Buying Advice 50HP Kubota - high hours/rough shape - what痴 a fair price?

[fried1765]

Model is L3750

As mentioned - ASK is 7500, possible room to haggle (I doubt much...but never know).

My rebuild is again worst case...itç—´ very possible I could run this a decade with no new issues developing.

As to the 努ay too much...buy a clean unit for 12-15k crowd - kindly direct me to those units. As I said - I sold the MF with 3800 hours and no backhoe for around 11,500...it was marginally nicer.

A new unit with emissions similar size is going to be what - mid 40s? Used - I壇 expect a clean unit with a couple of thousand on the clock to come in high teens. No guarantees that a 斗ow hour unit doesn稚 quit the next day either. Hours are in indication of PROBABILITIES not POSSIBILITY of failure.

I of course don稚 NEED the unit...but bigger would be nice...and if I can resell later for any profit...all the better.

Itç—´ a nice sized machine, capable of doing a decent amount of work - while not costing more than a years wages. Always buyers for stuff like that in any market. I am not å…Žlitist when it comes to tools - right price, anything that runs has a use and market.

Much really depends on how patient you are!
I had a LOW HOUR 1970 Ford 3400 TLB for 33 years, that I bought used for $10,000, from a Ford dealer, in 1986.
I decided to sell it last year, and because I did have it looking and functioning almost like new, I sold it for 9K.
It was 49 years old! (as some here may comment ....I was lucky!)
Clean looking, smooth operating, equipment will ALWAYS sell for a premium price!

I had looked for 9 months, and eventually found a very clean, original owner 2006 Kubota L48 TLB with 250 hours.
It was a good find, but was 350 miles away, and had taken months to find,..... but back in '86, it had taken me 22 months to find the 3400 Ford TLB.

The 2006 Kubota L48 TLB at $32K, was WAY more than I intended to spend for my last toy, and as a comparison, it obviously is a 35 year newer machine than the "mid 80's" L3750 that you are looking at.
The point here though, is that I bought a nearly new (the paint is faded, but I am working on that with automotive quality spray gun, few pieces each time) VERY LOW HOUR machine for 1/2 of what a new (L47 TLB) would have cost.
Parts are readily available, I will put very few additional hours on it, will enjoy working with reliable machinery, and when I croak, my children will likely recoup nearly all of my original cost.

Once upon a time.....I bought a 1958 Oliver OC46-3G crawler loader.
It looked good, ran well, had 2400 hours, and appeared to have original pins and bushings.
Less than 50 hours later it ate the ring gear.
BIG bill, when I could least afford it (I was on strike at my real job).
I had it fixed, and sold it at a significant loss!

A HIGH HOUR 35 year old tractor, (or crawler) would not ever be for me!
Too much risk!
Actually .....No more crawler stuff of any vintage for me......EVER!
Obviously, I do not know everything about anything; thus, I have unfortunately attended the school of hard knocks a few times, in my nearly 80 years aboard this planet!

 

[Industrial Toys]

Buying the cheapest thing around will almost always be the worst money you ever spent. Plus, you won't be able to get done, what you wanted to.

I do kind of regret that I never got a dozer. Some guys can just deal with that stuff better than others. I probably can't. So it's probably best I didn't.

Now, on the other hand, if you knew a guy, and knew the machine, that could be different. HE put the blood, sweat and tears into and and just wants to find it a good new home. Perfect!

 

[5030]

Couple things to keep in mind. One, Kubota engines with even minimal care can go 10K hours if they are pre emissions engines, something to consider and a 50 horse newer unit (post 2015 will be common rail with DPF. Not my thing at all.

Last spring I bought a 2002 Kubota M9 open station with a loader and 2 buckets from a JD dealer. It had 4500 on the meter and looked rough but I know my M9's in as much as I have another one (2004) I bought new so I knew exactly what I was looking at mechanically and tin can be repaired and repainted. Big plus for me was the Tier 2 engine, no emissions junk and it was FWA so it came home for 18 grand. I've put another 4 grand in it since then and I still need to line bore the FEL bushings but other than that. It's a solid unit. Always a crap shoot but if you know what you are looking at, it's not too bad. Just because it looks like a sow's ear, don't mean it cannot be a silk purse with some work.

I now have a very reliable second tractor for under 24 grand and I've been offered 25 for it. Not for sale. A new one listed for 42 btw.

 

[wvgca]

I don't know about Kubota [especially the smaller ones], but Massey and Versatile are good for 10,000 hours plus [all the larger, over 100hp] as in they are what I have now ... now the interiors are not the best, but everything works well, and does what it's supposed to ..
Average is 200 to 400 hours per year, acreage size is 320, cereal crops mostly ..

 

[5030]

I don't know about Kubota [especially the smaller ones], but Massey and Versatile are good for 10,000 hours plus [all the larger, over 100hp] as in they are what I have now ... now the interiors are not the best, but everything works well, and does what it's supposed to ..
Average is 200 to 400 hours per year, acreage size is 320, cereal crops mostly ..

Same with the bigger 4 cylinder N/A and turbocharged Kubota engines. Expect 10K hours with no more than a couple overhead adjustments and possibly injectors if the spray pattern degrades. Kubota calls out a 1000 meter hour overhead adjustment. I tend to go 1500. You can tell when it's time as they get a bit more noisy and the pto power drops off a bit. Just had the OS tractor's overhead ran and a new front crank seal put in. Injectors sprayed fine (I use Powerservice all the time, winter and summer) and after the 'tune up' she dynoed at 93 pto, well above the Kubota OEM spec of 82. Noticeable seat of the bib's improvement.

 

[5030]

I'm on my 10th or 12th Kubota now. I kept buying bigger and bigger and the M9's are as big as I need (I do a bit of row cropping and a bit of commercial forage) so the M9000 are a nice combination of not too heavy a unit where compaction is an issue but the tractive effort is there with FWA and they have the ponies to get the job done and not drink fuel like a drunken sailor.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I know a farmer in Canada that bought two M series Kubota's, he needed them for farming and in the winter, some heavy sno-blowing. Both were getting wore down in less than 5K hours, and burned a fair amount of oil, they did still start and run decent though...

You will have a hard time convincing me that they will go 10K in a work environment... (without major repairs)

SR

 

[5030]

I know a farmer in Canada that bought two M series Kubota's, he needed them for farming and in the winter, some heavy sno-blowing. Both were getting wore down in less than 5K hours, and burned a fair amount of oil, they did still start and run decent though...

You will have a hard time convincing me that they will go 10K in a work environment...

SR

I work mine HARD for long hours but they get taken care of too. I don't need to convince anyone, I already know. I believe your Canadian friend was lax in upkeep. Neither of mine uses any oil as in NADA. Oil level stays exactly where it is from start to change.

Of course my next question is... Did he use synthetic oil from the get go or not? if he did, that is the answer to the consumption. Kubota's require a non synthetic lube oil for the first couple changes or they will use oil. After the second change, it's ok to go to a synthetic. I use 5-40 Rotella T6 but I started out with 15-40 Rotella.

Only weak spot with a Kubota diesel is the head gaskets. You overheat them, I can almost guarantee a head gasket failure and possibly a cracked head.

I've had zero issues with my original 2004 M. Nothing. Just normal maintenance and consumable's, filters, tires and such.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I don't believe he uses synthetic in any equipment...

There's a lot more to a tractor than the engine, and 10K is a LOT of hours. Also, the M is twice or 3 times more tractor than a L so how long an M last doesn't mean a B or L will last just as long.

SR

 

[Industrial Toys]

I love Kubota engines but suspect all are a little different. Some better than others. Man, people love to generalize. EDIT: HECK! I LOVE to generalize.