Price Check John Deer vs. Kubota

   / John Deer vs. Kubota #1  

dannylink

Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
27
Location
Mt Sidney VA
Tractor
John Deere 4720 / 1953 Farmal Super A
I am in process of buying a new tractor and am considering the JD4520. With HST, extendable links and FEL the price is $30,000. I will use it to bush hog approximately 35 acres and general farm work. I use a 6' rottery cutter on open pasture land. Limited hills which are not steep. Terrain gets alittle rough where cattle have walked when it was wet this winter. Will do alittle bucket work now and then - probably use tractor about 50 hrs per year.

Let me add alittle more about my tractor buying. About 6 yrs ago I bought a Kubota 3400 new with bucket. Manual transmission. 3 yrs later traded for a Kubota 3940 with manual transmission. Both were good tractors. NOW, I have sold that tractor and am buying a yet bigger tractor with discussions between the Kubota and Deer on best price. Currently the Deer have Kubota beat by about $1400 but Kubota will drop their price a $1000 if I pay cash instead of financing. The Kubota 5740 is a 59 HP and Deer a 60 HP. Mainly moving up to get the HST which both have. Should have gone HST when I bought the 3940 but am a slow learner. Neither of the tractors being considered have cabs for can I justify the extra $5500 when I use the tractor so little per year???? Probably when I get older or in 3 yrs whichever comes first I will be selling this tractor and buying one with cab. As I said I am a slow learner.
 
   / John Deer vs. Kubota #2  
Only you can make that final decision. Any other tractors on the farm?:D
 
   / John Deer vs. Kubota #3  
Did you like the L3940? Did it have enought horsepower? Did it have enough weight? If yes to all, why not just get a L3940HST-3 and save some money. Kubota now has stall guard on their PTO with the HST-3 tranmission. You dont have to move up to that horsepower range to get HST. I looked at 40hp Deere's, NH's, and Kubota's before I made my decision, and they all has HST's. Good luck with your decision, it is a good one to have! Philip.
 
   / John Deer vs. Kubota #4  
My preference is Kubota, but both are great tractors and I would recommend buying the one that fits you the best.

Some prefer left foot braking for more precise control; not for me but important for me.

I don't believe one is better than the other, just different.
 
   / John Deer vs. Kubota #5  
... Probably when I get older or in 3 yrs whichever comes first I will be selling this tractor and buying one with cab. As I said I am a slow learner.

I'm going out on a limb here, but I would be willing to bet that you will be older much sooner than 3 years... :D
 
   / John Deer vs. Kubota
  • Thread Starter
#6  
One thing I liked about the Deer is that it has 2 peddles for the HST. I tried the Kubota peddle and it felt uncomfortable when backing the tractor up. Maybe it was just me. As with most men, want more power - don't necessarily need it but want it. Also believe the two I am looking at weigh more than the L3940 I had which would have helped this winter with the snow.
 
   / John Deer vs. Kubota #7  
One thing I liked about the Deer is that it has 2 peddles for the HST. I tried the Kubota peddle and it felt uncomfortable when backing the tractor up. Maybe it was just me. As with most men, want more power - don't necessarily need it but want it. Also believe the two I am looking at weigh more than the L3940 I had which would have helped this winter with the snow.

I have a John Deere and Kubota and preference for the pedals is indeed a personal thing. While sitting straight ahead, I like the Kubota better, but when twisting around watching the equipment on back, I find the John Deere to be a little easier. My wife drives our smaller tractors more than I and does not like the dual pedals on the John Deere.

I do find the ones on the L40 Series easier than on the older Kubotas like my L30 Series.

It is things like the pedal arrangement, brake location and such that will make one "better" for a person than the other. Some things a person might adapt to and like while others will have you wishing you had never bought it.

Good luck. Larry
 
   / John Deer vs. Kubota #8  
One thing I liked about the Deer is that it has 2 peddles for the HST. I tried the Kubota peddle and it felt uncomfortable when backing the tractor up. Maybe it was just me. As with most men, want more power - don't necessarily need it but want it. Also believe the two I am looking at weigh more than the L3940 I had which would have helped this winter with the snow.

I have used the twin pedal and treadle HSTs. I strongly prefer the twin pedal of the JD. Extremely easy to switch back and forth, works good. I do believe the JD has more engine noise than a Kubota. I have a cabbed JD 4520 and the engine noise is a factor.

If you get a FEL, strongly recommend skid steer attachment on the front for either one.
 
   / John Deer vs. Kubota #9  
Don't mean to get astray from the OP's topic, but I just wanted to ask Radman and Dannylink (or others) something about that Kubota treadle they didn't like. This comes up often on TBN, and I've wondered if the way the treadle is demo'ed has anything to do with it.

If you put your toe on the forward and your heel on the reverse segment of the treadle, so your foot is fully on the treadle, the darn thing is indeed awkward and hard to operate smoothly. I wouldn't like it either.

Alternatively, you can put your heel on the floor and press down with your toe, like the accelerator in your car, to move forward. To back up, you just move your foot back slightly and lift your heel to the left so your heel is on the reverse pad and press down lightly with your heel.

This second method was so easy and natural for me, I've always wondered if others were being tripped up (yup, there's a pun in there somewhere) by salesmen demo-ing the HST the wrong way or what.

I suppose my method wouldn't work so well if you were wearing stiletto heels either. :laughing::laughing:
 
   / John Deer vs. Kubota #10  
Don't mean to get astray from the OP's topic, but I just wanted to ask Radman and Dannylink (or others) something about that Kubota treadle they didn't like. This comes up often on TBN, and I've wondered if the way the treadle is demo'ed has anything to do with it.

If you put your toe on the forward and your heel on the reverse segment of the treadle, so your foot is fully on the treadle, the darn thing is indeed awkward and hard to operate smoothly. I wouldn't like it either.

Alternatively, you can put your heel on the floor and press down with your toe, like the accelerator in your car, to move forward. To back up, you just move your foot back slightly and lift your heel to the left so your heel is on the reverse pad and press down lightly with your heel.

This second method was so easy and natural for me, I've always wondered if others were being tripped up (yup, there's a pun in there somewhere) by salesmen demo-ing the HST the wrong way or what.

I suppose my method wouldn't work so well if you were wearing stiletto heels either. :laughing::laughing:

The "treadle" has changed over time and while my BX2200 had a true treadle, my BX2660 has a "split treadle" with an open flat space in between and the L40 has another design. I find in twisting in the seat to hook up or for close mowing my foot angle makes it a little harder to hit the reverse portion and on occasion have just hooked my toe and lifted up on the forward pad.
 
 
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