Comparison Another Kubota vs. Deere Quandary

[s219]

Having owned a Deere machine with metal hood, two Deere machines with plastic hoods, and two Kubotas with metal hoods, my preferences is definitely metal. I dropped a couple firewood rounds on my Kubota hood last year and it left small dents that I can live with. When I damaged one of my Deere plastic hoods about 10 years ago -- with far less impact -- pieces fell off and left jagged sharp edges on the rest of the hood. It was so sharp and jagged that I felt it was unsafe. The replacement part was fairly expensive.

I don't think the plastic would keep me from buying a Deere if it was truly the better tractor -- in fact, I bought one of their riding mowers last spring and it has a plastic hood -- but no question I like metal better. At least in my experience, the theoretical benefits of plastic don't really matter much.

 

[pmsmechanic]

For me there is no other option. I do not like treadle hst. Even the Deere two speed would be easier to put up with than a treadle hst.

Also on the SSQA. I don't believe that it's an extra adaptor. You take the Deere style adaptor off of the loader and then attach the SSQA one. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[newbury]

<snip>
1. the deere 3025 has an oil-bathed wet clutch, whereas the Kubota 2501 has a dry clutch [the cable requiring adjusting every 100 hours]
2. the body/frame of the deere is "composite," whereas the kubota is sheet metal

FRAME??? of SHEET METAL?? Sheeeet.

3. the hydraulic flow rate of the deere is one gallon per minute greater than that of the Kubota
4. the deere has twin pedals for forward and reverse, whereas the Kubota is the front/rear single treadle
5. the detachable bucket on the deere is 60-inches, whereas the detachable bucket on the Kubota is 66-inches

Bigger is better.

6. the deere has a slightly narrower turning radius than the Kubota
7. the deere though weighs about 400 pounds 'less' than the Kubota

Usually we want MORE weight in tractors.

8. the deere has only 2-speed ranges, whereas the Kubota has 3
9. there appears to be far fewer possible attachments available for the deere than there are for the Kubota

So, as u can see, there are plusses and minuses for both, and tho it appears that there will be fewer routine maintenance issues [and less expensive parts] on the deere, I don't know if that's a significant difference, but considering that the deere dealer is 30 miles closer to me than the Kubota, that gives me more 'comfort' regarding those times when the tractor should be serviced by professionals, and the back-and-forth costs just might be significant.
In its favor tho, the Kubota 'appears' to me to be a more solidly built machine, but that might simply be a preferential prejudice on my part.

So, I'm curious as to how u guys would assess the 2. [In some ways, I wonder if the comparison is even fair on deere's part because whenever I see people considering the differences between an L2501 Kubota and a comparable deere, it's usually put up against a deere 3032e.]

I'm pretty sure I would be happy owning either one of these tractors but would love to hear what u guys have to say about the matter.

Many thanks in advance.

The L2501 is a down graded larger tractor to take advantage of EPA regs. Take advantage of it.

Having owned a Deere machine with metal hood, two Deere machines with plastic hoods, and two Kubotas with metal hoods, my preferences is definitely metal. I dropped a couple firewood rounds on my Kubota hood last year and it left small dents that I can live with. When I damaged one of my Deere plastic hoods about 10 years ago -- with far less impact -- pieces fell off and left jagged sharp edges on the rest of the hood. It was so sharp and jagged that I felt it was unsafe. The replacement part was fairly expensive.

I don't think the plastic would keep me from buying a Deere if it was truly the better tractor -- in fact, I bought one of their riding mowers last spring and it has a plastic hood -- but no question I like metal better. At least in my experience, the theoretical benefits of plastic don't really matter much.

Don't have accidents!!
Truly a plastic hood that shatters is a dumb engineering mistake.

 

[beckmurph]

The loader on the 3025e is not removable. The L2501 loader is removeable.
John Deere's QA is not standard SSQA. L2501 is standard SSQA.
L2501 uses the BH77 backhoe, but no backhoe for the 3025e.

 

[ovrszd]

The loader on the 3025e is not removable. The L2501 loader is removeable.
John Deere's QA is not standard SSQA. L2501 is standard SSQA.
L2501 uses the BH77 backhoe, but no backhoe for the 3025e. &#55357;&#56836;

All those important to me.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

I hate these videos. Deere really stretches the truth.

1. the deere 3025 has an oil-bathed wet clutch, whereas the Kubota 2501 has a dry clutch [the cable requiring adjusting every 100 hours] (only on the gear drive, no one buys that)
2. the body/frame of the deere is "composite," whereas the kubota is sheet metal (who ever thought plastic was better)
3. the hydraulic flow rate of the deere is one gallon per minute greater than that of the Kubota (woweeeeeeeee)
4. the deere has twin pedals for forward and reverse, whereas the Kubota is the front/rear single treadle (100% personal preference)
5. the detachable bucket on the deere is 60-inches, whereas the detachable bucket on the Kubota is 66-inches (the Kubota uses a skid loader coupler, you can put whatever bucket on you want)
6. the deere has a slightly narrower turning radius than the Kubota (untrue, they do this test with the loader on. THe Kubota loader is larger and longer. The turning radius of the tractors is very close)
7. the deere though weighs about 400 pounds 'less' than the Kubota.
8. the deere has only 2-speed ranges, whereas the Kubota has 3 (this is a big deal)
9. there appears to be far fewer possible attachments available for the deere than there are for the Kubota. (correct)

I have respect for many of Deere's tractors. But the economy 3000-series machines have a lot of serious flaws. Frankly, I much more legit comparison is to a Kubota B3350SU... the L2501 is a larger tractor.

 

[Musdalen]

Maybe you should compare a 30xxR to a the L series Kubotas. You seem to be ignoring them. After reading around here, I am somewhat surprised, sometimes that John Deere is still in existence.... :laughing:

 

[ovrszd]

Maybe you should compare a 30xxR to a the L series Kubotas. You seem to be ignoring them. After reading around here, I am somewhat surprised, sometimes that John Deere is still in existence.... :laughing:

I'm just guessing, that would be cost prohibitive.

 

[Musdalen]

I'm just guessing, that would be cost prohibitive.

Could well be. Personally, I notice a lot of angst here about 2 vs 3 speed trannies. So much so, that I got the 3 speed R series and I have yet to take it out of midrange. I suspect that 2 speeds would be just fine for lots and lots of people.

Will I really need to take the FEL off? I doubt it. But I can. Was it worth the money? Probably not.

I do like the faster hydraulic pump(s). I can already tell that I am working it hard, steering and lifting a lot at the same time. I would not want it to be any slower.

The SSQA is another such beast that I think is a bit oversold for a lot of us compact tractor buyers. At least that's how I decided to lay my wager. But everyone is different. More attachments for a Kubota sounds great. Don't need'em. There are many hundreds for the Deere, more than I could ever even imagine. I'm happy that they will have whatever I want, well into the future, and not just from Deere but most 3rd party attachment makers.

All in all, I'm happy, but I still wonder why all the downtrodding of the JDs, even the e series which really seems to get the boot around here.

 

[TheMadOne]

Could well be. Personally, I notice a lot of angst here about 2 vs 3 speed trannies. So much so, that I got the 3 speed R series and I have yet to take it out of midrange. I suspect that 2 speeds would be just fine for lots and lots of people.

Will I really need to take the FEL off? I doubt it. But I can. Was it worth the money? Probably not.

I do like the faster hydraulic pump(s). I can already tell that I am working it hard, steering and lifting a lot at the same time. I would not want it to be any slower.

The SSQA is another such beast that I think is a bit oversold for a lot of us compact tractor buyers. At least that's how I decided to lay my wager. But everyone is different. More attachments for a Kubota sounds great. Don't need'em. There are many hundreds for the Deere, more than I could ever even imagine. I'm happy that they will have whatever I want, well into the future, and not just from Deere but most 3rd party attachment makers.

All in all, I'm happy, but I still wonder why all the downtrodding of the JDs, even the e series which really seems to get the boot around here.

The 30XXE series units are priced similar to Kubota's standard L lineup, but are closer to the higher HP Bs when it comes to things like weight 3PT lift and loader lift. So it's hard to recommend going with what amounts to a step down in size while loosing features like SSQA and paying almost the same. The 30XXR units are actual tractors more suited to their HP, but come at a cost premium. Some people are willing to pay it for the green paint or really like their dealer, and that's fine.