Comparing small tractors (long)

[DonE0929]

Help me think of what I have not thought of please.

This will be a cash purchase so financing deals are not a consideration. We will probably keep the machine 10 years, so that will be the minimum age at resale.

We have decided to replace our aging lawn tractor with a small ( think bx size ) tractor with belly mower and loader.
I have looked at Mahindra, Kioti and Kubota. I won't consider Deere although they have a very popular small series machine with great aftermarket support. There is a bobcat dealer 30 miles away and a Massey dealer about the same, but I've looked at Massey before and they never made my top 3 in anything I've looked at before.

I have a mahindra 1526 already, but it is too large for mowing my land and no mid PTO. It does have Loader, Backhoe, hydraulic top link and third function.
The smaller tractor can use my cat one pto attachments as well as most of my SSQA attachments. I understand the limitations of the smaller machine.

The brands I looked at have a good dealer and service departments, but the Kubota is the best of the bunch by a good bit and it is local to me. The others are in a neighboring town. Primary use will be cutting the grass, but there will be a lot of light loader work and dressing the Gravel driveway and paths in the woods. The machine is small enough to fit into the chicken run to clean out the coops. I also grade driveways all over my ( call it a neighborhood ) area that I can drive the tractor to, as well as downed tree clean up, clean drainage ditches ect. The smaller machine may get some of that work also.

I will dress out the machine as follows

HST
Max hp for the series
Third function
At least one rear remotes ( hydraulic top link )
R14 tires ( not an option with the red machine ) not liquid filled, my choice.
60 inch belly mover ( no drive over deck for kioti ) drive over. I have a finish mower, but the lay of the land makes it difficult to use.
quick hitch
no one offers a hydraulic top link, so will be sourcing that on my own.


The Kubota looks and feels like the best machine, but has the lowest lift capacity. Best feel in the hydraulic controls. 3k higher price
Kioti has the loudest hydro screech by far and the poorest mower deck and no drive over. Lowest price... 3k less than Kubota
Mahindra has the best lift capacities and a full fab deck, second best hydraulic feel. Middle price of the three. I'm not sure who is making it for Mahindra.
Hydraulcc flow seems acceptable across the board so we can call this a tie.

What am I forgetting to think about here? I won't be buying any other attachments at the time of purchase, so the deals offered to buy extras don't mean anything.

I feel, right now, that the Kubota is the top machine, followed by the mahindra. The kioti is the bottom of my list right now.

Any and all feedback is appreciated.

 

[jeepcoma]

What's your weight limit for mowing with tractor + MMM? That was a big factor for me, most of my property that I mow is in a flood plain. I came up with my weight limit and then found the biggest tractor I could within that limit, and it's worked out for me. I got a Deere 2025R and I know you said you won't consider it, but there are a ton of ways to customize the 1025R/2025R to do the jobs you want. The drive-over deck and the load-and-go FEL attachment options are a huge time saver as well and AFAIK best in class.

I've priced out Kubotas and Mahindras and, I never really saw much evidence of the "green tax". It's not hard to get a Mahindra eMax into 1025R pricing.

My local dealer sucks, so depending on how mechanically inclined you are, dealer support may be a big factor. I would pick that over color.

Ergonomics would be second. Have you sat on them? Spec sheets are great but some machines just fit and feel better, and it's a personal choice.

 

[CalG]

Buy the one you like the "feel" of.

$3K won't buy a mower deck!

 

[DonE0929]

Jeepcoma,

I did sit and ride on all machines. Ground speed with a load is important to me, unfortunately they won't let me scoop a bucket full of anything to test that. They did let me test with a backhoe onboard to simulate some kind of a load on the rear.

Weight is something I didn't consider to terribly much. I can drive my bigger tractor on my ground in all but the wettest of conditions, so the smaller machine will be fine. Along with weight, ground clearance will still be fine as well. That was a good consideration tho. As for Deere, I've looked at them before, there is a green(color) tax although there is also an orange tax to some degree. Every Deere I have ever looked at ( all larger machines ) have Deere only loader attachments ( not SSQA ) and it cost more to change it.... I have a lot of SSQA attachments and I prefer to use them. I'm not a farmer, but their discust and fight with Deere is real and I choose not to support them.... I've used there equipment and it is good, no complaints there.

CalG,

I agree with you on the feel good thing. 3k will mean nothing over the life of the machine. If I needed to buy additional attachments, maybe that 3k could be a deciding factor or for someone on a very tight budget it could be the only factor.

 

[Torvy]

TYM is right there in Georgia.

The T25 lifts more than the Mahindra and seems to meet all of your qualifications. (Not 100% on tires)

Price will likely be the lowest of those.

 

[DonE0929]

The nearest TYM dealer is over an hour away and it is not an interstate type drive... it's over the twisty mountain roads and then a run thru city traffic. I do have to go that way for a Doctor's appointment. May be worth the drive. A lift better than the mahindra makes it interesting for sure.

 

[jeepcoma]

OK so weight's not an issue, you have what sounds like a nicely equipped 1526 that can go everywhere you need and do every job except mowing... what are you actual needs for this second small tractor? It's a lot of expense to fill the mowing gap, which you could plug much more effectively with something that only does mowing with a ZTR. You can get one for the price of just the MMM deck which I know because it's stated in pretty much every thread ever about MMMs. But for your purposes, where you already have a do-it-all tractor, it might make more sense.

If you have a list of what the new equipment must do, what would be nice to do, and what it won't need to do, that might help narrow things down. When you already have a big capable tractor, having a smaller version that also does MMM is a big expense. Other than mowing, what would you use the smaller tractor for that you're not already going to be able to do better with the 1526?

 

[airbiscuit]

Yanmar makes nice tractors.

 

[CalG]

How does lift capacity factor in when you have a larger tractor?

Something I never really have understood in these kind of posts.

 

[Locoweed]

Couple of things you might consider. Cab with AC. Bigger tires ride over bumps much smoother. A good suspension seat is also a big plus.

 

[Torvy]

Personally? I'd rather have the choice of using the tractor I'm on at the time rather than driving back to the barn to switch equipment. Especially if someone else might need the other tractor(s).

As much as one can pack capabilities into a package, that's a good thing.

Also, the further I am inside the parameters of a piece of equipment, the less likely I am to tweak something.

 

[DonE0929]

Fair questions....
I plant and mow down multiple food plots several times a year... zturn not good on previously turned or tilled ground or even ruff ground. Even a lawn tractor isn't great for that. A z turn only cuts grass. It is a great tool for that purpose, but only for that purpose.
We want the second machine with a loader because my wife spends hours in her garden that is a couple hundred from the house... she loads the tractor bucket and is gone until dark... so no tractor for me to load logs on the sawmill or .... well to do anything. I do a good bit of hillside removal with the backhoe, having another machine m9ving the dirt sure would be nice. The current tractor is also general transportation around the 26 acres... it's more fun than a car or truck and it can do those little pop up jobs ( down tree limbs, scrape humps out of the path ) while on the way to something else.

The lift capacity probably isn't critical, but it needs to be able to lift a full bucket of whatever I want to put in it... maybe gravel, compost, mulch, loose dirt and I'd
Iike to use my existing forks and grapple ( for light work ). The better the lifting power the easier to use the stuff that was purchase for a little bigger machine. It will have to be for lighter work than the tool was intended, but still usable in some way. The pto lift needs to handle my existing attachments... box blade, tiller ect. they all have enough power for that.

I guess the whole story is that yes the machine must cut grass, but all the other possibilities are the reason for a tractor and not just a grass cutter. We need the grass cutting, but we want the tractor.... so we are getting the tractor with MMM.

The only question for us now, is purchasing the right machine in this category. The existing tractor is staying for the heavier stuff and all the times when a second machine is desirable.

 

[DonE0929]

Torcy,
is a "tweak" something I can just weld back together? or is that the one that requires the drive to buy parts? Lol

 

[DonE0929]

Someone mentioned Yanmar.... i got to use a new one a few years ago and I agree I would have traded my Mahindra for it on the spot.... but no dealer near by for me. Tractor Supply was selling a dumbed down model a few years ago... no more and again no support.

A cab and AC would be awesome, but not in the cards. If we were talking about an excavator or skidsteer the there would be no question.

I asked about suspension seats... kioti has them on everything except this size, 16 series in mahindra have them and Lx in Kubota have them, but they are one size larger machine. All the seating on all machines were far better than the horrible seat on my bigger tractor.... I need to put an aftermarket on it some day. Althought not true suspension seats, they are all welcome upgrades.

 

[Carl_NH]

Looking at the two Mahindra and Kubota, the BX and eMax series are smaller frame, smaller wheels (rougher ride) and lower lift capacity vs the Mahindra MAX series and B Series Kubota.

The lift capacity of the BX with the SSQA is 620, whereas the eMax is 900 - that's a substantial difference when considering the use of your existing implements.

Personally, I think the MAX series 1400-lb lift, or the B Series 900-lb lift, would be a better choice for your overall application.

 

[DonE0929]

Carl_NH,

I did look at the B series and the LX and the capacities there are much better, but unfortunately the tractors are physically larger and would negatively effect the cutting of the grass which in my situation, is the primary objective. The way our property is laid out we have a number of small areas to cut, around buildings, fruit and nut trees a small park like area along the creeks.
I need the small physical size for these areas.

 

[masseyrider]

Massey Ferguson.
Watch review videos of how much faster the hydraulics are at idle. The Kubota couldn't keep up at revs to the GC at idle.
Guy I know had a small Kubota for his landscape business. He couldn't get rid of it fast enough. Six roles of moist sod and it couldn't lift it. The dealer had to up the pump but still no go.

 

[dodge man]

I owned a BX 2350 for 10 years and put about 800 hours on it. Solid machines. I had a leak in the steering cylinder I fixed myself and went through 4 mower belts. I almost wonder if they had some defective belts because my first one lasted a long time and so did the last one I had on it. It also had plastic front body parts that broke, I’m pretty sure they are metal now.

I bought a John Deere 2025r about 6 years ago. The small bucket size, smaller tires and slower road speed of the Kubota frustrated me. The BX will lift a full bucket of anything but you will need a ballast box. I had a mulch kit on my BX and it mowed and cut well. You have a bigger tractor so my complaints on a BX are probably not a big deal for you.

 

[chim]

I can't see your property from here, so bear with me. I had a Kubota B7500 years ago. That's as small I'd go. It was a small but capable tractor. Mine was 21HP but they are now available with more horses. I started by looking at (and trying to like) the BX series, but they didn't feel like something I could be happy with.

I have an area that floods. Having experience with the B7500, then an L3200 and now an L4240HST was interesting. As the size of the tractor increases, so does the tire's footprint. My L4240 does at least as well as the smaller tractors with regard to making tracks.

 

[DonE0929]

Well, I went out looking again today
I know I said I would not go to green, but I did.... the 1025r is a nice machine, fit, finish and layout felt good and hydraulics felt good, not kubota good, but close. it is a tad bigger physically, which gave a roomier feel than the BX I had been favoring... still waiting on a quote, so no sure how much more or less it will be than Kubota, but if pricing is similar, I will consider it, but it is the maximum in physical size I want to consider.
Drove an hour plus to see a tym. The dealer web site said open until 5, but I got there at 1 and they were closed... I did jump the fence and have a look... regardless the dealer is just to far away to include them in the picture.