Ground Engagement

[rattler]

I'm looking at buying my first Kubota for work on a 12 acre farm, barn, horses, woods and small pasture. Most of my needs are ground engagement activities like driveway maintenance, site leveling, etc...little to no mowing needs.

I started looking at the B series and quickly moved up to the L series and narrowed choices to the L3130 and L3830. Wondering how much real difference there would be in these machines based on the activities cited above.

Also need advice on tires...I have found a L3130 with 723 loader and box scraper for $16,400. It has 60 hrs on it with the Ag tires. I really wanted the R4 for the few times I might assist the wife with landscaping activities that require the tractor to be on the finished yard. My experience with the AG tires is regarless of wet or dry, they tear up turf.

Thanks for any and all advice

Rattler

 

[Glowplug]

As far as ground engaging, are you just talking about pulling a box scraper and levelling? If you're talking about using a disc, plow, or subsoiler then that changes the considerations. Also, what type of soil do you have? Do you plan on doing these ground engaging activities on all 12 acres? If you are doing any plowing, discing, or working on a large portion of that land or if you have clay soil you may want to consider moving up to the larger sized L-series or even the beautiful, lovely M-series such as the M5040.

Also, in what region of the country are you located? What is your terrain like?

Oh, and are you absolutely sure about the little or no mowing?

I think R4 tires are a good all-purpose compromise tire. They give decent traction but don't do much turf damage. Now if you're planning on doing serious ground-engaging activities I would recommend R1 Ags.

Post the additional detailed information and maybe you can get some more specific recommendations.

Good luck!

BTW, Welcome to TBN!!!

 

[Glowplug]

Are you planning on buying used or new? Have you looked at the new Grand L-40 series tractors? If I was buying something less than an M-series I'd personally get one of those. They are still hard to find at the dealers' and Kubota doesn't even have them on their website yet. But they seem to have some new and improved features, especially the transmission, over the Grand L-30 tractors you've considered.

 

[rattler]

I'm in Middle TN where the soil is rocky and I'm not going to plow or disc. The horses keep the small pasture in good shape so I don't plan to buy a bush-hog.

Primarily will be used for loader work too clean up around the barn and leveling pads for some walk-in sheds, grading driveway, etc.

The L-40 does sound nice as to the Hyrdrostat drive increasing the rpm on demand..then dropping back to idle when not in use. I haven't priced them but assume they would be higher in price than the current L-30 models. I will purchase a HST model.

rattler