B3030 the right choice?

Bigtwin · Apr 3, 2008

I'm thinking about buying the B3030 for my place. We just bought a house, shop building and 92 acres. I'll be mowing approx 4 to 5 acres. There's about 600 ft of gravel drive and the acreage to be mowed needs some minor ground work to smooth it out. The house has bermuda sod laid around it and there is a sprinkler system installed. There is a running creek that disects the place and I'll need the tractor to smooth out the creek crossings and keep them passable. There are trees only along the creeks and the rest of the land has a good stand of little bluestem. We plan on running some cows/calves and I may use round bales and/or square bales to feed in the winter. The tractor will be used mostly for mowing and I plan to go with a MMM 72" and turf tires as I'm concerned R4's will tear up the sod near the house. I really wanted to go with a L3540 or L3940 but feel these tractors are too heavy to mow around the house. I sure don't want to pull out the Honda mower if I don't have to. I've also got some tight places to mow and the B3030 can get into these places. I'm hoping the B3030 might be able to move a round bale of hay a short distance.

We don't get much snow so snow removal isn't a factor.

Am I on track with plans to buy the B3030 vs the L3540?

Here's a link to some pics of the place and what I'll be mowing;
Picasa Web Albums - BigTwin - Our Place

mdwyer · Apr 3, 2008

Well I recently (last week) was in the same place you are now. We went ahead and bought a 3540 HSTC w/514 skid steer loader. Sofar I have mowed with it (Has R4s non filled) (6 acres around the house) and it has done now damage to the yard. I pull a 72" kk finish mower. Not sure about round bails on a 3030 it is lighter weight than a L series. We looked real hard at the B3030 w/cab but for the small increase in price we got alot more tractor that will last us a long time. Dealer did us right and we thus far are very pleased with our purchase.

mike

Bigtwin · Apr 3, 2008

@mdwyer, thanks for the reply. The only thing keeping me from moving to the 3540 is the potential problem with the yard around the house. I figured the weight of the 3540 would leave ruts and tear the yard up. I don't know if you looked at the pics on google but the yard around the house is probably "softer" than the other open areas. If the 3540 would work for me, that would be nice.

swampvol · Apr 3, 2008

After looking at those pictures, and your need to move round bales, I say L3540 at least and a decent zero turn mower.

Nice spread..BTW.

Bigtwin · Apr 4, 2008

@swampvol, thanks. It's our dream place for sure. I really don't want to buy both, I've bit off enough this year

I won't need to move round bales far and I guess I could always use my truck or get one of those hay dollies to move round bales.

amigauser · Apr 5, 2008

If you get the small square bales the B3030 should be fine as you can use a 3 pt hitch spear. If you really want to move the large round bails even the L3540 is on the small size, probably better looking at a 3940/4240 or even larger. The reality is for mowing chores the B3030 with its much lighter weight and better manuverablility is definately a good way to go. From what you stated above it sounds like the tractor will mainly (hour wise) be used for mowing with some minor grading etc. The B3030 would be great for that. I have been very happy with mine. You can always use an alternate method to move the bails as you stated.

MFL · Apr 5, 2008

First, congrats on the property! Nice looking place. Thought I'd add my .02 on the hay thing. I have a pretty small place by comparison (10 ac.), with a lot of tight spots I often need to get the tractor into. I have a B7800 which is very similar to the B3030 in size and weight. For me, the big B series tractors are the perfect size and a great balance of power and manuverability. I also was concerned about my lawn, but if I'm careful and don't use 4WD when on the lawn, I can usally keep the R4's from doing any damage. That said, I also need to move hay rounds around to feed our horses. I have found that with a rear mounted spear and some care I have no problems moving rounds up to 900 lbs. in size. Now while it's true I can do it, if I had a bigger place where size wasn't such an issue, I would have bought larger. The more weight to counter balance the bale, the better, and if you jump to the 3940 you could probley even use a spear on your FEL and be able to stack the bales. If you're moving hay only occasionally, working on smooth ground and only traveling a short distance, the B3030 will work great. Other than that, I'd go bigger.

Another thing you might want to consider is your mowing. If you ever need to mow more than the 6 acres you mentioned, think about going bigger or getting the B3030 with a cab. I mow about 16 acres for a neighbor twice a year, and let me tell you, a five foot bush hog takes a LONG time to eat that much grass! The extra bite of a six foot or bigger bush hog cuts down mowing time a great deal. And believe me, that difference is HUGE when it's 90 degrees out and the dust is blowing.

Good luck and let us know how you come out.

MFL