Zetor 4341

[TnWV]

I have an opportunity to purchase a 2001 Zetor 4341 4X4 with loader that has 312 hours on it. The only tractor I have owned so far is a 1975 MF150 2WD that I inherited from my father. I need a 4X4 to safetly mow some of my steep land and a loader to do cleanup and I will eventually be cutting hay on the flat part of my property. Can anyone comment on how good these tractors are? I have limited funds and want to spend them as wisely as possible. I really like the look and size of this tractor. It is a one owner and seems to be like new. Can anyone comment on whether or not this tractor will pull and 8' brush hog without problems? Any comments are appreciated.

Thanks,

Tony

 

[mattellis2]

8' is probably too much for that tractor. 6' is probably more realistic.

 

[rScotty]

I have an opportunity to purchase a 2001 Zetor 4341 4X4 with loader that has 312 hours on it. The only tractor I have owned so far is a 1975 MF150 2WD that I inherited from my father. I need a 4X4 to safetly mow some of my steep land and a loader to do cleanup and I will eventually be cutting hay on the flat part of my property. Can anyone comment on how good these tractors are? .
Tony

Sure can comment. I've been around tractors for years and we have four other makes of tractors right now. We don't have a Zetor, but I've used them them and friends own them and I'm impressed. Looks to me like Zetors are darn good tractors and certainly built right. Everytime I look one over I come back thinking it is a nice piece of equipment and made to last. The Zetor loader and 4x4 mech. is a brute.

Some things I've found out is that Zetor has stuck by one design for a long time so they have the time to just keep working to make it better and probably to lower the costs. Maybe they've done it too well, because for some reason they never have been popular. Loggers and ranchers tend to know about them. You see a lot of them in remote areas doing both. If you are a mechanic, you can probably tell by looking and listening that they are good. Upsides are that it is about as bulletproof as you can make a tractor, lots of convenience features, good in cold weather, and improvements are almost always retrofittable. Downside is mostly low resale and surprisingly low popularity for how well they work. Mechanical problems tend to be rare and when they do have one they typically put out an upgraded part that is an exact replacement and bolts on. Nice engineering backed up with especially nice manuals. Nice machines.
rScotty

 

[TnWV]

rScotty - I'm glad that you decided to comment, I was starting to think that no one would chime in. Your comments are very encouraging and seem to be exactly what those who own them around me say. I really like the tractor and hope that I end up with it. I left the dealer a message today with my offer and hope to hear back by Monday. If the offer is accepted I will be borrowing a 5th wheel trailer and heading to PA to pick it up next Saturday. Hope it works out, I am going crazy thinking about it. Thanks again for the comments.

 

[dgl24087]

At 56 PTO HP, I think it would handle an 8' brush hog. Rough rule of thumb is 1 ft per 5 hp.

 

[rScotty]

rScotty - I'm glad that you decided to comment,

You'r welcome. good luck with the purchase. I sent you a private message too. Look for that.

Basically I like tractors and like helping people find one that fits. Everyone has to have a hobby....., and I still remember how excited I was to get our first tractor. BTW, my library down at the office has a small collection of shop manuals and among them are a couple of Zetor shop manuals there we can use for reference. Like most good shop manuals they are big heavy tomes about the heft of an unabridged dictionary.

As for handling an 8 foot bush hog....It depends. Doesn't it always? But an 8 footer can be a monster. That Zetor certainly has enough HP, but horse power isn't the whole picture. I think our own bush hog on the big JD is close to that size.. though it might be a six or seven footer. It's heavy built...I'll have to go check. But whatever size it is, even that one can require first gear going in thick wet hay or dense brush.

Having a live independent PTO that is clutched and engaged independently of the tractor's drive clutch can be important in heavy going or against fence lines. A live PTO is less important in the open or in dry grass.

Also more important than HP is the category and capability of the tractor's three point hitch. For an 8 foot bush hog I'd want a true Category II three point 3 pt hitch in order to handle the weight and twisting of that size bush hog. The Zetor has that. Any heavy hog over six feet will usually have a trailing wheel on a boom and it's got to handle that too. Smaller tractors have a Category 1 size 3 pt hitch and that's a bit light. The Zetor hitch is massive and will do all the lifting and stabilizing easy enough. The Zetor also has a beefy enough PTO transmission to handle the angular momentum of the large rotating parts on such a large bush hog.

IMHO, any tractor using a large bush hog should also be equipped with an internal "over-running" PTO clutch. There I don't know if the 4341 has such. I'd imagine it does, but check it out. When I get to the shop manuals I'll look too. Just in case it does not, an over-running clutch can be added to the PTO driveline. In fact, it doesn't hurt to have two.
Good luck on the tractor hunt, rScotty

 

[TnWV]

The 8' brush hog I am looking at is a Kodiak HD8. It seems to be a medium duty cutter and has a min HP of 38 PTO and weights 1125 pounds according the the specs on Kodiaks website. It it the two blade setup, so it doesn't hang back as far as a single blade. Looking at the specs I would think that the Zetor 4341 would pull it. I will only be using it on fields of mostly fescue grass. There really isn't any brush as I have been able to keep them clean with my 2WD, but it is a real chore on the steep parts, I tend to slide downhill alot. My main purpose of the bigger 4X4 is to make my mowing safer and more efficient. It takes forever with a 5' hog, especially when you have to go down and then all the way around the hill to make another swipe due to traction. The 4X4 would eliminate this as I would be able to go up and down all of it.

The dealer called and rejected my offer this morning. I'm kinda bummed out at the moment. I offered 1500 less than the asking price and cannot believe they didn't accept it. When I sell something of that magnatude I also ask about 2k more than I am willing to accept for it. Unfortunately I have hit my budget limit, so I may have to keep looking. I really like the tractor and want to buy it, so maybe I'll find a way to come up with the cash before they sell it. The tractor is about 7 hours away and I have to borrow a truck and trailer to go get it. I'll keep pluggin away at them and see what happens I guess. I have been looking for a couple of years and this tractor seems perfect for my property, so I hate to let it get away and have to search forever for another one close to my price range. I was hoping for better news....now I will be agravated all day.

Thanks for the comments and keep them coming.

 

[rScotty]

Thanks for the comments and keep them coming.

Lets see....you've been looking for years....this one has everything you want and is late model 300 hrs/one owner.... and your old mower would fit just fine. Frankly I could find reasons to do/not do any deal, but that amount of money wouldn't be one of them.

Of course this is also the same line of reasoning that explains why I have 4 tractors right now .
rScotty

 

[TnWV]

Well, today was the day. I finally worked out the deal and bought the tractor. It is a 2003 Zetor 4341/FEL one owner with 312 hrs. The check should clear and the tractor be delivered to me by next Thursday or Friday. I am going to absolutely go crazy waiting for its arrival. I will likely use my current 5' brush hog at first, but will be purchasing a larger one in the very near future. Thanks for all the comments and suggestions to everone, and I will certainly post pictures upon its arrival.

 

[czechsonofagun]

When I worked in the hops harvest - long story, don't ask - over in Czechoslovakia we would drive only Zetors. Naturally, there are made there and we had a scale of them to pull wagons. Some of old 3011 and some newer and new. In spite of the logistic problems associated with the east block, they were ok machines back than and they took a lot of abuse without wincing.

Here is more on the history of the brand:

History - ZETOR TRACTORS a. s.

The name Zetor actually relates to CZ - as CZ guns