To B3030 or not to B?

[workinallthetime]

load up time is down to less than 5 minutes, I pull it with my half ton v max and it sits on a 18 foot car hauler with a little room to spare.
I am kind of looking more at the business end of what you described than the home aspect. Lots of people have said rent this or hire out someone to do your dive but if your in no time crunch the 3030 can get it done comfortably and help you get used to it in the process. The only thing that concerns me is the amount of time you will spend doing snow removal and mowing. I have no clue what snow removal involves since im in oklahoma and we get no more than 4" on the ground at a time. Mowing wise i think I would start out with a good 6' rear finish mower and see how it goes, if you dont like it sell it and buy a rider of some sort. BUT 10 acres to mow you will almost have to get a commercial unit or your going to be replacing it ever couple years. The zd326 is about $12k and thats alot of bank on top of what you are allready looking at in a tractor.
I would go make a list of the things you want to do with it at work and the things you want to do at home, go out to your place and visualize the time its going to take to complete each task and then think 5 years from now am I going to want to mow for 3 hours or 6.
The worst mowing job I had was a 10 acre field took 8 hours the first time and got it down to 4 by the end of the summer. I did it with my 5 foot deck and thought about buying a 6' deck for the b3030 but thats only a foot on a machine that wasnt designed to just mow

 

[workinallthetime]

New B3200 - TractorByNet.com

TALK TO HIS CAT ABOUT MOWING WITH A 72" BELLY MOWER ON A B3200, LOOKS TO BE KIND OF IN THE SAME BOAT AS YOU

 

[Dusty1]

Thanks for your input workin', I'll have to sit down and do the pros and cons on paper and see which one adds up.

 

[Charlesaf3]

b3030 runs a 72" belly mower just fine. I find hooking it up more annoying than 3pt stuff, but no problems with mow quality speed or oomph

 

[workinallthetime]

b3030 runs a 72" belly mower just fine. I find hooking it up more annoying than 3pt stuff, but no problems with mow quality speed or oomph

Hey man, do you have a skid steer adaptor for your b3030 fel? if so id love to hear about it

 

[davesalisbury]

Hi all-

I'm looking to move from a BX2230 to something a little larger (more ground clearance, more power, heavier/more functional 3PH and position control). Because of the last two constraints I'm thinking B2630 or B3030. New seems a bit dear at this moment (although this could change if Kubota extends the 0% into August - I don't tend to rush just to get the cheap financing).

I've a 3PH rear finish mower (putting the MMM on is a PITA), so all I am looking for is a tractor and loader.

I found a 3030 with a Kubota loader online that appears to have been a rental with a touch over 500 hours on it, asking 13250. Does this price sound in the ballpark?

 

[Charlesaf3]

Hey man, do you have a skid steer adaptor for your b3030 fel? if so id love to hear about it

yep I do - ATI makes it. Well worth it to my mind.

 

[bw_wis]

Unless you are married to Kubota (which great machines. I have B2630. I'm amazed by it.) You should check out the JD 3000 series. They come 31-44hp and are only a bit bigger then a B3030. I looked at them myself. Almost got one. But needed the smallest machine to meet my needs. And found a great deal used on my 2630 before I found a great deal on a JD.

Good luck.

 

[davesalisbury]

Thanks for the input. I'm not married to anything save my wife, but I have had a good experience with the BX2230 (FEL, MMM). My reasons to consider moving up are basically that 1) I'd like something that can handle a 5 foot RFM; I have grown to genuinely hate hooking up the MMM, 2) Something with a bit more ground clearance especially in winter snow (I've stuck the BX2230 more than once in snow that packed up under the frame), and a little more horsepower. I just need a tractor and loader since I'd move to a RFM with the new one.

My choices are basically this:

1-Stay with what I have for a bit. It works OK, though it could be better. There is no huge hurry.

2-B2630 new (1.5 hours) with loader for 15250, with a trade offer on mine of 7K subject to pictures (8250 difference).

3-B3030 used as a rental (510 hours) with loader for 13250, with a trade offer on mine of 8K subject to pictures (5250 difference).

I'm reasonably indifferent on the HP between these two machines, although more is always better all things being equal. I like new stuff as much as the next guy but 3K is noticeable in my world.

That the used machine was a rental can be somewhat worrying, but if the rental agency kept the maintenance up and fixed things as needed (they are a Kubota dealer too) it should be OK.

In short, used with more horsepower for less money, or new with less horsepower for more money. Financing is not a huge consideration - I'm not one that thinks in terms of monthly payments; I count overall cost.

I'm sure if Kubota extends their promotional rates into August I could get 0% on the new one, but even at 8% on the used one (and I've seen significantly better rates than that floating about) that closes the difference gap by $800 (assuming 3 years of payments), so overall the used one is still noticeably cheaper.

The used one will likely need tires sooner than the new one, but I would prefer turfs anyway (both machines have R4's). With the new one I guess I could get the tires swapped for a relatively nominal cost.

To me, the biggest question is the 510 rental hours and how much that could factor into future reliability of the machine.

Any opinions or experiences that might help shift the discussion on this in one direction or the other appreciated.

Thanks.

Dave

 

[dodge man]

If you have real alot of other posts, there is usually not alot of positive things said about rental units, they tend to be abused. You just have to check out the machine a little more and make sure it isn't tore up.