New 2014 Deere 3R series

[ddivinia]

Good choice.


D.

 

[TCowner]

You have more patience that I do. I would want the tractor at my place to study, look at, drive to the neighbors for coffee, wash, wax, look at some more, drive out to get the mail, etc. I suspect the purchase price of the tractor and attachments represents a nice margin for the dealer. He could just come get the tractor when the attachments are all in and bring it back. I'm sure he would prefer not to but I've seen a number of times where the two week timetable ends up being closer to four weeks.

I have the open station 3720 with just over 400 hours now and have not any problems. Its a fantastic tractor and I am amazed at the power and torque. So congratulation on the new tractor. With winter fast approaching that ComfortGard cab looks pretty inviting.

 

[JDJay]

You have more patience that I do. I would want the tractor at my place to study, look at, drive to the neighbors for coffee, wash, wax, look at some more, drive out to get the mail, etc. I suspect the purchase price of the tractor and attachments represents a nice margin for the dealer. He could just come get the tractor when the attachments are all in and bring it back. I'm sure he would prefer not to but I've seen a number of times where the two week timetable ends up being closer to four weeks.

I have the open station 3720 with just over 400 hours now and have not any problems. Its a fantastic tractor and I am amazed at the power and torque. So congratulation on the new tractor. With winter fast approaching that ComfortGard cab looks pretty inviting.

Yeah I put up a fuss ("deal is off" kind of fuss) when he said they would want to wait to deliver it all at once when the snowblower comes in; I said "I need it now" for fall cleanup in the garden & around the yard; he assured me it would only be a couple weeks so I gave in. The dealer I get everything from is primarily an ag dealer so they're swamped with ag stuff right now; my first thought is "that's not my problem, get it out here or else" but I guess you have to be a little flexible sometimes. I want to get my garden tilled, grade & fix my driveway, do some repairs & seeding along the fields around my farmsite, build a dog kennel in my back yard with big concrete blocks as a floor; the jobs are piling up! Plus all the jobs you mentioned, including getting the mail & showing the neighbors! There's a guy at church who heard through the grapevine that I had it out as a demo & he asked me the other day if he could come over & take a look at it, he has a similar place & is looking for something just like it. The dealer picked it up from here mid week already so it might as well stay there until it's ready, but if the snowblower isn't coming in for a couple weeks they could put the loader on & bring the tractor, loader, and tiller out, that's all I need for fall anyway. There shouldn't be much or any setup to be done on the (3 point) snowblower that needs the actual tractor to do, they could sure bring that snowblower later.

It's good to hear that you have that many hours and are very happy with yours. I'm going with the same philosophy you'd use with a boat - if you can afford it, max out the horsepower with any given chassis. The more power you have for snow blowing, the better. I would rather have an open station for 90% of the use I'll be getting, but for blowing snow when it's below zero & windy, I have a cab on the tractor this one is replacing & I know I'd be pissed that I made this trade every time it's nasty out & I have to blow snow, so I decided a cab was a must. When I had the tractor out to demo I backed it into the garden "pretending" I was tilling, the visibility seems to be really good out of these cabs, almost like the cab wasn't there with that curved rear window.

I struggled a little over the tire choice, turfs or R4's. I was going to go with turfs, they had one tractor with each on hand (the tractor with turfs was at one of their locations an hour away). So, I grabbed a tape measure & made the trip, that was the tractor I wanted (with turfs). I am NOT going to be doing dirtwork with it. Primarily snow moving, with light duty work around the place during the summer including tilling the garden and other misc. things that require going across the lawn. I was surprised by this.

Overall tractor width, to outside edge of tires:
3720 w/ R4's = 59" wide
3720 w/ turfs = 55" wide

Rear tire (tread contact area) width:
R4's = 16 1/2"
turfs = 14 1/2"

Rear tire overall height & rim diameter = same

Front tread width:

R4's = 8 1/4"
turfs = 7"

So, turfs have more surface contact area when the footprint is identical, that is obvious, but in real life you have to factor in the fact that the R4's they use are wider. Not making imprints in the lawn is important to me, even though I'm not going to mow with it. I decided to go with the R4's; the deciding factor for me was overall width, you get 4" more of overall tractor width / tractor stability with R4's. You can see this by just looking at the two, the R4's stick out of the fender wells further. Looks meaner too...

 

[Rockgod]

Fyi, If the turfs are only at 55" wide in the rear it's because they're set in the narrow position. If you flip them to the wide position you'll get the same 59" as the R-4s.

Congrats!

 

[JDJay]

Fyi, If the turfs are only at 55" wide in the rear it's because they're set in the narrow position. If you flip them to the wide position you'll get the same 59" as the R-4s.

Congrats!

Thanks! I was wondering if that wasn't the case, dishing them out would add a few inches of width. I probably would have gone the other way if I had known that but hopefully it's not a big deal either way. I'm more worried about the R4's not being good in snow than anything. Most people seem to have R4's on this size tractor so they must work OK in snow.

 

[arlen4720]

Thanks! I was wondering if that wasn't the case, dishing them out would add a few inches of width. I probably would have gone the other way if I had known that but hopefully it's not a big deal either way. I'm more worried about the R4's not being good in snow than anything. Most people seem to have R4's on this size tractor so they must work OK in snow.

I don't really like my R4's in snow...I get by, but the fronts don't have much lateral traction. Turfs would be better. Steering brakes help. I thought about getting some chains.

 

[Rockgod]

Thanks! I was wondering if that wasn't the case, dishing them out would add a few inches of width. I probably would have gone the other way if I had known that but hopefully it's not a big deal either way. I'm more worried about the R4's not being good in snow than anything. Most people seem to have R4's on this size tractor so they must work OK in snow.

It really is how you'll most use your machine. I use mine all winter snow blowing (front mount) and all spring, summer, fall, finish mowing, R-4's would not be an option for me. I might use the loader 10% of the time. That said the turfs work very well. I just stay out of the mud

I think the upgrade to turfs is around $300. Not bad imo..

 

[JDJay]

It really is how you'll most use your machine. I use mine all winter snow blowing (front mount) and all spring, summer, fall, finish mowing, R-4's would not be an option for me. I might use the loader 10% of the time. That said the turfs work very well. I just stay out of the mud

I think the upgrade to turfs is around $300. Not bad imo..

The primary purpose for this tractor for me is to move snow, that's the only time it's capabilities will be tested. Next is tilling the garden. Next is using the loader for light duty work (hauling stuff around the yard, obsoleting my lawn cart). maybe a future post hole digger, brush cutter, and subsoiler. That's it, no significant dirtwork with the loader, I have a medium sized Bobcat (owned by my company, usually sits in my shed) for serious dirtwork (none planned). I went back & forth on just getting a 1025R with a tiller & calling it good but decided to trade off my "big" tractor instead for the 3720 & move snow with that & also make it work for tilling & other odd jobs around the place (much more useful than the big tractor that has just sat around all summer since I quit farming my land several years ago). I'll be using a 3 point snowblower for snow (primarily) with occasional loader use (loader will always be on).

My 70 hp tractor with front wheel assist has been excellent in snow with ag tires...

 

[Rockgod]

The primary purpose for this tractor for me is to move snow, that's the only time it's capabilities will be tested. Next is tilling the garden. Next is using the loader for light duty work (hauling stuff around the yard, obsoleting my lawn cart). maybe a future post hole digger, brush cutter, and subsoiler. That's it, no significant dirtwork with the loader, I have a medium sized Bobcat (owned by my company, usually sits in my shed) for serious dirtwork (none planned). I went back & forth on just getting a 1025R with a tiller & calling it good but decided to trade off my "big" tractor instead for the 3720 & move snow with that & also make it work for tilling & other odd jobs around the place (much more useful than the big tractor that has just sat around all summer since I quit farming my land several years ago). I'll be using a 3 point snowblower for snow (primarily) with occasional loader use (loader will always be on).

My 70 hp tractor with front wheel assist has been excellent in snow with ag tires...

If you're mostly moving snow I like the R-3s. I've never had an issue with them.

 

[jd670]

My buddy just told me his new 3320 came in Thursday. I'm going up there today to see if its a regular 3320 or "R" series. I'll get pics. I'll also see what tier it is.