HELP! Need advice on what to buy

[houstonscott]

First, thank you for helping. Second, I am complete novice to compact tractors. I have operated equipment but not used a compact tractor in a residential type environment. I recently bought a 15 acre Fir Tree farm with intent of pulling 1 acre for a home in the future. My property has been logged repeatedly for decades so there are a lot of old, rotten and rotting logs scattered throughout that I need to move. I'm looking for a compact tractor that can move the logs as well as do road creation/maintenance, snow removal, field mowing, material moving and general land maintenance. I plan to purchase a grapple of some sort for shrub clreaing and moving as well. I originally planned to purchase a Kubota L2501 but I am concerned about the HP and weight of the tractor not being adequate for the size of logs and old fallen trees I need to move. I thought moving up to the L3901 may be the better choice but I don't know if the additional HP will make that much difference. Am I wrong? I also saw an LS RX4140 that had 8 hours and was on sale at a price point less than a new L3901. I don't know much about the LS machines as most of my research was comparing Kubota to JD. Clearly the LS is much larger, heavier and more powerful but I'm concerned about quality and reliability. Any advice, guidance, opinions will be very much appreciated. Thank you.

I bought an LS in 2011, no issues at all, you won't be sorry.

 

[Tree Farmer Steve]

I have not considered a CTL. I will look into this and see if they seem to fit me.

 

[newbury]

<snip> The biggest reason I am considering the LS is that I can get a much larger and heaver tractor for around the same cost as the Kubota.

Also, everyone say's to go with Hydrostatic for hilly terrain but I like the shuttle idea of the LS and being able to just put in a gear and maintain a consistent speed. However, not having any experience actually using either types, which would you recommend for a general purpose tractor? I don't plan to use this piece of equipment for any home/building site clearing or excavation. I will rent an excavator or dozer for this.

Again, thank you very much for the help and advice Jeff.

Unless you plan on doing a lot of "set it and forget it" work, like haying, bush hogging where you don't have to switch gears, tilling large fields etc. get HST.
It reads like your primary use will be woodlot cleanup which requires a lot of shifting.
But we still need to know more about budget.
For what you presently plan on doing

road creation/maintenance, snow removal, field mowing, material moving and general land maintenance.

you require attachments which require $$$
A quick list of attachments other than FEL and bucket:
Box blade - $1K
Grapple - $1K to $3K
Snow plow or BLOWER - $1k to $6K
Rotary cutter $1K to $2K
Pallet Forks $1K
maybe a rake, trailer, PHD (post hole digger).
And most of these "depend on" the size of the tractor, bigger tractor, bigger more expensive tools.

I've more money tied up in attachments than tractors.

I went the used tractor route which left a lot of money for attachments.

 

[jeff9366]

HST for work on hills.

HST if anyone other than yourself will operate the tractor.

HST for best resale......someday.


What is the distance to your LS dealer?

 

[ArmyDoc]

I have not considered a CTL. I will look into this and see if they seem to fit me.

This is the one I am looking at. JCB Teleskid | Teleskid Loader| Teleskid Skid Steer
I like having one arm rather than two because it improves visibility and because it allows side entry rather than through the arms.

xfaxman strongly recommends a telehandler such as the bobcat versahandlers. He says he's gotten rid of his tractors... Telehandlers have some of the same benefits as a CTL, but may not have as high output hydraulics, and are not quite as much maneuverability as a CTL (though much more so than a tractor).

The other machine I'm looking at is a cross between the a telehandler and a tractor, called the merlo multifarmer.

Merlo 3.9 Multifarmer - YouTube

But I don't have prices on them yet, and they aren't as common on the used market here as they are in canada. If I can find one I can afford, it will be the best of both worlds for me.

 

[Tree Farmer Steve]

Jeff, thanks again. The LS dealer is actually closer to my propert (10 miles) than the Kubota (20 miles) but it's so close it's really a toss up.

 

[Tree Farmer Steve]

My budget is really as low as I can get away with. I realize you get what you pay for and quality in anything costs money but two main concerns I have are buying a tractor too small and spending too much $ on a tractor I don't need.

I had my Kubota dealer include a grapple and a box scraper in the quote so that I could clear fallen logs and brush with the grapple and create/maintain my drive way and the existing skid road with the box scraper. Total for the attachments and the L2501 with loader was right at $21k with the current Kubota incentives. Of course there is the 0% financing as well. This number is very attractive and if this tractor will serve 90% of my needs, is it better to just rent a larger tool for a couple days to clear the really big logs/boulders as oppose to buying a bigger tractor that I won't "need" when it's time to just maintain my property?

Per Jeff's recommendation and his clear experience, I've made the call to Hydro for sure. This means the LS I was looking at wont work. This was an interesting option because it's priced at $24K because it has 8 hours. Now that I know I'm going Hydro, the LS XR4140 is somewhere around $32K. Much more than the Kubota but also much more tractor.

The majority of what I'll be doing is brush clearing, log dragging, snow moving and road maintenance. Will the 2501 with a toothed box scraper be able to rip through small roots? I mean roots from small 5-10 year old fir trees?

 

[Tree Farmer Steve]

I took delivery of my new MX4800 a few weeks back and am very happy with the machine. I went with a woods rotary cutter, woods box blade and a claw grapple and couldnt be happier with my implement choices. Thank you all for the help!

 

[houstonscott]

Find the lowest hour tier three Kubota you find in the HP rating you need.

 

[cdaigle430]

I think the best bet is to just focus on this one project first by renting and excavator with a thumb. Worked very well for my dad and I. Then for the rest maybe a tractor with a grapple, loader? After my dad was done he bought a Kioti with those attachments and is very happy. I think it was a 36HP?

Tree Farmer Steve

I recently bought a 15 acre Fir Tree farm with intent of pulling 1 acre for a home in the future. My property has been logged repeatedly so there are a lot of old, rotten and rotting logs scattered that I need to move. I'm looking for a compact tractor that can move logs as well as road creation/maintenance, snow removal, field mowing, material moving and general land maintenance