I think I have most of this figured out

reprosser · Mar 13, 2009

Just purchased 54 wooded acres in Midlands of SC. Plan to build house and tree farm. Never bought a tractor before (have worked around them and used occasionally - years ago) Slight grade on lot down to a creek in the back.

Have multiple piles of dirt/trees (scrub oak/pine) from pushing in some rough roads. Also some areas of clear cut a few years ago - messy.

Will need tractor to move dirt, make/maintain roads, cut underbrush, move downed trees. May do a garden, but not regular crops. My wife will be using the tractor also. Not planning a lawn, so no mowing concerns.

Had a friend with a L3130 come out and make a road for me. After seeing and hearing about his model, I have decided to purchase:

L3240 - HST - Ag tires
FEL (QA)
Bush Hog/Rotary cutter
Box blade

May want/need grappler for handling trees in the future
May want/need tilt-able blade for roads in the future (not sure how well the box blade works for crowning drive way and access roads to creek and boundaries)

I have some questions that I have not been able to resolve online:

What is the difference in the standard and heavy duty loader? Which one is the LA724? If I get the standard, will it limit my attachment options?

What is the difference in the square and round back bucket for the loader? Are they all 66"?

Will discuss with Dealer, but what suggestions for best Loader, bucket, Bush Hog and Box blade to get with this model.

Since this is new for me, I might be missing something that will save money or aggravation later. Remote valves, attachments, weights???

Thanks for any comments or suggestions.

buckeyefarmer · Mar 13, 2009

Welcome to TBN, and congrats on the land purchase. You are in for some fun seat time.
I would recommend the heavy loader, not a lot more money, little more steel. The bucket also comes in a heavier variety, go with the heavier which should be the round one I think.
Check out markham for toothbars, grapple, etc. they are located in NC and will ship.

Egon · Mar 13, 2009

I do not know the difference between loaders but suggest you ask for the details and then make a decision. If you are working with trees and moving dirt more is always better.

I'd also suggest R4 tires and chains.

JOHNTHOMAS · Mar 13, 2009

I traded my L3240HST QA bucket and 35 hours to Barlows Wednesday for a B3200. You can save some money by contacting them. I had a B before and the L just seemed a bit to big for my use and Barlow's are easy to trade with. My 7th purchase/trade with them in 5 years.

Wayne_Freeman · Mar 13, 2009

Loaders are made to match the tractor. In Kubotas case they tend to be rather conservative with specs. An oversized loader will damage a tractor from weight and stress and most of us will use the machine we have as far as we can push it. I had a tractor with too much loader and continually broke gears and axles on my tractor. Now my L3400 Kubota with loader is a matched set and in two years I have had no problems. Ask the dealer to adjust the hydraulic pressure to the upper spec limit and you will be fine. This is a fairly simple thing for them with experience to do and well worth checking. It is easy to understand why they would be conservative on this but a few more psi will make a difference.

I maintain a read in the lowcountry of SC and purchased a Duragrader. There are several vendors of these implements and they are a good investment if you have a lot of road to maintain.

MarkV · Mar 13, 2009

Hi welcome to the forum. I am wondering if you should not take a jump up in horsepower. Here is my thinking. It sounds like you have a lot of clearing to do and will be maintaining a tree farm in the future. That will mean some heavy cutting for clearing and several years of maintenance cutting between planted trees until they get established. A general rule of thumb for a rotary mower is 5 PTO horsepower per foot of cutter. The L3240 has 25 PTO hp and to clear your rear tires you will want to run a 6' mower. That puts you on the weak side for cutting power. If you can jump to something in the 35 PTO hp range your clearing will go easier with less strain on the tractor.

Good luck and keep us posted.

MarkV

hunterridgefarm · Mar 13, 2009

reprosser said:
Just purchased 54 wooded acres in Midlands of SC. Plan to build house and tree farm. Never bought a tractor before (have worked around them and used occasionally - years ago) Slight grade on lot down to a creek in the back.

Have multiple piles of dirt/trees (scrub oak/pine) from pushing in some rough roads. Also some areas of clear cut a few years ago - messy.

Will need tractor to move dirt, make/maintain roads, cut underbrush, move downed trees. May do a garden, but not regular crops. My wife will be using the tractor also. Not planning a lawn, so no mowing concerns.

Had a friend with a L3130 come out and make a road for me. After seeing and hearing about his model, I have decided to purchase:

L3240 - HST - Ag tires
FEL (QA)
Bush Hog/Rotary cutter
Box blade

May want/need grappler for handling trees in the future
May want/need tilt-able blade for roads in the future (not sure how well the box blade works for crowning drive way and access roads to creek and boundaries)

I have some questions that I have not been able to resolve online:

What is the difference in the standard and heavy duty loader? Which one is the LA724? If I get the standard, will it limit my attachment options?

What is the difference in the square and round back bucket for the loader? Are they all 66"?

Will discuss with Dealer, but what suggestions for best Loader, bucket, Bush Hog and Box blade to get with this model.

Since this is new for me, I might be missing something that will save money or aggravation later. Remote valves, attachments, weights???

Thanks for any comments or suggestions.

The difference between the loaders is about 300-400 lbs of lift. The 3130/3240 can do a lot. Thats what I have and used to clear my roads on my 45 ac tract. You can see some of this on my thread http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/106641-land-clearing-house-building.html , I hope the link works. And yeas go for the heavy loader with this model and quick attach.

Another thing as someone mentioned is the tooth bar, helps out a great deal with digging. For a box blade I have two, one with a hinged back and one without. One is a KK and I not sure what the other is but I have bent the hitch pins on both. This is not from jerking or raming but pushing into piles. So I would go for a medium to heavy duity boxblade if I was to buy another.

Get the rear tires loaded.

If you can aford more HP then I would suggest it. The 3130/3240 has good power and is a good size for trails and working in the woods. But I would like to have more HP and lift on the FEL. To get more lift I think you would need to go up to the 4240 or just a little more HP with the 3540/3940. I was going to trade up to a L5040 or M6040 but the 3130 is better size for landscaping the new house right now so I will trade up once this is completed.

Dawgfan3 · Mar 16, 2009

I agree with MarkV on the extra HP. I just traded a B7500 for a L3940. I tried both the L3240 and the L3940. The extra HP is noticable without any loads. I traded for a 7' finish mower and a 6' tiller. I'm glad I got the extra power.

SCtractorguy · Mar 18, 2009

Hey neighbor! I'm just outside of Columbia in the NE area near Lugoff. I have 35 acres and just traded into an L3240 hst. Its been a fantastic improvement for clearing trails and doing work around the place. (Mostly a tree farm too).
I agree though there are times when a 4240 might be a good idea.

One can never have too much power, right?

We have several very good Kubota dealers in the area with several machines on the lot to try. Besides thats most of the fun!!

Chris

40_acre_mule · Mar 18, 2009

Other possibilities:

Your power will no doubt come a distance to get to your house. If the lines go down during a storm/hurricane, it could be a while before the power co gets to you. You might consider a pto generator. That will also affect your pto hp requirements.

I recommend 4wd. That will improve your loader capabilities and your box blade pulling, as well as your ability to drag downed trees.

My opinion...you can't get too much tractor. I'd get as much as I could afford.