Update!
A friend of mine is a mechanic at the County highway department. We decided to go back and look at the Kubota, today. As I had remembered, the hydraulics were much better, on the Kubota (once we gave it some RPM's, at idle, it's pretty sad). He said he was impressed with what that little of a tractor could do-he works on the big stuff.
The shop guy was very helpful, again. We removed the MMM and I was less impressed with it than the JD method. The Kubota deck is HUGE! I didn't really appreciate the size, until we got it out. The issue it creates is storage. With the JD, I can park it over the drive-over-deck. With the Kubota, it will have to sit off to the side-taking up a lot more space. The guy on Youtube made removal look easier than we managed.
I was very pleased to see the HST fan already had the Kubota skid plate. It may not be as good as the BXpanded, but it would serve me better. I like being able to leave it on with the MMM and my tractor won't see very much time in areas where the fan is a concern.
It appears the fan is just mounted around the drive shaft and spins with it, is that correct? If not, can someone please set me straight? Good news is the fan is in good shape.
Here's a picture of the dash, just because I took it:
At this point, I am leaning more toward the Kubota, and have been, moreso than the JD. At times, though, I lean toward the JD.
We were able to stop at a JD dealer and look at a new 1025R w/FEL and BH. I couldn't find many differences between the 1026R and the 1025R. My friend agreed the Kubota BH platform was better and agreed the JD layout from the 3PT forward was way better. He recommended the Kubota, due to the more efficient hydraulics. He did say I would likely be happy with either.
Another point, I believe the JD 1026R is due for the major service-all filters and fluids (at 400 hrs). Since he bought the Extended Service Plan, I may be able to get the current owner to have it serviced, for free. That would be spectacular. I plan to call on Monday and see if that is an option. if it is, that puts a big point in JD's court.
As of right now, the Kubota is winning, but I'm still flying through research.
A friend of mine is a mechanic at the County highway department. We decided to go back and look at the Kubota, today. As I had remembered, the hydraulics were much better, on the Kubota (once we gave it some RPM's, at idle, it's pretty sad). He said he was impressed with what that little of a tractor could do-he works on the big stuff.
The shop guy was very helpful, again. We removed the MMM and I was less impressed with it than the JD method. The Kubota deck is HUGE! I didn't really appreciate the size, until we got it out. The issue it creates is storage. With the JD, I can park it over the drive-over-deck. With the Kubota, it will have to sit off to the side-taking up a lot more space. The guy on Youtube made removal look easier than we managed.
I was very pleased to see the HST fan already had the Kubota skid plate. It may not be as good as the BXpanded, but it would serve me better. I like being able to leave it on with the MMM and my tractor won't see very much time in areas where the fan is a concern.
It appears the fan is just mounted around the drive shaft and spins with it, is that correct? If not, can someone please set me straight? Good news is the fan is in good shape.
Here's a picture of the dash, just because I took it:
At this point, I am leaning more toward the Kubota, and have been, moreso than the JD. At times, though, I lean toward the JD.
We were able to stop at a JD dealer and look at a new 1025R w/FEL and BH. I couldn't find many differences between the 1026R and the 1025R. My friend agreed the Kubota BH platform was better and agreed the JD layout from the 3PT forward was way better. He recommended the Kubota, due to the more efficient hydraulics. He did say I would likely be happy with either.
Another point, I believe the JD 1026R is due for the major service-all filters and fluids (at 400 hrs). Since he bought the Extended Service Plan, I may be able to get the current owner to have it serviced, for free. That would be spectacular. I plan to call on Monday and see if that is an option. if it is, that puts a big point in JD's court.
As of right now, the Kubota is winning, but I'm still flying through research.
