New kubota tractor advice

[jeff9366]

If you enter your LOCATION into your T-B-N PROFILE you will receive replies better tailored to your conditions.

You have not related the total acreage of your property, how many acres you will work with the tractor, and little about property topography.

 

[jeff9366]

Disc considerations. I have a 10 acre fallow field. 90% of this field hasn't been worked in 10+ years. I want switchgrass on and it needs to be either burned or disced every few years to keep it in switchgrass. I also want to disc it in the winter to enhance native forbs. I want a disc I don't have to add weight too.

One project is clearing areas for food plots in woods,

How does a disc hold up to rocks and roots in the woods I'm clearing? Read attached file.

If I did get the disc could I also trade in my tiller for extra cash help? YES

A Kubota MX can pull a Three Point Hitch mounted Tandem Disc Harrow with pans 22" in diameter, 72" wide. You will not want a wider Disc Harrow for food plot preparation. For field work you could pull the same Disc Harrow in 84" width.

Quality Discs within these specs will weigh 1,200 - 1,500 pounds and cost new $3,000 - $3,500. Two brand suggestions: Monroe Tufline, Brown Manufacturing Corp.

I recommend filling rear MX tires 50% with liquid for traction.

MORE: Disc Harrow - Tandem Disc Harrow Selection For Compact Tractors

 

[jeff9366]

"I currently have a b2601, r4 tires.
I'm considering getting the L3901 with R1 tires and grapple."

R4/industrial tires are six ply tires.

R1/ag tires are four ply tires unless special ordered with additional plies.

After considering your photos and proposed grapple I recommend R4/industrial tires on an MX. Flats are miserable on tractors.

I maintain a heavily used community burn pit, which I "push up" at least twice per week. I have ten ply R4/industrial tire fronts so I feel secure when the front tires are briefly in moderately hot ashes 6" - 8" deep.

I'll wager you will be burning and pushing up partially burned material too.

 

[thunder86]

Thank you all for the advice and comments, means a lot as I don't want to make the same mistake twice. I do feel the L3901 would be a mistake and need something twice as heavy at the least. What if what I really need is a backhoe attachment with a thumb? From day one I just wanted food plots and be able to use my tooth bar to remove small saplings and rocks. Now I'm looking for something heavy enough to counter that out of the ground. I did not realize the amount of rocks however. Instead of buying a heavy machine to uproot things why not get a backhoe attachment to dig out bigger rocks, park it and thumb smaller ones on surface off my plot and into the creek. If it has a 8 feet span I could thumb rocks in a 16 foot side by side area. I could dig out trees less than 4 inches diameter maybe? Long as I didn't get the backhoe then later wanted to dig out 10 inch plus stump I shouldn't be disappointed? How slow would a backhoe be at thumbing rocks and tossing them off or in a creek next to my plot? I'm thinking of L2501, R1 tires, clutch with backhoe, just don't know if I'd regret the grapple bucket if I opted out on that. I could still move brush piles or trees I cut down with chainsaw with the backhoe thumb. What's the max you would pick up with the thumb without bending it or machine picking up? Would their still be a need for a 3k plus weight machine at that point? I'm in southern Indiana and I've only been on hydrostat tractor never a clutch.

 

[dodge man]

I’ve only dug up rocks once or twice but my feeling the end loader works as good as a backhoe but maybe other will chime in. Just about any machine you are looking at will struggle with larger stumps. I’ve attached a pic of what is about a 12 inch stump I dug out with my Kubota BX. I wish I had a better pic of the hole but it was big. I’d guess it took my 4 hours and my truck yanked it out not my tractor.

Someone else commented on disposable income, how much do you have. It’s like trading in a car or truck, you take a beating most of the time.

 

[jeff9366]

Instead of buying a heavy machine to uproot things why not get a backhoe attachment to dig out bigger rocks, park it and thumb smaller ones on surface off my plot and into the creek. If it has a 8 feet span I could thumb rocks in a 16 foot side by side area. I could dig out trees less than 4 inches diameter maybe? Long as I didn't get the backhoe then later wanted to dig out 10 inch plus stump I shouldn't be disappointed? How slow would a backhoe be at thumbing rocks and tossing them off or in a creek next to my plot? I'm thinking of L2501, R1 tires, clutch with backhoe,

There is no such thing as a heavy compact tractor. Utility class tractors begin at 6,000 pounds bare tractor weight and they are not considered heavy. Heavy tractors begin at 10,000 pounds bare tractor weight.

As you likely know, the L2501 and L3901 are twins except for engine horsepower. You cannot pull a minimally effective Disc Harrow with 18" pans at speed with an L2501. An L3901 will just manage secondary tillage, which is NOT what you are intending. A PTO powered roto-tiller is the more effective implement on 2,700 pound bare weight tractors.

You are expecting too much from a light tractor Backhoe. Stumps over 6" are impractical.

The fundamental importance of TRACTOR WEIGHT eludes many tractor shoppers.

An MX without a Backhoe is cheaper than an L3901 with a Backhoe.

With an MX you should be able to pull 3" diameter trees, including roots, from MOIST soil with chains attached to tractor's rear/center drawbar. This is how a tractor is meant to function. Heavy work at the rear, not the front.

MORE ON DRAWBARS: Tractor DRAWBARS & CROSS DRAWBARS Illuminated

Very generally, a tractor's FEL will lift twice the weight of same tractor's Backhoe.
A Bucket Spade is a reasonable proposition on an MX, especially an MX equipped with Kubota's optional heavy duty, round-back bucket.

MORE ON BUCKET SPADES: Front-End Loader - BUCKET SPADE TODAY // FEL BUCKET ATTACHMENT



You have not related the total acreage of your property, how many acres you will work with the tractor, and little about property topography.

If you put brush or dirt into any creek you are begging for trouble from law enforcement. Your downstream neighbors will rat you out for sure.

 

[Rdrcr]

MX (or larger) for sure...

Mike

 

[jeff9366]

just don't know if I'd regret the grapple bucket if I opted out on that. I could still move brush piles or trees I cut down with chainsaw with the backhoe thumb.

The thrifty method to move brush and trees is with Pallet Forks.

Pallet Forks are made as FEL attachments and as Three Point Hitch attachments.

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[Bullwinkle123]

It's hard to tell how large those rocks are. Does your current tractor have 4WD? If not that'd be a thing to consider.

I looked at the L3901, and ended up going for the MX5400 because I wanted wider wheel base and overall more weight and oompf. I'm pleased with it, but even with the MX5400 I am having mixed results pulling up rocks, and I have yet to start in earnest on the tree stumps.

Tractors just aren't the most natural instrument for tree stumps. My grapple is one of my favorite tools, and I use it also to clear weed patches by raking the roots. I'm not sure how successful I'd be using my landpride grapple to remove trees though. You'll definitely want to look at the geometry and such of the grapple for that application. Maybe you should consider a tree puller if your goal is to get them out with the roots.

As for bigger stumps, you're far more experienced than I am. All I can suggest is that weight is your friend, and 4WD is invaluable if you're slipping when pushing things around.

As for pulling up large rocks, I find my grapple does a poor job. When you are doing it, remember that the hydraulic pressure you're using to grasp/wrestle/lift the rock is competing with the hydraulic pressure of your transmissions (or is yours a non-hydraulic transmission? I didn't see).
I generally use my pallet forks for digging out the stubborn/big rocks. Then I come back with the grapple to lift them off the ground and move them away. For whatever reason, I can't see my tractor hauling some of the gigantic boulders I see little tractors doing in some of these home videos. Even if I could, it'd be asking for an accident on my hills.

My take on your posts is that you will definitely want all the weight and power you can afford. Think even bigger than an L3901 if you can.

 

[thunder86]

There is no such thing as a heavy compact tractor. Utility class tractors begin at 6,000 pounds bare tractor weight and they are not considered heavy. Heavy tractors begin at 10,000 pounds bare tractor weight.

As you likely know, the L2501 and L3901 are twins except for engine horsepower. You cannot pull a minimally effective Disc Harrow with 18" pans at speed with an L2501. An L3901 will just manage secondary tillage, which is NOT what you are intending. A PTO powered roto-tiller is the more effective implement on 2,700 pound bare weight tractors.

You are expecting too much from a light tractor Backhoe. Stumps over 6" are impractical.

The fundamental importance of TRACTOR WEIGHT eludes many tractor shoppers.

An MX without a Backhoe is cheaper than an L3901 with a Backhoe.

With an MX you should be able to pull 3" diameter trees, including roots, from MOIST soil with chains attached to tractor's rear/center drawbar. This is how a tractor is meant to function. Heavy work at the rear, not the front.

MORE ON DRAWBARS: Tractor DRAWBARS & CROSS DRAWBARS Illuminated

Very generally, a tractor's FEL will lift twice the weight of same tractor's Backhoe.
A Bucket Spade is a reasonable proposition on an MX, especially an MX equipped with Kubota's optional heavy duty, round-back bucket.

MORE ON BUCKET SPADES: Front-End Loader - BUCKET SPADE TODAY // FEL BUCKET ATTACHMENT



You have not related the total acreage of your property, how many acres you will work with the tractor, and little about property topography.

If you put brush or dirt into any creek you are begging for trouble from law enforcement. Your downstream neighbors will rat you out for sure.

What do you mean by secondary tillage with the disc? I didn't think about wether or not that size could handle an effective enough disc.