Cab, 12x12 shuttle and self-leveling loader?

[farmer2009]

Have you looked at a hydraulic self leveling loader. I know Kubota uses them on the m9960 sized machines instead of a mechanical. I am like you I prefer a self leveling loader over a regular one. But I use my loader to move and unload hay trailers, stack a lot of manure and load trucks. I always found that going up and down hills I had to adjust the angle on what ever type of loader I had. Self leveling just helps speed up processes when you don't want to dump the loader contents back on you.

 

[Deerherd]

We use our loaders mostly for moving dirt, rock, brush and our farms have a lot of hills. The self leveling bucket cut the amount of dirt or rock we could move as we needed to roll the bucket back going down hill and forward going up hill, some distance may be a half mile or more and we would lose a lot of material. Same thing hauling logs etc on the forks, we needed to be able to have more roll/dump control.

You can still adjust a self leveling bucket the full range of motion and tilt it back or forward to adjust for uneven ground. Lifting a full bucket of material without a self leveling bucket can cause the material to spill off towards the tractor.

 

[TSO]

Field is open to any of the major brands. Pretty set on the Shuttle trans. In the last 5 yrs I've got in the range of 100,000 shifts doing snow removal so I'm quite comfortable with it

Bush hog will stay on the 3300 for better maneuverability.

TripleR, what is it that you didn't like about the self-leveling?

With as much experience as you seem to have, I can't fathom why you need sometime here to tell you what size tractor you need. Once you figure that out, I'm sure it will be easier for people to offer advice on which tractor to go with.

And I'm still unclear on what the tractor will be used for. Originally you said brush work, but then said you're keeping the brush-hog on the other tractor... ?

If it's going to just be bucket work moving wood around, why not get an articulating wheel loader instead?

 

[ovrszd]

Have you ever used a mechanical leveling loader? We hated ours and disabled it, much happier with a standard one, wouldn't mind having one with the option, but certainly not full time.

I've always wondered about that. At first glance you'd think that's very cool. But like you said, most times it would be inconvenient. At least for what I do. Repeat tasks like carrying big bales would be a use where it would be handy. I believe Kubota's is selectable?? I see several JD systems here that are mechanical.

 

[TripleR]

You can still adjust a self leveling bucket the full range of motion and tilt it back or forward to adjust for uneven ground. Lifting a full bucket of material without a self leveling bucket can cause the material to spill off towards the tractor.

There was no way to adjust ours satisfactorily on our Westendorf, if so we wouldn't have removed it.

Yes, you do have to mind lifting a full load to keep it from spilling, but we were use to that on our other tractors and it wasn't a problem on them or the other seven tractors we have with a standard FEL; we only had to make that mistake a couple of times many years ago while using the old two lever loaders.

 

[TripleR]

I've always wondered about that. At first glance you'd think that's very cool. But like you said, most times it would be inconvenient. At least for what I do. Repeat tasks like carrying big bales would be a use where it would be handy. I believe Kubota's is selectable?? I see several JD systems here that are mechanical.

Yeah, I considered the selectable one on our 8540, but we don't do any hay and very little pallet work, so it wasn't worth the cost for us. With the way things have been going, I would just forget if it was on or not and dump something on my hood.:laughing:

 

[farmer2009]

Yeah, I considered the selectable one on our 8540, but we don't do any hay and very little pallet work, so it wasn't worth the cost for us. With the way things have been going, I would just forget if it was on or not and dump something on my hood.:laughing:

Didn't know that Kubota's was selectable. That does change things.

 

[TripleR]

I think hydraulic, self leveling is only available on the M Series and up; may be wrong, but didn't see it on their build site..

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

With as much experience as you seem to have, I can't fathom why you need sometime here to tell you what size tractor you need. Once you figure that out, I'm sure it will be easier for people to offer advice on which tractor to go with.

And I'm still unclear on what the tractor will be used for. Originally you said brush work, but then said you're keeping the brush-hog on the other tractor... ?

If it's going to just be bucket work moving wood around, why not get an articulating wheel loader instead?

I'd said bush work...not bushhog. Felling trees, skidding logs etc. Articulated loader won't run the snowblower.

I know what I want for features and looking for input as to which models will fit that without looking thru specs of 200 different machines available new or even more of the non-current used market. Nowhere did I say anything to the sort of questions often posed here of "I just bought xx numbers of acres and am looking for my first tractor..."

I figured with the number of members there are here, there would be some help in narrowing my search. As I said earlier, I know what I want for features, colour and HP number are less important.

 

[TSO]

I'd said bush work...not bushhog. Felling trees, skidding logs etc. Articulated loader won't run the snowblower.

I know what I want for features and looking for input as to which models will fit that without looking thru specs of 200 different machines available new or even more of the non-current used market. Nowhere did I say anything to the sort of questions often posed here of "I just bought xx numbers of acres and am looking for my first tractor..."

I figured with the number of members there are here, there would be some help in narrowing my search. As I said earlier, I know what I want for features, colour and HP number are less important.

I'm just trying to find a way to narrow down your search... This "snowblower" info is new information, it wasn't in your original post. Also, saying "brush work" is much more vague than "felling trees, skidding logs, etc"... most folks on here hear "brush work" and assume you're talking about clearing light brush, etc.

Here's your original post:

With it being Christmas, I figure that it's a good time to dream about my next tractor, not that I have any complaints with my B3300. My wife often talks about getting another dog (we already have 3) and my response is sure, when I get to have a second tractor......

Must have list:
Factory cab
12x12 shuttle trans (or greater, just don't want a 9x9)
Mechanical self-leveling loader with decent lift capacity
Aftermarket loaders are acceptable and easy to add to a good tractor that doesn't have one
Not likely new but don't want ancient either
Brand not really important but JD has a slight edge

As small as I can find meeting the above criteria.

Opinions?

So, from what you're saying now, you want a tractor with Cab, Shuttle-Shift, self-leveling loader that lifts 2,000+ lbs, that can have anywhere from 33 - to - 80 HP (as long as it runs a snow blower)... and budget doesn't matter, though you want it to be "as cheap" as you can find...?

Now we're getting somewhere, though that's still a hefty range. For someone that's got like 8-billion shuttle shifts under his belt, I would imagine that you have a fair handle on machine size & strength. Can you narrow things down a bit more? Does the tractor have to fall under a certain weight for trailering, or for operating in certain conditions? For the size snow-blower you're talking about, is there a certain HP requirement you need to have (ie, what size blower do you plan to use)? Do you want the loader to be just over 2000lbs, or will you need more? My loader is rated for a bit over 2500 @ the pins to full height... but sometimes I could use a little more, sometimes I could use a LOT more. I mean, you can technically do the work you're talking about with the small tractor you have now, but how much drastic of a change are you wanting? Help us help you :thumbsup: