Trying to buy a tractor - 3 options has me confused on best value for my use - HELP

[Steppenwolfe]

Hey neighbor..literally in Raleigh and mts... we're in N ral and our mts property is about 8 miles from Floyd...

I've been hunting for a good deal on a trailer... If I don't get the kubota, I'll either buy one or rent a Uhaul trailer to pick it up and deliver to our property...
I think the Kubota is a great deal too.. almost to good to be true.. he told me what he paid then i called the dealership and asked for the same pckg; they came back with cash price of $27k...makes me nervous that he'd be willing to walk away from that much $ unless he knows something i don't know lol

It seems that the Tier 4 fears haven't been as bad as the threads feared from 3-4 yrs ago. It does make me lean towards the Mahindras though so i don't have to worry about regen cycles..

Two things... Do Not worry about the regen, it is no big deal, don't be scared away just on that alone. Second, welcome to the neighborhood. We have 5 acres and a cabin outside of Floyd on the border of Patrick County. Main house and 90 acres an hour east. Anyway, the l3901 is a great tractor with a real nice fel. Very quick and responsive. Absolutely make sure the tires are loaded and consider wheel weights for all of the fel work you want to do. Good luck.

 

[teg]

Hey neighbor..literally in Raleigh and mts... we're in N ral and our mts property is about 8 miles from Floyd...

I think the Kubota is a great deal too.. almost to good to be true.....

Hope you can get the .Kubota, it's the big younger brother of my L2800 HST. They are pretty much bullet proof as long as they are maintained.

As for the price being too good, just make sure you can see, feel and inspect it. If you help let me know. teg/Dan

PS. my builder in the mountains is from Floyd - been there several times. Great town. I'm not too far from NC State. Lets not say anything about basketball.... :ashamed:

 

[jaydee325]

Yes there are 2 Kubota dealerships about an hr from mts property & a Kubota dealership about 30 mins from our home use in Raleigh.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Any LS dealers near you? If so, worth a look.

 

[UNCBLUE]

Hey Steppenwolf - thanks for the info & reassurance. That's basically exact area we are in. U close to the Smith River? I've got a hunch that we are really close neighbors. I'd guess less than 10 miles apart if that.

The fel on the 3901 has given me pause mostly bc of specs & the mahindra weighing more than it. I think I've ready to many forum posts lol.

 

[UNCBLUE]

Jay - I think the LS HQ is actually right outside of Raleigh. I looked in CL briefly @ them today. I'll give them another peak. Korean, right? Yanmar engines? Do they make a model for mahindra?

 

[UNCBLUE]

The - it's a small world. Builders & mostly subs in general in that area have been something. I guess they don't have to worry about as much competition up there lol. Lots of no shows & slooooooowwwww work.

As for NCSU, what about that slaughter? As u can see from my user name, I''m alum for life . Although honestly I could care less these days as I focus all my energy on kids & the mts projects with the kids. I get way more out of that. Definitely gives a sense of purpose when planting say pecan trees now that i'll be 50+ when they start producing. Hopefully kids & grandkids will be sitting around a table someday eating a pecan pie talking about how happy that grandad planted all of them.

Which brings me back to tractors, fels, & BHs. **** that's some hard & rocky clay up there. It took me 2 hrs to plant the 1st pecan tree. Lol.

 

[Code54]

I would get out and take a look at that 2016 kubota L3901 - as long as everything looks good I would personally get that one. They are a good solid long term machine and hold their value well after that initial depreciation. Good luck!

 

[cford36]

Jay - I think the LS HQ is actually right outside of Raleigh. I looked in CL briefly @ them today. I'll give them another peak. Korean, right? Yanmar engines? Do they make a model for mahindra?

LS is based out of Battleboro, NC. (Korean Company)

They produce some models for New Holland.

LS changed 2 years ago to their own in house engine for models over 25hp.

 

[newbury]

Please don't make the mistake of not getting SSQA! IMO, it's as important as 4wd. I speak from experience.

Did you ever try to change a tractor from 2WD to 4WD? If you can do it for less than $1,000, including tires, please let me know because I see a LOT of otherwise desireable 2WD tractors. Heck my last set of fronts on my M4700 were $600 by themselves. Adding SSQA is a well documented only moderately expensive modification.

OP - That Kubota reads like a great deal. But $8,500 would buy more implements and let you set aside a small emergency fund or buy some more land. If you were planning on moving logs for a sawmill you'd need the bigger tractor.

When I bought my first tractor, a little B7610 I bought it with a 18' 12K trailer. The trailer went unused for several years.

When I bought my second tractor, an M4700 I really started using the trailer to move stuff to Mississippi. The trailer has more than paid for itself in my opinion. But if YOU don't plan on moving your tractor much an occasional rental may be the smart move.

I understand the general consensus of "GET THE BIG TRACTOR", but then are you going to move up to other 6' implements?

I'd test the 2013 Mahindra to see if it could handle my expected tasks (load of sand etc.) and try to figure out how many buckets of whatever I'd have to move with either tractor. My M4700 lifts a ton, my B7610 about 1/3 of that. Make sure your tractor can lift what you need to lift with a safety margin of say 20%. If you know you HAVE TO move pallets of wood chips that weigh 1 ton it wouldn't make sense to get one that only lifted 1900 lbs.

Then also there's the maneuverability, my M4700 with implements on either end can take some room to turn around. It's almost like a tank

Whereas my B7610 is more like a sports car.

If the Mahindra could handle my tasks with only a little more time needed I'd go with that, and plan on a second tractor in 5 years. Two tractors are better than one.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Did you ever try to change a tractor from 2WD to 4WD? If you can do it for less than $1,000, including tires, please let me know because I see a LOT of otherwise desireable 2WD tractors. Heck my last set of fronts on my M4700 were $600 by themselves. Adding SSQA is a well documented only moderately expensive modification.

OP - That Kubota reads like a great deal. But $8,500 would buy more implements and let you set aside a small emergency fund or buy some more land. If you were planning on moving logs for a sawmill you'd need the bigger tractor.

When I bought my first tractor, a little B7610 I bought it with a 18' 12K trailer. The trailer went unused for years.

When I bought my second tractor, an M4700 I really started using the trailer to move stuff to Mississippi. The trailer has more than paid for itself in my opinion. But if YOU don't plan on moving your tractor much an occasional rental may be the smart move.

I understand the general consensus of "GET THE BIG TRACTOR", but then are you going to move up to other 6' implements?

I'd test the 2013 Mahindra to see if it could handle my expected tasks (load of sand etc.) and try to figure out how many buckets of whatever I'd have to move with either tractor. My M4700 lifts a ton, my B7610 about 1/3 of that. Make sure your tractor can lift what you need to lift with a safety margin of say 20%. If you know you HAVE TO move pallets of wood chips that weigh 1 ton it wouldn't make sense to get one that only lifted 1900 lbs.

Then also there's the maneuverability, my M4700 with implements on either end can take some room to turn around. It's almost like a tank

Whereas my B7610 is more like a sports car.

If the Mahindra could handle my tasks with only a little more time needed I'd go with that, and plan on a second tractor in 5 years. Two tractors are better than one.

I'm comfortable with my opinion and letting you have yours.

If, in a year or so, when he decides he needs SSQA and for $1000 he can pay someone to convert his loader (I a have been quoted $3300) AND all of the implements he has to SSQA (since the pin-on specific implements are almost impossible to sell) he should go that way. Lol.

Oh and he paid a premium for these now obsolete implements because everything on the used market is SSQA.

When your looking at investing 5-8k in a tractor worth 17k you wish you had make the right choice to begin with.

Just my opinion though :drink: