I was not trying to say which one is better, I personally have had a better experience with Deere solely because of the dealer network in my area. Never had problems with them. I was not saying that John Deere was better than Kubota in any way. Kubota makes a great tractor. For the limited seat time I had on a friends it was a great machine except for I was jerky on it because of the rocker HST. I was not saying that John Deere was better, just trying to give the OP as many options as possible to determine which suited his needs best.
Buying Advice Grand L versus M
- Thread starter dougrout
- Start date
- Views: 17840
I was not trying to say which one is better, I personally have had a better experience with Deere solely because of the dealer network in my area. Never had problems with them. I was not saying that John Deere was better than Kubota in any way. Kubota makes a great tractor. For the limited seat time I had on a friends it was a great machine except for I was jerky on it because of the rocker HST. I was not saying that John Deere was better, just trying to give the OP as many options as possible to determine which suited his needs best.
Hate to nitpick but HST is only available in the MX series of M tractors. Once you get into the M's they are gear drive.
PHILIP8N
Veteran Member
If you do allot of loader work, I would look at the L4740HST+(3). I like the auto-throttle option. The rocker is actually a tredle. I do not use it as a rocker, but move my heel and toe to work the forward and reverse sections. You need to test drive both features to see if you like it. Philip.
DieselnHooters
Platinum Member
to save on the sales tax you need 60 HP at the PTO, not the motor...the M7040 is the smaller Kub that qualifies, quite a step up from your current machine !!
canoetrpr
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2005
- Messages
- 2,396
- Location
- Ontario, Canada
- Tractor
- Kubota M7040 cab/hyd shuttle - current, Kubota L3400 - traded
Hi Doug:
I was in a similar place as you a month or so ago. I had almost purchased a JD 4520 first and then started comparing the Kubota GL5740 to the M7040.
Even though I was rather nervous about losing the HST transmission, I took the plunge for the M7040 with the hydraulic shuttle primarily upon the advice of my dealer. Of course I got lots of great advice from others here as well.
First, you do need to step up to the M7040 rather than the M5140 or M6040 in order to qualify for it being a zero rated farm good and not subject to 13% HST. Since it is zero rated, you need no OFA #. The dealer simply does not charge you HST on the sale. With the GL, you can claim the HST back with your HST account if you have a business.
While I might have eventually been able to claim my taxes back once I started slaughtering my first calves next year, I decided that it was a hassle and not getting charged the taxes in the first place was quite a savings. The M7040 was working out to be cheaper than the GL5740 given this.
I'm at ~30 hours now on the M and here is my list of pluses and minuses
- Better value for the $ because of the saved taxes
- Bigger frame tractor, stronger loader. The Canadian M25 loader is made by ALO and better IMHO than the Kubota loaders. It outspecs the Kubota loader on the GL by a fair margin.
- You can get ags on this tractor and they are not thin like the ags on the GL: OTOH Ags on this tractor with it being big, do rip up areas more so than R4s on the GL5740 (does more so than R4s on my old L3400 anyway!)
- I definitely had / have a learning curve moving away from the HST transmission. Getting the tractor to stop at any precise location is harder than with an HST and there are a number of places I used this 'feature' of the HST e.g. putting on attachments (3pt and front), loader work etc. etc. With some experience I believe this is not much of an issue any more. You do learn that you need to actually use the brake to hold the tractor in position instead of it just being a show piece on the tractor as in the case of HST transmissions. I found that I had to re-learn to use the loader and was not able to get a full bucket of anything for the first while. Took several hours of playing in the manure pile and now I am relatively comfortable with the mechanics of it. The HST transmission is just brain dead easy to use for loader work.
- Air ride seat is definitely a plus over the GL. That is available in the JD 4520 but not in the Kubota GL.
- You have to pay for the second remote in Canada on the M. Two remotes are standard on cab tractors in Canada in the GL.
- I can't believe I ever had a tractor smaller than this and was handling round bales with it. I use 4x5 rounds and even with those little rounds, I am plenty happy I went with the biggest tractor I could afford. Yesterday while my wife was cutting off the twine, one of my cows was brushing up against the round I had on and moving it around. Could really feel it in the tractor. Size matters when you are using rounds!
- Euro style QA on the front is both good and bad. I REALLY LIKE the fact that it auto locks in place once you curl back. I still do find it can be a bit tricker to get the attachment on than the SS style. Not 100% sure if this is because the tractor does not have the HST transmission and so I have to use the combination of shuttle lever / clutch and brake to get it to just the right position, or whether the QA system is a bit more finiky to line up. Maybe both. It is rare though that I miss now that I have practiced. I do find that if I miss then it is more of a pain as one of the attachment is hooked on and the other half has not. With the SSQA it is either on or off.
- Not sure about fuel consumption on the M vs GL. Logically the M uses more but man it does go a long way! My last fill up was at 11.2 hours and I am now at ~30 and it is still showing over 1/2.
- I think two extra gears would make the M PERFECT. I tend to operate in low range in 4th. Would love the option of a 5th and 6th in this range. 4th usually works well but I find that my ideal gear is either 4L or 1H and switching ranges isn't ideal
- The biggest problem I have with the M is a annoying rattle around the left rear of my cab inside. No clue where it is coming from but given this is a tractor, a rattle isn't much of a worry.
- Would have been MUCH easier to teach my wife to drive the GL with HST transmission to pick up round bales for feeding. I've been away for about 10 days at a time and this has been a bit of a pain for her. She feeds squares when the cows run out of rounds. I might just buy a couple extra feeders to deal with this.
Overall, I am quite pleased with the M and would buy it over a GL given the extra size. I have more tractor to grow into and really could not justify giving the tax money to the government instead of using it for a bigger machine. The transition from HST to hydraulic shuttle/gear is a bit of a compromise but it is not huge for me.
I was lucky enough to find a dealer who had both and I spent quite a bit of time driving them around his lot.
JD is a really nice machine also and a JD4520 is quite comparable to the GL5740. I would pick the latter - just my preference. Both are very comfortable tractors to operate IMHO. I do have a bias and wasn't comfortable seeing the Made in Mexico sign on the engine of the JD engine and the plastic hood. The bias probably makes zero sense really but thats why it is a bias rather than a logical conclusion I have several customers in Japan and take a lot of comfort as I know the quality they expect and produce. Not to suggest that JD products made elsewhere are not going to be at par, it is just my own bias, comfort and experience.
Don't fool yourself though. Both are global companies.
I also found it quite important to find a dealer that actually dealt with farm equipment who understood the tax implications of the GL vs the M wrt. the 60hp zero rated stuff. Some dealers mainly sell to businesses - landscapers and hobbyists like us and so dealing with the M is rare. One I was dealing with did not know that he did not have to charge tax on the M. I was much more comfortable dealing with a dealer that sold in the farming community as he had a mix of users.
I was in a similar place as you a month or so ago. I had almost purchased a JD 4520 first and then started comparing the Kubota GL5740 to the M7040.
Even though I was rather nervous about losing the HST transmission, I took the plunge for the M7040 with the hydraulic shuttle primarily upon the advice of my dealer. Of course I got lots of great advice from others here as well.
First, you do need to step up to the M7040 rather than the M5140 or M6040 in order to qualify for it being a zero rated farm good and not subject to 13% HST. Since it is zero rated, you need no OFA #. The dealer simply does not charge you HST on the sale. With the GL, you can claim the HST back with your HST account if you have a business.
While I might have eventually been able to claim my taxes back once I started slaughtering my first calves next year, I decided that it was a hassle and not getting charged the taxes in the first place was quite a savings. The M7040 was working out to be cheaper than the GL5740 given this.
I'm at ~30 hours now on the M and here is my list of pluses and minuses
- Better value for the $ because of the saved taxes
- Bigger frame tractor, stronger loader. The Canadian M25 loader is made by ALO and better IMHO than the Kubota loaders. It outspecs the Kubota loader on the GL by a fair margin.
- You can get ags on this tractor and they are not thin like the ags on the GL: OTOH Ags on this tractor with it being big, do rip up areas more so than R4s on the GL5740 (does more so than R4s on my old L3400 anyway!)
- I definitely had / have a learning curve moving away from the HST transmission. Getting the tractor to stop at any precise location is harder than with an HST and there are a number of places I used this 'feature' of the HST e.g. putting on attachments (3pt and front), loader work etc. etc. With some experience I believe this is not much of an issue any more. You do learn that you need to actually use the brake to hold the tractor in position instead of it just being a show piece on the tractor as in the case of HST transmissions. I found that I had to re-learn to use the loader and was not able to get a full bucket of anything for the first while. Took several hours of playing in the manure pile and now I am relatively comfortable with the mechanics of it. The HST transmission is just brain dead easy to use for loader work.
- Air ride seat is definitely a plus over the GL. That is available in the JD 4520 but not in the Kubota GL.
- You have to pay for the second remote in Canada on the M. Two remotes are standard on cab tractors in Canada in the GL.
- I can't believe I ever had a tractor smaller than this and was handling round bales with it. I use 4x5 rounds and even with those little rounds, I am plenty happy I went with the biggest tractor I could afford. Yesterday while my wife was cutting off the twine, one of my cows was brushing up against the round I had on and moving it around. Could really feel it in the tractor. Size matters when you are using rounds!
- Euro style QA on the front is both good and bad. I REALLY LIKE the fact that it auto locks in place once you curl back. I still do find it can be a bit tricker to get the attachment on than the SS style. Not 100% sure if this is because the tractor does not have the HST transmission and so I have to use the combination of shuttle lever / clutch and brake to get it to just the right position, or whether the QA system is a bit more finiky to line up. Maybe both. It is rare though that I miss now that I have practiced. I do find that if I miss then it is more of a pain as one of the attachment is hooked on and the other half has not. With the SSQA it is either on or off.
- Not sure about fuel consumption on the M vs GL. Logically the M uses more but man it does go a long way! My last fill up was at 11.2 hours and I am now at ~30 and it is still showing over 1/2.
- I think two extra gears would make the M PERFECT. I tend to operate in low range in 4th. Would love the option of a 5th and 6th in this range. 4th usually works well but I find that my ideal gear is either 4L or 1H and switching ranges isn't ideal
- The biggest problem I have with the M is a annoying rattle around the left rear of my cab inside. No clue where it is coming from but given this is a tractor, a rattle isn't much of a worry
. - Would have been MUCH easier to teach my wife to drive the GL with HST transmission to pick up round bales for feeding. I've been away for about 10 days at a time and this has been a bit of a pain for her. She feeds squares when the cows run out of rounds. I might just buy a couple extra feeders to deal with this.
Overall, I am quite pleased with the M and would buy it over a GL given the extra size. I have more tractor to grow into and really could not justify giving the tax money to the government instead of using it for a bigger machine. The transition from HST to hydraulic shuttle/gear is a bit of a compromise but it is not huge for me.
I was lucky enough to find a dealer who had both and I spent quite a bit of time driving them around his lot.
JD is a really nice machine also and a JD4520 is quite comparable to the GL5740. I would pick the latter - just my preference. Both are very comfortable tractors to operate IMHO. I do have a bias and wasn't comfortable seeing the Made in Mexico sign on the engine of the JD engine and the plastic hood. The bias probably makes zero sense really but thats why it is a bias rather than a logical conclusion
I have several customers in Japan and take a lot of comfort as I know the quality they expect and produce. Not to suggest that JD products made elsewhere are not going to be at par, it is just my own bias, comfort and experience. Don't fool yourself though. Both are global companies.
I also found it quite important to find a dealer that actually dealt with farm equipment who understood the tax implications of the GL vs the M wrt. the 60hp zero rated stuff. Some dealers mainly sell to businesses - landscapers and hobbyists like us and so dealing with the M is rare. One I was dealing with did not know that he did not have to charge tax on the M. I was much more comfortable dealing with a dealer that sold in the farming community as he had a mix of users.
Something that I think has been missed here is the self leveling feature on the M loaders plus the cushioned ride option. The self leveling feature is an absolute joy for loader work and a safety feature if loading round bales. It would be enough to make me trade my GL if size was not a factor.
Golf Tech
New member
The dealers will know this information ...
But I believe when I bought a tractor a few months back that to qualify for the tax savings the tractor must be over 60 hp
But I believe when I bought a tractor a few months back that to qualify for the tax savings the tractor must be over 60 hp
KYDan
Platinum Member
Check the Kubota build site, the M 4700 has the HST option as well as some of the others. I don't know if this link will take you directly to the HST option, but it's there.
http://kubota.com/configurator/BuildMyKubota.aspx?pgId=1&bmId=909&sId=126
Last edited:
The M4700 you refer to is the MX4700 and yes the MX has HST as an option. Once you get into the M series they only offer variations of a gear transmissions. Minor point I know but the MX's are a light economy series of the larger M series.
KYDan
Platinum Member
Why would the site and the decals on the tractors list the M4700 HST as such and the MX5100 as such then? I looked at an M4700 HST when I was shopping and bought the MX5100 HST. They have the same engine only the MX5100 is turbocharged. The MX5100 also has some standard features that the M4700 does not. After looking at the site more closely they do list it as an MX4700, therefore, I do stand corrected. However, Kubota does not list it as a series such as the BX V the B series. They are listed as special utility tractors 43-68 HP. This series has 5 tractors. The MX4700. MX5100, M5640SU/M7040SU, & the M7040SUH.
Last edited: