2008 3720 Cab vs 2011 3320 ???

[Rockgod]

Another vote for cab!

Already been down the OS road and that's no longer an option. IMO, 450 is nothing on these tractors. I'd just give it a good looking over/test drive. Then don't look back.

 

[mcgill72143]

Im taking delivery of my 3320 cab this coming week. Im going from a 2320 open station because I cant handle the dust and grass anymore. I would mow for 3 hours and then have sinus problems for a week. For me the cab option is cheaper then a week in the hospital for having pneumonia. Like others have said , once you get a cab you will never want to go back to an open station.

 

[WilliamBos]

Get the cab!! Well worth the extra money.

 

[errfoil]

I wouldn't feel comfortable with a unit used by the municipality and no warranty. Those guys are hard on equipment because they don't pay the bills on it. Why would they trade it in with only 450 hours anyway. That's just my own thinking. I would feel more comfortable with the low hour 3320. unfortunately, that does not have a cab. I was out mowing fields and moving mulch the past 2 days in disgustingly hot and humid weather and I was in a very cold comfortable setting with my cab so I couldn't imagine not having a cab at this point. Although I did do it without a cab for many years. it sucked. Sounds like the cab wasn't that important to you in the first place so I would recommend to you to go with the low hour machine. the 3320 is a stout machine with plenty of power

Thanks for all the great replies. My first reaction to hearing this was a municipal machine was the same as yours; an employee that could care less about wear and tear. A couple of friends have chimed in and told me that these are great jobs and that people would be worried about losing their jobs or not getting hired next summer if caught abusing the machinery. Now the 4H machine is scary because if I was a kid I'd probably tear the **** out of the machinery just for fun (we were all stupid as teenagers, right?)

I have read that mowing or field work is a lot less wear on the tractor than loading with lots of back and forth work, hydraulics cycling all the time, etc. Any opinions on this concept?

 

[errfoil]

Those prices are venturing into "new" territory pretty closely. I'd do a bit more looking around before jumping at either tractor!

I've been watching the local market all winter, and there is just not a lot of used tractors for sale in my neck of the woods. When I first started looking at tractors last fall I told my JD dealer to call me if they got in any good used machines. He said "we almost never get any used compact tractors because people just keep them, they never sell them". I chalked that up to salesman BS, but after 6-8 months I'm starting to think he was being honest.

I just checked out Tractor House, Machine Finder, and the like, and all the new 3720's are in the high $30k's, so I figure buying a 450 hr machine is saving me about $12k. Is there someplace I'm not looking that you recommend? There is a Kubota dealer called Barlows that a lot of the orange guys swear by. They buy tractors from them from all over the country, is there a JD outfit like Barlows?

 

[errfoil]

I would go with the 3720 cab. Take an oil sample and send it to Blackstone labs - this can tell you if there is any wear based on the metals and elements in the oil - I do this on my larger farm equipment and my diesel trucks.

dschuffert, do you do this with both the tranny and the engine, or just the engine? I'm actually more concerned with the hydrostatic transmission than I am with a diesel engine.

 

[errfoil]

Once again, thanks to all of you that posted replies. They don't exactly give these tractors away so it's nice to hear all this feedback, especially on the cab (although it looks like you guys are going to cost me some money)

Several of you recommended taking the machine for a test drive. At the risk of sounding like an idiot, what do you look for? Is there a good checklist somewhere? I would look for leaks, cracks and dings; but the engine and the hydraulics are the items that cause the most concern, and I'm not sure how you differentiate between a 'clean one owner' and an abused piece of junk. I fly airplanes for a living so I have a good conceptual understanding of hydraulics, but we also have defined operating parameters for test flights; minimum cycle times for specific tasks like flap extension, minimum pressures while under specific loads, etc. Anything like that for tractors?

 

[dschuffert]

dschuffert, do you do this with both the tranny and the engine, or just the engine? I'm actually more concerned with the hydrostatic transmission than I am with a diesel engine.

That's a good question. I wasn't thinking about the tranny. I just do this with the engine but you could do it with either or both.

 

[Nuru]

Go for the 3720, definitely check the oil, but note, you will appreciate the turbo when you have the AC running and are cutting grass up a slope or picking up something heavy in hot weather. That i the reason i went with the 3520 - the additionla power when you need it.

 

[Nuru]

Im taking delivery of my 3320 cab this coming week. Im going from a 2320 open station because I cant handle the dust and grass anymore. I would mow for 3 hours and then have sinus problems for a week. For me the cab option is cheaper then a week in the hospital for having pneumonia. Like others have said , once you get a cab you will never want to go back to an open station.

same here, the time lost fighting the pollen and the dust being recovered is well worth the cost. Plus the Sirius radio, the AC, the heat, ah the convenience.