Fixin' to pull the trigger

[skipperbrown]

Amortized over 10 or 20 years, $2400 isn't a bunch. I bought a bx2200 in 2001. I got it because the b7500 was about $1000 or so more and I didn't want to stretch my budget. I have missed the b7500 more than I would have missed $1000 here 18 yrs later.

 

[jeff9366]

The L4701 has a Category 1, Three Point Hitch.

The MX series has a heavier Category 2, Three Point Hitch. Category 1 implements can be readily attached to MX with Kubota toolbox provided pin shims. MX has larger wheels and tires. MX weighs 500 pounds more than L4701, bare tractor.

The only moderately heavy ground contact task you foresee now is smoothing eleven acres of rocky ground with a Disc Harrow for which MX additional weight will be helpful.

Either model will serve. Both models are work tractors without frills.

You cannot make a bad decision choosing one over the other.

 

[ddgood]

The L4701 has a Category 1, Three Point Hitch.

The MX series has a heavier Category 2, Three Point Hitch to which Category 1 implements can be attached with Kubota provided pin shims. MX also has larger wheels and tires.

The only moderately heavy ground contact task you foresee now is smoothing eleven acres of rocky ground with a Disc Harrow for which MX might be slightly more suitable.

Either model will serve. Both models are work tractors without frills. No significant difference in weight nor horsepower.

You cannot make a bad decision choosing one over the other.

The biggest difference is the LA1065 loader (MX) is rated for 25% greater lift capacities than the LA765 (L4701).

 

[jezreel]

Ohhhhh GREAT! ! ! Now y’all got me to wondering about the MX5200 having the Turbo vs. Naturally Aspirated engine. I’ve never really had the reason to think about that until now. As a couple of y’all have mentioned, going the extra $2400 for more HP, lifting capacity and bigger machine should be an easy decision, so I figure I will be more likely to choose the 5200.

Are there any concerns I should have about the Turbo Diesel as far as performance, or maintenance issues? And if any more of you want to weigh in on the “better off going a bit bigger now, than later” issue, go right ahead.

I appreciate Jeff’s last comments regarding either tractor would serve me well.

 

[tlj87]

No really worries about the turbo. It may be the only option for you in an MX as the new 5400 and 6000 are only turbocharged.

 

[rScotty]

Ohhhhh GREAT! ! ! Now y’all got me to wondering about the MX5200 having the Turbo vs. Naturally Aspirated engine. I’ve never really had the reason to think about that until now. As a couple of y’all have mentioned, going the extra $2400 for more HP, lifting capacity and bigger machine should be an easy decision, so I figure I will be more likely to choose the 5200.

Are there any concerns I should have about the Turbo Diesel as far as performance, or maintenance issues? And if any more of you want to weigh in on the “better off going a bit bigger now, than later” issue, go right ahead.

I appreciate Jeff’s last comments regarding either tractor would serve me well.

I doubt that you will even know that the turbo is there without opening the hood & looking for it. Turbos are quiet and seem to last forever. Well, not completely so....sometimes with an old turbo with 5 or 10 thousand hours running time on it you might hear a soft sigh if you shut off the motor without letting it idle down for a moment first. That sighing is the sound of the turbo winding down. I'm guilty of shutting my tractors down without the recommended cool down minute, so I probably hear the sound more than most. As far as reminders go, it is very polite.

BTW, I'm not guessing about the turbo; the motor in our M59 is the same as the M5200. For that matter, it seems that most of Kubota's 45 to 60 hp engines use the same motor. The ones with more than 50 hp seem to use the turbo to get the extra HP.

Maybe a really discriminating mechanical guy might notice a little more power at full throttle with the turbo version, or perhaps a little less diesel smoke when changing throttle settings....but probably not without a normally aspirated model right at hand for comparison.

I agree that either tractor will serve you well. However, I also agree that It would be nice to have the heavier construction and greater capability of the M series even if you never use it. Compare the M series loader mounts, axle size, and the heavier 3pt hitch construction. The ability to use category I or II implements opens up a whole new world of implements for you to borrow, rent, & swap. Extra loader lift is handy too. You will find yourself using every bit of loader lift you have more often than you think.
luck,
rScotty

 

[Kioti Dave]

I have almost always regretted "saving a few bucks" when making bigger purchases. While I was very happy with my B7800, it was too small for my needs. Now 15 years later, finally bought the right size tractor. Budgets are important, but your purchase will last many years. Bite the bullet now, and I am sure you will not regret several years down the road. Good luck.

 

[two_bit_score]

I have almost always regretted "saving a few bucks" when making bigger purchases. While I was very happy with my B7800, it was too small for my needs. Now 15 years later, finally bought the right size tractor. Budgets are important, but your purchase will last many years. Bite the bullet now, and I am sure you will not regret several years down the road. Good luck.

This is good advice! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[jezreel]

Thanks for all the help! ! !

My desire all along was to buy a Kubota, but I needed to make sure I went into this tractor purchase with an open mind and explore all my options, especially with the $$$$ in mind. When I started reading the forums, and watching YouTube, I thought my purchase would be in the mid to high 30hp range. After describing my homestead and my plans for the place to some knowledgeable folks, I then found myself in the mid to high 40hp range.

I appreciate Jeff’s comments about the 4701 or the 5200 serving my purposes sufficiently, but as a number of you have suggested in the long haul, $2400 over the 60mos, is not too much to bite off to get the bigger machine. I once bought a nice Benelli shotgun, and didn’t spend the extra $350 to get the Super Black Eagle. Regretted it ever since. Not gonna do it with this investment.

All that said, I have decided on the MX5200. Unfortunately I am still about 3 weeks away from closing on my new home mortgage, and the banker told me not to take out the Kubota loan till we close. The Kubota dealer I am going to deal with has 2 MX 5200s on the lot. I sure hate the thought of them being sold in the next two weeks, being that they can’t get any more new ones from the factory. I don’t know if they would accept a reasonable deposit to hold it a few weeks. I’ll see what the Kubota guy says on Monday.

I feel confident in my decision. Most of that confidence comes from mulling these things over with all of you folks that have personal experience around tractors. This thread is up to seven pages, and I really appreciate all the input.

One more thing regarding my first visit with this dealer. That price he gave me for the tractor, two implements and quick hitch. Do ya think THAT is it? I did discuss with him that the price he gave me was not as much as I expected to see Kubota come off. He said that was all he could do. What do y’all think? Think he gave me rock bottom, or was he just blowing the froth off the beer first? If so, how should I approach him when I talk to him again? I know how to deal for cars. . . Not tractors������

 

[Trillium Farm]

Thanks for all the help! ! !
My desire all along was to buy a Kubota, but I needed to make sure I went into this tractor purchase with an open mind and explore all my options, especially with the $$$$ in mind. When I started reading the forums, and watching YouTube, I thought my purchase would be in the mid to high 30hp range. After describing my homestead and my plans for the place to some knowledgeable folks, I then found myself in the mid to high 40hp range.
I appreciate Jeff痴 comments about the 4701 or the 5200 serving my purposes sufficiently, but as a number of you have suggested in the long haul, $2400 over the 60mos, is not too much to bite off to get the bigger machine. I once bought a nice Benelli shotgun, and didn稚 spend the extra $350 to get the Super Black Eagle. Regretted it ever since. Not gonna do it with this investment.
All that said, I have decided on the MX5200. Unfortunately I am still about 3 weeks away from closing on my new home mortgage, and the banker told me not to take out the Kubota loan till we close. The Kubota dealer I am going to deal with has 2 MX 5200s on the lot. I sure hate the thought of them being sold in the next two weeks, being that they can稚 get any more new ones from the factory. I don稚 know if they would accept a reasonable deposit to hold it a few weeks. I値l see what the Kubota guy says on Monday.
I feel confident in my decision. Most of that confidence comes from mulling these things over with all of you folks that have personal experience around tractors. This thread is up to seven pages, and I really appreciate all the input.
One more thing regarding my first visit with this dealer. That price he gave me for the tractor, two implements and quick hitch. Do ya think THAT is it? I did discuss with him that the price he gave me was not as much as I expected to see Kubota come off. He said that was all he could do. What do y誕ll think? Think he gave me rock bottom, or was he just blowing the froth off the beer first? If so, how should I approach him when I talk to him again? I know how to deal for cars. . . Not tractors������

Do it when it's right and if this MX 5200 is no longer there I can see a MX 5400 peeking around the corner
IMO the price he gave is NOT his ultimate price, very very few do that till you sit down to sign the deal. I would also get quote from another or more dealers and if better make it work in your favour. You can say: look I got a lower quote, I'd rather do business with you, but also I don't want to feel like a chump so what can YOU do to keep my business. See what he says and remember that the dealer must make money to stay in business and that all dealers have different overhead & expenses.
BTW those Benellis are awsome guns.

 

[Kioti Dave]

Do it when it's right and if this MX 5200 is no longer there I can see a MX 5400 peeking around the corner
IMO the price he gave is NOT his ultimate price, very very few do that till you sit down to sign the deal. I would also get quote from another or more dealers and if better make it work in your favour. You can say: look I got a lower quote, I'd rather do business with you, but also I don't want to feel like a chump so what can YOU do to keep my business. See what he says and remember that the dealer must make money to stay in business and that all dealers have different overhead & expenses.
BTW those Benellis are awsome guns.

Yes, quotes from other dealers may give you a little leverage, however, I don't think the tractor dealers have the margins or volume that car dealers have. Maybe try get the first round of filters thrown in? When I bought my Kioti last fall, they gave me a better deal for cash than for credit. Let us know how it all turns out. Good luck.

 

[rScotty]

Thanks for all the help! ! !

My desire all along was to buy a Kubota, but I needed to make sure I went into this tractor purchase with an open mind and explore all my options, especially with the $$$$ in mind.
SNIP
One more thing regarding my first visit with this dealer. That price he gave me for the tractor, two implements and quick hitch. Do ya think THAT is it? I did discuss with him that the price he gave me was not as much as I expected to see Kubota come off. He said that was all he could do. What do y誕ll think? Think he gave me rock bottom, or was he just blowing the froth off the beer first? If so, how should I approach him when I talk to him again? I know how to deal for cars. . . Not tractors������

There are some excellent tractors besides Kubota. For the First Time Tractor Buyer I always recommend Kubota because it is hard to go wrong. They have all the choices, and they retain value.
I think that when a person has a few years on tractors, and has gathered some knowledge about how they work,..... and decides that his needs have changed so that he needs something different...., then he is in a better position to include different brands in his decision making.

Here is how my own deal went with the Kubota dealer. We had been looking for a new tractor for several months before we stopped at Kubota.

As for bargaining with the dealer. I love to bargain. To me a good bargain is a dance that both sides should enjoy and both should come out ahead. So when I sat down to bargain with the dealer for his new/Demo M59 (20 hrs at the county fair on the clock) I was looking forward to it. The tractor was on the lot, I liked the way it ran, and it had lots of extras because they had ordered it that way. To my amazement the owner came right out with a package price that seemed real fair.... and then he wouldn't budge a dollar. I'm an older guy and never had bargained that way. Went back every weekend for half a month and he still wouldn't budge. He knew I was looking at other machines and that Kubota wasn't even my first choice. And I knew he had another M59 set up the same way in storage still in the crate and not yet prepped...because I knew from another source that he had ordered both of them on special at the annual dealer's meeting the previous winter.

We finally ended up with him including everything, me buying the workshop & parts manuals separately, him throwing in the 50 hr service and delivery. We split the cost of a year of extended warranty, and agreed that any warranty work that needed done he would either send his mobile service to do it or else he would cover any (hopefully un-needed) trucking & transportation. I never did get him to take a dollar off the price, not even by offering cash vs credit.

The tractor never did need any warranty work. I took the 60 mo 0% option. Sometime after the warranty was over there was a problem with the main backhoe cylinder not returning all the way. Kubota simply replaced it with a new one even though the warranty was lapsed by a few months.

I hope you do better bargaining than I did ! But it came out very good in the end.

rScotty

 

[Pibble]

I recently purchased a box blade with my new Kubota L3301. It is great for doing landscaping but for maintaining my 1/3 mile-long (hilly) gravel drive, my regular rear blade - in reversed position - works much better. Since it can be angled and tilted, the simple blade is also more useful for creating and maintaining swales and ditches, which are critical for diverting water from sloped drives.

The box blade - which has a cutting edge - tends to bite into the driveway and move a lot more material than you want to move. I have seen videos of box blades being used to maintain gravel drives but I still think a straight blade is much easier to use for smoothing the drive out. A few passes with the blade reversed will do the trick.

I can justify owning both as I do a lot of landscaping where the box blade excels, but if my only need was for driveway maintenance, I would go with the straight blade every time.

 

[Pibble]

What痴 wrong with a box blade on a gravel driveway. Seems like a fine combination to me. I知 a big fan of the Kubota TLBs but the cost is pretty substantially more. My biggest complaint is the gearing is too deep and and the loader is non removable. I値l live with those trade offs for a twice as strong machine.

See my post above

 

[fried1765]

I recently purchased a box blade with my new Kubota L3301. It is great for doing landscaping but for maintaining my 1/3 mile-long (hilly) gravel drive, my regular rear blade - in reversed position - works much better. Since it can be angled and tilted, the simple blade is also more useful for creating and maintaining swales and ditches, which are critical for diverting water from sloped drives.

The box blade which - has a cutting edge - tends to bite into the driveway and move a lot more material than you want to move. I have seen videos of box blades being used to maintain gravel drives but I still think a straight blade is much easier to use for smoothing the drive out. A few passes with the blade reversed will do the trick.

I can justify owning both as I do a lot of landscaping where the box blade excels, but if my only need was for driveway maintenance, I would go with the straight blade every time.

I have THREE rear blades, and a KK box blade.

BY FAR the BEST is my Deluxe 6-Way Scrape Blade[/B]!
It is the PERFECT tool for maintaining a crowned driveway and associated ditches.

I need to get the other two blades (KK + ?) sold.

 

[fried1765]

I recently purchased a box blade with my new Kubota L3301. It is great for doing landscaping but for maintaining my 1/3 mile-long (hilly) gravel drive, my regular rear blade - in reversed position - works much better. Since it can be angled and tilted, the simple blade is also more useful for creating and maintaining swales and ditches, which are critical for diverting water from sloped drives.

The box blade which - has a cutting edge - tends to bite into the driveway and move a lot more material than you want to move. I have seen videos of box blades being used to maintain gravel drives but I still think a straight blade is much easier to use for smoothing the drive out. A few passes with the blade reversed will do the trick.

I can justify owning both as I do a lot of landscaping where the box blade excels, but if my only need was for driveway maintenance, I would go with the straight blade every time.

I have three rear straight blades and a KK box blade.

My EA Deluxe 6-Way Scrape Blade is by far the best for maintaining a crowned driveway, and associated ditches!

I need to get my KK + ? straight blades sold.

 

[Pibble]

Once again, I Really appreciate all the comments y'all have provided. If I was Mark Cuban, I'd just throw the chunk of change down, go on, and not worry about it. But, after buying the 20 acres, building the 1/4mi of road, putting in the well, putting in the 1/4mi of electricity, and then building the house. . . Wow, I need to make the right decisions. So bear with me for a few more weeks.

Just for more info. . . My wife and I will be moving out from Dallas to our new country home in about a week. So. . . I have not yet had the opportunity to meet the "farmers" and "ranchers" that know this stuff. Once we move, it will then be a bit before I get to meet some of these folks. Looking forward to it, though.

1. I KNOW that I am a Tenderfoot, and need advice. You're right Jeff9366, I have no idea what I don't know. So I don't take any offense whatsoever. That is why I have posted this thread for some "Real People" advice.

2. As far as implements goes, yes I Know Nothing! ! ! The Disc Harrow he had was from a Texas company, Armstrong Ag. The brush cutter was the brand, Titan. Now as I look on Craigslist, Tractorbynet, MachineryPete, and other online sources, what I am finding is the used implements are almost as much as the new. Like, a used disc harrow by Land Pride is only about $300 less than the new one. Maybe there are some better places for me to look.

3. Yes, the Kubota did say that I had to carry insurance on the tractor while financed. I am not sure if I HAVE to use their company or I can get my own. The thought to ask didn't occur to me. Though. . . I assume if I get a new tractor, whichever brand I choose, I assume I should get insurance on it. Though my builder commented that my homeowners should cover the tractor (but I don't know if that is true). And, that Kubota insurance is not cheap. $3000 over 5 years. As far as insurance goes, it appeared like it covered absolutely everything, including if someone spit on it ;-).

4. As far as the Kubota building in the the cost for the 0%. . . Yep, as rScotty mentioned, when I offered cash to get a better price, the dealer just snorted in derision. I reckon they just get you on the insurance they sell you. So the old saying, "they are gonna get it from ya one way or another" might be true.

I think that is it for today.

Thanks. . . Thanks. . . Thanks. . .

Kubota requires insurance but I just added the tractor to my homeowners policy (for no additional charge) and had Allstate provide me a letter verifying they covered it.

I don't understand how Kubota offers 5 yrs of credit at 0% while offering me only a measily $1,000 cash discount on my $22k purchase. This makes financing it with them a no-brainer.

(I estimated the cash discount should be over $3,000 depending on assumed interest rate. After all, there is really no such thing as "zero" interest. Money has a time value regardless of what you charge.)

There is something fishy about "zero" percent financing but I don't know what it is. (Maybe a tax credit offered by the government of Japan?)

 

[jeff9366]

I don't understand how Kubota offers 5 yrs of credit at 0% while offering me only a measily $1,000 cash discount on my $22k purchase. This makes financing it with them a no-brainer.

(I estimated the cash discount should be over $3,000 depending on assumed interest rate. After all, there is really no such thing as "zero" interest. Money has a time value regardless of what you charge.)

There is something fishy about "zero" percent financing but I don't know what it is. (Maybe a tax credit offered by the government of Japan?)

Kubota is a Japan based company with most of its manufacturing and assembly there.

Japanese interest rates have been below zero for years. In October 2019, Japanese 10-year JGB interest rates was -0.165% on average.

Kubota borrows $10,000 in Japan, pays back ~~$9,998~~ ten years later.

Kubota borrows as necessary in Japan to provide "0%" financing in the USA to move iron.

 

[jezreel]

Yeah it’s kinda crazy. Like one of the earlier posts mentioned, I asked the guy about paying cash vs. financing, and it didn’t make a difference. The price was the same, either way.

So, the banker told me not to take it any loans till we close on the house. Should be around Dec 20. I tell ya what. . . That day is gonna take longer to get here than Dec 25 did when I was but a little tyke.

 

[Trillium Farm]

Kubota requires insurance but I just added the tractor to my homeowners policy (for no additional charge) and had Allstate provide me a letter verifying they covered it.

I don't understand how Kubota offers 5 yrs of credit at 0% while offering me only a measily $1,000 cash discount on my $22k purchase. This makes financing it with them a no-brainer.(I estimated the cash discount should be over $3,000 depending on assumed interest rate. After all, there is really no such thing as "zero" interest. Money has a time value regardless of what you charge.)
There is something fishy about "zero" percent financing but I don't know what it is. (Maybe a tax credit offered by the government of Japan?)

Your home owner's insurance doesn't compare, in terms of coverage & situation. It appears that one is ahead because no premium is paid. Pay careful attention at what it Doesn't cover. It may indeed be that in your case that was the best route to take, but by all that I have read, written by people who did & did not have KTAC most buyers will benefit with KTAC, of course if it is called upon