cmsedore
Silver Member
I'm (sort of) unfortunately now in the market for a replacement for my Ford 1700 which gave it up earlier this week.
The local dealer we purchased it from now carries Zetor, Kioti, and Long. They only have smaller models of the Zetor and Kioti, but the Long tractors are carried up to the 680.
Is there a consensus on Long tractor reliability? Some searching on Kioti turned up reliability complaints, but I could not find much of anything about Long tractors. I liked the feel and some of the features of the Long, but reliability matters to me (this thing has to clear my 150' driveway for 4-5 months of the year, we get ~300" of snowfall annually). In addition to snow moving, I do a bit of log skidding, firewood processing, plowing/discing, hauling misc stuff around, etc.
It's been quite a while since I've looked at tractor prices, and I was a little shocked to see that I needed to spend $17-30k+ for a 30-60hp CUT with a loader. You can find the Long 680 for about $21k, and the specs are fairly impressive (~60hp, 4WD, FEL w/4000lbs lift) for those $$$. The longs run Mitsubishi diesel engines, which seem to enjoy a reasonable reputation.
I've looked at the Kubota L4310 and a couple JD models, but they're considerably more expensive for less capability (on paper anyway). I looked at the power-trac stuff (based on another thread on TBN), but I do wander into the woods quite a bit and the small (relatively speaking) tires concern me. I also have a fair investment in 3pt attachments I'd prefer to keep. The Ford 1700 I'm used to was only about 25hp, and about 1/2 to 1/3 the size needed for much of the work it did here for 20years. I'm hoping to get 20 years out of whatever is purchased this time around as well.
Comments and suggestions are quite welcome.
-Chris
The local dealer we purchased it from now carries Zetor, Kioti, and Long. They only have smaller models of the Zetor and Kioti, but the Long tractors are carried up to the 680.
Is there a consensus on Long tractor reliability? Some searching on Kioti turned up reliability complaints, but I could not find much of anything about Long tractors. I liked the feel and some of the features of the Long, but reliability matters to me (this thing has to clear my 150' driveway for 4-5 months of the year, we get ~300" of snowfall annually). In addition to snow moving, I do a bit of log skidding, firewood processing, plowing/discing, hauling misc stuff around, etc.
It's been quite a while since I've looked at tractor prices, and I was a little shocked to see that I needed to spend $17-30k+ for a 30-60hp CUT with a loader. You can find the Long 680 for about $21k, and the specs are fairly impressive (~60hp, 4WD, FEL w/4000lbs lift) for those $$$. The longs run Mitsubishi diesel engines, which seem to enjoy a reasonable reputation.
I've looked at the Kubota L4310 and a couple JD models, but they're considerably more expensive for less capability (on paper anyway). I looked at the power-trac stuff (based on another thread on TBN), but I do wander into the woods quite a bit and the small (relatively speaking) tires concern me. I also have a fair investment in 3pt attachments I'd prefer to keep. The Ford 1700 I'm used to was only about 25hp, and about 1/2 to 1/3 the size needed for much of the work it did here for 20years. I'm hoping to get 20 years out of whatever is purchased this time around as well.
Comments and suggestions are quite welcome.
-Chris