Anyone use a tree and post puller on a Kobota MX5800, Grand L series or Kioti NX6010?

[dbchaplin03]

Has anyone ever ran a tree/post puller with their MX5800/5200, Grand L 5460/6060 or NX6010/5410 series tractors? We have a lot of honey suckle to clear and I had a skid loader and tree puller that was incredible at pulling it out by the roots but everytime it rained it was 2-3 days before I could get back at it (it was also costing me an arm/leg/kidney to maintain and service) . I know these machines don't have the weight, capacity, or breakout force that my 60hp skid loader had so please don't think I'm being naive.. I had considered buying a Kubota M7060 or Kioti RX7320 but those are a lot of machine and we move every 3-4 years with the military. The MX and NX series tractors I've been quoted are about $7500 cheaper then the M7060 but are comparable to the RX7320 if you don't use the 0% Kioti financing.

The RX7320 wouldn't fit in my garage or shop even with the ROPS folded so unfortunetly it is out because I never leave my equipment outside. That one is very disappointing because without the 0% financing I could get one of those for around $33K. But with us moving so frequently I don't want to have to build a new shop everytime we move for it to fit in.

If i bought the smaller machine I think it would do 90% of what I want and I could rent a mini-ex to take out a lot of the 4-8" scrub trees that i used to be able to pull with my skid steer. I'm just curious if anyone has ever used a puller on one of the large CUTs? My last puller was the one from Titan Attachments Heavy-Duty Post And Tree Puller For Skid Steers, Universal Landscape Tool and it was phenominal for the price but the guy who bought my skid steer couldn't live without it. If i wen't with the RX7320 or M7060 i was planning to get the Danuser Intimidator that I've drooled over for the last several years. That would be way to much for anything smaller then the Ag tractors though.

Other work to be completed over the next 4 years will be landscaping, light brush mowing, fencing, processing over 100 trees we took out already into firewood, dirt moving, and some gardening. All of which the machines above would do great at.

I just want some real world advice since I bought a new Kioti CK4010SE 2 years ago and was immediately disappointed with the performance. Not that it was bad, it just wasn't big enough for what i needed it to do. Thankfully i paid the cash price and was able to get almost all my money back out of it

 

[nybirdman]

Don't know if your "honey suckle"is the same as our's but I have pulled a ton of it with my L4240 with a tooth-bar and thumb.Ours is bush type honey-suckle and shallow rooted.Spring is the best time when the ground is damp.

 

[jjp8182]

Actually I've got a Danuser Intimidator that I've used on my L3560 to pretty good effect (even though it eats up a lot of the loader lifting capacity).

I generally use it on things under 3" in diameter, as trees above that size it's just as easy (if not easier) to use a horizontal grapple to push the tree over, roll the root ball to break the remaining roots.... and then haul the whole thing off horizontally rather than trying to move it in a vertical position.

Biggest thing is having enough weight to the tractor to effectively get the engine power transmitted to the ground. So on that note even with my L3560 with an L805 loader, and a full set of wheel weights I usually find myself being traction limited more than power limited (I've had the tractor in low, differential locked, 4WD and had all four wheels spinning a time or few ....all in soil conditions that were pretty much optimal for the work I was doing).

Of course depending on what's around and how big the vegetation is you're trying to remove a box blade with rippers down can also do quite a number to any vegetation than can be safely driven over....

Between the Danuser Intimidator, an EA single-lid grapple (Single Lid Wicked Root Grapple Lightweight Strong Large opening), and an EA box blade (Category I & II Severe XTreme Duty Tractor Box Blade - Everything Attachments) I've actually remove a fair amount of vegetation in the last couple years. I particularly like the Intimidator for removing brush and small trees that are close to structures.

 

[dbchaplin03]

JJP8182,

Thats really good to know and I appreciate that feedback. I've been in awe of that Danuser Intimidator for years. I think I'm set on either the MX5800 or an M5660 that i had orginally thought about and then crept up to the M7060. These darn tractors are terrible to buy... Especially if you read forums and do research! You think you know what you want and then you read someone who says.. If you like that... Check out this... If you like this.. Check out this... And you just start climbing the price ladder lol.. I'm sure none of you expereinced that :laughing:

I'm eliminating Kioti at this point. I think they make outstanding tractors. I owned one. Great fit and finish, just too small for my needs. However, with Kubota's 0% financing the price between paying cash and financing at 0% is only $700... The price difference with Kioti is $4500-5500 depending on the model between cash price and low rate financing. Even with personal or bank financing you'd end up paying more for the Kioti than the Kubota if you pay on it for more then 3 years. The other thing was if you ever need to resell... It took me a long time to find a buyer for my CK4010SE. The only thing that saved me is paid cash for it so I got the substantial savings up front. Won't be able to do that with this new tractor.

I have at least 5 Kubota dealers within an hour of me and at this point I'm looking for the best pricing. The best price I've seen so far on an MX5800 is around $32.7k for HST, loader, R-4's, and 3rd function valve. Waiting on some price quotes for the M5660 but i don't expect it will come in that much higher then the MX5800.

 

[mikester]

KOBOTAs are junk Chinese knock offs of the real Japanese made KUBOTA.

 

[dbchaplin03]

You got me.. Thats what i get for trying to type a novel on my iPad :duh:

 

[TripleR]

We use one, a Titan, on our M8540HDC and it works great, but it helps if the soil is damp. My brother uses it on his Kioti CK27 and while it certainly can't match the bigger tractor, he finds it useful.

 

[Hozzie]

I have been planning to get one of these as well for my MX5800 as I have some small creeks that run through my property and I think this would be a good way to be able to pull some smaller trees from the banks to clean things up. It is all well overgrown right now. The Titan has great reviews. I also found this one not too far from where I live on CL.



I like the idea of the top bar to help push on the trunk while trying to dislodge it. I know I don't have the capacity to just lift most out, but I think with some movement most will come out. Downside on this one is I think the frame needs some beefing up at least behind the teeth. Seems like it could twist easily with some stress. Trying to decide if I want to add the top bar to the Titan or beef this one up a bit. Anything stand out to anyone on which may be a critical differentiator?

Leaning towards the Titan and adding the top bar to it. Wouldn't be too hard although it is about $150 more expensive.

 

[jjp8182]

The resell concerns were one of the things the dealer brought up when I bought my L3560 as they apparently don't sell many of the Grand L's in my area. But since I was trying to get the most tractor I could in the smallest footprint possible the L3560 seemed the logical/best choice for my situation ..... of course, that doesn't mean I haven't already looking at adding a second larger (probably in the 10k lbs and 70hp+) machine into the mix as well ...or possibly even a third after adding a second :laughing:

So you're probably heading down a good path.

Though if you haven't already considered it, having the rear tires filled, or adding rear-wheel weights (or a combination of both) would probably be a wise thing to do up front. If there are animal or ecological concerns for where you'll be working it's probably worth paying attention to what liquids are used for ballast in the off chance a tire is punctured. Personally, I ended up going with rear-weights which do a decent job (even if it's more expensive and a pain to run nuts down a cumulative 10-12ft of threading) as I'd rather not run the risk of someone else's competition horse (or high-end working dog) lap up some sort of toxic liquid that escaped from my tractor tires.... particularly given either one (or both) of those types of animals are occasionally on my property.

 

[dbchaplin03]

Hozzie,

I’d buy the titan again because it is extremely well built. I took a chance when I ordered it and for the price it was great. Used it for over 100 hours on a 60hp skid steer and minus getting a little rusty and knocking an exposed hose loose every now and then it was great. In 100+ hours I never bent or damaged anything that needed replaced.

2 things. Only gripe I had was there is no grease zerks unless they’ve changed the design over the last 1.5 years. Other thing I’d if you call them with interest in something they’ll often email you a discount code. When I bought mine it was around 15% off. They were having a big sale and I used the 15% off code and got it shipped to my house with liftgate service for $600 and some change.

Only drawback I can see on a tractor is the visibility piece because the opening isn’t as large as other pullers. But for $600 what more could you ask for?