JD vs Kub Final Decision?

[Anonymous Poster]

My personnal experience and me speaking for myself.
When I bought my John Deere 4400 22 months ago,I did not even look at anything else,I knew Kubota made a fine machine,but I figured John Deere was the best way to go because of all the mergers and etc of tractor companies,John Deere parts would always be available and service so on(I got burnt by Mitsubishi,parts are hard to come buy).But looking back I am kicking myself somewhat for not looking at Kubota,Kubota tractors and service will always be around,after all the troubles I had with my JD4400 I have never heard of Kubota tractors being plagued with problems like the 4000 series. I have heard too many good things about Kubota and too many bad about the John Deere 4000 series.Not to mention the premium price of the John deere name.
Like I say this is just me speaking from my own personal experience.
Of course I have learned a lot from TBN and my next purchase I will do my homework much better.

 

[MJB]

I agree that the early production models for the 4000 series JDs had more problems than they should have. I think JD rushed the tractors into production before all the bugs were worked out. That said, I bought my 4300 in April of 2001, and ordered it fresh from the factory. So far, with one year and about 110 hours of use I have not had a single bit of trouble with my 4300. Wonderful machine. I certainly would not be afraid of buying from JD again as long as it was not real early in the production run of a new model. I would do the same thing with any major purchase. I bought my Chevy pickup in the spring of 1998 to avoid getting one of the new 1999 models. When I ordered it the dealer said, "You know the new models will be out in a couple of months." I replied, "That is precisely why I am ordering right now."/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Worked out great in both instances.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I went through the same process last year - JD 790 with FEL and Woods XT 5' brush cutter vs a Kabota 3000 L with FEL and Land Pride 5' brush cutter. JD was $1,200 more expensive, but I drove both and found that the controls, throttle, brakes, PTO, gauges, steering wheel height/ angle, abiltity to take off the side panels to get to the engine and the quick attach FEL was worth the extra "green" (bad attempt at a pun). Make sure that you get on/ off/ on/ off - just like when you're rock picking - at least a couple of dozen times. That will help you get a feel for the positioning of the steps, hand holds, etc. Also, does it matter if you get on/ off both sides or just the left side. With all that in minde I would then go with pricing to the JD dealer and see what he can do. The only that's missing on my green dream is a cup holder for my iced tea.
Good luck and enjoy

 

[MrP]

So why not a 3410 or a 3710?

 

[jtn]

I had a JD 850 which was retired after 11 years and 1200 hours and was trouble free. I still have a 12 year old JD 970 with 1400 hours that has never had any problems either.

As for the price difference is this dealer a full line JD ag dealer? I have found the dealers that only carry the small green machines are more expensive than the full line dealers.

One thing about tires. The manufacture reccomends tire sizes based on the gear ratio between the front and rear axle. If you change the tire size you could end up scuffing your tires as either the front or rear will be turning too fast relative to the other. I had to get smaller rear tires on my JD 970 and as a result the front tires wore out faster than normal because they were always pulling the rear ones along.

Bottom line: go with whatever feels comfortable even if it costs more. That up front cost will be a lot less than future aggravation. I have always had good luck with my JD's.

 

[forestcreature]

the problems i have heard about on the jd 4000 series were on the 4200 & higher numbers.

the 4100 is not made in the u.s.
it is a japan model.

there was an issue about the 410 loader where people were not being careful about mounting the thing. jd came out with a latch kit shortly after that [they mailed one to my burrow.]