Help me choose a ~30hp CUT please...

[Z-Michigan]

I spent about 1 1/2 hours cleaning a drain between my road and the mountain rising straight up beyond that with the front loader, turning around, dumping it over the cliff on the other side, over and over and over, back and forth, back and forth...

*** GO WITH THE HST IF YOU PLAN ON DOING ANY REPETITIVE WORK OF ANY SORT AT ALL!

Just my 2 cents...

I was cleaning horse manure out of their run-in shed and some big piles in their winter pasture a few days ago and was doing similar loader work. I agree 110%. If you plan on doing a lot of loader work, HST is far superior. If you don't plan on doing a lot of loader work, reconsider whether you need to spend $4-6000 on the loader, when some of the same things can be done with rear mounted attachments (dirt scoop, bale spear).

The main reason I don't have HST is that I wanted a utility rather than a CUT, and none of the currently made utilities come with HST. I am finding the loader very useful but a gear transmission, even with synchro-shuttle, slows you down quite a bit. What many people don't focus on is that this is not the only way gear slows down loader work. I usually push into a pile in 1st or 2nd gear, for maximum power and slowest speed to maneuver carefully and not bash up my bucket. But then if I want to move the material a decent distance, I will need to shift into a higher gear. So I am not only shifting from F to R and back to F again, I am also shifting gears. With HST I would probably do all my loader work in middle range and be able to go .5 mph for pushing into a pile, 2mph for backing up, and 5-7mph for transport, all without doing anything but moving my foot between two pedals (or two ends of one pedal on Kubota and a few NH models).

Hey, does anyone want to trade me a 4520 cab/HST for my 5105?

 

[flINTLOCK]

I liked the layout and feel of NH compared with the others. Just personal preference. But if you're going to have a lot of seat time, you need to be comfortable.

 

[the_sandman_454]

Ok, here's the story...

The Case store didn't seem to have anything available to look at in the size range I am looking at. At this time they seemed to mostly have big agricultural and fullsize utility machines. Not that there's anything wrong with that or anything. The pictures did look intriguing.

I didn't check with the Kioti dealer at this time either. Nothing against them, but I think after sittin' in the Deere and operating one a little bit, it'll be hard to top that act.

After running some numbers, and realizing the used machine mentioned in my earlier post (3320) worked out to be roughly $900 less than a brand new 3320 with the eHydro HST, R4's, a 300CX loader with 61" HD bucket, and a Frontier 72" 3 PT side discharge finish mower. Warranty on the used one expires this July, so I figure that extra little money is well spent. I had them run the numbers on the 3520 as well, and it came out to be only about $1700 more than the 3320.

I believe I am going to go with the 3520 on R4's, 300CX w/ 61" HD bucket and toothbar, the finish mower mentioned above, and . I like the idea of having a little extra HP just in case. Never know when it'll come in handy. Plus when spending this much on the machine, the extra $1700 isn't going to hurt that much more. Unless someone can talk me out of it at least. I just can't seem to get over how well placed the controls are (at least IMO), the seperate HST pedals for forward/reverse, and a handful of other stuff.

I test drove one of the manual transmission ones, and realized I really don't want to be working the clutch continually when playing with the loader. Over the course of my ownership here, and helping some friends move a good bit of dirt around probably, I would rather save the wear on my knees, and I suspect the HST will help save a little time as well.

Here's a question: Should I stick with the 61" HD bucket, or go with the 73" HD bucket? Will the HD bucket hold a decent volume of material? I would rather be able to move as much stuff as possible with each trip. Would the extra weight of the wider bucket just disappoint me by taking away from the available lift capacity of the loader?

Finally, thank you everybody for your commentary and assistance thus far. Excellent crowd here.

 

[Podunkadunk]

Go to the Kubota dealership with your checkbook. 'Nuff said.

 

[john_bud]

What's the capacity of the 300CX loader and the weight of the two buckets? If you are still in the capacity for the loader with the extra bucket weight and 110# per Cuft of bucket capacity, then get the bigger bucket.

Since they offer the larger bucket, my guess is that it will be ok.

jb

 

[Z-Michigan]

I think a 3520 sounds great, and if that's what you want, get it!

As for bucket size, I take the opposite view. The loader manual will specify how much ballast you need for operation, and it will be a truly amazing number - probably between 1500 and 2000lbs for that tractor. The 73" HD bucket will weigh a fair bit by itself (empty) and with both that and its greater volume will make it much easier to overload your loader/tractor. The 61" may take slightly smaller bites but you are much less likely to accidentally overload the setup, especially if you don't have all the ballast that you're supposed to have. For comparison, 73" is a common bucket size on utility tractors, two size classes up! (Admittedly the width is not the only factor - depth makes a big difference too, and I doubt that the 73" for a 3520 will be as deep as the 73" on my 5105.) Of course, get whichever one you want!

 

[RoyJackson]

"Working the clutch that much, even having to ride it way more than I like while scooping out the ditch and taking as much of a bite as I possibly could without spinning 4 R4 tires on the pavement, took me back about 2 years to when I had surgery on that knee...man it was sore! GO WITH THE HST IF YOU PLAN ON DOING ANY REPETITIVE WORK OF ANY SORT AT ALL!"

I disagree....I find using a clutch quite easy and, if you know what you're doing (experience), probably as fast as HST. Now, this is with a collar shift, which isn't as easy as a power-reverser transmission.
With a power-reverser, once you've selected the gear you want to work in, one uses a lever (no clutch) to change direction.

I looked into a 3320 with power-reverser. I wanted the extra gearing (12 Forward, 12 Reverse) which is more versitile then my collar shift (8 foward, 2 Reverse). It's a very easy transmission to use...easier, IMHO, then HST.

I'd of bought the 3320...just didn't want to go into any more debt...especially since the 790 is about paid off and the wifey would of been right upset.

Anyway, that 3320 with power-reverser is one nice tractor!

 

[Timber]

I personally Love my Kubota B7800. It is a 30 horse 4 cylinder. I would never trash one of the other brand tractors as they all have features the many prefer over others. I can only tell you about the one I own. I do not cut grass with mine but I would be concerned about the wt of my tractor if I was. I believe the New B2600 has a fender mounted joystick. The L series are very nice but a little heavy for lawn cutting, great for loader work though. I too have a lot of forest so I would consider R4s for sneakers. The B series tractors are great for sneaking around trees for maintaining riding trails. Regardless of what you chose consider Weight, Size, Maneuverability, Sneakers and above all your future plans. A tractor is a long term purchase so look down the road as to what you will do with it. By the way a finish mower for your tractor will cost about the same as a nice Cub-cadet lawn tractor with a 54" cut. consider that as well. Taking the chore of finish mowing off your tractor changes the dynamic of how you purchase your tractor

 

[jbrumberg]

Although I own a different color I am truly colorblind , Timber saved me a lot of typing. Thank you Timber ! Jay

 

[PhilVA]

You've definitely gotten some good feedback here and seem to have narrowed your choices significantly. One thing I would add (provided by the folks here before my purchase) is to be absolutely sure you are comfortable on the unit, whichever it may be. Take as many "test drives" as you need to be sure. Make sure the controls are within easy reach and their layout makes sense to you.

I agree with the 4WD statement. You may never use it but it's there when you do need it. I ended up getting a Kubota L3000DT, manual trasnmission for my 37 acres and have been smiling ever since. The good folks here definitely pointed me in the right direction with their advice.

Enjoy your new "toy"!

Phil in VA