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

[lilranch2001]

I guess my thought is, why step up to the L4060 and pay and extra $10k, instead of just getting an LS or TYM.

It seems most of the comments here are heavily skewed towards Kubota, probably with good reason. However, it takes a reasonably high degree of mental gymanstics for me to justify moving up to a larger tractor, and paying upwards of $40k, when a $30k LS or $26k TYM accomplishes the same thing.

Is a Kubota really worth paying 50%+ more?!?!?

ALL the Bota guys will say yes

 

[Citydude]

I guess my thought is, why step up to the L4060 and pay and extra $10k, instead of just getting an LS or TYM.

It seems most of the comments here are heavily skewed towards Kubota, probably with good reason. However, it takes a reasonably high degree of mental gymanstics for me to justify moving up to a larger tractor, and paying upwards of $40k, when a $30k LS or $26k TYM accomplishes the same thing.

Is a Kubota really worth paying 50%+ more?!?!?

Nope, the Kubota is not worth it if your going to be digging boulders out with the loader. Any tractor loader for that matter. Do your self a favor and get the TYM and put the money in a BACKHOE.

 

[lilranch2001]

color me wrong...
LOL

 

[Tractorable]

Kubota loaders, lifting higher than others, also extend further out in front of the tractor, creating a longer lever, so while they may lift less weight in total, the cylinders may be exerting similar forces against a longer lever, to achieve a higher height. Some folks don’t care about the extra height and reach, others do.

 

[BAP]

Do you actually have any experience using a tractor? Have you tried any of the tractors you are looking at using the loader to lift and dig? You keep referring to the Kubota loader as anemic, but do you really know that from experience? Also, do you really know if the TYM or LS loaders will do more? You have to remember, all brochures are marketing tools, so you need actual seat time to know if they are true. Also, if the TYM and LS can actually pick up more than half the weight of the tractor, they are going to need some serious counterweights to handle it. Next question would be if they put on big enough front tires to handle the weight. No matter the brand, corners get cut to meet a price point. Research on paper is good, but you need to follow up with seat time. If you are not good with doing your own repairs and maintenance, then good dealer support is needed.

 

[BRMyers]

I find it interesting that a few have stated the Kubota L3560 is not powerful enough or the loader is to weak. I have yet to find anything that I couldn't lift. The tractor has powered my 6ft brush hog through everything I have thrown at it. So, maybe i don't use my tractor hard enough, but it has met our needs on our little 80 acre place.

My guess, is most compact tractor owners are going to rarely push their tractor to the limit.

 

[MechanicalGuy]

I really don't getting the whole "Kubota is so high priced" thing either. My shopping showed it was only a slight bit higher and that was negligible if you take advantage of the 5 year no interest deal.

 

[JK22]

Do you actually have any experience using a tractor? Have you tried any of the tractors you are looking at using the loader to lift and dig? You keep referring to the Kubota loader as anemic, but do you really know that from experience? Also, do you really know if the TYM or LS loaders will do more? You have to remember, all brochures are marketing tools, so you need actual seat time to know if they are true. Also, if the TYM and LS can actually pick up more than half the weight of the tractor, they are going to need some serious counterweights to handle it. Next question would be if they put on big enough front tires to handle the weight. No matter the brand, corners get cut to meet a price point. Research on paper is good, but you need to follow up with seat time. If you are not good with doing your own repairs and maintenance, then good dealer support is needed.

Thank you. I was waiting for someone else to say it... paper specs are not worth the paper they are written on.

 

[hks003]

I find it interesting that a few have stated the Kubota L3560 is not powerful enough or the loader is to weak. I have yet to find anything that I couldn't lift. The tractor has powered my 6ft brush hog through everything I have thrown at it. So, maybe i don't use my tractor hard enough, but it has met our needs on our little 80 acre place.

My guess, is most compact tractor owners are going to rarely push their tractor to the limit.

Personally, I have an LS because I bought used and found a steal. But now that I've operated it for a while, loader strength would not have been a deal breaker if I'd found a deal on a Kubota. Even with a 700 lb rotary cutter counter balance, my front end is heavy with ~750-1000 lbs of dirt in the loader. It'll get stuck in wet grass in 2wd, tires are noticeably sitting low, slight bumps going down hill will make the back creepilly light, etc. With no counter balance, the back tires lifted and a dumped the bucket and hooked up my cutter while recovering from a heart attack. As a relatively inexperienced operator, I don't want any part of lifting the load my loader is rated for, at least if I have to drive far. Lifting a load while someone backs a trailer under it, maybe. Driving across the yard with 1800 lbs of anything, no thanks.

 

[RSR]

Thank you. I was waiting for someone else to say it... paper specs are not worth the paper they are written on.

I find comments along these lines puzzling.

I certainly agree there is more to a tractor than just lift capacity. Actually, that's a secondary/tertiary consideration for me. As stated, the tractor has to also be able to handle the weight, etc. Maybe it's naive of me, but I would assume if one brand was consistently overpowering their tractors with loader operation, you would hear repeated stories of failures that were directly related to that. I'm unaware of any instances of that, which tells me, for the most part, that's not happening.

Regarding lift capacities, numbers and physics don't lie. As a customer, we rely upon, and use them to make decisions all the time (e.g., how much HP, how much does the tractor weigh, what is the hydraulic flow rate, fuel tank size, etc.). I've never seen responses like, "yeah, but those numbers quoted for weight are just a marketing gimmick."

So, why is it whenever questions of loader capacity come up, suddenly these arguments come out of the woodwork? A loader lifts what it is stated to lift. Period. If it didn't, there would be lawsuits all over the place, same as if a tractor didn't produce the stated HP. It's a simple case of false advertising. Conversely, a company has zero benefit to understate their loader capacity. I realize some claim some Kubotas understate HP (lots of word of mouth - but I've never seen any quantitative testing) but that statement I tend to believe, because there is an incentive to stay under Tier 4 regulations, but produce more HP.


Back in post 29 I made a quantitative comparison of the Kubota loader relative to the ones I'm looking at. Kubota was less. No amount of statements about how it "feels" will change that. It's interesting that over and over again, the individuals that defend lift capacity in this manner seem to be Kubota owners ... Statements like that are no different than marketing ad that gets bandied about. They are vague, and not based on verifiable fact. If someone who has a Kubota and wants to do a controlled experiment to show it will lift significantly (10%) more at the pins than what is stated, I would love to see that. Similarly, if someone can show their loader, with pressure properly adjusted, doesn't lift what is stated I would love to see that as well. Those would certainly change my perspective. But otherwise, it makes the most sense to me to go by stated numbers, which is what post 29 was all about.

It's not meant as a personal insult to Kubota owners if their loader doesn't lift as much. It's me just trying to get a handle on how the specs compare between different brands.