Deciding factor? Cost of parts, repair, etc

[siebo]

I have narrowed my choices to the JD 4310 and the Kubota 3130. I am leaning slightly towards the Kubota but would be happy with either. I like the John Deere dealer the best but that does not appear to be a great concern. The last issue then is the cost of service, parts, repairs, oil, filters, fluids, etc. Reading the forums, it seems that they are more expensive on the Kubota then on the John Deere. Is there a significant difference between the two?

 

[prosperity]

As far as price of parts - I don't really know.
Having a good relationship with your dealer is most important to me. I remember in times past when I had a major break down (with a used machine) in the middle of mowing season. After calling, went right out. They dropped what they were doing to get me going within 2 hours. And this was with a used tractor out of warranty. And for parts they always give me a discount (still expensive though).

Hey - I made it through a whole post without mentioning a brand!

 

[rockyridgefarm]

One of my deciding factors was jdparts.deere.com - you can look up parts info yourself, and get quotes from several dealers. I live way out, and that is really handy.

Both are really great brands, and when are parts NOT too high?

 

[frank_f15]

THINK U WILL FIND THAT THIS IS A NON ISSUE, some jd parts will be more$$$ and some bota parts will be more $$$$ all depends on what the part is. get the tractor u like the best and deal with the parts issue IF AND WHEN U need them.

 

[JATO_RaT]

Parts just have not been an issue for me. Perhaps we're lucky or perhaps they just don't break. Other then oil filters for my tractors, I can't think of anything other then a hydraulic hose that sprung a leak. An engine oil filter for my Kubota L48 was $8.25. NAPA auto parts sells a Gold filter for my tractor for $9.00. I have heard someone say that they got a JD engine oil filter for $4.50. Not enough of a difference for that matter for most folks to make a decision on. If you go hydrostatic, you will pay quite a bit for a Kubota hydrostatic filter, but look at it, its a high pressure, machined aluminum flange that after the first initial change at 50 hours, does not get changed again until 400 hours. I recall mine was $45 but the dealer gave me the engine oil, fuel, air, air secondary, two hydraulic (the L48 takes 2 hydraulic filters, most take 1), and a HST at no extra cost. If you live in a cold climate, Super UDT will cost you about $25 to $35 for a 2.5 gallon container. Regular UDT is a fraction of that and you can in fact use most any hydraulic fluid provided it mentions it can in fact be used for the particular application. A few folks have used Amsoil synthetic hydraulic oil. Again, after the initial change at 50 hours, you won't do it again until 400 hours. You can squawk about the difference in price for filters and oil between various manufactuers, but bear in mind, the part may often times warrant the extra cost. Super UDT exceeds most all of the characteristics of Amsoil's synthetic hydraulic fluid. The HST filter is heavy and obviously, very well made. If I was replacing this filter every 25 hours of use, it might be a concern, but since you definitely don't, I'm not concerned. Rat...

 

[chrisjbell]

I doubt that the difference is all that great in terms of parts cost. Most repair $$$ are labor, and most of us'n do our own maintenance (changing oil, hydraulics, etc. isn't rocket science - even I can handle it /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif).

The other thing to bear in mind is that if you buy a new tractor it will be under warranty for a year or so. If it is going to break it will likely do so earlier rather than later. But tractors are built pretty tough and you probably (hopefully) won't be looking at much in the way of repair costs for quite some time, as long as you do the maintenance.

Get the one you like best and don't worry too much about upkeep costs. New tractors shouldn't break for a long time.