Front mounted flail on CUT

[MinnesotaEric]

I'm looking at Massey's MF1758 eHST, Kobota's L6060 eHST, and Deere's 4066R eHST all cab on.

I have over 1/2 mile of lakeshore to subdivide and selectively clear that is sloping, as well as a about a mile of road to build and since I'm in Minnesota, snow to move around in the winter.

I plan to use a root grapple and a box blade maybe a roto-cutter like a Brush Hog 295 or a Woods BB6000X Brushbull, but after watching the video below, I'm thinking about front mounted, mid-pto driven flails. The trouble is that I cannot find any. I must be looking in the wrong place and wonder if anybody has any advice on tractor flails blundering over 15-20' brush like they show in the video?

Specifically, I like the idea of a front mounted flail because I wouldn't be looking behind all the time but the flails I've found all seem to be 3PT mounted like this 73" Caroni and my perception is that 3pt flails don't work so well when driven backward.

Corrections, experiences, and advice is all welcome!

 

[Code54]

I like that - never seen one before.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

I like that - never seen one before.

Here is another video.

I'm starting to think this is a Minnesota thing since both dealers are in my neck of the woods, and the footage of the flail looks like it was taken on the east side of Hinds like where the DNR opened up some of the Chippewa State Forest for subdivision into lake lots last summer.

 

[Code54]

The quick attach is awesome. Hate to even guess what it costs but it does looks solid!

 

[lt190b]

Eric, this 4 point hitch is made for kubota by RADTEC of canada, they also make the attachments for the hitch. lt190b

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Eric, this 4 point hitch is made for kubota by RADTEC of canada, they also make the attachments for the hitch. lt190b

Thanks, lt190b. I searched and could not find out any more info. Since Leno made the video, I guess I'll ask about it when I visit Lano Equipment's Anoka store this week to look at the L6060 they have in stock there.

 

[lt190b]

Eric, try this for more pics. Maybe some info also. Michigan-Sales-Equipment-Kubota-L3560-Tractor-004 | Michigan Sales – Get A Tractor lt190b

 

[MinnesotaEric]

lt190b,

Lano Equipment has one of those gizmos on order. The sales person said it is super depressing that Kubota isn't promoting it as it is very cool. The kit has various options but is about $8,000 to get into without implements.

I made a video of my initial impressions of the L6060.

 

[lt190b]

Eric,thanks for your initial impression video! Its good to see real, in person shots of controls and views. Are you going to make a comparrison video of the massey and jd? lt190b

 

[Guesseral]

Gee if you get the mounting kit and then all of the attachments, you would probably spend as much as the tractor costs! But it really is cool. Did you say mid-mount PTO driven or was it hydraulic driven?

 

[MinnesotaEric]

It connects to mid PTO and loader hydros and passes their power through. Thinking of the total cost, I asked if municipalities where the ones mostly buying it and was told that no, private land owners.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

I took my pilgrimage to Iowa today and looked at both a MF4609 and a MF1759. Along the way I visited an Deere 5085E as well. Although in my mind I entertained utility tractors as options, in person both the MF4609 and 5085E are way too big for what I want to do except for road building. I did not make a video for either the 5085E or MF4609 because I didn't think I knew enough about them and because I'm discussing the merits of the L6060 and MF1700s (and Deere's 4066R if they build one before I purchase). The MF1759 is ruled out because I decided that the hydrostatic is easier to use. I'm waiting for a sharper quote on the 1758 to come in my email to compare with the quote on the L6060. In the meantime, here are my initial impressions of the MF1759

 

[lt190b]

Eric, did you see the video that MO MF Dealer did on the 1700 series. Thanks for the video tour,lt190b

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Eric, did you see the video that MO MF Dealer did on the 1700 series. Thanks for the video tour,lt190b

I did. Several times. And despite the lousy sound quality, I'm thankful they made it.

The difference is one of perspective. A dealer will, by force of habit, not say a despairing word, while pointing out the features.

Drawbacks of the 1700 cab design are.

I found it harder to turn and look backward.
The control layout isn't as well thought out—with the hand throttle and PTO in a position where the operator must lean forward and down to reach them. These controls should be on the right side and higher.
There are two fewer vents than Kubota's newly redesigned L6060 cab.
Where is the air seat? With swivel? I can add on aftermarket, but still. Nevertheless, my knees hit the right side bulkhead limiting my right sideways views mores on the Massey than the Kubota L6060.
The old 4720 and the new L6060 have more integrated joysticks. I really liked the throttle up on the Kubota's stick and wonder if I can retrofit a throttle up off of a stepper motor on the Massey?
Where is the 12v outlet?
The Kubota has a space for setting in notepads and records. Nothing like that on the Massey.

Still the Massey has what appears to have a very robust driveline, adjustable three point arms, rear wiper included, grill guard included, sun visor, and so forth.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

On my quest to buy a new tractor I've also visited Mahindra, and looked at their 6010, as well as Kioti, and looked at their new NX6010. In my neck of the woods, I've only one dealer for each of those brands, but thankfully, the Kioti dealer also sells lifts and had picked up Bobcat for fun. When Bobcat stopped selling tractors, the dealer picked up Kioti. Although only a Kioti dealer for a little over one year, he sold $1.8M in new Kioti tractors his first year, and his lift business dwarfs his tractor business and it seems like the dealer is content to grow with Kioti.

A nice touch was the service manager and the owner helping me look over the tractor. The owner got the service manager when, as a former ASE auto tech I started asking more questions than he could field on his expertise alone. To be fair I did not ask other dealers about the sourcing and build quality of their drivetrains as I did with Kioti, but to the credit of the Service Manager, he seemed as though he was "into it" and answered all my questions and some of them were pretty detailed requiring expert knowledge.

Anyway, after my inspection of everything, I took off on my own to make the following video of Kioti's NX6010 HST Cab compact utility tractor.

My question is how is Kioti's trade in and resale value? Or better said, how much of a bath would I take trading in a Kioti in a couple three years over what i paid for it?