3010HST OR 3710HST

Anonymous Poster · Nov 28, 2000

Ive been shopping both machines for a while,do I buy a new 3010hst or a 1999 3710 w/250 hrs on it?still cant decide.Its a big investment to start with,is it worth the extra money for the 3710 which has the larger loader?but is almost 2 years older and more money,and will be delivered site unseen from a repitibule dealer,I Run brushhog,rake,keeping the driveways up and moving material around as i develope my property,i plan on a 7.5ft
hoe,and digging out in the winter,I also am going to be transporting it back & forth 350 miles R.T.in the warmer months, any advive would be greatly appreciated

Bird · Nov 28, 2000

Shifty01, that's a tough question to answer. 250 hours is nothing; hardly broke in good, but it depends on the condition, how it was maintained (was the scheduled maintenance, i.e., oil & filter changes done when it was supposed to be?), how much the cost difference is, whether you need the larger tractor, etc.

Bird

bsauter · Nov 29, 2000

Well Shifty, I would have a hard time buying sight unseen and driven unless the dealer was my best friend in the whole world. Even when I got my L3010 HST I picked mine out from several after driving them. Any way you can go see it? Or return it after a week if you don't like it?

I can do a lot with my 3010. I just excavated 12,000 square feet of WET sod and topsoil to a depth of 5 inches this past weekend for my horse ring. The tractor didn't miss a beat! I wish I had a cab with a heater for that job though ! After doing that I have no problem thinking that it will handle the rock, aglime and sand applications next.

The 3710 will do the job about 20% faster I would think. If you can use the extra HP (and who can't sometimes?) then think about it. Bird is right about condition ect. 250 hours is low so I wouldn't worry about it if it was taken care of and not beat up by several members of a landscape crew sharing the tractor.

I personally couldn't justify a 3710 for my use 'cause I still have to cut grass with it and only own 10 acres and hire out some. If you do a lot of contract work I would go for the biggest and the baddest you can afford.

Brad, Kubota L3010HST, loader, R4 tires
Pictures at http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=179207&a=9183978

Anonymous Poster · Nov 29, 2000

THANKS FOR THE INPUT,IM GOING TO US IT FOR PERSONAL USE ON 10 ACRES,AT THIS POINT IM LEANING TOWARDS A 3010HST THAT CARVER HAS WITH 174 HOURS,NC-CT IS A LONG HAUL IF I DONT LIKE IT,BUT SAVING 1600-1700 $ OVER A NEW ONE,I DONT MIND THE BUCKET HAVING A COUPLE OF SCRATCHES,THAT WAY I WONT GET
MAD AT MY 11ST SCRATCH ON A NEW MACHINE,IM HAVING TROUBLE DECIDING ON AGS OR R4,HOW ARE THE R4 IN THE SNOW?

art · Nov 29, 2000

The ag tire in snow is better but on ice they are both about the same.

SHIFTY · Nov 29, 2000

Art,how much better in the snow?would the benifits outway the slipping and sliding in the winter?I guess a set of ags for the winter would solve it,but its out of the quiestion for now thaanks SHIFTY

Anonymous Poster · Nov 29, 2000

Shifty01: I had the same exact situation as you. A few months ago I had the opportunity of buying either a L3010 or L 3710. Both were GST. The L3010 was new and the L3710 was a 2000 model with 64 hrs. Both had kubota loaders, fold ROPS and R4 tires. I bought the L3710 for $750 more than the price of the L3010. I have about five acres to mow around my house but also farm approx. 1500 acres with my brother. My house and farm are located 100 miles apart. I transport the tractor back and forth as needed with a Ford F-250 and trailer as needed. I believe the tractor is not difficult to trailer. I have hauled tractors with nearly twice the weight as the 3710 on the same trailer (tandem axle, bumper hitch). For me the better choice was the 3710 - more power, larger loader and not much more expensive. The weight difference between the two tractors is approx. 270 lbs and I believe this is not significant. I use the 3710 with a 3pt, 8ft finish mower with no problems (only mow when dry due to weight of tractor and mower.) I bought my tractor from a dealer and traded in a kubota B7100. You may be able to work on the price of the L3710 to get it lower but 250 hrs is still low. I chose the GST for its gear driven transmission because of the farm work which occasionally requires heavy pulling. For lighter work, mowing or loader work, I'd take the HST. Good luck in your decision. I have owned JD, CASE-IH, Ford, Allis-Chalmers and Kubota's. Kubota's have been the most reliable of all. My previous Kubota B7100 (1200 hrs) and my brother's current B7100 (2500 hrs) were nearly flawless and maintenance free.