Tractor Sizing Kubota L3301 or L3901 and what size implements for 5 acres hillside farming

[Lincoln Hill]

Hi all. Brand new here. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

We're about to close on a Farmhouse in Huntington, Vermont with 5 acres on the side of a hill. We plan to operate a small farm with: sheep, a horse, vegetable crops, and chickens. The property is half wooded with terraced lawns and gardens. The upper half of the property has rocky soil while the lower half has loamy soil.

From our research thus far, I've been focusing on the Kubota L3301 and L3901.

Intended uses will be: snow plowing large driveway, rototilling garden plots, clearing wooded land, moving compost and soil, drilling post holes, and potentially lawn mowing.

Some tractor questions are: Are these models well suited for hillside work? Is 33hp sufficient? Are Ag or industrial tires the most appropriate for the intended hillside work? Will we ultimately want a 40hp tractor?

Some questions about implements are: What size rototiller can the 33 effectively handle? How do post hole diggers work in rocky soil? What size mower can the 33 effectively handle?

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

I currently have a L3901 which I bought after buying 25 hillside wooded acres and 6 subdivision mostly level lots. I have a 48" till which I have on my BX2370 and the combo works fime. I keep a 50" or so Landpride Boxblade on my L3901 with FEL. I have a LP Hydraulic post hole digger since I have front hydraulics on my tractor which is there to operate the grapple and now the front backhoe from Titan. I also bought a JDUNN tree grapple which I use for grabbing 2" to 3" saplings and pull them out of the ground, Titan makes a much less expensive small tree/post grapple. My hillside treed acres have a old logging road all around the mountain which is the only reason I am able to use my tractor on the hillside wooded acres. Actual wooded clearing is done better/safer/faster with a dozer and someone that knows how to operate it. I also mow the flat acres lots with a Landpride bush hog/rotary mower and have a Woods 72" rear finish mower and you can see my other equipment/implements. I wouldn't buy ag tires and I buy industrial tires. I now wish I had looked at the bit more powerful M series Kubotas. Traction is an issue with my L3901 with loaded tires and always something heavy on rear. Normal issue with most diesel tractors with engines more powerful than tires can grip. Hill side tractoring is dangerous and one has to always remember go up or down with a flat spot at the up top to turn. Turning crossways is scary and dangerous.
Talk and observe your neighbors and what they used to clear their land. Probably a chain saw and some machine or horse to drag the cut trees out. I've bought many Kubota and I've also hired people with tracked and construction machines to do work for me from time to time and don't regret \paying someone else better equipped and more skilled than myself to do dangerous jobs and jobs that will take me weeks to do and a dozer a few hours to do.

 

[lennyzx11]

Hi all. Brand new here. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

We're about to close on a Farmhouse in Huntington, Vermont with 5 acres on the side of a hill. We plan to operate a small farm with: sheep, a horse, vegetable crops, and chickens. The property is half wooded with terraced lawns and gardens. The upper half of the property has rocky soil while the lower half has loamy soil.

From our research thus far, I've been focusing on the Kubota L3301 and L3901.

Intended uses will be: snow plowing large driveway, rototilling garden plots, clearing wooded land, moving compost and soil, drilling post holes, and potentially lawn mowing.

Some tractor questions are: Are these models well suited for hillside work? Is 33hp sufficient? Are Ag or industrial tires the most appropriate for the intended hillside work? Will we ultimately want a 40hp tractor?

Some questions about implements are: What size rototiller can the 33 effectively handle? How do post hole diggers work in rocky soil? What size mower can the 33 effectively handle?

Congrats on the new farm!
My wife is from Bennington. You got that right on slopes in Vermont!
We are looking for a place there now due to a certain 4 year old granddaughter living there.

The best thing I ever did was put a set of 3" wheel spacers on my 3301 after turning the R1s out to their max position. The tractor is tippy without these mods. I also had the dealer fill the tire's with liquid upon sale as part of the deal. Speaking of R1s lugged tractor tires, I'd rather have them in the famous Vermont mud instead of the industrial or turf tread but they will tear up a wet lawn. (You may need TWO tractors! One for the lawn and one for the farm stuff)

I pull a 6 ft rotary cutter, a 5 ft finish mower, and a 6 ft Mott flail Mower. Both the rotary cutter and the flail will pull in clearing overgrown brush higher than the operators head but slowing down and backing in is preferred due to there are some "tender" parts under the tractor that can get broken just by running over stuff.

The 6 ft back blade and the 5 ft box blade can stop the tractor if they are buried up deep.

With 5 acres though, that's not a whole lot by tractor standards and any task can be done relatively quick even if not as fast as the big boys. You're not planting 100 acres of potatoes.

I love my 3301/HST. But one thing I didn't do and should have was take into consideration when I shopped was that the 2501 has near the same size and capacities and hp but comes without the expensive emissions equipment that the 33 and 39 does.

The 2501/HST would be a strong contender because of the lower price versus the value gotten with minus 8 horsepower vs the 3301. Same loader on all.
HST has a live PTO while the gear drive doesn't. And HST is the perfect companion for hills and loader work to be slow and careful.

 

[LD1]

I'd personally skip looking at the 3301.

Either get the bower of the 3901 for a tad more money, or drop to the 2501 and save some and do away with emissions.

They are all 3 the same basic tractor....just power differences. And the only thing the power gains you is the ability to run bigger PTO stuff.

Since you are on hills, I'd want tires set wide. And with that, a 6' tiller to cover the tracks. So that would probably have me looking at a 3901

 

[check]

I'd personally skip looking at the 3301. Either get the bower of the 3901 for a tad more money, or drop to the 2501 and save some and do away with emissions. They are all 3 the same basic tractor....just power differences. And the only thing the power gains you is the ability to run bigger PTO stuff. Since you are on hills, I'd want tires set wide. And with that, a 6' tiller to cover the tracks. So that would probably have me looking at a 3901

I agree. And the increased PTO horsepower would be particularly importnat given the number of power hungry 3-point attachments that are available.

 

[Fallon]

I had a L3200 (pre-emissions L3301) & it did fine. Really it had more power than traction. It was very rare I could run out of power when plowing snow or doing dirt work.

PTP work is a different story. I often had to back off the go pedal a bit when mowing, tilling or blowing snow. Not problematically slow, but I couldn't run as fast as the seat suspension would let me.

I also road my maschine a lot as I do side work in the neighborhood. It slowed down on the hills a fair bit.

I upgraded from a 2,500lbs 32hp L3200 to a 40hp 5,000lbs L4060hstc (mostly for the cab). If you compare the HP per pound, I actually went backwards. I can definitely feel it mowing uphill. But I'm not disappointed in either machine & they were the right price for my budget at the time. Sure I want more power, but the price for that extra power was to much for my budget. I can do all the same work, just a bit slower.

Weight makes a tractor work, HP just defines how fast it will get the job done.

Also, the economy L machines are light, especially compared to their loader capacity. Make sure you get the rears loaded & more importantly have a heavy impliment on the back before you lift anything with the loader.

 

[The Deerslayer]

Congrats on the new place :thumbsup: I opted for the increased HP of the L3901 and glad that I did. I run it with loaded AG tires and moved the tires out to the widest setting which reduced the tippy factor substantially.

I believe it will serve you well for all the uses you mentioned with the exception of lawn mowing. You definitely don't want the AG/R-1 tires as they will tear up the lawn. Also with no mid mount, not sure if it is the best model for that purpose. I use a 5 foot rotary on mine which runs like a dream with the increased HP, but I would never consider using it on my lawn.

 

[Fallon]

The R4s on my L3200 didn't tear up things to much, but it's not not a great lawnmower. It's a great pasture & field mower. Personally I don't have any lawn, but have 5 acres of pasture (maybe classified as field as we don't have any grazing critters).

Weight is important for traction & pulling power, but not good for mowing. R1s have more traction, but tear things up more, wear faster, & puncture easier. R4s are non-adjustable & have a 60" track. 60" matches well for impliments that match the L3200s weight. Rear tire chasins won't fit without wheel spacers. R1s probably go wider & can be set to permit rear chains. Plan out your tire widths now so you can buy impliments accordingly. You want your impliments to be equal or a bit wider than your track. It sucks to widen your track & suddenly the tractor is wider than your impliments.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

L 3301, here. These are great, little tractors. BUT... load the tires and add wheel weights, makes all the difference in the world when doing fel work.

 

[Lincoln Hill]

Congrats on the new place I opted for the increased HP of the L3901 and glad that I did. I run it with loaded AG tires and moved the tires out to the widest setting which reduced the tippy factor substantially.

I believe it will serve you well for all the uses you mentioned with the exception of lawn mowing. You definitely don't want the AG/R-1 tires as they will tear up the lawn. Also with no mid mount, not sure if it is the best model for that purpose. I use a 5 foot rotary on mine which runs like a dream with the increased HP, but I would never consider using it on my lawn.

Do you know how wide your track is from outside of one tire to outside of the other?

We have an old MTD that cuts grass just fine. Sounds like it makes sense to just stick with that.