Help a fella pick out a tractor please (L3301 or L3901)

[dieselknudt]

I don't want to upset the apple cart here. But...
I think that before you pull the trigger you should at least take a look at the LS Tractors.
IMHO you will get more tractor for you money.
A XR3135H with loader should sell for about $21500. and you get 2 sets of rear hyd. and a 5 year warranty!
Just my 2¢

 

[RollingsFarms]

I don't want to upset the apple cart here. But... I think that before you pull the trigger you should at least take a look at the LS Tractors. IMHO you will get more tractor for you money. A XR3135H with loader should sell for about $21500. and you get 2 sets of rear hyd. and a 5 year warranty! Just my 2¢

I'd definitely give them a look! Only one problem, there's only one dealership in the whole state and its about 3 hours away from me. Otherwise I'd really give them a serious look. Same with Mahindra and Kioti, long ways off. I have four Kubota dealerships near me and 5 John Deere dealerships, two New Holland and one Case.

 

[RollingsFarms]

One thing to point out, the tractor is only *part* of the cost... if you are stretching your budget already you will not have money left over for implements to use with your tractor. Also, the more you read on TBN... the more you'll want!!! All sorts of goodies, like a hydraulic top and side link but that means adding more money for extra hydraulics... and if you add that you might as well buy a grapple next... tooth bar, ratchet rake, more implements... don't forget maintenance costs, too. So adduming $3000 down / 60 months payment (if my math is correct): 3301dt - $312.61 per month 3301hst - $330.42 per month 3901dt - $325.73 per month 3901hst - $347.08 per month $34.47 difference but that is for 60 times. Good luck in deciding, don't forget to post photos!

The only attachment I'll be buying for this tractor is MAYBE a box blade. I have a 6' rear scraper blade for it and I think any of the tractors I'm looking at should have no problem with it. Oh and a set of pallet forks (why the SSQA is so important to me). I have other tractors for bush hogging and other tasks.

 

[RollingsFarms]

Got some more quotes in from another dealer and all I can say is Wow there is a BIG difference from dealer to dealer with Kubota! I'm used to Deere pricing because all 5 dealers around me are owned by the same folks so the pricing is pretty much straight across the board. With Kubota I've only shopped two dealers near me and for the same tractor(s) with the SAME options there is a $1375 difference between every tractor I got a quote for! Here are the quotes I received. 3301DT-$20,200 3301HST-20,600(only $400 more to go to HST when other dealers want $1,000 or more? What gives??) 3901DT-21,700 3901HST-22,500

The weird thing is one dealer wants only $1000 to go from 3301 to 3901 but his prices are higher and the dealer with the cheaper prices wants $1900 to go from 3301 to 3901.

 

[plygph]

That make the choice even simpler 3901. The difference in the price could be a simple as he is overstocked on a unit and wants to move it before his floor plan financing kicks in and he is paying interest on a unit sitting on his yard.

Always remember that cheapest price is not always the best deal. I had a cheaper price from a local dealer on my tractor but all the salesman did was play games with me and could never deliver what he promised or for that matter call back when he said he was going to. So I went to the next local dealer he was a straight shooter delivered on what he promised and when he promised. So ask yourself in my situation which dealer would you trust to handle your service if you need it? My dealer still calls me to make sure that I am happy with my tractor. Paid a little more but I am so glad that I did.

What the local dealer missed out on was in addition to my tractor, loader, and rotary cutter I also purchased a ZG222 mower and a pallet fork from MY DEALER.

Guess what I am trying to say is do your due diligence while all dealers have the same new equipment on the yard, not all dealers are the same.

 

[RollingsFarms]

This is my first time shopping Kubota dealers around me so I don't really know them that well like I do my Deere dealers. I do know that one dealer is kinda small and the other one is pretty big and is famous for their package deals. There's another one I haven't contacted yet but they're always at the outdoor show in March and I've talked to them and they seem really friendly. I will say that from the two quotes I've received, both dealers got back to me pretty fast so that was nice. I have two dealers about 45 mins from me and one that's about an hour and 45 mins from me.

 

[The Deerslayer]

Getting in on this a little late, but I would recommend going with the 3901 for the extra horsepower. I don't think you can go wrong with either one, but as others have said more HP than you think you need is a good thing; especially if the price difference works for you.

I have had my 3901 HST with loader,SSQA, block heater, rear blade, and loaded R1's since April and am very happy with it. As far as pricing goes, we seem to get hit a bit harder up here in the northeast. I spoke with several dealers and the pricing varied. With incentives, I paid $23,200 after negotiating and that they also add in work lights, cruise control, and welded a couple of hooks on the bucket for no additional cost. The dealer also included an $800 gift card for parts/service/etc.. They gave me in trade for my older Kubota what I would most likely have gotten on a private sale which really surprised me. Most importantly, I was impressed with the dealer pre and post sale.

I also strongly recommend going with HST as my L2250 was gear drive and there is a huge difference, especially when doing loader work. I would never go back and didn't realize what I was missing for so many years. Its true that gear drive is great for field work, brush hogging etc.. I found adding the cruise control was a good compromise when I am doing this kind of work. Kinda the best of both worlds as they say.

Hope this helps in some way. Best of luck and looking forward to pictures.

 

[RollingsFarms]

Thanks for the response! I'm stuck on the 3301/3901 because it's the perfect size for what I'm wanting to do. I had a John Deere 950 that was my grandfathers tractor and when I wore it out(and I mean wore it out) I was forced to get rid of it even though I didn't want to but parts were becoming hard to get for certain things. It was a 27pto hp tractor and I got a lot done with it. My problem is if I buy the 3301 I don't have any 5' implements anymore so would have to get some but mostly I'd use it for the loader and grading. I noticed the 3301 was about the same weight as the old 950 I had and I wondered if the 3901 would be able to use that extra hp being the same weight. It won't see much(if any) pto work but if it ever needed it then that extra hp might be nice. I can't find out if the 3901 can run 6' stuff or not though.

As for the gear vs hst that's another thing I'm debating. I wasn't aware you could add cruise control and I'd wondered if I'd need to keep the pedal pressed down during transport with the hst. Cruise control takes care of that though. I did see that ground speed for transport is about the same for gear and hst. I like that the gear has sync shuttle but I like the idea of hst too. I know I'm getting SSQA no matter what because I'm buying pallet forks with the tractor.

 

[varmint]

Sorry if this has already been brought up, didn't read the whole thread, but have you checked with Barlow's in KY? They get lots of good write-ups here, and they ship!!

 

[RollingsFarms]

Are the R1's or the R4's more expensive and about how much is the difference, does anyone know? I've been getting quotes for R4 tires but I did notice that the dealers stock a lot of these tractors with R1's