Buying Advice In search of a sub-compact tractor

[Carl_NH]

Given your list of tasks and land size:

- 25-40 HP
- Deere & Kubota are close by (parts/service/resale) not sure how near Kioti, Massey, and NH are?
- Get a QA skid steer type removable bucket quick attach and forks, grapple, and front blade for snow
- Additional remote hyd valves for grapple on front and two on rear for rear blade tilt etc.
- a backhoe with a thumb definitely if you want to be more self reliant for the ditches and trenching and foundation (rather than renting)
- instead of a Mid mower ($1800) get a dedicated better mower
- Build or make a secure storage shed (10x20) or so for your new tractor with enough door clearance 8' with electrical if possible to work on or plug in block heater to warm up the engine

Attachments like a rear blade, and snow blower can be bought later used for half or less, but if you want to get all new at one time you probably can get a better deal buying all at once.

Good Luck!

 

[Trials]

Thanks for your input so far:

So would something like an L3301HST, JD3032E, MF1734E be what I should be looking for? Without having shopped, I suspect they will be say 10,000 more without a mower deck and I don't think I would be able to mow with them (not that it's necessarily a terrible thing)

One thing I noticed is that it does not seem as though Deere has a finger on their backhoe, is that an uncommon, not very well used feature, or did I miss it?

L3301HST in 4 wheel drive looks pretty sweet to me! That tractor without any attachments is going to be the heaviest tractor you will be able to tow without an upgraded truck license, if that is of any concern. It is at least one step up in size from the one I now have and much closer to the Ford 1900 that I previously owned.

The backhoe added to a little tractor is fairly limited, a finger is not going to do all that much for you. Working a backhoe hard on a tractor like these can be hard on the tractor if you over-tax it. They are great for trenching and that is about it. If you need to move serious amounts of material or pluck trees out of the ground and pick them up you are going to need a serious excavator like the one I just bought last week:

it has a finger, plus a 27 foot reach with 19 tons of lift.

 

[check]

MTS, my situation is similar to yours. I live in Toronto and my cottage is near Dorset, and on 25 acres with an acre or so of grass. I bought a Kubota BX 25 from Kubota North in Bracebridge, and I like them a lot. I got mine for $18,000, and it includes a backhoe, but if you're going to spend about $30,000, you can get a B 2650 with a backhoe for that, easily. (Don't forget, the Kabota dealers do nice discounts from MSRP.) Go on to the kubota.ca website, and do a comparison of the BX 25 and the B 2650, in order to help you make your decision.

Wow, I wish I were in your position, in which case I would definitely buy the B 2650. Heck I would even go shopping with you!

 

[Trials]

...
Wow, I wish I were in your position, in which case I would definitely buy the B 2650. Heck I would even go shopping with you!

:thumbsup: we like spending other peoples money.

 

[northtractorsearch]

L3301HST in 4 wheel drive looks pretty sweet to me! That tractor without any attachments is going to be the heaviest tractor you will be able to tow without an upgraded truck license, if that is of any concern. It is at least one step up in size from the one I now have and much closer to the Ford 1900 that I previously owned.

The backhoe added to a little tractor is fairly limited, a finger is not going to do all that much for you. Working a backhoe hard on a tractor like these can be hard on the tractor if you over-tax it. They are great for trenching and that is about it. If you need to move serious amounts of material or pluck trees out of the ground and pick them up you are going to need a serious excavator like the one I just bought last week:

it has a finger, plus a 27 foot reach with 19 tons of lift.

Jesus what a machine. I would only be able to use that in the winter when the ground is frozen, or mid-summer during a dryspell or it would destroy everything!

MTS, my situation is similar to yours. I live in Toronto and my cottage is near Dorset, and on 25 acres with an acre or so of grass. I bought a Kubota BX 25 from Kubota North in Bracebridge, and I like them a lot. I got mine for $18,000, and it includes a backhoe, but if you're going to spend about $30,000, you can get a B 2650 with a backhoe for that, easily. (Don't forget, the Kabota dealers do nice discounts from MSRP.) Go on to the kubota.ca website, and do a comparison of the BX 25 and the B 2650, in order to help you make your decision.

Wow, I wish I were in your position, in which case I would definitely buy the B 2650. Heck I would even go shopping with you!

I shall give Kubota north a call, I'm nowhere near them right now but you know - maybe I can be convinced. As far as price and spending money, I'm not rich, but I have no need to get something that will definitely be too small as I already have enough "struggle" to go around. From what it sounds like, I should be looking for something on the slightly larger end. Also it sounds like the Deere is kind expensive relatively speaking. How long ago did you buy yours Check?

 

[gladehound]

Given the tasks you list, and the fact that you say you want a SCUT, it is difficult to make a recommendation. This is because many of the items below could be done with a SCUT if the scale is small, but would require something larger if the scale is larger. Removing trees (with stumps? size of trees?), towing trailer (weight of trailer? terrain being towed on?), Moving rocks / logs (size / weight for both?), replacing culverts (size / weight of culverts?). A SCUT will do everything below as long as the scale is appropriate for an SCUT. If you expect to pop 4,000 pound rocks out of the ground, you will be disappointed with an SCUT.

Foreseeable Frequent Tasks:
A list of the projects that we may end up doing in order of frequency/likelyhood are below:
1. Mowing (I have read a few threads here that say you probably shouldn't mow with a TLB, but right now we use a 30 and 15 year old craftsman in tandem)
2. Forking pallet-like objects - actually 80lb 2'x6'x2" trex dock boards
3. Towing a trailer (full of stuff, eg. trees, stumps, logs, dirt, cleared brush, etc. eg. when the lawntractor is replaced)
4. Removing trees/clearing brush
5. Landscaping (reshaping land, moving rocks, logs)
6. Replacing a couple culverts
Less likely, but possible:
-Maybe snowblowing in the future?
-Digging an outhouse
-Clearing a driveway
-Digging a septic tank
-Building a garage
-Building a cottage

 

[TMR]

Thanks for your input so far:

So would something like an L3301HST, JD3032E, MF1734E be what I should be looking for? Without having shopped, I suspect they will be say 10,000 more without a mower deck and I don't think I would be able to mow with them (not that it's necessarily a terrible thing)



One thing I noticed is that it does not seem as though Deere has a finger on their backhoe, is that an uncommon, not very well used feature, or did I miss it?

I am essentially struggling with a similar question. I have uses that could easily span from a BX (sub compact), to a B 2650 (26HP) to an L series with much more HP and weight. I have pretty much ruled out the BX...mostly because I am confident I would try to use it for tasks it is not designed for and likely bend or break parts.

In my review I seem to cycle back to the B 2650 as a much sturdier unit than a BX BUT not as heavy and large as the L series. I also would like to consider the extra HP of the B 3350 but am not confident the Tier IV pollution equipment is working correctly yet and "most" seem to advise no getting the B 3350 unless you REALLY want/need the extra HP.

My probable course will find me getting a B 2650 w/MMM(maybe), loader, box blade, brush hog and eventually a grapple. Still may decide to skip the MMM and go with a regular lawn tractor to avoid taking on and off frequently.

I have narrowed my choice to Kubota as I trust their history and also they have been the leaders in developing much of the sub-compact and compact market.

FWIW...Tom R

 

[jenkinsph]

Buying the right machine can be difficult without a lot of experience using various sizes. Not knowing your long term needs in detail makes it difficult to make good recommendations with real meaning. We all have budgets to deal with in the real world and often buy too small trying to save money. Sometimes you have to balance budget constraints with the long term goals and have a meeting of the minds. I have found that a long term plan for a property such as you have listing the improvements in detail should lead you to the correct equipment to accomplish your goal.

Time is another important consideration, some jobs you may be able to chip away at here and there. Sometimes you need to get it done before a rain makes a mess out of everything.

Trading up in size later can cost you a lot more money than buying the right machine the first time. Buying to big and not being able to fit in the work space can be another problem. You want to pick the machine that will handle 90% of the jobs you have for it to do.

Mowing versus dirt moving, tree removal and other tasks in my opinion require separate machines. Pick the best mower for your landscape and get a tractor to do the other heavy jobs. Mowers should be light in weight, tractors need to be heavy, two different machines.

All of that said above, if you can pin down what you would like to do in detail with a lot of thought in it you will have a much better idea of what you need.

 

[TheMan419]

For the cost of the MMM you can put a serious down payment on a zero turn mower. That will do a much better job at mowing.

If you do not need to detach the bucket the NH has much better lift capacity than the deer. Also cheaper. At least down here.

 

[AxleHub]

Greetings Northtractor,

I'll take a little different direction than others if you don't mind.

You have a wish list and that's fine. But you also have two craftsman lawnmowers . . so that's an experience level I'll work from.

To keep it short for now and then expand on it later, I sense you ate not in close proximity to lots of business related repair locations and service centers.

So I would 1st focus on reliability.

To that end I'd narrow the grouping to equipment that is designed and engineered by long time engine builders who expanded to full tractor building over many years:

Yanmar, Kubota, or Iseki (Massey).

New Holland, LS, Mahindra, Kioti etc. All may have some fine product . . but when reliability and long warranties and good manufacturer insurance policies are important I'd stick with the 3 I listed.

I also didn't list John Deere . . unless their product is built and designed by 1 of the 3 I listed.

Back later for more reasons why.

And at this point . . don't get too swayed as to scut or cut in my opinion.