Matt in Virginia
Bronze Member
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2010
- Messages
- 85
Gentlemen,
I come from a row crop background and my family has been farming within 25 miles of my current location since 1635 on my father's side. We have yet to nail the exact year on my mothers side. In short we were involved in modest acreage(850 acres plus or minus) until 1990 when the farms were rented out...
The only tractors I have run have largely been from Deere. Specifically a 4840 that I operated until 90' and a 1970 4020 Diesel that my Grandfather bought and my father partially restored(full mechanical rebuild) and left me. In short the 4020 is proving to be anything but reliable(electrical & fuel injection pump) and I am not a mechanic. Hence I need something to do a bit of property upkeep. I've largely narrowed it down to a Deere 4720 with Cab, ehydro, 400CX loader, etc OR a Kubota 5740 Cab tractor equipped with their heavy loader. I should note that I have a significant allergy problem and the pressurized/air filtered Deere Cab is proving to be a significant draw.
I might also note that we also have had a Deere 310C since new that has been used on the farms exclusively and has proven to be almost legendary for it's reliability. After literally thousands of starts and 22 years the battery had to be changed this year...
In short it is hard for me not to go Deere, however, I am impressed with Kubota's build quality. I'm not impressed by Deere's new junk 5000 series(regardless of d,e, or m suffixes). My interested in that tractor died on the vine when I found the "Made in China" Dana Tag on the MFD Axle.
The 6030 Premium Tractors should not even be mentioned in the same sentence as the 5000s. Damned nice machine, however, it is about $35K more than my $40K budget. In short I'd love a new 6430 Premium or a 7830, however, I need something compact, comfortable, does not break the bank, and fits in my new barn...(36'x48'x12')
In short your thoughts would be greatly appreciated...
The only issue I have with Deere in this area is trying to get someone off their butt in order to quote a price. I find their general attitude to *suck*. As if you doing them a favor to buy a $40,000 glorified lawn mower.
That said I have found a new Deere dealer, James River Equipment, about 45 minutes away who actually seems to be interested in selling his product. The local Kubota dealer is a pretty decent outfit that used to sell Ford/New Holland and now the entire lot is orange... It is also hard to ignore all the landscapers who run Orange. Almost no one but Farmers and the modestly wealthy seem to run deere...
Best Regards, Matt.
Chesapeake, Virginia
Btw, Another reason the Kubota calls is when I compared the quality of their Utility Vehicles. The Gator is POS(from experience) compared to the Kubota Diesel UTV. Granted this is apples and oranges, however, it is hard to ignore as a general statement of quality.
I come from a row crop background and my family has been farming within 25 miles of my current location since 1635 on my father's side. We have yet to nail the exact year on my mothers side. In short we were involved in modest acreage(850 acres plus or minus) until 1990 when the farms were rented out...
The only tractors I have run have largely been from Deere. Specifically a 4840 that I operated until 90' and a 1970 4020 Diesel that my Grandfather bought and my father partially restored(full mechanical rebuild) and left me. In short the 4020 is proving to be anything but reliable(electrical & fuel injection pump) and I am not a mechanic. Hence I need something to do a bit of property upkeep. I've largely narrowed it down to a Deere 4720 with Cab, ehydro, 400CX loader, etc OR a Kubota 5740 Cab tractor equipped with their heavy loader. I should note that I have a significant allergy problem and the pressurized/air filtered Deere Cab is proving to be a significant draw.
I might also note that we also have had a Deere 310C since new that has been used on the farms exclusively and has proven to be almost legendary for it's reliability. After literally thousands of starts and 22 years the battery had to be changed this year...
In short it is hard for me not to go Deere, however, I am impressed with Kubota's build quality. I'm not impressed by Deere's new junk 5000 series(regardless of d,e, or m suffixes). My interested in that tractor died on the vine when I found the "Made in China" Dana Tag on the MFD Axle.
The 6030 Premium Tractors should not even be mentioned in the same sentence as the 5000s. Damned nice machine, however, it is about $35K more than my $40K budget. In short I'd love a new 6430 Premium or a 7830, however, I need something compact, comfortable, does not break the bank, and fits in my new barn...(36'x48'x12')
In short your thoughts would be greatly appreciated...
The only issue I have with Deere in this area is trying to get someone off their butt in order to quote a price. I find their general attitude to *suck*. As if you doing them a favor to buy a $40,000 glorified lawn mower.
That said I have found a new Deere dealer, James River Equipment, about 45 minutes away who actually seems to be interested in selling his product. The local Kubota dealer is a pretty decent outfit that used to sell Ford/New Holland and now the entire lot is orange... It is also hard to ignore all the landscapers who run Orange. Almost no one but Farmers and the modestly wealthy seem to run deere...
Best Regards, Matt.
Chesapeake, Virginia
Btw, Another reason the Kubota calls is when I compared the quality of their Utility Vehicles. The Gator is POS(from experience) compared to the Kubota Diesel UTV. Granted this is apples and oranges, however, it is hard to ignore as a general statement of quality.