Is this a good deal on a Kubota L4150?

   / Is this a good deal on a Kubota L4150? #1  

herdfan

Gold Member
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Jan 17, 2004
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272
Location
West Virginia
Tractor
Century 3045, Ford 2000
I found a Kubota L4150 4wd with loader, hoe, aftermarket cab, and 3 point arms with 1400 hours for $14,000. It is at a dealer 600 miles away who sold it new in 1995 to a private individual who came back and used it for a trade-in. I haven't seen it in person, but the dealer says that it is in good condition and needs nothing replaced. Any opinions on not only the tractor value but the distance of the deal?
Thanks for your input!
Eric (with too many choices and not enough $$)/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
   / Is this a good deal on a Kubota L4150? #2  
From what you describe, it appears to be a good maybe great price. My concerns on any tractor is the amount of slop it has at all those loader/hoe bushings. I am not familiar with the L4150 but am quite familiar with the L4850 as I have put many hundreds of hours on it. I still have the brochure for that tractor.
 
   / Is this a good deal on a Kubota L4150? #3  
First and foremost, 600 miles is a long way and a TLB is a lot of machinery with a lot to look at and inspect before you buy. I hope your plan would be to go look it over and see how it operates. All the pictures in the world will not show worn parts. Maybe someone on TBN that is located closer to it could do a preliminary look-see for you. Can you call the prior owner?

That said, I'm a big fan of these models - they are heavy and strong. The big 5-cylinder is smooth as silk. Kubota refers to them as the L3 models and anyone inside Kubota will tell you they were a great product with very few problems. I think they were a little too well made for their target market - high prices meant fewer buyers.

An L4150 with 1400 homeowner hours could be a great tractor - a new machine with comparable power and heft would cost well-north of $30k.

Couple questoins: Ag rubber or R4's? If Ag's are they the original Bridgestones? What brand and model is the backhoe? The Bradco hoes were a little better designed than the Kubotas of the time. Hydraulic shuttle or manual ?

By 1995 this model had been replaced by the L4850. Back when the L4150 was first made, the model number coresponded to pto horsepower. The L4850 number was more in line with "net" horsepower. Both models have about 50 gross hp. Hope this is useful. I'm always happy to blather on about these tractors - I might be able to answer other questions. Good luck and have fun /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif- DickB
 
   / Is this a good deal on a Kubota L4150? #4  
Dick, our L4850 is a 1992 model. I think you must be referring to the L4350 replacing the L4150. The L4350 was a 4 cylinder with optional wet clutch. The L4850 and L5450 had the wet clutch as standard.
I agree with Dick about these tractors, they are heavy and the engines, a direct injected diesel are arguably some of the best diesels made from Kubota. Quite a bit noisier then my L3830, but very powerful. I am not familiar with what the L4150 shares with the L4350, but I'm sure Dick is.

P.S. the brochure I have is for 1994. It has the L4350, L4850 and the L5450. The L4850 and L5450 are almost identical with a couple of big exceptions, the loader LA 950 vs LA 1150, the L4850 had a 3.3 X 3.6 bore/stroke, the L5450 was 3.4 X 3.6, 11 gpm vs 13 gpm hydraulic pump and slightly larger tires on the L5450. I know somewhere I have the brochure on the L4150/L4850/L5450. Mark
 
   / Is this a good deal on a Kubota L4150? #5  
Hi Mark - good to hear your voice - I've always thought the 4350 replaced the 3750 and the 4850 replaced the 4150. The model numbers jumped up in magnitude when the tractor manufacturers adopted numbering by net horsepower (in 1989?). Back in the early '80s some models were alligned with gross horsepower - but there were complaints so for a little while Kubota dropped to PTO hp (3750 and 4150 were 37.5 and 41.5 hp at pto) . Of course the marketers didn't like that too well so everybody did an apparent compromise on net hp (gross minus heat friction and noise /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif). To follow all these machinations a script would help /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

The 4150 had a 5-cylinder that made about 50 gross hp, and had 14.6x28 rear rubber, the BF900 loader, essentially the same size, power, etc. as the 4850. I don't believe Kubota actually made any 4150's beyond 1990 or so, but continued to sell down US inventory. I didn't know any were sold as late as 1995. Perhaps the dealer used it himself the first few years? I've seen that before. The 4350 has a 4-cylinder and smaller rubber, much like the 3750. Cheerful refund if info is bogus. Dick
 
   / Is this a good deal on a Kubota L4150?
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Thanks for the replies. According to the salesman I talked to on the phone, the tractor has Ag tires (didn't ask if original or not) and hydraulic shuttle shift. I think he said the hoe was a Kubota, but I may be hallucinating that one /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif. It is a frame-mounted hoe for sure though, and he said that it had at least a 10 foot digging depth. I asked about the prior owner and he told me that their company no longer supplies that information due to the buyers calling the prior owners for continuous tech support after the sale!
The tractor is listed by Marshall Machinery in Honesdale, PA just outside of Scranton. I wish I could up there to check it out, but it would be about 3 weeks before my work schedule would allow it. Anyone interested in checking this over let me know and we can work out the details.
This setup seems to be the ideal size for what I want to do. Would a Century 3545 (45hp engine/40hp pto), JD 4310, or 3130 (all with FEL and backhoe) be comparable at all?
Thanks again - Eric
 
   / Is this a good deal on a Kubota L4150? #7  
It all starts making sense now Dick. I was continually mixing the 4150 up with the 4350 and when folks said the 4150 had a 5 cylinder I would think to myself that the 4150 in my brochure says its a 4 cylinder with optional wet clutch. Unbeknown to me I was mixing the two up or actually, never knew the 4150 existed yet at times kept thinking my brochure went 4150/4850/5450 when it's actually L4350 etc. At any rate, I think you have me straightened out now. As I have mentioned to you before, the 5 cylinder is a tremendous diesel. What happened to that L5450 someone was going to sell? They showed up here at TBN. If I had been in the market, I would have made a move on it. Mark
 
   / Is this a good deal on a Kubota L4150? #8  
Regarding that "as-new" L5450 I have corresponded by email a little with the owner and I'm still lusting after it /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif. He is a fine gentleman and we have agreed to talk further after the holidays - he was doing some traveling. I hope to hear from him when he returns. Of course this is not the best time of year for selling tractors - and the checkbook would be in bad shape if I bought his without selling mine. But if it's really that nice, it would be hard to resist.
 
   / Is this a good deal on a Kubota L4150? #9  
Eric - I'm not familiar with the other machines you mentioned so no help there.

But I looked at the L4150 at Marshall"s website - the backhoe is definitely Kubota (can tell by the shape of the top of the boom visible in the pic) and the machine is on Ag rubber - which is best unless you are on paved surfaces a lot. The cab looks like a Sims - but more of a canopy with windshield - not integrated with the ROPS. I like those forward facing lights up at the top.

It's hard to tell much from the picture - but the little clues are positive - the front rubber looks decent, the loader frame looks clean (no weld repairs visible on the side that shows) the cab lights are whole, the brush guard isn't bent, the exhaust stack is straight. It does appear the bucket edge may be bowed down - maybe it's just a picture effect. The 3-pt hitch arms are in the bucket and look shiny enough that they may never have been mounted. This machine may have been sold in 1995 but I'd venture a guess it was built in the '80s.

Depending on the weather I might be within 70 miles of Scranton on Friday - if I have time maybe I could zip over there and get a closer look. It's always nice to check out machinery for others. Just don't tell my wife - I always end up buying something for me too. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
   / Is this a good deal on a Kubota L4150?
  • Thread Starter
#10  
Dick, That picture had more infromation in it than I thought! It's very generous for you to offer to look at it for me. Please send a PM if it looks like you can get by there as the time gets closer. As far as your wife, my lips are sealed.
Thanks, Eric
 
 
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