deathtoblackberries
Gold Member
I'm about to pull the trigger on a new tractor (my first) and have it narrowed down to these two. I'm leaning towards the Mahindra at the moment, see the below pictures of my 1 acre and what I expect to be doing with the tractor, I'd appreciate any input, feel free to comment on yes the tractor can do it or no your smoking crack.
Mahindra pro's - Less expensive, I would need to negociate a 15% discount on the Kabota to match a quote I have on the Mahindra. FEL rated to lift several hundred pounds more, more HP, on paper it beats the Kubota in several areas. I used to be a CNC machinist so I like the cast iron frame.
Mahindra con's - I have an appt to check one out in person this weekend, so this is only based on pictures and videos...what the heck is with the birds nest of FEL hydraulic hoses and the funky position of the controls? This tractor looks to be well engineered everywhere except here, advantage Kubota. Kubota specs on the backhoe crush the Mahindra, Kubota Bucket Force 2,585 lbs vs Mahindra 2,145 lbs, Kubota Dipperstick force 1,687 lbs vs Mahindra 903 lbs. Check out the pics below, digging out all those stumps and roots is why this is on my radar. If not for these backhoe specs I'd have crossed the Kubota off my list already.
Kubota...there's a large dealer 8 miles from me (the nearest Mahindra dealer is 70 miles) so I have already checked them out in person. Mixed feelings, I see areas that are very well engineered and beefy yet areas that are cheap and not worthy of the price they are asking. The rubber flooring is a joke and poorly fitted. When I see cheap crap like that I get wondering where else they cheaped out. Paint was sub-par in several areas also. I'm heading back over there for another look in a few minutes.
So here's what I'm dealing with (see pics). I bought this new house and the 1 acre needs a LOT of landscaping. It could easily cost me the price of one of these tractors to pay someone else to do the work, at least that's my logic for buying a tractor, plus it would be more fun to do it myself on my schedule. All these bushes and scrub trees and f'er blackberries need to be gone. I also need to move a fair amount of dirt from the side and back of the property around to the front. The soil has some clay with a fair amount of round cobble stones in the 1-5 inch range. No big boulders. There are a few older stumps in the 18-20 diameter in range that need dug out also. Once the land is cleared and leveled I'll be putting in a fence, lawn, shop, and garden. At some point down the road I probably won't need the backhoe anymore but I'll be keeping the FEL long term. Plus I sometimes need to move heavy machines around.
Mahindra pro's - Less expensive, I would need to negociate a 15% discount on the Kabota to match a quote I have on the Mahindra. FEL rated to lift several hundred pounds more, more HP, on paper it beats the Kubota in several areas. I used to be a CNC machinist so I like the cast iron frame.
Mahindra con's - I have an appt to check one out in person this weekend, so this is only based on pictures and videos...what the heck is with the birds nest of FEL hydraulic hoses and the funky position of the controls? This tractor looks to be well engineered everywhere except here, advantage Kubota. Kubota specs on the backhoe crush the Mahindra, Kubota Bucket Force 2,585 lbs vs Mahindra 2,145 lbs, Kubota Dipperstick force 1,687 lbs vs Mahindra 903 lbs. Check out the pics below, digging out all those stumps and roots is why this is on my radar. If not for these backhoe specs I'd have crossed the Kubota off my list already.
Kubota...there's a large dealer 8 miles from me (the nearest Mahindra dealer is 70 miles) so I have already checked them out in person. Mixed feelings, I see areas that are very well engineered and beefy yet areas that are cheap and not worthy of the price they are asking. The rubber flooring is a joke and poorly fitted. When I see cheap crap like that I get wondering where else they cheaped out. Paint was sub-par in several areas also. I'm heading back over there for another look in a few minutes.
So here's what I'm dealing with (see pics). I bought this new house and the 1 acre needs a LOT of landscaping. It could easily cost me the price of one of these tractors to pay someone else to do the work, at least that's my logic for buying a tractor, plus it would be more fun to do it myself on my schedule. All these bushes and scrub trees and f'er blackberries need to be gone. I also need to move a fair amount of dirt from the side and back of the property around to the front. The soil has some clay with a fair amount of round cobble stones in the 1-5 inch range. No big boulders. There are a few older stumps in the 18-20 diameter in range that need dug out also. Once the land is cleared and leveled I'll be putting in a fence, lawn, shop, and garden. At some point down the road I probably won't need the backhoe anymore but I'll be keeping the FEL long term. Plus I sometimes need to move heavy machines around.