Buying Advice A newbie needs help

[scappoose]

Hi, I am new here. I own a couple of acres in Oregon near Portland in the country,sort of. I don't own a tractor yet, i am planing to by one this month.
My property is completely overgrown with underbrush and blackberries. My driveway is over 200' long. I grow vegetables for sell;l at the local farmers' market,
I have been looking at Kubota tractors L2800 w;FEL with a thumb and box scraper, B3200 or The L3700SU
I have gotten quotes for the 3 tractors the L3700SU about 20,000
L2800 ,,,,,,,,,,, 18,750
B3200............ 17,500
All the tractors are equipped the same w/ loaded back tires ,.but no box scraper
Any comments or suggestions, help please!

Thanks

 

[johnrex62]

I am in central Texas and my L3700SU package was about the same as your quote. You can see the contents in my sig line along with delivery and a parts cost only 50 hours service. I did not get the loaded tires, but the dealer told me if I felt they would help he would load them for me at the 50 hours service.

I mow a couple acres and am clearing underbrush and saplings in another couple acres of wooded areas. I am loving the capabilities of my L3700SU for these tasks. On some of the brush in my woods I am not sure anything smaller would have the weight to push into them. All of your choices have the HP, I have never operated a B series and don't know how much "Oomph" it will have against a wall of brush and vines. Might be just fine and might struggle a bit depending on the foothold of the vines or tougher saplings.

On a side note, I am finding that my rotary mower (brush hog) has been my favorite tool in clearing underbrush. Anything under 2-3 inches gets mowed down. Makes real nice trails and the trails can get expanded into clearings when there are no bigger trees to block maneuvering.

 

[EThogfarmer]

I live in East Texas and recently purchased the L3700 with FEL, loaded R4s, cruise control and drawbar delivered for $17,120. I already had implements so that didn't factor into the price.

I went to four dealers and the price varied as much as $1500. I would check with all the dealers within a reasonable distance. I know I was surprised at how much variation there was in the price for the same package.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Ratchet Rake, LLC - Tractor attachment, Bucket attachment, Loader, Skid loader, Kubota, Skid steer, Landscape rake, Brush remover, York Rake, Harley Rake, Rock Rake, Tractor rake attachment, Construction attachment, New Holland, Bobcat, Fire safety,
Finest implement made for briars and under brush. I bought one for my B3200 and then sold the B3200. I bought a BX25 so had to get another Ratchetrake for the BX. I think they are now sold through Tractor Supply. Site will probably tell you.
Any of the tractors you mentioned will probably do the jobs your wanting done.

 

[KU Gator]

The B3200 has a mid PTO and therefore you could add a MMM if that was of interest to you. If you did not plan to add the MMM, then that capability which adds costs is not going to provide any advantage. The B3200 has the 1/4" valve on the 3 pt hitch which operates very smoothly for raising or lowering the implement but will not hold the implement at a specific height. When using a rotary cut mower (brush hog) it will gradually sag down as you mow and you will have to raise the front of the mower back up. The B3200 uses a 4 cyl engine which tends to vibrate more especially when it gets above 2000 RPM. So you should make sure you check it out near the PTO RPM speed when you test drive it then drive one of the L's with a 3 cyl for comparison.

The L series tractors have position control on the 3 pt hitch which will hold an implement at a specific height. If you expect to use a rotary mower while you get your brambles under control, this system is significantly better than the 1/4" valve on the B3200. But there are complaints about the jerkiness of the 3 pt system on the L2800, 3400, and 3700 in the forums.

 

[Thomas]

All three fine..fine machine pricing really close even tho one unit may have extra option.

Kinda round about question for you...
Have taken test drive on each unit?..if so did unit come to you by this I mean were you comfortable operating.

Do you have long range idea for your land?..sometimes going to big can cost you more work getting around.."I own a couple of acres"

Do keep us updated in your quest.

 

[TripleR]

Have you considered the B3030? Going bigger, you can wind up with a bigger tractor than you need for general work/maintenance on two acres. For the initial jobs that the smaller tractor "may not" handle, a weekend rental will often be a better option.

 

[LD1]

deffinatally shop around on price. That 3700 seems high to me. It should me closer to the 2800.

If doing a lot of tasks that require the pto, te extra HP wis well worth it. If the majority of your tasks are ground engaging, you wont notice the extra power helping too much as the 2800 has pleanty to spin the tires already.

 

[scappoose]

Thanks for all your great advice.
On Saturday I went to more dealers and got more quotes
I found one dealer who said that Kubota has an rebate program going on RE: $300 on "B" and $500 on the "L". Has anyone heard about this?
Here's what I found:
the first dealer included the missing draw bar and loaded the wheels on the,
L3700SU but no mention of any rebate.......$18,200
the second dealer wanted $400. to load the tires(with a tube and calcium chloride),no drawbar...$18,200 but gave a rebate of $500 so the price became $17,700
he also offered a B3300 at $16,300 with the $300 rebate.
A question about the B3300 though does this model have the 1/4 inching valve? Also the lift capacity is greater than the L3700SU but the overall tractor is lighter (right?)
Because I have a lot of large wood and brush piles to mover around.
I am planing to add an after market thumb to the loader bucket,,, is a electric diverter kit better than a fender mounted 4th valve?
Unless someone has a better idea.
As always all suggestion and comments are invited

 

[easygo]

Yes. The B3200 does have 1/4" valve.
The L3700 has a greater lift capacity then the B3200 by about 320lbs. The reason for the difference in the numbering is that they started giving the lift capacity at the pins instead of measured at mid bucket if i recall correctly. The 3700 is pretty much the same size tractor as the L2800 or L3400 but has a more powerful engine. See the below thread on the L3700 topic.
www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-buying-pricing/167162-kubota-l-3700-su.html

I think that after the initial cleanup the B tractors would fit the bill very well for you. But as you mentioned you are going to get a grapple for the loader and that will be HUGE help when dealing with brush so I would vote for the B machines. Also the ratchet rake that JohnThomas mentioned could be a good tool to clean up small saplings, berry bushes or just get rid of general weedy stuff.
here is a link to that one
www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/146060-ratchet-rake-ever-seen-used.html
Are you going to till or plow your market garden?

Edit: Are you clearing full grown trees too or your land is more like an overgrown filed with small (2-3" or less) trees?