Which would you buy? (Help me spend my money)

[RSR]

I dont have issue with the first 3 statements, BUT, I really doubt Kubota has better hydraulic valves than the LS> My Kubota leaks down at all point on the FEL and backhoe, some rather fast. My LS will hold up the FEL for weeks (did that one time) and the rear hydraulics will hold up indefinitely. I have left the tiller in the raised position for months and not leaked down at all. So, at least on MY LS, valves are top quality, much better than the Kubota valves.
Also my LS had much more standard bells and whistles than any other brand when I was shopping and at a significant price reduction. Now this was almost a decade ago so pricing my have changed a bit. The ergonomics on the LS was much better than any other one also.

Now I do love my Kubota B26 and use it for most tasks now days, but that is not to say the LS is inferior, just much larger, so the Kubota does most chores easily.

Still, if I were buying again, I would look at PRICE AND ERGONOMICS as the most important issues. Dealer location would be a distant second. I do all my own maintenance so being close to a dealer for that is not an issue with me.

Having a dealer that will pick up and deliver for free for warranty work is a plus (just in case) but the majority of tractors probably never see the dealer for warranty work. There is always the lemon in any brand though so the free pickup is a good dealer strategy.

My opinion: If you are ever going to think about selling, then Kubota might be worth the extra bucks, otherwise go with the LS.

Maybe this is a perfect example of selection bias (focus on the advice that follows your own line of thinking, while it seems most are steering me towards the Kubota) but this is the direction I think I may be leaning the most. Starting from when I went to the NY ag show in January and sat on every single brand of tractor, the LS just felt like the nicest.

For all 3 tractors I'm looking at, the dealers have agreed to free pick-up/delivery for warranty issues, which is not insignificant as the LS and TYM are about 1 hour away. I am mechanically inclined so I'm fine with having most parts shipped to me, and replacing things myself, unless something goes majorly wrong.

While super cheap, it really bother me that the TYM has such poor ergonomics for the 3PT and remote control, and will probably have the worst resale value. I don't ever plan on selling, but nevertheless, it's something to consider. It also annoys me that there is no stop for the 3PT control. Yes, I could fabricate one, but that really kind of takes the shine off of things. Maybe I should cross them off the list? Argggghh, decisions, decisions.

Keep the advice coming.

 

[BAP]

Comparing specs like you have is good, but you the TYM T474 and the LS XR4040HC are one size bigger tractor than the Kubota L3560 and the LS XR3140HC. The TYM T474 and LS XR4040 are comparable to the Kubota L4060. Keeping a separate comparison chart for the 2 different size tractors will help keep your comparison apples to apples.

 

[MechanicalGuy]

Wut?

How do people even come up with this stuff?

I assume you read this somewhere on the interwebs, so it "must be true"?

The engines without DPF run hotter that's how they make the emission standard

 

[RSR]

Comparing specs like you have is good, but you the TYM T474 and the LS XR4040HC are one size bigger tractor than the Kubota L3560 and the LS XR3140HC. The TYM T474 and LS XR4040 are comparable to the Kubota L4060. Keeping a separate comparison chart for the 2 different size tractors will help keep your comparison apples to apples.

Admittedly, trying to compare "sizes" is a little bit arbitrary. You can define size by dimensions, or weight. To me, comparing by dimensions makes the most sense. As a first pass, I look at rear tire size. In R4's, a rear tire of 24, I consider "large", whereas a rear tire of 19.5 or 20, I consider "medium".

Using this criterion, the L3560 and XR4140 are both "large" while the XR3140 and T474 are "med". Next I look at length and wheelbase.

The L3560 is 115 in (w/o 3PH), and the XR4140 is 133 (w/ 3PH). I'm guessing the 3PH adds 12 inches or so, so I think that's close. The wheelbases are 71.1 and 73.2, respectively. So, yes, the XR4140 is slightly larger.

The XR3140 and T474 have an overall length (W 3PH) of 124.3 and 131 respectively, and a wheelbase of 65.7 and 69.7, respectively.

So, the T474 probably compares the closest to the L3560 in dimension, with the XR3140 being a little smaller, and the XR4140 being a little larger.

Even so, the obviously smaller LS outlifts the Kubota by almost 20%.

 

[Jchonline]

Even so, the obviously smaller LS outlifts the Kubota by almost 20%.

Please be careful with this. Kubota lists out all of their lift capacities for loaders online at various points (pin, 500mm, etc etc). I looked on LS’s website and I could not find them. Does anyone that owns an LS have the specifics so we can compare apples to apples?
We need to compare lift at the exact same spot. My guess is LS is still higher, but you might be interested to see by how much.

 

[Jchonline]

The engines without DPF run hotter that's how they make the emission standard

Well they have to burn the fuel at a higher temp yes. This probably translates into some additional overall heat but the question is how much.

 

[BAP]

Admittedly, trying to compare "sizes" is a little bit arbitrary. You can define size by dimensions, or weight. To me, comparing by dimensions makes the most sense. As a first pass, I look at rear tire size. In R4's, a rear tire of 24, I consider "large", whereas a rear tire of 19.5 or 20, I consider "medium".

Using this criterion, the L3560 and XR4140 are both "large" while the XR3140 and T474 are "med". Next I look at length and wheelbase.

The L3560 is 115 in (w/o 3PH), and the XR4140 is 133 (w/ 3PH). I'm guessing the 3PH adds 12 inches or so, so I think that's close. The wheelbases are 71.1 and 73.2, respectively. So, yes, the XR4140 is slightly larger.

The XR3140 and T474 have an overall length (W 3PH) of 124.3 and 131 respectively, and a wheelbase of 65.7 and 69.7, respectively.

So, the T474 probably compares the closest to the L3560 in dimension, with the XR3140 being a little smaller, and the XR4140 being a little larger.

Even so, the obviously smaller LS outlifts the Kubota by almost 20%.

Usually with tractors you start with PTO horsepower to compare models then move to physical dimensions.

 

[TSO]

OP.... What do you mean by "harvesting rocks" for a retaining wall?

 

[RSR]

Please be careful with this. Kubota lists out all of their lift capacities for loaders online at various points (pin, 500mm, etc etc). I looked on LS’s website and I could not find them. Does anyone that owns an LS have the specifics so we can compare apples to apples?
We need to compare lift at the exact same spot. My guess is LS is still higher, but you might be interested to see by how much.

See my in depth discussion above in post 29. Kubota loaders are weak, although lift higher, in comparison to others.

 

[RSR]

Usually with tractors you start with PTO horsepower to compare models then move to physical dimensions.

Interesting. That seems to me like an odd way to compare, as almost every brand offers multiple size tractors with the same PTO output.

An LS xr3140 and 4140 have essentially the same PTO HP, but are very different in size. Similarly, an XR4140 and XR4155 are the exact same frame size and weight, with drastically different PTO HP.