New and Looking Hard at LS

[suzy]

Thanks for the info on prices elsewhere, I still am curious about the range in pricing for these tractors. The quote I was given was for one currently in Lacombe, Ab. and to be shipped out west. I guess I should be looking at the one in New Brunswick and investigating the cost of shipping. What's the name of this dealer in New Brunswick?

 

[gregsm33]

ljpattersonsales.com

 

[Gary Fowler]

Suzy: I would wager that the shipping from other dealer in your price adds at least $1K to the price, so you could likely get a better deal on a local tractor so you only have to pay shipping one time. You may have to wait a while to get one. OH, my dealer said that installing the remotes at the factory is cheap, most of the cost for dealer installed is in labor to strip down the tractor, fenders, wheels etc to get to everything. If you ordered one with 2 remotes the price will be lots less than having a dealer install them. You may even be able to get a larger tractor that comes with remotes cheaper than having a pair installed on one that you have to pay extra for.

 

[4DFARM]

Avatar...did you say you have 200 Acres??? If so, it would seem you need a utility? I'm curious as to why you would want a compact as opposed to a utility...your reasoning may be useful to me.

I saw rocknrod just bought a 4010...I'm jealous! ha! Rocknrod, if your out there, what kind of ground clearence do you have with the 4010...that's one reason I was leaning to the utility, they are wider and taller...the L3240 Kubota I'm using sits pretty high off the ground for a compact, which I think is useful when doing any kind of clearing work...one thing that concerns me is the LS compacts appear (I haven't actually measured it and haven't found a spec on it) to sit lower to the ground than some of their competitors.

One thing I have learned in using the Kubota, the shuttle reverse is a MUST (of course that's almost standard on all models now) and a FEL with 4WD is a MUST..I've come close to getting stuck 4 times in the last two days doing some clearing after we had a ton of rain, I was able to use the bucket to give additional assistance to the tires to get out....I had even debated taking the loader off while I was box blading but glad now I didn't....I still haven't mastered the loader, and curious how Gary was able to dig an eight foot pond??

 

[4DFARM]

Gary...its seems based on what you and some others have said regarding pricing, that there may be a couple of thousand dollars to neogtiate with on the tractor?

 

[avatar]

4dfarm...that is right 200 acres !! 40 acres where we live and 2-80 acres tracks all hunting property...Its all mostly wooded with somewhere around 8 to 10 small food plots..Most of the heavy stuff (clearing plots, hauling logs, ect) we do with a backhoe with a fel.. What i need a tractor for is maintaining our food plots and mowing trails that are to tight to get into with a larger tractor... the other reasoning is the need to trailer it back and forth , the trailer that we have is just big enough for the width and weight of the compacts... we have to rent a trailer whenever we move the backhoe... Hey rocknrod nice tractor!!!! I too have been drooling over the pic he sent. Hope this is helpful, here in northern michigan with our thick swampy woods bigger is not always better

 

[4DFARM]

Gotcha Avatar..that makes sense...don't tell me nothin bout no swamp woods, I live in Louisiana! ha! I don't have anywhere near your acreage, but mine is soon to be cleared and will have to be maintained for horses/cows...that's one reason I was looking at utilities, so I could pull a 10 ft. bush hog to cut down mow time...don't think I can pull that with the 4020, maybe if the grass isn't too tall? Good point about trailering though, that is something I know but hadn't really considered...

 

[Gary Fowler]

4D, I too was a little anxious when I got my 7010 without a tooth bar when it came to digging because with my compact Yanmar 4220, I couldnt even scoop up loose dirt till I put on a toothbar. The 7010 however has no trouble tearing into hard soil and loading up with it. I did use a boxblade to loosen up the shale in the bottom when I got down to that. I also used it when I started to loosen the grass from the whole area. I discarded that due to the amount of organic matter as I was using all my dugout dirt for the dam. I also used the boxblade to kind of keep everything level as I dug. I would run forward scooping up with the FEL and drop the boxblade to scarify and drag more soil up. The next pass, I just picked up the pile with the FEL to join the rest of the pickings. It took me a bit to get used to having the cab which restricts the vision a bit (no standing up to look at the front of the bucket blade like on my Yanmar) so you have to depend on the rod indicator as to angle of the blade. The tires will let you know when you have to much angle as it stalls if you try to take too big a bite. I just tilted enough so that I was picking up about 3" of overlay at a pass. That pretty much filled my bucket from one side to the other.

 

[4DFARM]

Ok..that's very interesting Gary...sounds like you got excavating with it down to an art!

 

[Gary Fowler]

I wouldnt go that far, but I do have a pretty good eye for level etc and when I put a line level on the dam, it was only 4" low from high point. I did build a pond with my Dad back in 1970 or thereabouts in Lousiana using a 9000 Ford and a 5 yard hydraulic scraper bucket. Dad used a 190XT AC with a back blade and just circled the drop area to keep the dirt levelled and packed. We took 2 days to build a 2.5 acre pond that held over 6 feet of water. We raised catfish in it till the flyboys kept dropping cotton poison in it and killing our fish. After Dad and Mom died, the rest of us kids sold our interest in it to one of our sisters and they filled in the pond so that ended that saga. But is was good experience to call on for when I built mine. The big difference was that the first pond was built on flat ground and my last project was laid out on a slope so it was a little tricky. I likely will do a little clean up on the top later on to make it a bit more level. This trip home I just need to put in my overflow pipe just in case we do get some rain this winter and fill it up.