Front-End Loader dozer or loader. Any suggestions?

[eplegrand]

I am living in Thailand and here, the dozer as an attachment is very popular. On the other hand, you hardly see front loaders as an attachment. Though I think that a loader is much more useful as it can be used for many things. As we only have a small piece of land we are looking for a compact tractor. We saw a nice one of 21 hp. But for this size, there are no loader attachments here. The smallest with a loader attachment is 32 hp. An option would be to get a small tractor and find another brand for a loader. But that isn't that easy here? Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Peter

 

[Redlands Okie]

Loaders on tractors are generally for light duty use. Good at scooping up loose material or digging in soft material. They just are not made heavy duty enough for much else.

Dozer blades usually require very sturdy attachment system if used for digging in hard ground or pushing over trees etc. If the dozer blade is on a small tractor then its probably also limited to light duty use.

If you have a lot of use for scooping up and moving material with a bucket then perhaps the bigger tractor is going to be needed. A bucket can also push loose material like a dozer blade so it would seem to be the most useful generally speaking.

It just depends on what your going to use the most. Also the cost of the equipment and availability. Best of luck on figuring out what you need.

 

[eplegrand]

Hi Redlands,

Thank you for your message. Any of the work I plan to do isn't too serious. Maybe a little digging but also moving stuff around. the land we are working on also has a lot of fruit trees in between I want to drive with it. The smallest tractor with a loader is L3218. Loaders here are not available for smaller tractors. There are small tractors (B2140) with a dozer.

The price of the bigger tractor with Loader (alsmost 20K USD)is about double of that of the smaller tractor with a dozer (almost 10K USD). I will continue thinking a little and hope to find a dealer here where they have both of them to check out.

Again,

Thanks,

Peter

 

[Oldoak]

I will continue thinking a little and hope to find a dealer here where they have both of them to check out.

That would be best before deciding which would be the best fit for you. There are always comprises to be made.

Myself, I would lean towards a loader. I think it would be more versatile.

 

[RandyinTN]

Have you considered a tractor with a FEL and backhoe?

 

[eplegrand]

I would love to have the combination of FEL and backhoe. But that is even more difficult to get. Also, I prefer to have what is possible from the same brand (Kubota) is the most popular here and thus the easiest serviced. Kubota has only a FEL LA503 which is suggested on a L3218 (32 hp) tractor. A smaller tractor with a smaller FEL would be nice. They have a smaller tractor but there is no FEL for that. Only a dozer implement. The options are really limited. All the other grands (John Deere, Yanmar, New Holland) are all starting above 30hp.

Peter

 

[TimH1958]

Check into a Kubota B 26 with a 24.3 HP Kubota diesel engine.

 

[eplegrand]

Back again. Still considering what to do. Again the options here in Thailand are very limited. So for example the B26 isn't available here. Kubota is in Thailand the best option. Most choice and most service places.

Option 1 is a Kubota B2140.
This is the smallest Kubota with 21 HP. In that case I would go for a front dozer, a tiller, and a rotary cutter with it. Total price would be 12K.

Option 2 is the smallest Kubota that works well with a front loader. Kubota doesn't recommend to use any of the smaller tractors with a FEL.
This is a 40 HP and a little bigger. For example 20 inches longer. Of course all the implements will be also bigger. total will be 21K including rotary cutter, FEL, and tiller.

Thus plus is that it has the front loader. Negative is that it is 9K more expensive. And negative is that it is together with implements bigger and thus a little more difficult to get between the fruit trees.

Currently I have 1 hectare which we will use for all kind of things. In the future we might buy another 1 or 2 hectare. If I might go for option 1, I can always sell it later and buy a big one. I believe the prices of second hand are good here. Though, I still think maybe I should just go for option 2.

Any suggestions?

Kind regards,
Peter

 

[Redlands Okie]

Seems either can be a good choice. Sounds like you might as well roll a die or draw a card from a deck and use the first one or two that come up as your best choice

 

[eplegrand]

Seems either can be a good choice. Sounds like you might as well roll a die or draw a card from a deck and use the first one or two that come up as your best choice

You are probably right. That's why I am all this time thinking what should I do and just can't make up my mind.