Hey all have a few questions in the compact utility tractor market. I manage a 3000 cow dairy. We are currently using Case skid steers to scrape manure daily. Our cows are housed in freestall barns and most of the year the manure is liquid. We use a rubber tire scraper to push manure to center of 500' barns where it drops into a flume that carries manure to the lagoons. We are wanting to get away from skid steers for maintenance reasons, just cost too much to run and guys can get out of control pretty easily. We need more compact machine for some tighter areas. We don't dig into piles of anything much. We occasionally lift a 2000 lb pallet of feed from a truck bed. Frozen manure in the winter would be the hardest thing we deal with, use the bucket to chisel it from the concrete floors. We run the units 15 hours a day. Looking at HST for simplicity, we have 30 employees on farm so need something durable and simple. Need a cab since we run these units 365 days a year, no matter the weather. What brand is best for this type of use? Looking for something with minimal downtime and can hold up to all day use. Size wise thinking L6060 or 4066R. Think this is the right choice, they are dimensionally acceptable. We are buying 4 of these units for the farm, so it is a big investment. Please share all opinions on any and all brands. Thanks for any and all help in this process. We don't use CUT on the farm much, so not real familiar with all of the players in this market.
Dairy work
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MinnesotaEric
Super Member
Deere, Massey, Kubota and Case offer CUTs for vineyard work that are narrow and shorter than standard CUTs. To get info, I'd call corporate HQs so they can steer you to a dealer with a clue on those specialty machines.
Deere uses weathpack electrical connectors on everything which likely adds $1000 a unit cost to build but would be good on machines going from cold to warm all the time in the winter (if you've experienced electrical corrosion problems on your skid loaders).
Deere uses weathpack electrical connectors on everything which likely adds $1000 a unit cost to build but would be good on machines going from cold to warm all the time in the winter (if you've experienced electrical corrosion problems on your skid loaders).
I think the standard width variants will work but I will look into the vineyard units. I think the one thing steering me to Kubota is the hydraulic quick coupler on the loader. They are the only ones offering this right?
MinnesotaEric
Super Member
CUTs are up to doing the work as well--but like your skid loaders, they will require daily greasing and scheduled maintenance.
What are the high points on maintenance you want to reduce?
Also, if you go with a CUT, you want to add just one to begin simply as a measure of risk management in case for unforeseen reasons, CUTs do not work out for you.
Case/NH CVT transmissions are also an option but with Deere, you can get a 66hp HST, Massey a 59hp HST, Kubota a 60hp HST where as Case is only at 50hp. All of them can lift 2,000 pounds and more but your lift height may be limited in comparison to your skid steers.
If standard widths work, then you can add Kioti, LS, Mahindra and so on to the list.
In the CUT space in the North American market Kubota is the best seller, followed by Kioti, then Deere and Massey. Kioti will cost less money and have nice cabs, great shop manuals but, as I said, only Deere weather packs every electrical connector and if your running in and out of heated buildings in the winter, condensation could mess up these things in time. However, you also said you're going to flip these things annually.
Given that, you may want to pull along side your accounting and ask if it is better to lease or buy given your ability to write off expenses.
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We do grease daily and follow the manuals for maintenance. Our biggest issues on the skids are the tight quarters to work on the machine components, always having to tip the cab. The guys also get in and out around 50 times a day so it would be easier in a CUT vs a skid. Tire wear on the skids is extremely high. Hydraulic hoses break a lot from opposing forces turning the skid back and forth. Also new employees in a skid can do a lot of building damage.
Am I right only Kubota has the hydraulic attachment coupler?
Am I right only Kubota has the hydraulic attachment coupler?
MinnesotaEric
Super Member
Before looking at tractors, have you looked at JCB's side entry skid steers? Way, way, way easier to get in and out of.
Neiber has an $8000 auto hitch for the L6060 that Kubota is dumb not to be marketing the crap out of it. Check it out.
Dozernut
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If you look through past threads you will see other brands with the 3rd function remotes. As to whether these are factory or dealer installed I don't know, some are after market. The point is that you can get 3rd function on almost all CUT machines but you might have to have the dealer, your mechanic or yourself, install the valves and lines, but it is going to add to the cost.
Dozernut
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My Kubota L4610 was the biggest cut offered when it was new. It has a loader capacity of 1800lbs, but will squeak by getting a one ton pallet off the truck by using the curl function. This is the max for this loader and you need lots of counter weight for this load capacity, it will not pick up that load to put on the truck. I usually have a backhoe mounted and hang 4 suitcase weights off the hoe bucket. This gives you good stability and significantly reduces the pucker factor.
The newer kubotas in the CUT size only offer one tractor with the rating you want and that is the MX5100 with a 2300lb loader rating, but it does not have the cab option. The L6060 might handle that weight rating but an owner would have to step in to confirm it as I don't know. To get the higher rated loaders you will have to step up to the M series tractors that are equipped with the hydraulic shuttle shift.
The newer kubotas in the CUT size only offer one tractor with the rating you want and that is the MX5100 with a 2300lb loader rating, but it does not have the cab option. The L6060 might handle that weight rating but an owner would have to step in to confirm it as I don't know. To get the higher rated loaders you will have to step up to the M series tractors that are equipped with the hydraulic shuttle shift.
