seijirou
Bronze Member
I'll start by saying that I really like the LS tractors. There is no such thing as a perfect or flawless tractor, and even the best designs will have have failures when you make enough of them.
Anyway, one of the things that helps LS with price is that they have good vertical access internally for manufacturing. LS is part of LG group, same people that make TV's and phones, and 10's of thousands of other things. They're kind of similar to Mitsubishi. They do everything from mining and refining ore to designing and making engines, to designing making electronics and integrated circuits. It helps when department A can buy materials from department B rather than from the global market.
That said...
If you can't find anything negative you're not looking hard enough.
On that 4000 series in particular do a test before you bring it home. Pick up 800lbs or so in the loader and then see how the front tires turn while sitting still. There's another guy with a 4155 who found that with no more than like 400lbs the front tires won't turn when sitting still. After fighting with the dealer they finally fixed it by replacing the pistons used in the steering with larger bore pistons, which means it's a design defect and not a one-off defect. To LS's credit they made it right for him, perhaps not without a fight, but it's done and he's happy now.
What I can say from personal experience is their tractors do not fit tall people at all, the seat is way too low and the pedals are way too close. I don't understand why, but if I sit on a 3000/3100 series my knees are in my chin trying to work the HST pedals. The 4000/4100's are better but not great. I'm 6'4" so YMMV.
All that said there's a good chance I'll be bringing an LS home in the coming months.
Anyway, one of the things that helps LS with price is that they have good vertical access internally for manufacturing. LS is part of LG group, same people that make TV's and phones, and 10's of thousands of other things. They're kind of similar to Mitsubishi. They do everything from mining and refining ore to designing and making engines, to designing making electronics and integrated circuits. It helps when department A can buy materials from department B rather than from the global market.
That said...
Hey everybody thank you for the responses, I have done some research and reading and like you guys said I have found nothing negative, with the price and all the good things everyone is saying they seem almost to good to be true. The only negative I see is the only ls dealer is 300 miles from me. I have never seen a Ls tractor in person. The only thing I have not found in my reading is a rear diff lock, do they have one?
If you can't find anything negative you're not looking hard enough.
On that 4000 series in particular do a test before you bring it home. Pick up 800lbs or so in the loader and then see how the front tires turn while sitting still. There's another guy with a 4155 who found that with no more than like 400lbs the front tires won't turn when sitting still. After fighting with the dealer they finally fixed it by replacing the pistons used in the steering with larger bore pistons, which means it's a design defect and not a one-off defect. To LS's credit they made it right for him, perhaps not without a fight, but it's done and he's happy now.
What I can say from personal experience is their tractors do not fit tall people at all, the seat is way too low and the pedals are way too close. I don't understand why, but if I sit on a 3000/3100 series my knees are in my chin trying to work the HST pedals. The 4000/4100's are better but not great. I'm 6'4" so YMMV.
All that said there's a good chance I'll be bringing an LS home in the coming months.