need info from owners of 3830, 4330, 4630, or 5030

[FamilyFarm]

A quick question regarding need for heavier duty cutter:
I have acres of overgrown stuff to clean up, but most of it is tall grass, some briars, bushes, etc., but very little of anything over 1" in dia. Will a heavier duty cutter cut the grass any better than a med duty (700+ lb) cutter? I know the 1000 lb cutter will cut thicker stuff, but will it actually cut the grass any better?
Thanks again for your advice!
Terry

 

[FamilyFarm]

A quick question regarding need for heavier duty cutter:
I have acres of overgrown stuff to clean up, but most of it is tall grass, some briars, bushes, etc., but very little of anything over 1" in dia. Will a heavier duty cutter cut the grass any better than a med duty (700+ lb) cutter? I know the 1000 lb cutter will cut thicker stuff, but will it actually cut the grass any better?
Thanks again for your advice!
Terry

 

[zeuspaul]

From the manual

Implement Limitations

L3830
Rotary Cutter width 72", weight 926 lb
Box Blade width 65", weight 880 lb

L4330
Rotary Cutter width 72", weight 926 lb
Box Blade width 72", weight 1040 lb

L5030
Rotary Cutter width 84", weight 1058 lb
Box Blade width 72", weight 1040 lb

Thanks to your question I just changed my order from a 1000 lb 72" medium duty rotary cutter to a 60" 800 lb medium duty cutter.

The salesman said they have sold the larger mower and indicated no problems. However I feel more comfortable with the factory spec as I plan on using it beyond what I believe to be its intended use. I want to raise it over large brush piles and use it as a mulcher. So its center of gravity will be higher than per spec. Also most of my land is sloping and there are ruts so I would rather have a mower 100 lbs below spec than 100 lbs above spec. I am new at this so take my advice for what it is worth

I thought the L3830 HST would be perfect for my needs so I got the L4330 HST for a little margin of safety per what I guessed my needs were. After 2 hours of use I am glad I didn't go any smaller.

I was going to get the L3830 and the extras in lieu of a larger tractor. Instead I got the larger tractor and the extras I can't imagine not having the Top and Tilt. My neighbor indicated if there were one thing he wished he had it would have been the top and tilt for grading on a slope. I did a little (LOT) research here and the posts confirmed the usefulness of TnT. I went a little more and got the hydraulic scarifiers for the box blade too.

I was able to carve a 300 foot road into a slope on my first day....amazing.

Zeuspaul

 

[zeuspaul]

From the manual

Implement Limitations

L3830
Rotary Cutter width 72", weight 926 lb
Box Blade width 65", weight 880 lb

L4330
Rotary Cutter width 72", weight 926 lb
Box Blade width 72", weight 1040 lb

L5030
Rotary Cutter width 84", weight 1058 lb
Box Blade width 72", weight 1040 lb

Thanks to your question I just changed my order from a 1000 lb 72" medium duty rotary cutter to a 60" 800 lb medium duty cutter.

The salesman said they have sold the larger mower and indicated no problems. However I feel more comfortable with the factory spec as I plan on using it beyond what I believe to be its intended use. I want to raise it over large brush piles and use it as a mulcher. So its center of gravity will be higher than per spec. Also most of my land is sloping and there are ruts so I would rather have a mower 100 lbs below spec than 100 lbs above spec. I am new at this so take my advice for what it is worth

I thought the L3830 HST would be perfect for my needs so I got the L4330 HST for a little margin of safety per what I guessed my needs were. After 2 hours of use I am glad I didn't go any smaller.

I was going to get the L3830 and the extras in lieu of a larger tractor. Instead I got the larger tractor and the extras I can't imagine not having the Top and Tilt. My neighbor indicated if there were one thing he wished he had it would have been the top and tilt for grading on a slope. I did a little (LOT) research here and the posts confirmed the usefulness of TnT. I went a little more and got the hydraulic scarifiers for the box blade too.

I was able to carve a 300 foot road into a slope on my first day....amazing.

Zeuspaul

 

[Bob_Young]

No, the medium duty cutter will NOT cut grass any better than the light duty cutter...at least not that I've seen. If you don't have much heavy stuff to cut, by all means get the light duty cutter. Keep in mind, the neighbors may come calling with a few jobs of their own...some may be pretty grim. You may want to decide now whether you want to position yourself to take them on.

The Woods light duty (they call it 'standard duty') is plenty tough enough for anything 1" and under and seems to be better built than some other light duty cutters I've seen. It'll take the abuse if you occasionally get into bigger stuff. There are times when I wish I'd gotten the BB72 instead of the BB720, as most of my cutting is grass & weeds. Still, I have alot of nasty stuff as well and the 720 takes it in stride. What Woods calls a 'medium duty' cutter is really quite a brute.

After 30 years of abuse, my 5ft. standard duty Woods Dixie Cutter is still quite useable. About 6 years ago, cracks started showing up in the deck and some of the structure, so it got welded up and reinforced a bit. With the 720 on hand, the Dixie Cutter's been 'put out to pasture', so to speak, and relegated to grass mowing only. I used to wade into 2" to 3" sumac and 1-1/2" ash with that thing.

If you really don't need the medium duty cutter, it doesn't make sense to overbuy then be forced into overbuying everything else just to accommodate the cutter.

Whatever tractor you get; GET THE REMOTES! They are sooo useful. You can't imagine now the uses you'll find for them down the road. Besides, it's cheaper to add them now rather than later. On the class machine you're looking at, I'd get at least two.
FWIW
Bob

 

[Bob_Young]

No, the medium duty cutter will NOT cut grass any better than the light duty cutter...at least not that I've seen. If you don't have much heavy stuff to cut, by all means get the light duty cutter. Keep in mind, the neighbors may come calling with a few jobs of their own...some may be pretty grim. You may want to decide now whether you want to position yourself to take them on.

The Woods light duty (they call it 'standard duty') is plenty tough enough for anything 1" and under and seems to be better built than some other light duty cutters I've seen. It'll take the abuse if you occasionally get into bigger stuff. There are times when I wish I'd gotten the BB72 instead of the BB720, as most of my cutting is grass & weeds. Still, I have alot of nasty stuff as well and the 720 takes it in stride. What Woods calls a 'medium duty' cutter is really quite a brute.

After 30 years of abuse, my 5ft. standard duty Woods Dixie Cutter is still quite useable. About 6 years ago, cracks started showing up in the deck and some of the structure, so it got welded up and reinforced a bit. With the 720 on hand, the Dixie Cutter's been 'put out to pasture', so to speak, and relegated to grass mowing only. I used to wade into 2" to 3" sumac and 1-1/2" ash with that thing.

If you really don't need the medium duty cutter, it doesn't make sense to overbuy then be forced into overbuying everything else just to accommodate the cutter.

Whatever tractor you get; GET THE REMOTES! They are sooo useful. You can't imagine now the uses you'll find for them down the road. Besides, it's cheaper to add them now rather than later. On the class machine you're looking at, I'd get at least two.
FWIW
Bob

 

[FamilyFarm]

Thanks for the replies. All are appreciated!
I am one of those that never gets enough information, so more is nice if anyone else wants to chime in.
It looks like I'm going to end up spending more than I had planned - imagine that!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Have a GREAT day!!
Terry

 

[FamilyFarm]

Thanks for the replies. All are appreciated!
I am one of those that never gets enough information, so more is nice if anyone else wants to chime in.
It looks like I'm going to end up spending more than I had planned - imagine that!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Have a GREAT day!!
Terry

 

[_RaT_]

Going from a L48 which power wise is about the same as the L5030, just more loader, I do not miss the power that it had versus what I now have with the L3830. I frankly don't understand the weight ratings for the implements Kubota uses especially since the L3830, L4330 and L4630 essentially share the exact same rear end, I suppose some of it is marketing. I am guilty of pretty much ignoring altogether the implement specs. I had a offset Woods DO80, an 80" brush mower that was a beast. It had two spindles, four swinging blades, a ful set of chains in the front and back, the L3830 would run it pretty good. What you may find is that with a little more HP, you can go 3.2 mph versus 2.8 mph when the grass is tall and thick. Once you get the grass (weeds) trimmed to maintaining shape, its a moot point. I was on all hills with heavily irrigated acerage. I ended up selling my Woods 80" and got a Land Pride 84" finish mower. It has been just great. Since I moved to less acerage, I will be selling all of it. TnT is indeed the best way to really maximize the potential of your tractor, I would not want one without it. If you go with the L5030, TnT, mower, loader etc, your going to be considerably higher in price then the L3830 comparably equipped less the different loaders.

 

[_RaT_]

Going from a L48 which power wise is about the same as the L5030, just more loader, I do not miss the power that it had versus what I now have with the L3830. I frankly don't understand the weight ratings for the implements Kubota uses especially since the L3830, L4330 and L4630 essentially share the exact same rear end, I suppose some of it is marketing. I am guilty of pretty much ignoring altogether the implement specs. I had a offset Woods DO80, an 80" brush mower that was a beast. It had two spindles, four swinging blades, a ful set of chains in the front and back, the L3830 would run it pretty good. What you may find is that with a little more HP, you can go 3.2 mph versus 2.8 mph when the grass is tall and thick. Once you get the grass (weeds) trimmed to maintaining shape, its a moot point. I was on all hills with heavily irrigated acerage. I ended up selling my Woods 80" and got a Land Pride 84" finish mower. It has been just great. Since I moved to less acerage, I will be selling all of it. TnT is indeed the best way to really maximize the potential of your tractor, I would not want one without it. If you go with the L5030, TnT, mower, loader etc, your going to be considerably higher in price then the L3830 comparably equipped less the different loaders.