Buying Advice Requsting Advice on purchasing new kubota tractor

BRMyers · Jul 13, 2019

We have 80 acres, with the tillable land shared cropped out, which leaves us about 20 acres that we are working on maintaining and clearing up. We have 5 acres around the house and barns, which we are working on taking back. I purchased the L3560 HSTC because I wanted the cab. So far, it has handled everything I have thrown at it and it is small enough to get into some of the tighter places. As Jeff pointed out, I use counter balance on it to allow full bucket loads.

Here are some pictures of the work I have gotten accomplished and today we are heading out to mow, then pull out some trees.

Mowed this area and dug out/pushed over a few small trees

Placed 12 loads of dirt here to fill in a washout that lead to one of the field that gets planted

One of the areas clearing, had some small down trees from a storm. Cut two of the larger ones up and pushed these two smaller ones out of the way.

So, hopefully this will give you an idea of what can be accomplished and this is with a smaller tractor than you are looking at. Also, (the more experienced guys can correct if I'm wrong) you didn't list anything that is really HP intensive. Besides some mowing, (which takes HP to run the PTO) you didn't list any farming where you would need the weight to pull implements and HP to run the PTO. The task you have listed are hydraulic intensive, but not HP/PTO. So the larger tractor may get the job down quicker, but the smaller tractor can get it completed, just maybe not as quick. You might be able to save money going a little smaller tractor and getting some attachments (i.e. grapple) that could be more useful than just having a bigger tractor.

PaulL2 · Jul 13, 2019

Chevyzr1 said:
I own a 2.5 acre lot in the woods with a new house I built last year. The lot still has a lot of clearing i want to do and there are 2 200 yard piles of dirt left from digging the foundation. I plan on using the tractors loader to move the piles and fill in the low areas of the property.

It sounds to me like you have two very distinct tasks. This first is clearing and moving dirt - which is a one-time job. And it's quite a lot of dirt. You can do this with any tractor - a BX will do it given enough time. But a guy on a skid steer, or better a bulldozer, will do all of that in a day or two, and do it far better than you ever will. Then you can level and seed the whole lot, and have a lawn (or whatever else you're planning to do). Doing work like this piecemeal is a pain, because you either have to seed multiple times, or you live with dirt around your house for a long time whilst you get things how you like them. This can impact on relations with others in your household.... Even when you do finish, it probably won't be done as well as a guy with experience and the right machine.

Chevyzr1 said:
I also plan on maintaining the gravel driveway that about 2,000ft long and doing some snow plowing with it in the winter months. My concern with the 4760 is, it doesn't have as much loader capacity, its a lighter machine, and it feels just more light duty when operating it. My concerns with the m6060 are, it's a lot heavier than the l and possibly might make the yard sloppy when driving it on the grass, also It just looks really big compared to the smaller grand l line up. Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated !

So now we get to your ongoing needs. And here we don't really have enough detail. Maintaining a gravel drive again any tractor will do - from a BX up through B01, B50 to the Ls, grand Ls and Ms. Depends on what sort of maintenance, how fast you want it done, and what implement you're using. To my mind basically any tractor will need two passes, and if you drive one way down the driveway you have to come back anyway. If you're making a crown you'll also need two passes anyway. So, if your driveway is 9 foot wide (pretty wide for a driveway), you need 5 foot implements. A mid-size B will pull 5 foot implements just fine, a BX might struggle, all the larger machines would do it very easily.

Snow plowing depends again what sort of implement. A push box again any of them will do - they'll all push 5 foot. Same with a front or rear blade. A snow blower it starts to matter about the horsepower, and of course the standard L and M don't have a mid-pto, so you can only have a rear mount blower. You didn't mention a blower though, so again really any size will do.

You don't mention the other common tasks people might have on a 2.5 acre property. Mowing, lift and carry stuff around the house, mulching garden beds, pulling trailers, acting as a mobile ladder or scaffold etc. To my mind on that size property you'd typically be looking at a mid-sized B. It could mow the lawns, drive on the grass without chewing it up too badly, pull a box blade or land plane just fine, run a small bush hog if you are only finish mowing a portion of the property, it'll be enough machine to level the dirt after someone else roughs it in (prep for lawn), push a snow plow. Out of interest, in your ongoing needs (after the dirt is moved), what tasks do you see that you'd need the larger machines for? I know everyone says that nobody ever bought too much tractor, and there's some truth to that, but feels a bit like you're buying a lot of tractor for a one time task, then you're going to have too much machine ongoing.

Another option is to buy a large machine second hand for the first year, then trade down to a keeper for the long-term. Lets you do the work you need done but then right-size ongoing. And you could go much bigger in the short term, or even get a different sort of machine - a skid steer for example - if it's not your long term machine.

Chevyzr1 · Jul 13, 2019

I should correct the gravel driveway is more of road that is roughly 15 wide, it was already in when I purchased the land and was installed with blast ledge so I am probably going to need to add some workable material to the top before crowning it. After the initial dirt is moved and the property has a rough grade I plan on renting a power rake to get it ready for seed. My whole thought process on buying a tractor instead of hiring the work out is I can basically use the money I would pay to hire it out towards probably 2 years worth of payments on a tractor and afterwards I will own the tractor. For what its worth I have my own carpentry business so I thought at some point I could add a post hole digger for putting in decks. I have also thought about selling my plow and buying a snow blower for the tractor so I dont have to abuse my truck.

nybirdman · Jul 13, 2019

I have a L4240 HSTC;and have all the necessary implements.Front 8ft.Fel mounted snow plow,bottom plows,box blade,rear blade,tiller ,bush hog ect.I have added a tooth-bar and thumb to the bucket;it does all I need on my 100 acres and has been trouble free(1200 hours.)Has been out-side since new;in the process of building a pole barn right now to move it inside.

rScotty · Jul 13, 2019

Fallon said:
Do yourself a favor & test drive both machines. As Scotty notes HST+ is great to operate. Its 15% less efficient than a geared (shuttle) tranny. But the ease of operation & operation, especially for loader work are worth it. I'll get my L4060HSTC within an inch or 2 of windows without much concern inching in with the HST to load/unload stuff. I'd never get that close with a shuttle.

HST is only an option on Ls or MXes & smaller, not on Ms. HST+ is soooooo nice & only an option on grand Ls.

HST+ seems a real rugged transmission, and it doesn't - at least mine doesn't - have the HST "whine" that plagues a lot of HST type transmissions. I can get it to whine, but only if I try to do something odd like climb a hill in too high of a range. And there was also one hydro/transmission oil that made it whine - I swapped the oil for a different brand that that very day.

HST+ is also really good on icy slopes - better than most torque converter type transmissions - although there is no reason why a torque converter couldn't be built to be as good.

I agree that HST+ allows me to work much closer to anything delicate than I would dare with any form of powershift or shuttleshift.

BTW, some tractor terminology about powershift and shuttle shift for our new tractor buyer. Both forms of transmission are usually speed-shifted via a fingertip lever on the steering column....much like the windshield wipers on your car. Shifting between RANGES, is often by a floor mounted lever. You don't do that as often. Regardless of it the transmission is HST, HST+, powershift, manual shift it will usually have the option of two to 4 overall gearing RANGES. Ranges are usually manually shifted at a full stop and are sometimes a bit hard to shift.

Powershift allows for clutchless shifting (or automatic clutching) between forward speeds and sometimes between forward and reverse as well. Shuttleshift is nearly the same, but it just allows clutchless direction reversal between forward and reverse. All these fingertip shifting transmissions are useful for shuttling back and forth with a loader.
With a HST or HST+ (extra hi/lo shifter) you do all this with your right foot instead of a lever on the steering column.
Sometimes powershift and shuttleshift are combined in the same transmission & which if it has a special name I don't know it. I tend to just call it powershift. Either powershift or shuttleshift may be combined with a torque converter and often are. Older tractors experimented with combining powershift with a foot clutch for extra fine low speed control.

The category II 3pt hitch on the M series has much more power than the category 1 3 pt hitch on most compact tractors.
Larger 3pt hitches are more likely to be combined with draft control and extra hydraulic outlets - although this is changing in the last decades.
rScotty

FTG-05 · Jul 13, 2019

Chevyzr1 said:
Good Evening Everyone, I am new to t-b-n but I have read several posts and see that the advice given here can be way more help then the salesman at the tractor dealership thats just wants to make a sale. My problem is I am having a real hard time deciding on which tractor to purchase, the tractors I am looking at right now are the m6060 cab and grand l4760 cab. Both tractors are within a $1000 of each other with the 4760 being the more expensive. I own a 2.5 acre lot in the woods with a new house I built last year. The lot still has a lot of clearing i want to do and there are 2 200 yard piles of dirt left from digging the foundation. I plan on using the tractors loader to move the piles and fill in the low areas of the property. I also plan on maintaining the gravel driveway that about 2,000ft long and doing some snow plowing with it in the winter months. My concern with the 4760 is, it doesn't have as much loader capacity, its a lighter machine, and it feels just more light duty when operating it. My concerns with the m6060 are, it's a lot heavier than the l and possibly might make the yard sloppy when driving it on the grass, also It just looks really big compared to the smaller grand l line up. Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated !

- FEL with Skid Steer Quick Attach (SSQA). Have the salesman demonstrate it for you; takes about as long as this post. Don't buy a pinned FEL.

- Make sure all your 3ph implements fit a QH. Take the QH with you or have them get one, to show you that they fit. Even if you don't want a QH right now (at $100 why wouldn't you?), make sure your implements fit one so when (not if) you decide to go QH, your implements will fit.

Good luck.

Chevyzr1 · Jul 13, 2019

Does anyone by chance know how much lower the m6060 would sit with r4 tires on it ? I asked the dealer and he said he doesn稚 know.

Fallon · Jul 13, 2019

Chevyzr1 said:
I should correct the gravel driveway is more of road that is roughly 15 wide, it was already in when I purchased the land and was installed with blast ledge so I am probably going to need to add some workable material to the top before crowning it. After the initial dirt is moved and the property has a rough grade I plan on renting a power rake to get it ready for seed. My whole thought process on buying a tractor instead of hiring the work out is I can basically use the money I would pay to hire it out towards probably 2 years worth of payments on a tractor and afterwards I will own the tractor. For what its worth I have my own carpentry business so I thought at some point I could add a post hole digger for putting in decks. I have also thought about selling my plow and buying a snow blower for the tractor so I dont have to abuse my truck.

A B or economy L will spin a PHD & be easier to haul. You need a 3/4 ton truck & 14k trailer to haul a grand L. You could in theory get by with a 10k trailer, but its sketchy. You probably need a 1 ton truck for a M. A F150 can move a Grand, but it gets sketchy quickly. 5k for a properly blasted Grand, 4k for the trailer itself. The F150 tops out at 11k of towing capacity only on certain models & that's if you dont have any other gear in the truck. Doesnt give you much safety margin or room for impliments.

If you are going to do holes commercially, you really want a hydraulic SSQA PHD rather than a 3pt hitch type. An economy L will have a bit anemic hydraulic flow for a PHD. My hydraulic PHD with a 12" auger is ok on my L4060. It could use more flow, but is entirely sufficient. I'm pretty sure the bigger Grands dont have much more flow.

So far the only call for HP I've seen has been on snow blowing. I'd still recomend looking at a smaller Grand & spending the savings on real heavy iron to come in & do the bulk of heavy lifting & earth moving. Then cleanup the rest with your machine at your liesure. The wear & tear on a CUT doing that much work will depreciate your machine more that the cost of having the right machine brought in to do it. Plenty of cleanup left after that for a small machine.

Diggin It · Jul 13, 2019

I personally think those machines are grossly oversized for that property.

You could almost certainly be better off with something in the 35HP or less range.