3203

[Branded]

Hi I,m new here and looking to buy a 3203 hydrastat with loader. Best price I've found is 15600.00 which includes the 500.00 rebate. What do ya'll think? Most of the work this tractor will be doing is maintaining a 400' gravel driveway and mowing 15 acres.

 

[Sweats62]

I bought my 3203 last December. So far it's logged a little over 160 hours of rough cutting, tilling, FEL (300X) work, hay production, blade work, etc. Weighing in at about 2700 lbs, this little machine is a straigt forward, no nonsense tool.

I'm sure your hear from a school of folks who will spin this tractor off as a waste of time and money. Depending on your application this may or may not be the machine for you. Feel free to drop me a line and I'll fill you in more on my 3203 experiences thus far

 

[Branded]

I'm hearing from the Kubota site that the 3203 is not built by John Deere. Can anyone enlighten me on this matter.

 

[Brimstone10x]

The 3203 has a yanmar engine. old style hydro trans ,linkage to control hydro unit insted of the newer Ehydro. the rest of the drive train is the same as a 3020 series. Its a no frills basic tractor. They arent very popular in my area , but seem to be a nice simple unit.

 

[RoyJackson]

I'm hearing from the Kubota site that the 3203 is not built by John Deere. Can anyone enlighten me on this matter.

I believe the whole tractor is built by Yanmar, as is most of the Deere CUTs (except for the 4000 series and bigger).
My biggest problem with this particular machine is the lack of offseat PTO operation. All the others and all older models have a switch under the seat and a procedure (in the manual) to run the PTO (with a chipper, splitter or as a stationary power unit) with the operator off the seat. That limits the usefullness of the machine, IMHO.

 

[canoetrpr]

Nothing to be shy of if the machine is built by Yanmar. They know how to build good tractors.

I'm with Roy (as I pointed out in the Kubota section) on the off seat PTO operation limitation. I don't have any clue why they would put it on there except to just limit function.

I think that the lack of a backhoe ability (has that changed??) is also a negative. I never thought I'd want anything to do with a backhoe - now there is a real possiblity of getting one.

I really do wish that Deere just got Yanmar to put a simple mechanical hydrostat on the 790. You know - not the eHydro but the old style that was on the 4300/4400. I think that they loose a lot of sales to the Kubota L2800/L3400 and the NH TC30 for these no frills workhorse tractors just because they don't offer a HST with the 790.

Dosen't make sense to me that they would go out and add a whole new machine to their line up when they have a perfectly good machine for the no frills market minus the hydo.

 

[JiminGa]

"Best price I've found is 15600.00 which includes the 500.00 rebate" really? that cheap? I've been thinking about trading my 2305 on a 2520, but if I can get a 3203 that cheap, maybe that's my next tractor...

 

[Branded]

Yep really that cheap! have two dealers one at $15,600 other $15,750.
I'm also looking at a L3400 Kubota but I like the quick detach FEL set up on the John Deere better.

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

I think that the lack of a backhoe ability (has that changed??) is also a negative. I never thought I'd want anything to do with a backhoe - now there is a real possiblity of getting one.

I've seen this comment several times regarding the BH and also not compatible with 300CX FEL

If really interested in 3203 suggest folow up with member JohnDeereDLR, based this comment in his post 2/24/2007 in thread "John Deere 3120 against Kubota"

Quote"
You can indeed put a 300X or CX on a 3203 tractor. I do it all the time at my dealership. The 3203 and the 3320 have the same pumps in them. You can even put the 447 hoe on this tractor.

JD DLR
End Quote"

 

[kennyd]

The main issue with the 3203 is that there is no mid-PTO available, and there are no factory options for extra hydraulic remotes or PowerBeyond. That's why you can't put a BH on it-at least not with JD parts.