First Day with the 3830

   / First Day with the 3830 #1  

ChrisBWJ

Member
Joined
May 25, 2004
Messages
41
Location
Southeast Michigan
Tractor
Kubota 3830HST
I've been lurking for the last month or so. This is my first post.

We recently purchased 20 acres of heavily wooded property and have looking for a tractor to take care of the property. Decided it would be a Kubota after looking at the rest. Planned on the 7800 or the 2910. Priced them out. Met my father-in-law at a dealer one weekend. This dealer had a couple of L3x30 tractors parked right next to the 7800s. My father-in-law and I came to the same conclusion with seconds. The 3x30 series made the 7800 look like a toy!

Please don't take this is not slam on the B series tractors. That's not what I intended to do. I know they are a fantastic and very capable line! But for the size property I have, the number of trees and stumps (and the size of the stumps) I have to move and the driveways I'll have to create and maintain, I wanted to have something with more than enough capacity to handle it.

As my wonderful wife said, "You're only getting one. Make sure it does what you need. The last thing I want to hear you say in a year is that this one can't do what you need it to." (Yes, I have a wonderful wife!!)

Decided to go with the 3130. Ordered it. Spent another evening looking at specs and remembered that I never buy a vehicle with the smallest available engine in it. Why should I do it with the tractor? Remembered what my wife had said earlier.... Called the dealer up as they were getting ready to load the tires and said make it a 3830 instead!

I couldn't be happier. I got 5 hours of seat time today. Got my first stuck....first FEL recovery....only one minor off-camber situation, nothing serious. Made sure the seatbelt was secured and proceded safely along. A little bit of open road to get to the property, and the rest of the day, brush hogging, knocking over tree stumps, digging up tree stumps with the FEL, and general hauling, dumping, etc....

This days work re-affirmed my belief that I made the right decision. My father-in-law fell in love with tractor today and wants to come back down for more firewood. Or so he tells me. I think he just wants to see the tractor in action again, or see if I'll give him another chance to drive it around!!

I'm sure in more experienced hands, a lesser tractor could have done everything thing my 3830 did today (or pretty darn close). But I have to admit, I am truly amazed at what I was able to accomplish today as CUT newbie. I am very looking forward to the next day out on the property and in that seat!

Thanks for all of the advice! This is a great forum and have added it to my daily 'check' list.
 
   / First Day with the 3830 #2  
It's great to have the tractor and power you need. That first few days of operation are precious. You should document them in photos and post them.
Cliff
 
   / First Day with the 3830 #3  
I spent most of today on my L3830. Loader and boxscraper work and then removed both of those and mowed 3/4's of my place. I mow at about 2200-2300 RPM and rarely in 4WD. Hope you enjoy yours as much as many of us here enjoy ours. I have HST, curious which transmission you got. All are great and work well. Your 50 hour service will be right around the corner so think about the 2 or 3 filters you will be needing as well as oil.
P.S. I kept my tires unballasted.
 
   / First Day with the 3830 #4  
Congratulation on the new addition !
If I were buying a Kubota today it would be the 3830, nice machine.
 
   / First Day with the 3830 #5  
ChrisBWJ

Welcome to TBN. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Congrat's on the new tractor. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Every time I stop at a dealer I give the Grand L series tractors another look. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I'll have to stick with my B2910 for the time being. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
   / First Day with the 3830
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Thanks for the welcomes!

I got the HST. I followed the debate for quite a while on HST vs. GST. I decided to go with the HST for convenience and the fact that it will make it easier for the wife and kids to drive when their times come. I rationalized that a 1.5 HP loss at the PTO out of 32 was probably not going to be noticeable. Having never grown up with tractors, the HST was an easy transistion. It's tough to miss something (gears) that you've never had. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I can certainly respect peoples opinions on both sides of the fence. And it definitely shows you why the tractor makers offer both types of trannies. To each their own. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I ended up with a Kubota 723 FEL, a Woods box scraper (originally price a rear blade, and upgraded at the last minute), and a Land Pride 5' rotary cutter. Was going to get a 6' cutter but the $$ was a bit more than I wanted to spend and I figured the 5 footer would be a little more manuverable in the wooded area until I get the property cleared a little more (and it proved to be more maneuverable yesterday!). I'd love to get a backhoe attachment, but the finances won't let that happen unless I find an unbelievable bargain! I'm contemplating a 3ph chipper/shredder. After ones days work out there, I can see we'll need something fairly substantial.

Of course, I got the best price I could find on it all, after talking to at least 4 dealers in a 60 mile radius. Had I been willing to go further, I might have been able to get a slightly better deal, but getting it home probably would have eaten away the savings (paying $2+/gallon of gas!).
 
   / First Day with the 3830 #7  
Chris,

The more you use that tractor the smaller it will get and the happier you will be, knowing that you bought the right tractor the first time around...I know the feeling... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Your decision also leaves room for another handy accessory for that 3830 in the future...a smaller tractor for smaler chores... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Congratulations on picking a fine machine!
 
   / First Day with the 3830
  • Thread Starter
#8  
Day 2.
Brush cut about an 1.5 acres... and dumped about a dozen tree stumps in a pit. Drove the tractor home.

Neighbor was admiring the tractor and asked if I could scoop a few yards of dirt out of a planting area/hill on the back of their driveway. So, I get a chance to learn how to use the bucket moving dirt around. Love to try new things....just not a fan of trial and error education with half of the neighborhood watching...LOL /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Boy this is gonna be a fun toy.... I mean tool.

One of the neighbor's wives confided in me that all of the guys in 'hood are jealous.... tractor-envy....gotta love it!
 
   / First Day with the 3830 #9  
Congrats on the new tractor. I just got my L3130HST a few months ago as my first tractor also. I also was looking at the B7800 series until I saw the price difference and weight difference! The Grand L series was only slightly more for a much bigger tractor so I came to the same conclusion as you. So far the 30 hp engine has been enough but I probably should have got the 38 hp engine in hind sight, but buying this thing was already stretching my budget a lot further than I originally planned.

I was thinking of getting a box scraper. Are they used generaly just for leveling hard ground? Are they easy to use? About how much are they?
 

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