Owensdad
New member
You have received a lot of great advice here from people far more experienced than me, but I went through just about the same buying decision a few months ago, so I thought I would share my experience.
I've had a Kubota L3400 HST for about 10 years on our 50 acre hobby farm doing typical CUT chores, not any field work (Finish mower, some brush cutting, loader work, clean up of downed trees, etc). I wanted to get something bigger that would allow me to use larger implements and maybe do a bit of field work, but still be able to do everything I was doing already.
I ended up selling the 3400 late last year, so I had all winter to scour manufacturers websites and of course this forum. I too was considering an MX or an M Kubota. Ultimately I ended up with an MX5800 over an M5660. The real deciding moment came when I went to the dealer (for about the 5th time) to actually drive an M, just so I could get an idea of how the hyd. shuttle tranny worked vs. the hydrostatic, which I was already familiar with. While the MX and the smallest M don't look that much different on paper, the minute I climbed up on the M, I realized that it was a different class of tractor and not for me. Much taller and wider than the MX. Even though the MX is listed by Kubota as a utility tractor, it is really still a compact, albeit on the larger end of that spectrum. The M jumps into the next category up, again, in my opinion. While I'm sure it would be much better at pulling larger implements, I felt that it would be too big for the small chores that I do a lot of. Not to mention that it's weight, combined with R-1 tires would make it impractical to use for pulling our 7' finish mower, especially this time of year when the ground is soft.
It has been said already that there is no one machine perfect for all tasks, which I certainly agree with. I got some of the best, most practical advice from the dealer, who told me to get the tractor that will be the best suited for what I do most of the time, rather than worry about what I might like to do in the future or a once every few years task.
Hope this helps and best of luck.
I've had a Kubota L3400 HST for about 10 years on our 50 acre hobby farm doing typical CUT chores, not any field work (Finish mower, some brush cutting, loader work, clean up of downed trees, etc). I wanted to get something bigger that would allow me to use larger implements and maybe do a bit of field work, but still be able to do everything I was doing already.
I ended up selling the 3400 late last year, so I had all winter to scour manufacturers websites and of course this forum. I too was considering an MX or an M Kubota. Ultimately I ended up with an MX5800 over an M5660. The real deciding moment came when I went to the dealer (for about the 5th time) to actually drive an M, just so I could get an idea of how the hyd. shuttle tranny worked vs. the hydrostatic, which I was already familiar with. While the MX and the smallest M don't look that much different on paper, the minute I climbed up on the M, I realized that it was a different class of tractor and not for me. Much taller and wider than the MX. Even though the MX is listed by Kubota as a utility tractor, it is really still a compact, albeit on the larger end of that spectrum. The M jumps into the next category up, again, in my opinion. While I'm sure it would be much better at pulling larger implements, I felt that it would be too big for the small chores that I do a lot of. Not to mention that it's weight, combined with R-1 tires would make it impractical to use for pulling our 7' finish mower, especially this time of year when the ground is soft.
It has been said already that there is no one machine perfect for all tasks, which I certainly agree with. I got some of the best, most practical advice from the dealer, who told me to get the tractor that will be the best suited for what I do most of the time, rather than worry about what I might like to do in the future or a once every few years task.
Hope this helps and best of luck.
