4300 hst v 3010 hst

[Anonymous Poster]

This is posted under buying kubota as well. I would like input on the comparisons here. I like the kubota featherstep hst and the quiet operation. I like the JD fel controls on the tractor and other features. I'm buying the tractor, fel and 6' or 5' mower. Input is appreciated.

 

[Mike_S]

Farmer2Be--both are quality tractors, although the early 4xxx Deeres had more than their share of problems, which have received the necessary fixes. I have owned both Kubotas and Deeres and when I went to purchase one a few months ago, I again visited both tractors as well as the Boomers. Obviously no matter which side I take here, it will irritate someone, but the members of this forum are civil people and most have a good sense of humor, and many know a lot more about compact diesels than do I, so here goes: The Kubota uses glowplugs whereas the Deere uses a heating element to warm the air going into the cylinders which I prefer. The Kubota has its turning brakes above the HST pedal which makes for some interesting body contortions when using the turning brakes. I prefer the pedal arrangement and the FEL working better on the Deere. It seems to me that a clutch is not necessary on a modern HST (this ought to get a few comments;-) tractor--the Kubota HST has a clutch whereas the Deere does not. The Deere has plastic body panels whereas the Kubota has metal body panels--dunno which is better--plastic doesn't rust and both can be fixed with Bondo. I am uncertain about the quality of the Kubota lights--Deeres have good lights (my previous Kubotas didn't have good headlights, but that was years ago). If the turning brakes on the wrong side, presence of a clutch and plastic body panels are OK with you, you might try out a Boomer TC33D, although its belly mower cannot have a cylinder to raise it with its own selctor valve. The Kubota belly mower does a better job, but because it travels on the ground on two front gauge wheels and a rear roller, the stresses of bumping on the ground may cause the deck to stress and crack over many years, whereas on the Deere, the belly mower is suspended and does not actually ride on the ground all of the time. Finally--THE DEALER CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE if you cannot make up your mind on the tractor brand. Good luck to you on your choice--you should now be receiving positive orange opinions unless Bird and others are not paying attention. Mike S.

 

[glennmac]

I own a Kubota 2910 and am very happy with it. But if I wanted a larger tractor, I think the JD 4300 is a heck of a machine. And if it were the same price as a 3010, I think I would go with the 4300.

One of my reasons is my unsubstantiated belief that JD backhoes and FELs go on and off significantly easier than Kubota's. Also, that you can have a belly mower on the JD, and operate it, while the backhoe is attached.

I say unsubstantiated, however. I am not positive. The Kubota threads are saturated with discussions about 3ph vs. frame mounted backhoes, and how much of a pain it is to attach and detach each. Yet I don't recall any particular JD discussions on this issue. Is this because the Greenies are simply smiling.

I never encountered the glowplug issue and would be interested in what the difference is. I agree that JD's turning brake and clutch approach makes more sense, although it wouldn't make any practical difference to me. Some large people say the 4300 is roomier and more comfortable than the 3010.

Muhammad did award the 4300 tractor of the year.

 

[MJB]

I have a 4300 and can verify glenmacs statement that the subframe backhoe and loaders are compatible with the mower deck. You can have all three mounted and functional at the same time if you want. I can't imagine the loader and backhoe being any easier to remove or install. Three to five minutes is all it takes for either one. The mower deck takes a little longer, especially if the splines on the mid PTO don't feel like lining up. With a little practice I have reduced my change out time for the mower to about 10 minutes. I have the 60" commercial mid mount mower for mine and it does a great job on my lawn. The deck is also super heavy duty (7 gauge steel) so I don't think it will wear out any time soon. As to the question of glow plugs versus manifold heaters, I believe that glow plugs are only used on indirect injection diesels. The 4000 series JDs are all direct injection (except for the 4100) so they do not need glow plugs. A direct injection engine should give about 10-20% better fuel efficiency than a similar size indirect injection engine. If that doesn't get the Kubota guys to chime in I don't know what will. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Hope this helps.

Computers don't make mistakes.... What they do, they do on purpose.

 

[dmccarty]

farmer2b,

I'll reinforce what others are saying. First and foremost, its the dealer. Make sure you have a good dealer. One of my "tests" of the dealer was how neat was the dealership? Was it clean? What about the appearence of the staff? How helpful are they including the parts people? What does the shop look like? Is it clean and organized? Those things point out that the owner is paying attention to the details and that is important. Of course the price on the tractor and equipment is important as well but its a balance.

I had one dealer who had an immaculate dealership but I could not get a price on some of the tractors! He was really into selling backhoes and construction equipment. I think he only had the tractors on the lot since he was likely required to by some contract with the manufactuers. Obviously he did not get my dollar.

I saw another dealership which has been in buisness for a long time. The price was ok. But the place was a mess. The shop was a disaster, just full of clutter, junk and dirt. In my mind that leads to accidents both to people and machines. If my tractor has to go in for a repair I'm going to be ticked off enough and I'm not going to need to worry that there is kitty litter spread all of the floor. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

The dealer I bought from has one of the cleanest and neatest setups I saw. The parts guys were very helpful to me even though I was asking a question about a grease fitting on my Chevy. They made a phone call to a local auto parts store to see if they had what I needed! I had not spent a penny with them at that point. But that little phone call the parts guy made help sell a tractor. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif If they are going to help me before I have spent a dime with them and the help is about something that they dont sell, I do believe I'm going to get good help/support when I do spend some big bucks! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I've gotten to know the parts guys and some of the mechanics. They know me, answer my questions, are just darn helpful. That is worth quite a bit.....

Sit in the tractors you are looking at buying. I found that the JD and New Holland tractors were more roomy than those Orange machines when comparing compact tractors. Suprising to me I think the JD compacts are more roomy than the 5000 series tractors. Go figure. But this is very subjective and is totally for you to decide.

I think the visibility on the New Holland's was better then JD with JD better than Orange. Especially when looking at what was going on around the FEL. But that is very model depenent and again is subjective. You get to decide.

The JD FEL and backhoe goe off and on the tractor very easily once you know how to do it. The FEL is a very simple. I think you spend more time disconnecting the hydraulic hoses than getting the FEL off the tractor. The backhoe is a bit more involved for me but is still very simple. But my "issues" with the back hoe are most likely the old IO Error. Idiot Operator. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Tranny's. I like the PowerReverser JD tranny. Its easy to operate, cheaper than the HST, and gives you more HP. The HST owners swear by thier tranny choice. I do ALOT of FEL work. I'm moving forward and backwards CONSTANTLY and I have no complaints with the PowerReverser. For my application its perfect. I'm not sure you have a choice on tranny's with the 4300 so this maybe a moot issue.

Engine noise you will have to compare. I was very impressed with low noise of my neighbors BX2200. Its much quieter than my 4700 but then we are comparing a small tractor to a larger one.

Good Luck!
Dan McCarty

 

[Bird]

Mike S and MJB, you're right; I prefer the Kubota. But that doesn't necessarily mean that I disagree with anything either of you said. Since I don't use a belly mower, and have read a lot of things about the difference between direct and indirect injection without really knowing whether one is better than the other, and since I've used tractors with and without glow plugs with no problems with either . . ., well, there's still much that I don't know. And since I think both manufacturers make a good product, I'm inclined to think a potential buyer should try out both and just buy the one that he/she's most comfortable with. And naturally it ought to be orange./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bird

 

[farmer2b]

I've made the same post on the other board as I really do value your input.

I'm deciding tonight - any last minute thoughts are appreciated. I drove them both again this afternoon - I don't really see how I can go wrong either way. Both dealers seem very good. Right know, the Kubota is $500 more.

The throttle is better on the JD, and the seat seems a bit more comfortable. I like the fel controls a bit better too. The HST pedal on the Kubota is very nice, and it is quieter. I think it has a bit better visibility too.

JD dealer points out the autobleed and says the JD has more power. Says KB parts more expensive.

Decisions, decisions....

 

[Mike_S]

farmer2be--whichever way you decide, the extendable draft links are well worth the extra money and should you decide on the green tractor and purchase a 430 loader--the extra $100 is money well spent on the heavy duty bucket. As you said--decisions, decisions... Mike S.

 

[JATO_RaT]

My Kubota uses glowplugs yet have never used them or needed to use them. Kubota builds its own diesels, sells them to other manufacturers that use them extensively ie. Ingersol Rand the makers of Bobcat. Yanmar is made for John Deere in the 4000 series. The 5000 series have a great JD diesel. Plastic and steel, I don't care much about that either. Turning brakes, never use them, don't need them unless I'm wanting to tear up the ground and remove more tread from my tires. If using turning brakes was a constant issue with me, I don't think I would be using a HST tractor, rather a gear tractor. HST does so much to eliminate turning brakes since the difference between forward and reverse is nothing anymore. Loader comes off like a piece of cake on the Kubota as well contrary to what John Deere video would like you to believe. Clutch for HST comes in handy for things like engaging/disengaging stubborn 4WD, all tractors get this. John Deeres are a prettier color. John Deeres seem like they are made in America and therefore can make some of my more ignorant neighbors believe I am truly patrotic. The HST on JD is still not as well engineered as the Kubota. For quietness and smoothness, you won't beat it with JD or NH. Which tractor will I get next, I'm still looking, I like them all and really have to get nit picky to thin them out. Probably a JD or Kubota. Rat...

 

[JATO_RaT]

I believe Kubota does make direct injected diesels. Obvioulsly the best selling skid steer (Bobcat) in the world thinks so to since they have been using Kubota diesels for many years and continue to do so in the excavators as well. There is nothing inherently wrong with indirect and Kubota has proven this as the first to build the lowest polluting diesels for compact tractors. I can't imagine squeezing out much more fuel efficiency out of my 5 cylinder Kubota L 4850. Power wise, its fantastic and has spoiled me when I use other compacts. I have yet to use the 4700 JD with its engine and associated problem of runnning backwards, but would like to try. My old NH 2120 did this also. Direct vs indirect, the jury is still out. Rat...