Favorite Subcompact Color? 😁

[RjCorazza]

I must be an exception. My SCUT gets 80-100 hrs p/year. Without going out to the cold shed to look, it has somewhere around 1,300 hrs on it. Serves a very valuable role in my "suburbanite" world.

Hardly the exception! There are plenty of folks using subcompacts in a wide variety of areas (suburban / rural) and for hundreds of necessary tasks. It's amazing what these machines are capable of, albeit slower than with larger machines. I did the majority of the prep work on my new home and 6 acres with a 19 HP scut. Grading, brush and tree removal, junk removal, mowing, etc...

The only reason I upgraded to larger tractors was for the weight while snow plowing my long driveway, then transitioning to commercial plowing. I ended up with a cabbed Kubota L4060.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I can't justify the cost of a ZTR to just do one task. That's where a SCUT shines brightly.

Yeah. Being able to do all the functions of a basic CUT but in a tiny package opens up all sorts of advantages. Mighty Mouse is the smallest of Kubota SCUTs, and literally the only thing I ever recall wishing for is a couple more HP when cutting grass with the 54" MMM and picking up leaves in our fields. Ours has 3750Hrs and it gets used about every day. Hay pickup, cutting yard and along fence lines, pulling fence posts, snow throwing, jockeying and/or backing up equipment to store/finagle into a tight space. Easy on and off, and to control when walking beside as applicable. Wont destroy you or a fence by accident.

It would be a LOT more work to be without it.

 

[ovrszd]

Yeah. Being able to do all the functions of a basic CUT but in a tiny package opens up all sorts of advantages. Mighty Mouse is the smallest of Kubota SCUTs, and literally the only thing I ever recall wishing for is a couple more HP when cutting grass with the 54" MMM and picking up leaves in our fields. Ours has 3750Hrs and it gets used about every day. Hay pickup, cutting yard and along fence lines, pulling fence posts, snow throwing, jockeying and/or backing up equipment to store/finagle into a tight space. Easy on and off, and to control when walking beside as applicable. Wont destroy you or a fence by accident.

It would be a LOT more work to be without it.

Excellent example of an owner that needs and justifies a SCUT.

 

[arrow]

Not personally, I laid out our landscaping with a larger machine in mind, but you do make a good point. Again, the basis for that statement you quoted is solely on cost versus utility, I'm fully aware that there are some cases where the SCUT is still going to be the best tool for the job, despite its high cost/capability ratio.

Having said that, I do believe that the majority of cases where someone might be running a subcompact, that my little old JD 855 compact (or even the modern JD 2032R compact), could probably do the job. Both have very small footprints and amazingly-tight turning radii, and both still have a standard cat.1 3-point. Surely not in all cases, but again, I was only speaking to their enormous popularity despite the cost.

When these things hit the market, I'd have expected them to fill some small niche in the market, as their pricing was almost boutique in comparison to their size and capabilities. I fully expected most would still choose a small compact with a cat.1 hitch, over an overgrown garden tractor with a then-very uncommon cat.0, but I guess my poor ability to predict demand is why I'm not a billionaire.

I agree about the value quotient for something you can cover with your fingernail at a shorter given distance.
It's like those Oskosh jeans they sell for babies that are 3 bucks less than the adult jeans.
And yet, the jeans have their place and value.
The value musn't be measured in money however.

 

[GeneV]

Not personally, I laid out our landscaping with a larger machine in mind, but you do make a good point. Again, the basis for that statement you quoted is solely on cost versus utility, I'm fully aware that there are some cases where the SCUT is still going to be the best tool for the job, despite its high cost/capability ratio.

Having said that, I do believe that the majority of cases where someone might be running a subcompact, that my little old JD 855 compact (or even the modern JD 2032R compact), could probably do the job. Both have very small footprints and amazingly-tight turning radii, and both still have a standard cat.1 3-point. Surely not in all cases, but again, I was only speaking to their enormous popularity despite the cost.

When these things hit the market, I'd have expected them to fill some small niche in the market, as their pricing was almost boutique in comparison to their size and capabilities. I fully expected most would still choose a small compact with a cat.1 hitch, over an overgrown garden tractor with a then-very uncommon cat.0, but I guess my poor ability to predict demand is why I'm not a billionaire.

Most scuts are cat 1 as far as I know. At least for me, everything that needs doing with a tractor on my 2.6 acres, gets done with my massey scut. Personally, I have no use for a larger tractor.

 

[ovrszd]

Most scuts are cat 1 as far as I know. At least for me, everything that needs doing with a tractor on my 2.6 acres, gets done with my massey scut. Personally, I have no use for a larger tractor.

"At least for me" and "Personally" are the two most important things you said.

 

[WinterDeere]

Most scuts are cat 1 as far as I know.

That's interesting to hear, and might explain my surprise with their popularity. Back when I considered one about 10 years ago, I recall most if not all of them were not standard cat.1. Some were called "cat.0" or "cat.half" by their respective dealers, but nearly all failed to have the lift height required for some of my cat.1 implements. As with most things, manufacturers tend to adapt and improve on new things, with a little time.

 

[GeneV]

That's interesting to hear, and might explain my surprise with their popularity. Back when I considered one about 10 years ago, I recall most if not all of them were not standard cat.1. Some were called "cat.0" or "cat.half" by their respective dealers, but nearly all failed to have the lift height required for some of my cat.1 implements. As with most things, manufacturers tend to adapt and improve on new things, with a little time.

They're still limited to like 4 ft box blades and tillers, but I mean it's fine. Dudes use these commercially, some of them post here. But really, these are marketed to homeowners with a few acres. I plow with it, manage downed trees, clear out brush, haul this or that, haul away debris, dig out stumps, stuff like that.

 

[ovrszd]

They're still limited to like 4 ft box blades and tillers, but I mean it's fine. Dudes use these commercially, some of them post here. But really, these are marketed to homeowners with a few acres. I plow with it, manage downed trees, clear out brush, haul this or that, haul away debris, dig out stumps, stuff like that.

I use a 5' front blade and a 5' BB on my 2210. I have a 6' KK rototiller but haven't tried it on the little JD yet.

 

[GeneV]

I use a 5' front blade and a 5' BB on my 2210. I have a 6' KK rototiller but haven't tried it on the little JD yet.

See that, even more stuff a scut can do.