And.......another newbie here!

[MHarryE]

I am inNorthern Minnesota. We are probably colder (we had -36 last night) but have less snow than you. Tonight we are forecast to have 4 - 8 inches which is on the high side of average. I have a 500 foot drive and a large yard. I used to plow with an open ROPS Kubota L3710, snowmobile suit equipped including helmet for snow and wind protection. Now I have a L5740HSTC and find the cab wonderful. I am too cheap to get affront blade so I only use my back blade and in 10 inch plus snowfalls need to use the loader a lot because the snow builds up underneath and lifts the tractor off the ground. That happened a lot with the L3710 but only once with the L5740 with its extra weight which does make a big difference. And the snowmobile suit stays hanging in the closet - it is sweatshirt time in the tractor. If I ever have a real snow problem I do have access to a rear mounted blower but I think of throwing small rocks out into my lawn and fields, something I don't have to worry about now with a 2 inch layer of ice under the snow. I have absolutely no regrets going to the highest horsepower Kubota CUT and equipping it with a cab.

[troutsqueezer]

I went down to the local Kubota dealer in Sacramento and told him what I wanted in a used tractor. A week later he called with a trade in that fit the bill and had a great price. So that' s one way.

BTW, I have a Kubota TLB and there certainly is a 3 pt. hitch on it (as do the other models).

[mjncad]

Welcome TLR15.

I have no idea how old you are, nor how well you tolerate the cold; but I would get a cab as that is a lot of driveway and ROW to maintain in the winter. Also, people tend to keep tractors a lot longer than they do cars and trucks; so I'm suggesting that you shop carefully and get what you want as you will probably have this piece of equipment a loooooooooooooong time. Trading up is more expensive than getting it as close to right as possible the first time.