Shopping

   / Shopping #1  

SlingBlade

New member
Joined
Sep 27, 2002
Messages
1
I'm starting to look for a 30-40hp tractor to take care of my estate and do some part time tractor work. At present, I'm Looking at Kubotas and John Deeres. I worked on a Kubota 3000 through College and put that thing trough a proverbial Hell, brush hogging, backfilling, seeding, and plowing, and it just kept on going. The price? You just can't beat it, about $3000-$4000 less than Deere. But now some of my neigbors are trying to dicourage me from buying a Kubota and leaning towards Deere. They are siting reliability and repair issues. Is this a Yamaha / Harley thing, or are your truly buying a better steed with a Deere?

Todd Burk
Norman, OK
 
   / Shopping #2  
It doesn't hurt to listen to your friends,but when it comes right down to it weight the facts..go to your local dealer and ask every question you can think of,so see if the dealer will let you try a model out.

Dealership,Comfort,Handling etc..for your making investment $$$...oops forgot...which dealer gives the most free hats and coffee cups..just kidding. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Kinda remember..the equipment only as good as the operator. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
 
   / Shopping #3  
I think you will find that Kubota has gone way past the reliability and experiance issues. After all they have been around here in America since the 1970,s. And have been a strong proponent and leader in the compact utility tractor industry ever since.

John Deere on the other hand has been around forever and covers the CUT market with a nice variety of tractors. I would like to say however that this past year JD did re-engineer its 4x10 series tractors. Although they did add some very nice features, they seem to be currently having a few teething problems. You might want to check out te last six months of threads pertaining to the new JD's down in the John Deere forums here on TBN.

Both manufacturers are are members of what we all call the big three. The third member being New Holland. Currently These three manufacturers are the leading producers, and carry the top share of the market here in the USA.

New Holland also makes some great compact utility tractors. Their Class I, II, and III Boomers as well as their new TC30 economy tractors are strong and agile with some great features. And are one of the preferred favorites here on TBN. For the type of money that you will be investing They are definitly worth considering.

I have owned a Kubota for almost twenty three years now. A L345DT with the heavy duty loader and a backhoe. It has been worked hard and served me well over the years. When it came time to step up to a more modern tractor this past year, I chose New Holland instead of Kubota. Its not that Kubota is not still one of my favorites. Its just that the New Holland seemed to offer more power per weight and lifting capacity (3pt), as well as feeling more ergonomectly comfortable than the comparitable Kubota's. By the way I went with a New Holland TC29, Class II Boomer this time. And I am very pleased with it.
 
   / Shopping #4  
Todd
All of the big three are good tractors. Kubota by far has the most market share. Something like 40+ % of the entire US compact market. I have not read all the threads but I have also herd that some of the newer JD compacts have had some issues. Most important is how comfortable you are with the dealer.
ChipperMan
 
   / Shopping #5  
Todd,Unless you're absolutly set on the big three,do yourself a favor and check out some of the less known Korean tractors like Kioti or Long
Visit the forums dedicated to these tractors and see what the owners have to say.
You can save big $$ and not have to take a back seat to anybody.
Just throwing it out there........Mike
 
   / Shopping #6  
A while back I began my search for the perfect all-around tractor, not knowing one thing about any of them. After months and months of research and input from every source I could find I narrowed my search to kubota and New Holland. At the time I was not willing to pay all that extra money for a JD with no evidence of if being any better then the others. With all said I went with the New Holland TC33 and love it...................
 
   / Shopping #7  
Orange, Blue and Green all make top quality machines. You really can't go wrong with any of them.

However, don't forget the dealer factor. The dealer is the one you will have to deal with when the tractor needs maintenance and repairs. Make sure they are respected and recommended by their customers. I was dead set on a Deere because, well, it was a Deere(nothing runs like a Deere, etc...) and it had the best specs of the models that I was comparing, but the dealers near here were not so friendly. The Kubota dealers were very pleasant and well recommended by their customers. The NH dealer was the nicest and offered to bring out a NH and Kubota to my place to compare side by side with the same 3pt finish mower. Had I not gone the route that I did (purchased a Power Trac with no dealers /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif ) I think I would have ended up with the Kubota or NH. The NH was the most comfortable to me but I liked the Kubota better for unknown reasons.

You have experience with the Kubota brand, now go out and test drive some models of all the big three and see what feels best to you. If you feel adventurous, check out some of the other lesseer known brands as well. Some are quite impressive. Good luck with your search /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
 
   / Shopping #8  
I am also looking. Have owned Kubota for 16 years, one repair and that was under warranty. I am studying the 3010GST Kubota,DX 33 Case(New Holland),and the 1250 Massey Ferguson. Each tractor has something special. The DX has unbelievable view-you can see everything going on around you, the Massey has the largest platform and is the most comfortable,and Kubota's are darn near indestructable. Best deal is Case, most expensive is Massey, and Kubota's are ORANGE! (I'm an old Allis fan.) Me and my wife are so confused that I may just keep the one I have and end the headaches. I wouldn't be afraid to own any of these tractors. Around here the green ones are too expensive and the dealers aren't that pleasant. Didn't help you at all, did I?
 
 
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