Tractor Sizing Help kubota L2501 vs L3901

[jeff9366]

I test drove the L3301 Kubota and ended up with a Branson 3725. My dealer put 10 series wheels and tires on my 3725 for a lower center of gravity and added 2" spacers to the rear. It's very stable on slopes.

Very interesting adjustment for hills. I have never read a post by anyone else reporting this creative approach. I think you have a listening, thinking, Branson dealer.

How wide are your rear wheels spread, relative to the default spread?

 

[jeff9366]

Welcome!

First, Just to help us old guys out, paragraphs make long posts easier to read.

Second, I own an L2501 so at the risk of repeating what others have said, here is my take.

In the small L chassis, the L2501is all the HP the chassis can handle when it comes to ground engaging work. Even with the tires filled, the tires will loose traction before you run out of power.

If you plan to use a lot of PTO driven implements then the higher HP will come in handy.

My primary use is mowing, discing and occasionally fixing dirt roads, all on my 683 acre hunting lease. Because it is all woods, and at time can get muddy, I wanted a tractor in the 3500 pound range so it is not too bad to get unstuck.

The L2501 is right at that weight with the loader, plus the price and lack of emissions made it the right tractor for me.

All valuable information. However you and I operate on flat, Florida terrain.
The OP has hills in NE Washington state.

 

[Lefty422]

Thanks for all the input so far! I will keep studying up and comparing. Soon as all the snow is gone and i can get back into the woods I do indeed plan on renting a tractor a few times to get a feel of what works best for me!

 

[wagne223]

All valuable information. However you and I operate on flat, Florida terrain.
The OP has hills in NE Washington state.

Good point! I tend to overlook that other people deal with real hills and clay/rocky terrain.
I mainly deal with sandy muddy dirt with excessive vegetation!

 

[varmint]

Not much to add, but the weight vs power issue is fundamental. I had a Grand L 3130 Kubota for a while, and although it only had 31 hp, it definitely had the weight, and while more power would have made it work faster, I don't think it would make it any more useful, other than raw speed. Our L3400 has more power, but less weight, and can't do the same heavy work. The L3130 had a 72" bucket, and would lift anything I could throw at it. The L3400 has a 60" bucket, and just can't match that L3130. In our case, weight was a problem since the tractor has to travel over lawn to go anywhere. Just the way it is. The L3400 fits better in the woods, being smaller and lower.

 

[North Woods]

Lefty422 welcome to the forum. I have been lurking here for several years trying to learn and have not posted before. What prompted me to start was your location and circumstance.

You live in the PNW where the trees can easily outgrow one's dreams. Based on where you are in Clayton you may have 200' trees that can very quickly out gross most tractors. I am in a similar situation although the most of the trees here are not comparable to yours. Weight is the prime driver for what you describe. I have just about read the print off the Kubota brochures and visited several dealers trying to get a feel for what each offers and lacks. I am leaning toward the MX line because of weight and grapple capacity. The 4701 is OK but for $500 more you can get a lot more lift with the MX series.

lots of brush and slash to clean up and lots of firewood to retrieve

How big is the slash? Clear cut remnant? Stumps? Are you going to pile and burn the remains? All of that has to be moved. As so many have said here before, it may serve you well to figure out the weight then find the equipment. Whatever you get will handle the road. Snow management may be another issue to consider. I don't know how much you get up there. As Jeff said at the end of his post "buy enough tractor."

Let us know how it goes!

 

[Steppenwolfe]

The L's are light in the rear, no doubt. Load your tires, ADD WHEEL WEIGHTS, and put a box blade on the back. No big deal. These are great little tractors. Notice I also have the MX, big difference in how I use the two.

 

[WVH1977]

Any of the tractors already talked about will do way more than you can with manual labor and there is nothing bad about them. I think it boils down to how much manual labor do you want to do along with the tractor. Also, you mentioned a lot of brush. What kind of brush? If you ever do decide to get a bush-hog you will want to have the HP to run it. Me personally, I would not get anything less than a 40 HP 4x4 tractor with filled tires and a grapple. You will never regret getting more tractor with premium features. If you do run across a big job on your property that the tractor cannot do, then rent a machine that can or hire it out.

Ultimately, everything boils down to budget/money. A tractor purchase is a big purchase and something you usually buy to keep the rest of your life. It is a big decision. Take your time looking and test drive every tractor you can find. If the dealer has 3-point implements on the lot ask him if you can hook it up to the 3-point and pick it up and drive it around. That will tell you quite a bit right there. I don't regret buying my current tractor that I have now. It has been paid for for quite a while with no major problems. I do wish that I had the extra weight and HP sometimes. If I ever buy another piece of equipment it will probably be a dedicated back-hoe. You will get a lot of different opinions and feedback on here, mostly good. Good luck with your search.

 

[Lefty422]

Thanks for the info. Keep it coming! North Woods, We get plenty of snow through winter but can keep up with the road with my plow truck.

The slash is all tree branches and limbs, left from when the property was logged a couple years ago before I bought the place. Still a good amount of decent size trees left. Yes there are stumps but not planning on using the tractor to get the stumps out. Have other plans for those. I do plan on piling in the spring and summer then burn during the winter. Making firewood out of Anything dead or blows down. A lot of dirt and gravel to move during the summer as well.

If money wasn稚 a problem I would definitely be looking to getting a bigger and stronger tractor but unfortunately I do have a budget.
Trying to find anything decent and used has been a challenge. Anthing good goes quick!

 

[ericm979]

Very interesting adjustment for hills. I have never read a post by anyone else reporting this creative approach. I think you have a listening, thinking, Branson dealer.

Dave's Tractor in Redding CA. Dave suggested it after I told him what my land's like.

How wide are your rear wheels spread, relative to the default spread?

It's 71" from outside to outside. Brochure says 60.2 but that's with R1s, probably in the narrowest configuration. I don't remember for sure now but I think with the 2" spacers these wheels are about as wide as the normal R4s in one of their wider configurations.

The slightly shorter tires makes the 3pt lower, which I compensated for by shortening the adjustable link and connecting the tilt cylinder to the lower link in it's shortest hole (which required some minor modification to get full travel). For the PTO chipper, which extends a ways from the tractor, I have to use the top cylinder to tilt it up when manuvering around steep banks or pulling out of the barn, which has a short ramp. The tires also make the gearing a bit lower, which I don't mind. PTO rpm in 2nd range is about as fast as I want to go around here anyhow.