of off hand is the Kubota Grand L series.

 

[Whitbread]

Since you mentioned Mahindra, the 1635 or 40 series Cab, HST, lifts 1650 Lb, is 90" height, top fuel tank. has direct injection and no DPF.

However its best part of $40K with Mid PTO, and third function etc. You have a lot of utility and flexibility with two tractors vs 1.

If ! were you, would sell one - the 1620 and keep the 1520 for skidding, and a new/used unit for snow, and loading logs, chipper, etc.

I took a deeper look at current Mahindra offerings and the 1640 and 2638 look pretty good spec wise and I'm very glad to see they still don't use a DPF. I'll make it a point to drop by a dealer and put some hands on them.

As handy as it would be to keep the 1520 and have a newer cabbed unit for snow blowing duties, if I sell both new hollands off, I can likely land somewhere between breaking even and a $10K difference. That would allow for an outright purchase with no monthly payment on a new or used unit.

To me it almost sounds like a compact track loader or skid steer would be better. I think a tractor you want might be to long. A skid steer probably isn’t going to do a winch though.

I’d consider keeping one of the tractors and looking into a skid steer.

I'm afraid any skid steer or track loader isn't going to fit the bill as they can't run 3 point attachments (as Dodge Man said) and they would absolutely destroy the ground going back and forth unloading a gooseneck worth of logs. A good business friend of mine in town has a newer new holland tracked loader if I need to borrow it.

The dovetail on the trailer is 12' long, so as long as the bumper to bottom edge of skidding winch is 143" or less, then it will fit on the trailer with a load of logs. I'll just have to take a tape measure with me and stop by some dealers.

You want a lot of lift in a small tractor.... so it needs to be heavy and powerful. And pre-tier IV. If you run across a Kubota L39 TLB and could find one that has the 3pt hitch option instead of the backhoe that would come close.
Short 72" wheelbase, 6500+ lbs, 40 hp, can lift close to 3000 lbs with FEL or 3pt. Good PTO. They are 12 speed GST or GlideShift with shuttle. All pre-emissions. Heavy over-built tractors. Kubota made and sold it from 2005 to about 2015.
Generally known as a bullet-proof tractor. They have a nice heavy 4 post canopy, but Kubota didn't make it in a cabbed model.There were aftermarket cabs made for them, but rarely bought.
rScotty

Ah ha, I didn't know anything about those! A quick googling shows soft and hard cab kits for them so that's certainly a possible option. I'll stop by a dealer and see if they have any used ones by chance to put some hands on. Thank you!

My Woodmaxx 8H chipper has a 200 lb flywheel and it's geared up to turn twice as fast as the PTO which doubles the intertia. My Branson electric over hydraulic PTO has no problem starting it up. It doesn't slam it into gear. The clutch slips just a little (far less than a human would) so it starts up softly. The PTO clutch is a wet multiplate unit and can be replaced without splitting the tractor. The PTO also has a brake so you can stop the attachment fast if you need to. For normal operation I throttle down first then turn off the PTO to reduce wear on the brake.

I wanted a tractor with this type PTO so I could engage or disengage it while standing next to the tractor. That's super handy when running a chipper or forestry winch. But the other features I detailed are additional improvements over the older main clutch type PTO.

Bransons are IDI with mechanical injection and a DOC+DPF that rarely if ever needs a regen. So it may not meet your cold starting requirement though there are plenty of people running them in parts of the country that get cold. Mine is an older one that doesn't have the ability to do regens. New ones can do them if needed.

The current Branson 20 series (35hp and up) have a 2600lb loader capacity. Mine's 2200 but can still pick up some good sized logs.

Mid PTO and good loader capacity may be a difficult combination to find. All I can think of off hand is the Kubota Grand L series.

Thanks for chiming in! I have the same chipper so that's excellent to hear the electric pto engagement is gentle enough. My only e-pto experience is with a sub compact john deere I did some hydraulic work on for a fellow firefighter. That thing slammed the pto on very harshly.

The DI vs IDI is just a preference from years in school and experience of owning a diesel performance shop for 12 years now. DI diesels have a significant thermodynamic advantage in the combustion process which dumps much less waste heat into the cooling system. They also always make better low rpm torque when lugged down under load. Obviously, IDI diesels do certainly work and serve many people well so it's not a total deal breaker by any means. Just an icing on the cake.

That's very interesting that the Bransons are mechanical pump with the dpf. That means the dpf system should be quite easy to get around in case I were to accidentally hit a large pot hole and it happened to fall off.

The 4815CH looks very attractive spec wise if they have a front mount snow blower setup for it. The Branson website leaves much to be desired so I think I'll just call a dealer next week to ask about a blower. The 20 series are too tall to fit through my 8' pole barn door sadly. In hindsight I should've put a 10' door in, but it's a little late now. I was building it during the peak of covid and a 10' door was a 6-10 month wait, the 8' door was in stock.

 

[ericm979]

On the Branson models from a few years ago like my 3725, the DPF can be removed easily. On the newer ones that can do regens it's a little harder. The "data recorder" does more on those, including running some of the instruments. A few people have tried to delete the DPF from those and remove the data recorder and then had some instruments not work.

The ability to run a regen addresses the DPF clogging problem that a few people had. It seemed to happen to people in cold climates who didn't run the tractor hard. Like all winter all it does is run 10 minutes at a time to move a round bale. For the vast majority the DPF is not a problem. I've stopped worrying about mine. Chipping works it pretty good and gets the DPF hot.

When people ask about removing the DPF from their Branson I suggest they wait to see if it has a problem, because it rarely does.

Yes the Branson web site sucks. You'd think they'd know that's how people shop these days.

 

[Carl_NH]

As RScotty suggested the Kubota TLB L Series (L48, L39, L47) are all strong HD TLB's - you can find L48 (2000-2006) for $20-30K, and L39's for mid $30 to 40's then the newer L47TLB closer to $45K+ - the low hour (under 6-800) and in good condition are hard to find. You would be hard pressed to find a tougher tractor for woods and loader/backhoe work than these units.

On your existing 1520 and 1620, do you have buyer(s) interested already? Seems like they are $7-10K range at least on tractorhouse - just saying, we sometimes value what we have more than the market will support.

 

[Whitbread]

On the Branson models from a few years ago like my 3725, the DPF can be removed easily. On the newer ones that can do regens it's a little harder. The "data recorder" does more on those, including running some of the instruments. A few people have tried to delete the DPF from those and remove the data recorder and then had some instruments not work.

The ability to run a regen addresses the DPF clogging problem that a few people had. It seemed to happen to people in cold climates who didn't run the tractor hard. Like all winter all it does is run 10 minutes at a time to move a round bale. For the vast majority the DPF is not a problem. I've stopped worrying about mine. Chipping works it pretty good and gets the DPF hot.

When people ask about removing the DPF from their Branson I suggest they wait to see if it has a problem, because it rarely does.

Yes the Branson web site sucks. You'd think they'd know that's how people shop these days.

Anything that has a mechanical pump means it can't be that complex to remove. Just requires a little creativity to fool the sensors/data recorder! I just know what all those lovely 3 letter acronym devices do over the long haul to an engine and if I were to spend the coin on something new, I'm doing everything in my power to make it outlive me.

As RScotty suggested the Kubota TLB L Series (L48, L39, L47) are all strong HD TLB's - you can find L48 (2000-2006) for $20-30K, and L39's for mid $30 to 40's then the newer L47TLB closer to $45K+ - the low hour (under 6-800) and in good condition are hard to find. You would be hard pressed to find a tougher tractor for woods and loader/backhoe work than these units.

On your existing 1520 and 1620, do you have buyer(s) interested already? Seems like they are $7-10K range at least on tractorhouse - just saying, we sometimes value what we have more than the market will support.

I'll certainly take a serious look at the TLB-L's and see if I can find one without a backhoe! A good friend has a case 530 so there's not much point in owning my own.

I don't have buyers lined up yet, but I'm sure I wouldn't have any trouble selling them the way the market is currently since they're both low hour, great mechanical shape, and the loader is QA converted. Anything used in the $7-12k range pretty much vanishes around here.