B21/L35 height

[Anonymous Poster]

I'm considering a B21 or L35 for landscaping and mowing on my rocky clay land which consists of about 10 acres of cleared land and 40 wooded. First question: Nowhere have I seen stats on the heights of these units. How tall must the garage door be to house them? Second question (harder): Is one of these heavy duty units the most logical choice considering the heavy soil and large rocks I will encounter? I was also considering the L3010, but I believe that the only hoe available is three-point hitch mounted (no subframe). Am I correct on this or do other suppliers make a subframe hoe for the 3010? By the way, I really appreciate all the excellent advice (and questions!) that people contribute to this board.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I owned a B21 for about 1 year and then swapped it at my local dealer for a new L35. These two tractors are best you can purchase in their respective class. However, if you are going to do any type of heavy lifting or digging you will want the L35. The L35 is a marvelous machine that has high reviews by most users. I would match this machine up to any large TLB anytime. The only short coming this machine may have compared to a large machine is the short boom length on the backhoe. I was able to get both machines in my 8' garage door, however, I needed to prop-up the garage door to go above the door header to drive the machine in the garage. You would not be sorry with an L35 purchase. I wish someone gave me the same advice when I purchased my first machine !! Good Luck!!

 

[Kubota-monkey]

I cannot say enough good things about my L35. It is like a yellow industrial tractor and regular farm tractor wrapped up in one good package. I had a B20 (B21) for about a year but decided it was too small. I needed something with good PTO horse and a larger backhoe. The backhoe on the L35 is awesome!!!! Stumps enormous rocks, you name it can tackle the task. I suggest to look for a good deal on a used L35 for the run about $35,000. But it may be the best investment of your life.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

My L35 is about a foot under my 9 foot door, and I think I measured it when I purchased it at 94". This means it will clear an 8 foot door IF the door and frame was installed EXACTLY as it should be. I've seen a few houses, mine included, where the 7 foot door only allows 6'10" with the trim board.

I was considering going with the B21 but after renting one (luckily) I found it would not work for me, .5 century spine that has lifted too much junk coupled with my bumpy rocky ground made for a back jerking painful adventure that said NO More after a couple of hours. On better ground or with a younger or better shape fellow it would be a nice unit. Easier to tow, and has a backhoe equal to the typical "big Kubota" backhoe.

I decided on a BX which is a baby tractor, 4WD, like a garden tractor on steroids, and the L35, which is a big lumbering beast that seems to be unstoppable. Actually it is but something about how it is put together makes you feel you could just drive up to a dozer and push it backwards. I'm trying to come up with a slogan for this...

I would drive both this and an HST L3710 with a backhoe and loader if you can, and I mean use them on your kind of ground for a couple hours, it is a big investment and you want it to be right for you. Some people swear by the HST as the only way to go. If you have hilly ground keep in mind that neither the Hst or GSt will hold the tractor with the engine off, it's the parking brake or a parking BLOCK, or is that parking BRICK.

I use the HST BX and I decide I really don't like the GST, and then I use the GST and decide I really don't like the HST! I must be a hard customer to please! It will probably come with time on both.

If digging, especially hoe work is your primary concern I can't see a better unit than the L35, I saw a slightly bigger articulating JCB tractor that was in the running when I bought the two Oranges. Kubota has engineered the loader and hoe to work together, something that does not exist on the JD, NH or other KUs. If you spend some time lying under the L35 as I did you'll appreciate this. That is if you've spent some time reinforcing a "traditional" frame mount backhoe to be a serviceable unit.

The B21 is like this as well. With it idling, the hoe will move the tractor around like the tail wagging the dog. Stress free. To it and to you. I'd probably trade it for an HST L35 if they ever make one (and why don't they?...Kubota won't answer) but then again I don't like hearing a tractor run with the rpm up all the time either. Let's say when the build an HST that SENSES a drag on the tractor and increases rpm then I'll be a little more sure.

That's the big decision. The HST is fabulous if you want to manuever confidentally inches away from something at .00001rpm. You can do this with the L35 but requires some clutch work.

Bradco makes some nice hoes, so do Woods and others, but their frame mounts don't come close to what is under the B21 L35. It mounts the hoe extremely close to the rear wheels which is critical if you want to work in the rough. Rear Overhang's a bummer, as is the weight shift.

On the other hand, one of fellows who is off moving mountains ( I think) with his L4310 likes his Bradco setup because it is back far enough that he doesn't have to dismantle his 3pt each time he removes his hoe.

Keep scratchin' your head and asking questions, these folks sure have helped me a bit. The BEST!!! Undoubtedly my terrible time getting my L35 out of 4WD. Bend over until your spine starts playing musical notes and sounds like you stepped on a potato (potatoe) chip and wrestle the lever.

One of the fellows said, DROP THE BUCKET! Doing so releases the windup in the front-rear tires (sometimes the front even noticeably rotate) and the lever moves with my PINKY FINGER! Honest I tried it, I can disengage with my pinky finger. That one tip easily justified this entire computer setup, as a back injury from wrestling a lever is a lot more money!

del
feel free to email me with any questions, comments you don't want to post for any reason.

Last time this didn't show up as a click-on link, if it still doesn't work (Muhammad?) you'll have to type it in manually oldcarparts@mygarage.com
[email]oldcarparts@mygarage.com [/email] just checked still won't convert to a link? Answers anyone?
thanks

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Thanks guys. I really appreciate the input, especially since my northern Minnesota rock farm is at least 2 hours away from a Kubota dealer, so it’s unlikely that I will be able to do much test-driving before purchasing. (At this point omg stands for "Oh my gosh, I might actually do this!") One thing I forgot to ask: Can the loader on the L35 be adapted to use a snowplow? I don’t think rear-mounted implements for snow removal are the answer for me. Easier for a younger guy. After 25 year of working on my land with hand tools, chainsaws, and the like, well, let’s just say that several chiropractors and an orthopedic surgeon know my name! - OLE

 

[Kubota-monkey]

I believe you can get a front snow plow for the L35 using the quick attach and de-attach system which i think is about and extra thousand. Correct me if Im wrong but I believe the quick attach system is called the Q-tach system???

 

[MarkV]

omg,

I am a bit late on your post, been moving dirt with my B21 this last week. I checked the height of my tractor for someone in the past and now am having one of those senior moments and can not remember. I think the bottom line was you had to have an eight foot door.

My tractor lives on the side of a rocky mountain where we have our weekend home. The darn thing has done an amazing amount of work digging for construction, moving rock, cutting tractor trails into the side of the mountain and adding a few more level feet here and there. I also use a 5' box blade and 6' rear blade on the gravel/rock roads to our place.

In my case, a larger tractor just would not fit many of the places I go. If that was not an issue I would go bigger to work all the rock I have. I have broke a couple of stabilizers when my rear blade has hit non moveable rock. They just don't have enough beef. If the L35 had HST that would be my hands down choice. As Del said, no one has come up with a reason for Kubota not making the L35 with HST. Sure seems like they already have all the systems. I find HST so smooth, quick and on my hills, safe I would today look at the L4610 HST with a frame mounted backhoe. Kubota has increased the hydraulic pump output on the 4610, making it more backhoe friendly than other L tractors.

If I can help with any B21 questions, feel free to drop me a note.

 

[bcarter]

I'm the one that MarkV measured his tractor for...and I'm having a senior moment as well since I can't remember the numbers he gave me. I'm pretty sure that the height was 89" and my garage was 81". In any case I know that the tractor wouldn't fit into the garage.