L45 or stay with B26

[powerstroke444e]

Been thinking of buying or upgrading before tier 4 gets in to the TLB Kubota's. I have B26 and really like it but I no longer do commercial work and just use it around the farm and other properties I have. Thus I have been thinking of upgrading to a new L45 TLB as I still need the backhoe and all my skid steer equipment.
One question the dealer didn't know was will the L45 fit in a 8' garage door? I know that I will have to tilt the hoe but will the 4post rops fit?
I have everything on pallets and like being able to get in my garages have 3 building with 8' doors. If it don't I will probably stay with the B26 size.

My thoughts are the L45 will handle round bales the b26 will move them but not load them and be able to full pallets of feed or larger logs and move more brush.

 

[dondc]

The following link lists the ROPS at 95.1 inches. With the backhoe in transport position 106.3 inches. You would have to have your backhoe flattend out quite a bit and don't run over anything on the way in.
TractorData.com Kubota L45 backhoe-loader tractor dimensions information

 

[lhansman]

Hi Powerstroke

I moved from a B21 to a B26 and last year to an L45 and I am really glad I made the change. The L45 is still very maneuverable but you have so much more power and reach. I really need to be able to lift 2,000 pounds and can do that with the L45 loader. The backhoe is really nice and with the ten foot reach it is a lot better for digging and moving rocks which I do a lot of. I have added just about every option to mine and can't think of anything I would get rid of. The creep to reposition feature on the backhoe is really handy (although I know you could McGiver a work around) and the HST+ with the auto downshift is a real timesaver if like me you do a lot of work in hilly terrain.

The only downside to the L45 is that that four cylinder engine definitely burns more fuel in a day but you do get more work done too. A ten hour day on the B21 or B26 would only burn a five gallon can of diesel but a long day on the L45 will burn through almost two cans. I only have one acre myself but continue to do a lot of landscaping at my place and two of my neighbours have commented on how much quieter the L45 is than the B21 or B26. The L45 has a deeper, lower engine note than the other two machines.

My L45 is at a different site that I will be at tomorrow. I'll measure to the top of the canopy and let you know about the 8' door clearance.

Good luck with your decision. I purchased mine last year too in order to avoid the pollution control stuff that is coming soon.

Regards,

Lauren

 

[powerstroke444e]

I was hoping you would chime in as I really like the b26 but I don't do as much tight area work as before and don't need to haul several machines on one trailer.
I have all the options on mine other than tnt, but wondered how the ehydro worked is it same as the other l series tractors? How does it do pulling small field equipment/hay equipment.
Figure most of my front stuff will interchange grapple forks blade post hole digger.

 

[lhansman]

If by ehydro you mean the Auto-DS (Auto Downshift) I think of it as a two speed transfer case. The HST+ has three ranges just like the B26 and I do most of my work in M. I have a fairly steep hill at the rear of my property and the B26 would go up the hill in M empty but if the bucket was full I would have to stop, shift to L and then climb the hill and once I crested the hill stop and shift back to M. With Auto-DS the L45 will slow down and at a certain point without you doing anything or even stoping it will shift from rabbit (high) to turtle (low) and continue up the hill shifting back to high automatically once the hill is crested. This is a big time saver for me as I have moved hundreds of loads of material in my dump trailers from the top of my hill to the bottom. I have also moved several rocks up the hill too. Attached are a couple of photos of my hard working son assisting my with my current rock wall construction.



The only trailer I have pulled with the L45 is my 7-ton dumper and it didn't have any problems with it. Some of the rocks in the photos are 7' long, 3' high and 4' deep and the L45 dragged them without any difficulty. As you point out all of your front attachments will work fine. I got the 4-in-1 bucket with the L45 and kept the oversize 66" B26 bucket rather than give it away with the B26. I am glad I did as I had a hose failure on the 4-in-1 on a Sunday and was able to just switch buckets and keep going. It's nice to have two buckets when you know you are going to be switching between sticky material like top soil or triple mix and then to mulch.

Is your post hole digger hydraulic or off the rear PTO?

 

[powerstroke444e]

I have one that was for a bobcat hydraulic its a little slow on b26 but I have used a 3pt on on the b26 and it worked fine

 

[lhansman]

Hi Powerstroke

In my discussion of the auto-downshift of the HST+ on the L45 I forgot to mention that on the left side of the steering column there is an orange lever you can press to force the L45 into low range or pull to force it into high range or back into Auto-DS mode. There are only two occasions when I use this feature:

1) I have found that when you use the creep to repostion lever from the backhoe seating position the L45 will not auto-downshift and there are times on a slope when the tractor would not go uphill in high range. You can reach the orange lever from the backhoe seating position but I try to remember to put the L45 in low range before I swivel the seat as that is easier on my neck and shoulders.

2) When backing the L45 onto my trailer I always shift to low range. I forgot a couple of times at the start and one second your pushing on the HST+ pedal to backup and if you get your foot into it and the L45 downshifts it will suddenly move back quite rapidly which can catch you by surprise. Manually putting the L45 into low range when loading ensures there will be no sudden change in speed.

Regards,

Lauren

 

[lhansman]

One more thing Powerstroke - I have the Laurin cab on my machine and they replace the factory ROPS with their own so I did not bother measuring mine as it may not be the same height as the factory L45.

Lauren

 

[kcender]

Have you measured the actual opening for the doorways.The opening for an eight foot door is probably less than 96 inches so if the ROPS is 95.1 inches,there is a good chance that the L45 will not fit.Something to consider.

 

[lhansman]

The other option to consider is to replace the ~3" plastic roof on the L45 with a thinner material. I considered this myself but then decided to add A/C this year so now I have to put a taller door in my new shop when I build it. The A/C is no higher than the locked backhoe boom so I won't have to remember to drop the hoe too.

Lauren