hammackw
New member
Hi everyone, new to the forum. I am looking for some opinions/advice on a tractor purchase we are making. A little background, we have 35 acres in south Georgia that we are cleaning up. We have done a good bit of backhoe and bulldozer work. My dad is very experience with heavy equipment and we had a small farm before. We are currently replacing our older farm tractor, an 800 series diesel Ford. It was great, but it is tired and I want to get something a little nicer for by dad to use. We have about 10 acres of open field that we will be bushhogging, maintaining about a half mile of dirt road, skidding some down trees, some disking/harrowing, light gardening, etc.. Eventually we will probably do some heavier bushhog work in our forest to clear out underbrush, maintain firebreaks. Any really serious work we use serious heavy equipment as my dad has done this for a living for 40 plus years and knows his business. So, we want a small farm tractor and we have decided on a Kubota of some flavor. We are not getting a FEL or backhoe at this time. Cost is a factor as we have more heavy equipment work to do on the property that just can't be done with a tractor. My dad wants a gear tractor, not the HST. He has used the HST Kubota's a good bit and likes them but his preference is a gear.
So, we have been offered a 2wd MX4700 gear or a 4wd L3200 gear for the same price at the dealer we like, around 14K. Our property is not swamp, but it is on a creek and is not flat, it can get wet and boggy in some areas. On our farm I can't recall but once or twice sticking our farm tractors, even though they were 2wd. They had some weight, about 5000 pounds when ballasted, but not that much. Locking the rear diff usually solved most of our problems. I know the MX 4700 is significantly more tractor than the L3200 in size, but should we consider it simply because of the 4wd? I think I know the answer, but I would like to see what other think who have more experience with the compacts and 4wd on a tractor. I know a lighter 4wd can do the work of a somewhat heavier 2wd, but can the 4wd L3200 match the 2wd MX4700? I know this is sort of apples and oranges, lift capacity is significantly more on the MX, but sometimes that's the choice we have to make. Thanks in advance for any advice or opinions.
So, we have been offered a 2wd MX4700 gear or a 4wd L3200 gear for the same price at the dealer we like, around 14K. Our property is not swamp, but it is on a creek and is not flat, it can get wet and boggy in some areas. On our farm I can't recall but once or twice sticking our farm tractors, even though they were 2wd. They had some weight, about 5000 pounds when ballasted, but not that much. Locking the rear diff usually solved most of our problems. I know the MX 4700 is significantly more tractor than the L3200 in size, but should we consider it simply because of the 4wd? I think I know the answer, but I would like to see what other think who have more experience with the compacts and 4wd on a tractor. I know a lighter 4wd can do the work of a somewhat heavier 2wd, but can the 4wd L3200 match the 2wd MX4700? I know this is sort of apples and oranges, lift capacity is significantly more on the MX, but sometimes that's the choice we have to make. Thanks in advance for any advice or opinions.