I found one! I found one! But is it the right Kubota for me??

GPintheMitten · Nov 24, 2014

Here's a link to a company with 3 point round bale spears. But you could look for used.

Three point hay carrier, 3 pt bale spears, and 3 pt attachments

jsydney5 · Nov 24, 2014

Gary Fowler said:
It is just too small to lift one with a hay spear on the FEL and you could get in serious trouble fast even if it will raise the bale off the ground. You have to have a serious counterweight on the back to offset the weight in the front. DONT even think about putting one of the hay spears that bolt onto the FEL bucket as they put the weight so far out in front that even a 50 HP tractor struggles with it.

A 3 point hitch mounted hay spear is fine for carrying bales for that size tractor, however, it can only be use to lift a bale that is directly on the ground. It cant be used to lift one off a trailer, or remove or place one in a stack. I think you need to look for a bit larger tractor in the 40HP range minimum.

I only need to lift the bale off the ground... no stacking. Current owner's 30hp tractor has worked just fine doing the same work, but just not sure about the comparable lift capacities between the two tractors. I'll look into the 3 point hay spear costs of buying one used... not sure how to go about buying that?!

jsydney5 · Nov 24, 2014

GPintheMitten said:
Here's a link to a company with 3 point round bale spears. But you could look for used.

Three point hay carrier, 3 pt bale spears, and 3 pt attachments

You. Are. AWESOME! Thanks!!

Turf tires..hmmm i just assumed that would be good for not tearing up my lawn. Shoot. Good point! Any one else think this would be a deal-breaker??

GPintheMitten · Nov 24, 2014

Regarding tires, how muddy does it get where you are dropping the bales? I see the tractor is 4wd. No one wants to a steer you wrong. I think the turfs would be ok for dry and snow, but mud could be a problem if it is deep and occurs often.

My daughter currently has turfs on her BX2660. So far she gets around good in the mud in 4wd. But this is just surface mud, not 10 inch deep slop.

Robert F. · Nov 25, 2014

Gary Fowler said:
ONE other thing, with turf tires on a tractor, even if it lifts a 1000# bale it is going to be a heck of a load for turf tires. Turfs also aren't going to give you much traction in mud which you will likely find in a pasture in the winter. Better to look for a tractor with at least R4(industrial) tires. They will have the load carrying capacity and traction to get you into the pasture and back out.

I think deep mud will give trouble no matter what tires are on there. R3 (turf) with chains would probably be no worse that R4 (industrial). My JD tractor owner manual gives the exact same load carrying capacity whether turf or industrial at the recommended air pressure.

varmint · Nov 25, 2014

Something like a L3130 with loaded rears should easily lift 800 lbs with a quick attach front spear, which would be lighter than the bucket... I've lifted over 600 lbs with mine, with the bucket in place (which is heavy itself) and it was nothing. Just don't plan on whipping around with the load up high.

sd455dan · Nov 26, 2014

jsydney5 said:
I found a 96' Kubota with 2000 hours on it in my price range. I need a tractor to lift 800-1000lb round bales to bring out to the pasture for horses. I know it's better to have too much tractor than not enough, but hoping that this one will get me by for a small horse farm. Uses for this tractor are for lifting round bales, dragging the ring, mowing the fields in the summer, and dumping compost in the compost bin!

The Tractor is a:
"Kubota L2550 4x4 diesel with front end loader. It has 2083 hrs. Turf tires, 3 pt hydraulic hitch, shuttle shift with hi & low"

TractorData.com Kubota L2550 tractor information

Can you tell me if this is enough (or barely enough) tractor for what I need??? Thank you!!!

I don't think so.

we use a 40 and 55 hp utility sized machines and i don't think they are to big but only use the FELS for moving stacking rounds.

if you don't mind not being able to truly lift or stack -or remove from a stack then it may be ok

also the bales we use are 900-1100 average so if using smaller rounds maybe,

but I would rather have a more stable platform for round bales of an ag tractor- than a cut

tires, I love my 14.9 28 R1 AGs- both tractors one has weights the other loaded with calcium

and yeah when it dumps a lot of rain they can tear up the field a bit - but haven't ever been stuck either

TSO · Nov 26, 2014

Follow your own advice ... better to have too much tractor than not enough.

That tractor is too small.

Threepoint · Nov 26, 2014

jsydney5 said:
I only need to lift the bale off the ground... no stacking. Current owner's 30hp tractor has worked just fine doing the same work, but just not sure about the comparable lift capacities between the two tractors. I'll look into the 3 point hay spear costs of buying one used... not sure how to go about buying that?!

Welcome to TBN! You're getting some good advice here. I'll add my thoughts. The turf tires wouldn't concern me for what you have in mind, but the capacity of the loader on the L2550 is not even close to what's on that L3130 at the farm, assuming the farm's loader is one of the two that Kubota made for it. As a previous poster stated, the BF400G loader on the L2550 is rated at 882 lbs at full height at the pins. TractorData.com Kubota L2550 tractor attachments information

Now, make note of the loader model number of the farm's L3130 (decal on the loader arm). It's probably an LA513 or an LA723. Then take a look at this link to confirm its lift capacity at the pins at full height: TractorData.com Kubota L3130 tractor attachments information If it's an LA513, the capacity is 1345 lbs. If an LA723, it's 1870 lbs. Either way, that is a very significant jump up from the L2550's loader when you're talking about humping 800 lb. round bales out to the pasture.

With a front bale spear, and since you're not stacking, you won't need the full lift height to get your round bales high enough to move around, but these numbers will give you a sense of how the current farm tractor compares to what you're considering.