Kubota B26 / L39 or John Deere 110 Buying help

   / Kubota B26 / L39 or John Deere 110 Buying help #1  

zzBLITZzz

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Hello to all, lot of reading here but this is my first post. Looking for some buying help / opinions.

I am looking to purchase my first TLB, for that matter my first piece of equipment bigger than a lawn tractor.

I'm looking for a quality (Kubota / John Deere) used machine, 2004 or newer, just looking for a machine to save my back and use around the house 26hp is enough 43hp seems better, but is it ?

At first I was 100% stuck on a Kubota TLB, mainly the B26 or L39, they seemed to be most fitting to my needs. I've looked at them online from coast to coast for what seems to be countless hours. At this point I think I am aware of any and all that are currently available in the United States.

Ok, It seems that every used low hours, non-rental company B26 is around $25K-$28K and every L39 is around $28K-$35K.

A little more than I wanted to spend but I thought, suck it up, and go buy one.

As I was reaching for my wallet, I started looking at the John Deere 110 TLB. This out performs both of these machines and I have seen them as low as $18K-$22K and a really nice one at $26K with comparable hours.

Can someone weigh in on this? I was all ready to pull the trigger on a Kubota B26 and now my stomach is in knots over this John Deere 110 TLB because it's a lot more tractor for the same money.

What should I do ? For some reason my gut tells me to buy the Kubota but I can't help but feel sick about this John Deere 110 and maybe making the wrong decision on this kinda purchase.

Help me, Please !
 
   / Kubota B26 / L39 or John Deere 110 Buying help #2  
Those are all nice machines, I note you said "use around the house". If I were in your shoes I would consider the following:

1. Larger tractors generally are heavier, and therefor can have a greater impact on the soil...are you going to be driving this on your lawn frequently? Depending upon your situation, you CAN rut up your yard pretty without much effort!

2. Will you ever need to transport the machine using your own truck and trailer? Do you have truck/trailer combo capable of towing the larger machines?

3. Are you going to be performing tasks that will require the larger lifting / digging capacity of the bigger machines?

4. Have you considered renting any of those for a day first? It's a great way to "test drive" a machine. Those are all pretty common rental units in NJ.


That being said, when I bought my machine I looked at the L39, L45, 110 and the M59. I went with the biggest unit and it worked out great for me. I frequently use my machine near it's rated limits and sometimes wish I had a full size backhoe!!

Good luck with your decision and post some pics when you get her home!

-Mark

Hello to all, lot of reading here but this is my first post. Looking for some buying help / opinions.

I am looking to purchase my first TLB, for that matter my first piece of equipment bigger than a lawn tractor.

I'm looking for a quality (Kubota / John Deere) used machine, 2004 or newer, just looking for a machine to save my back and use around the house 26hp is enough 43hp seems better, but is it ?

At first I was 100% stuck on a Kubota TLB, mainly the B26 or L39, they seemed to be most fitting to my needs. I've looked at them online from coast to coast for what seems to be countless hours. At this point I think I am aware of any and all that are currently available in the United States.

Ok, It seems that every used low hours, non-rental company B26 is around $25K-$28K and every L39 is around $28K-$35K.

A little more than I wanted to spend but I thought, suck it up, and go buy one.

As I was reaching for my wallet, I started looking at the John Deere 110 TLB. This out performs both of these machines and I have seen them as low as $18K-$22K and a really nice one at $26K with comparable hours.

Can someone weigh in on this? I was all ready to pull the trigger on a Kubota B26 and now my stomach is in knots over this John Deere 110 TLB because it's a lot more tractor for the same money.

What should I do ? For some reason my gut tells me to buy the Kubota but I can't help but feel sick about this John Deere 110 and maybe making the wrong decision on this kinda purchase.

Help me, Please !
 
   / Kubota B26 / L39 or John Deere 110 Buying help #3  
As I was reaching for my wallet, I started looking at the John Deere 110 TLB. This out performs both of these machines and I have seen them as low as $18K-$22K and a really nice one at $26K with comparable hours.

When I was looking at TLBs a few years ago, I was wavering between a L39 and a 110 TLB. Even though the 110 was more expensive, I went with it because I felt it was a better tractor.

Most of that difference was in the HST on the 110 vs. shuttle shift (or whatever they call it) on the L39. IMHO much easier to maneuver. Second advantage is the "creeper" function where you can move the machine with the seat in the hoe position. You can sort of do this with the L39 by activating the throttle with a cane, or other length of wooden stick, but if you ever have an accident, the 110 is designed to be moved this way, the L39 is not and you are defeating a safety interlock.

I also like the fit & finish better on the 110.
 
   / Kubota B26 / L39 or John Deere 110 Buying help #4  
When I was looking at TLBs a few years ago, I was wavering between a L39 and a 110 TLB. Even though the 110 was more expensive, I went with it because I felt it was a better tractor.

Most of that difference was in the HST on the 110 vs. shuttle shift (or whatever they call it) on the L39. IMHO much easier to maneuver. Second advantage is the "creeper" function where you can move the machine with the seat in the hoe position. You can sort of do this with the L39 by activating the throttle with a cane, or other length of wooden stick, but if you ever have an accident, the 110 is designed to be moved this way, the L39 is not and you are defeating a safety interlock.

CF is right, if you want the creep to reposition function you need the 110, or an L45. Does the Yanmar CBL40 have that?

Anyway, I made up a spec comparison table for you, there are some blanks as I couldn't find the information. This is a "paper" comparison only, and in some cases I suspect the real world performance may be different than the specs.

It would really be best if you could run some of the machines you're considering.

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   / Kubota B26 / L39 or John Deere 110 Buying help #5  
Like others have said you should really look at what your use of the machine will be and future uses. If you don't plan to use it really hard and heavy why buy something designed for that. On the other hand we do usually wind up needing something bigger than we thought at first.

"Around the house" ?? That could mean almost anything.

I have a 110 TLB and it's been great. I looked at the Kubotas but settled on the JD because I thought it was a better built machine. I also felt parts availability would be better but haven't had to find out about that yet.

Any of the equipment you are considering are 'good' products. Just pick the right one for what you intend to do.

You might get better advice if you expand on that a little bit. Don't be shy about asking questions.

Good luck!
 
   / Kubota B26 / L39 or John Deere 110 Buying help
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Thanks a lot to all that replied to this !

You all have great points and I greatly appreciate all the input on this.

To expand on my situation, I have about 2 acres here and would like to do the following things.

1) Be my own man and own a machine. Im tired of borrowing from my friends, calling them and getting the run around, IE: the machines here, the trailers there, this guys using it bla bla bla, making me crazy. I live in the North East and timing is everything this time of year for getting things done as we will soon be buried under 2 or 3 feet of snow.

2) I have experience running / using my friends JD 310B, It's a bit bigger than I want, need, or desire to put a roof over, plus its an older machine (I think 80's). It's not that tight. I want a good tight newer machine so I don't smack the hoe off the house as im using it for more precision work. I have not tried digging close to the house with his machine because of that. I think it would be very possible to make a mistake and jack slap the house no matter what level of experience you have because of the slop in her pins.

3) I have 2 large maple trees that need cut down (by someone with insurance) and the stumps will need to be dug out, along with several smaller trees that I have already cut down leaving about 3 feet of stump sticking out waiting to be dug up.

4) My house was built around the turn of the century (1900) and I need to do some digging around it to do some proper draining / waterproofing to the foundation.

5) I want to build a building out back, involving digging , stone and a concrete floor.

6) I want to put in a concrete drive out front (currently stone) and move that stone along with additional stone to make a drive to a building out back.

7) This all needs to be done after work, so renting a machine for a month and knocking it out is not an option for me.

8) I have been a machinist for 18yrs, have a great job (one of the lucky ones, a lot of people out of work here) but Im getting to the point where I want to try to possibly get into this type of work a bit. What better place to get a start way I see it, all this stuff needs done and the machines seem to hold there value pretty much. If I rent one Im on a time line, plus you just flush that rental money down the drain.

That being said, Im buying a machine as soon as I find the right one, cash money. If I don't get one soon I will probably have to pay the cost of a machine to a skrink to get my head straighten out and get back to sleeping a full night with all this stuff on my mind.

Im not sure if I am in love with the Kubota or just the "orange color" ?

I agree with you Dave. I really like the fit - finish , specs. and appearance of the 110.

After hearing the input from you guys I think I may go with the 110.

Im just gun shy a bit because I live in a world where most of the time you get what you pay for and in the used market you have to put a extra $10K with that John Deere money to come close to the same capability in a Kubota, almost like there is some looming issue with the JD 110 that I dont know about.

This makes me feel like Im missing something here. The JD 110 looks and specs as a great machine, in fact a better machine but its on average $10K cheaper than any comp. Kubota.

Again thanks for all the input guys, the hunt continues here.
 
   / Kubota B26 / L39 or John Deere 110 Buying help #7  
I looked both used L39s and 110TLBs awhile back. I would have preferred the 110TLB with the hydrostatic transmission and larger tires, but everyone I found in my price range was all beat to heck. I found a very nicely maintained L39 and went with that. I have been happy with it, but if you work on hills I would not recommend it as the GST transmission on the L39 goes to neutral when you change directions or turn off the tractor. A hydrostatic trans like the 110TLB or L45 would be safer on hills.

To creep on the L39 when using the backhoe, I put a clip on the seat rotate switch and then you can put the range selector in neutral and the shuttle in forward. With the seat in the backhoe position you can easily reach down and move the range selector from neutral to 1st to creep forward. As CurlyDave says, this does defeat a safety interlock, but you do not need a stick to reach the control.

Be sure to get the three point arms with whatever tractor you get as for some of the work you say you want to do a box blade or back blade would be handy.
 
   / Kubota B26 / L39 or John Deere 110 Buying help #8  
Blitz, after reading your last post I would say the 110 would be a good choice. If you can please try to get the extra hydraulacs on the BH so you can use a thumb if it doesn't already have one. You do, as Stonehaller points out, have to buy the three point extra but it would be worth it to get that right off.
 
   / Kubota B26 / L39 or John Deere 110 Buying help #9  
Blitz, after reading your last post I would say the 110 would be a good choice. If you can please try to get the extra hydraulacs on the BH so you can use a thumb if it doesn't already have one. You do, as Stonehaller points out, have to buy the three point extra but it would be worth it to get that right off.

When I bought my 110, the salesman told me that the 3-point arms came with it. Then he discovered that they did not, but he kept his word and was going to throw them into the deal for free.

I thought about that and asked if I could use the price of the arms as a credit for a top-n-tilt. They agreed and that is what I got.

If I were buying the arms outright, I would look at the cost of upgrading to a top-n-tilt. It is only a few hundred more than the arms and is much more useful.
 
   / Kubota B26 / L39 or John Deere 110 Buying help #10  
When I bought my 110, the salesman told me that the 3-point arms came with it. Then he discovered that they did not, but he kept his word and was going to throw them into the deal for free.

I thought about that and asked if I could use the price of the arms as a credit for a top-n-tilt. They agreed and that is what I got.

If I were buying the arms outright, I would look at the cost of upgrading to a top-n-tilt. It is only a few hundred more than the arms and is much more useful.

Not to take this too far off topic, but you've confused me a bit, Dave. If you don't have 3 point arms, what does the top-n-tilt do? Or do you mean just the hydraulics plumbing?
 
 
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