Buying Advice 2501 or 3301--Questions, Questions, Questions

[Trailfarmer]

Spent time today on the "little B" moving dirt and brick\cement block to fill in some erosion in a run off ditch I have.
Tractor did ok, but the whole time I kept thinking "if I had that 3560 this would get done a whole lot faster".
Contacted the seller tonight and we are "go for purchase"!
Just need to work out the delivery details and cut him a check (that's the hard part!).
Hoping to have the Grand L in it's new home before the end of the week.
Thanks for all the advice and education!

One more question for now: Looking for a better way to move rocks than wrapping a chain around them. Do they make a metal "net" or something you can roll the rock onto and then chain it up. Not sure if chain link fence would work or what the weight limit would be for that. Any ideas?

 

[jeff9366]

Many use an old car hood from the junkyard to sled rocks. Car hoods pull easy.

 

[diesel85]

In the near future I plan on upgrading to either a high end B series (B3350) or an L series (L33XX or L35XX). I'm leaning more towards the L series because it seems like a more beefier built tractor. I don't want something huge, but something that I don't have to worry about hopefully for the rest of my life.

I plan on buying some more land later on in life, and I want to have the right machine to bush mow and keep the land tamed.

What kills me, is I don't want to use my BX2200 for a trade... I absolutely love my tractor. Especially for all the stuff I've thrown at it... they ain't kidding when they said Kubota's are as tough as nails.

I found that you can overload these machines, as long as you do proper maintenance, they will indeed last forever.

 

[ericm979]

When I wanted a larger tractor than my B7100 I was first thinking B3350. After driving some tractors, reading and posting here and thinking what my needs are, I decided a larger tractor would be more useful. I did not like the L3301/3901 and ended up with a Branson 3725. There's one task- mowing a small area with fence on three sides- where the 3725 is a little cumbersome and the old B7100 would have done better. But the B7100 felt tippy there while the Branson is very stable. I've taken it on much steeper slopes. It's been able to go more places than the B7100 because it's more stable on slopes. It turns out that I get so much out of it that I could have justified an L4760.

 

[Shortl Ne]

I just picked up my new L2501 this week, and used it for around 6 hours over the weekend for brush hogging the pasture that had really grown over, and doing some rock work on the driveway thinning some thick areas out, and building an extension of the driveway for my son to park on gravel. Granted, I'm new, and have very limited experience, but here are some of my thoughts, after reading through this thread.

1. paying to fill tires? Surprises me, my dealer did that for free, water and alcohol mix. Is there something special and more expensive some dealers are charging for?
2. Power. The L-2501 fit my price range (barely). Will it do what I need it to? Clearly, yes. We only have 10 acres, all pasture. It was pretty thick, and had to really go slow in some thick areas, especially up hill. We have lots of slope, and terse rows on top of that. It did it, but a bigger tractor would have done it much faster I think. I would skip the L3301, and jump to the L3901 if you can afford it. I wish I could have, but just wasn't able to make that investment for what will essentially be a big lawn mower. If I had more than 10 acres to do, I think I would have.
3. they are light. On the terse rows, some were a little sketchy, had to really adjust our angle to go up or down them, felt unstable a few times as we learned. I don't like that. Also with all the rain, on a few sloped areas with mud, the front end slipped downhill a couple times. That is a scary feeling. I think that was more operator inexperience than tractor issue, but something to be aware of.
4. It's a great tractor for the money. I wanted an American tractor, in a different color, but the build, ability, and reliability record of the orange one sold me. And operating it, I really think it's going to do everything I want/need it to, and more, just need to stay within the realistic capabilities of it. I like the full size of it, but could use a bit more power, but not only was the cost of a 3901 a turnoff, so was the emissions/DPF stuff. That sold me on it.
5. Buy an HST. I have used my neighbors older Kubota 3800 I think, with direct transmission. REALLY like the ease of the HST.
6. 4X4. DO it. Seriously. It's very helpful.

 

[Fallon]

I just picked up my new L2501 this week, and used it for around 6 hours over the weekend for brush hogging the pasture that had really grown over, and doing some rock work on the driveway thinning some thick areas out, and building an extension of the driveway for my son to park on gravel. Granted, I'm new, and have very limited experience, but here are some of my thoughts, after reading through this thread.

1. paying to fill tires? Surprises me, my dealer did that for free, water and alcohol mix. Is there something special and more expensive some dealers are charging for?
2. Power. The L-2501 fit my price range (barely). Will it do what I need it to? Clearly, yes. We only have 10 acres, all pasture. It was pretty thick, and had to really go slow in some thick areas, especially up hill. We have lots of slope, and terse rows on top of that. It did it, but a bigger tractor would have done it much faster I think. I would skip the L3301, and jump to the L3901 if you can afford it. I wish I could have, but just wasn't able to make that investment for what will essentially be a big lawn mower. If I had more than 10 acres to do, I think I would have.
3. they are light. On the terse rows, some were a little sketchy, had to really adjust our angle to go up or down them, felt unstable a few times as we learned. I don't like that. Also with all the rain, on a few sloped areas with mud, the front end slipped downhill a couple times. That is a scary feeling. I think that was more operator inexperience than tractor issue, but something to be aware of.
4. It's a great tractor for the money. I wanted an American tractor, in a different color, but the build, ability, and reliability record of the orange one sold me. And operating it, I really think it's going to do everything I want/need it to, and more, just need to stay within the realistic capabilities of it. I like the full size of it, but could use a bit more power, but not only was the cost of a 3901 a turnoff, so was the emissions/DPF stuff. That sold me on it.
5. Buy an HST. I have used my neighbors older Kubota 3800 I think, with direct transmission. REALLY like the ease of the HST.
6. 4X4. DO it. Seriously. It's very helpful.

1: Its typically a couple hundred bucks to load tires. Some dealers just roll that cost into the sale price. Alcohol is cheaper than beat juice, but lighter.

2: As all the L3x01 & L2501 machines are pretty much the same other than engine (L2501 was designed to get under the 25hp emissions limit). So it's mostly a question of how big of a mower do you need to spin & how fast do you need to travel. The bigger ones just have more HP & can cover more ground with a bigger mower (rough ground usually prevents going faster unless it's a smooth lawn).

5: I agree, but HST eats up 15% of the HP. I think it's worth it, but if it may not be for somebody who just mows all day. I find the HST control is great for precision mowing near obstacles I couldn't easily do with a gear machine.

6: Ya, unless it's just on as manscured lawn, these tractors are balanced for 4wd. No way you could reasonably or safely use a loader on a 2wd economy Kubota.

 

[jeff9366]

5: HST eats 15% of the HP. I think it's worth it, but if it may not be for somebody who just mows all day. I find the HST control is great for precision mowing near obstacles I couldn't easily do with a gear machine.

Clarification: Gear tractors have power loses between the engine and ground too. Somewhere around 5% to 10%, varying by model.

So HST is 5% to 10% less efficient (+/-) than gear equivalents.

 

[Fallon]

Clarification: Gear tractors have power loses between the engine and ground too. Somewhere around 5% to 10%, varying by model.

So HST is 5% to 10% less efficient (+/-) than gear equivalents.

I'm not clear if the 15% HST HP tax is from the engine, or compared to a gear machine. I always assumed it was compared to a geared machine power to the ground.

It makes a big difference for field machines pulling impliments in big circles all day. Increased fuel costs & slower production add up. But in the SCUT & CUT range the HP tax is usually (but not always) offset by increased usability & productivity.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

I'm not clear if the 15% HST HP tax is from the engine, or compared to a gear machine. I always assumed it was compared to a geared machine power to the ground.

It makes a big difference for field machines pulling impliments in big circles all day. Increased fuel costs & slower production add up. But in the SCUT & CUT range the HP tax is usually (but not always) offset by increased usability & productivity.

At the end of the day, you'll be hard pressed to notice the difference in power between these choices, even a 20% jump from an L3301 to L3901 is not always super noticeable. When you're splitting hairs like this on transmission choices I think you kinda miss the point. Its best to buy what can you operate comfortably and efficiently.

 

[PaulL2]

Agree. It's true you lose a bit of HP in the hydrostatic. It's also true that a BX (for example) is unable to put all it's power on the ground anyway, it can spin it's wheels on pretty much any terrain and with any tires on it. So while in theory you're losing HP, in practice it was HP you couldn't use for driving. It may be noticeable in some PTO applications, but with a 23 it's got enough power to drive the loader, to drive the mid mount mower, and to drive pretty much any implement that's the right size for the tractor. In effect Kubota put a 23hp motor in it instead of a 20, and so the 15% you lose they fixed by putting more HP in it.

Bottom line, not something most SCUT owners should worry about.