M59 Discussion Thread

[lwm]

I admit those M59's are nice, real nice! But ill be damned if they're 70k dollars nice! I think kubota is a little proud at that price.

Yeah, I agree. I've been looking at low hour used ones but they are hard to find, nobody wants to sell. Another member found me a demo with 20 hours, thumb, 3 spool T&T for $62K and I'm looking hard at that.

 

[ultrarunner]

I had looked at one and decided to see what I could find similar and landed on a Deere 110 that I found for sale locally...

For me it was more of a want for some specific projects than an ongoing need...

 

[TBarD]

Hi, lurker here, currently I have a Kubota B21 (nice little tractor) and I'm looking to add a M59. I'm looking for TLB w/ thumb, forks, grapple, box scraper, and scraper blade to maintain my 15 acres and help my neighbor (who has 385 acres).

The new prices are a little scary, I priced a TLB + thumb + front remote + 3 spool at $72,000 here in California (includes about $6500 tax).

The used market seems not so much, I've been watching craigslist etc and these rarely come up for sale. Anyone know of any for sale?

Thanks, seems like a nice tractor!

At the price of the new ones I would definitely be looking for a good used one with low hours (which I did a while back, to get mine). I doubt anything high end like this would show up on craigslist - the place to look is machinertrader.com, tractorhouse.com, ironplanet (under farm tractors), and so forth. Just checked and a few show up. One can get a tractor this size shipped across country for $2k or so - I used uship.com to ship from Alabama to NM and it worked out very well. So a national search would be in order. A while back I saw a good one go on the ironplanet auction site for a very good price; some guy up in Alaska bought it and presumably had it shipped. The older ones (2008/9) often come with a lot of the options standard, like front/rear aux hydraulics, 3pt, lights etc. (all expensive options on the new ones these days). On mine I added the rear thumb and replaced a twisted front quick attach and it was as good as new.

Of course, if nothing shows up after a while, an L45/L48 would probably work well too.

 

[Piston]

Iwm,
Did you have any luck with finding an M59?


If they end up offering the M59 with a factory cab, I could see my father and I selling the 410 backhoe we have, and my tractor, and purchasing a cab M59 if the price wasn't too out of line. It seems like the one "CUT" sized tractor that has enough lift capacity that I would be happy with, plus the benefit of strong hydraulics. Only thing is, it would need more PTO hp for me. :confused3: Even with all those features, I can't see anywhere near 70 grand for one though.

 

[Charlesaf3]

It says something that those of us who have one don't have any urge to sell it..

Mine is still going strong, 1000 hours, one of the first ones

 

[lwm]

Iwm,
Did you have any luck with finding an M59?
Even with all those features, I can't see anywhere near 70 grand for one though.

To the first part, not yet but I'm working on it. Roger found me one in Colorado that is new (20 hours) at the dealer, $62K with bucket, backhoe, thumb, extra remote on the loader and OEM 3 spool top and tilt.

Roger pointed me at these guys Texoma Utility Equipment because he's getting parts from them at a good price, I made a tactical error yesterday in telling them the Colorado price and they came in $1000 less. I prolly should have fibbed and said it was $60K and seen if they could beat that but I hate playing that game.

The same thing here in California was $72K (though that includes over $6K in tax that isn't in the other bids. The other prices don't include shipping and I expect that to be about $2K or so.

I'm inclined to go to the local dealers and see if they'll beat either of the other bids. If I could get one of them to go $60K, that's about $65K w/ tax which isn't that far off from the delivered price. If you have any suggestions on how to do that and make it work, let me know.

 

[Piston]

Iwm,

60k seems like a good price for a new M59. It's a whole lot better than 72

I wish I knew of where you could find them cheaper, but I think it's just the way it is. They're expensive for a reason, there is a lot of equipment packed into that package!

 

[case245]

did you folks consider a tool carrier from case its basic backhoe with a 3pt hitch they can lift 6000ibs at the front bucket but they weigh in at 15k hey are around 70k

 

[rScotty]

did you folks consider a tool carrier from case its basic backhoe with a 3pt hitch they can lift 6000ibs at the front bucket but they weigh in at 15k hey are around 70k

Don't know about other folks, but we sure did. Glad you brought it up. The Case was on our short list and it finally came down to a choice between the Case and Kubota. The Case was 50% more money, but had twice the muscle and hey, this was going to be our final tractor.

Five years later I have to say that the extra 2 feet of BH reach on the Case would be nice, but I suspect that has been offset by the M59's maneuverability and lighter weight. Having lived on rural acreage for more than half a century we know there are more small and medium jobs than large ones. The M59 has an exceptionally tight turning radius and can get into a smaller space. As for FEL lifting ability, the M59 will drive around with a ton and a half in the bucket. We haven't found a use for more than that. Others might.

One thing about the Case is that the quality is something you notice immediately and everywhere. We were just amazed at the high quality of materials, fit, and finish. That came close to selling us right there. The Kubota is nicely thought out and well built, but the Case takes that to a whole different level. Awesome. Although in fairness I'd say that for having a delicate touch on the FEL and BH controls the edge might go to Kubota.

In the end, we felt that we would get more daily use out of the smaller, lighter, more maneuverable M59. There's no way to know if that has been true or not, but it sure gets lots of use. Two days ago I was down at the creek using the BH and thumb at full extension to lift out two waterlogged trees that had been swept against the culverts by a flood,.... and wondering if the Case could have even gotten down there given the tight squeeze and uncertain ground. And that got me to thinking again about the Case, its cab, and the luxurious quality.

As for muscle, it surprised me but that turned out to be a non-issue. Both machines have way more than enough.
rScotty

 

[mike69440]

Iwm,

60k seems like a good price for a new M59. It's a whole lot better than 72

I wish I knew of where you could find them cheaper, but I think it's just the way it is. They're expensive for a reason, there is a lot of equipment packed into that package!

Overall the TLB line from Kubota is fairly decent, but I can see some areas where the machine would benefit greatly if just a bit more robust.

I知 sure convinced themselves that the TLB line is commercial duty, but that痴 controlled condition test lab, vs real world abuse.

I would think that for $55K another manufacturer could offer an M59 sized TLB that could outperform the M59. The M59 has a few areas where there just is not enough meat in the thing. Adding just another 600-1,00lbs of metal in the right spots would make it a true industrial commercial machine. For what Kubota is asking, the machine could be a bit more robust.

Some parts of the frame, the loader and bucket are going to take a beating with a few thousand hours of use. The pin diameters and bearing areas of the pivot points are going to get hammered out to fast from heavy use. It would not take much to put in grease seals to hold the grease & minimize contaminants, A 12.5" wide tire in front would be nice for flotation. Guards and Sid plates are too thin.

When you drop that much coin for a machine, you hope that the thing is built for the long haul.

For landowner farm and small commercial work, a Full size TLB is too heavy in soft ground and Mud, so a machine in the 10,000 lb range definitely has a place.