JD 3038E vs Kubota L3200

[kcflhrc]

I looked at Kubota also, nice tractor. But in the end, as always, it came down to best bang for the buck. And the green machine won. I'm sure either is a great choice. My 3032E fits right in my garage without the foldable ROPS, not sure I would ever need a 3 speed hydrostat but then again you never miss what you never had. I like the plastic more so than the metal for the simple fact it wont rust or dent if it gets hit, it will just crack. There is positives and negatives to both machines. I like the fact that the Deere and Kubota are at least assembled in the US.

 

[GManBart]

At 25 acres I would be looking for a 40 to 45HP machine. DK-40 would work nicely.2745lbs of lift off!

This.

2-range HST is best left for garden tractors.

 

[murphy1244]

This.

2-range HST is best left for garden tractors.

Agree!

 

[azkubotaguy]

The Kubota is hands down a better tractor, I was able to try both out before buying and I am glad I went orange.

 

[DFisher63]

"only 5 are cleared, mostly flat, and 3 will be cut with a rotary cutter."

From the first post. I am not working 23 acres. Thanks to everyone that has added some info, but only a few have answered the question.

Kubota L3200 for $19,800 or JD 3038E for $18,353. $1447 difference. No other choices for me. Which one?

 

[k0ua]

"only 5 are cleared, mostly flat, and 3 will be cut with a rotary cutter."

From the first post. I am not working 23 acres. Thanks to everyone that has added some info, but only a few have answered the question.

Kubota L3200 for $19,800 or JD 3038E for $18,353. $1447 difference. No other choices for me. Which one?

I would buy the 'bota even if I had to pay that much more. YMMV

 

[merlynr]

After looking at JD,NH and one other I bought L3800 with quiktach bucket and gear drive. That was 2 years ago and I'm liking the Kubota. The others are all good, but the Kubota is what I liked the best including the dealer.

 

[GManBart]

"only 5 are cleared, mostly flat, and 3 will be cut with a rotary cutter."

From the first post. I am not working 23 acres. Thanks to everyone that has added some info, but only a few have answered the question.

Kubota L3200 for $19,800 or JD 3038E for $18,353. $14
47 difference. No other choices for me. Which one?

Actually, lots of people have answered the question with one of those two.

If there were no other tractors on the planet but those two, I'd go with the Kubota...it's simply more machine. Given the choice, I'd look at something that offers roughly twice the capability for around the same price.

I only have 15 acres now, and work about 5 and I'd be really held back by either of those two machines. It's possible to have big tasks without big acreage.

The reality is, with many of these threads, the OP is almost always going to buy whatever he/she already think they're going to buy, and are extremely unlikely to change based upon what folks here suggest. That's the theme time and again with these things. Many people (not saying you are) really just want to feel better about their decision, because they're uncertain, and hope a thread here will help. That's why you'll see a new thread like this on a Thurs night, and Sat AM they reply back that they just signed papers...they pretty much already really knew what they were going to do when they asked the question.

The characteristics you're interested in might not be the ones that matter to me, or anybody else here, so our opinion doesn't really help much...unfortunately. Further, if a whole bunch of people suggest you're looking at something too small, or too big, there's probably a reason for it, but that almost never sways anybody. Either way, good luck! R,

 

[Katahdin]

On my L3200, PTO RPM is about 400 RPM below redline.

Kubota publishes the max speed for the Kubota D1503 engine to be 2800rpm. The HST PTO engine speed is about 2600rpm.

Yanmar publishes the max speed for the Deere's 3tnv84 engine to be 3000rpm, the HST PTO engine speed is 2500rpm.

200 rpm top-end difference for the Kubota.

500 rpm top-end difference for the Yanmar.

Granted, I'm splitting hairs a little, but I like to analyze the figures. It is worth noting, at either PTO operating engine speed, The Yanmar will be consuming slightly less fuel (10 less g/kWh ) then the Kubota engine. This is from published Kubota/Yanmar engine model data. I think you're missing some good choices, but I vote Deere. If you want to pay more for the lower powered, less fuel efficient, Kubota powered tractor, that is certainly your prerogative.

 

[arrow]

I do not think horse power as close as it is between these tractors should be a deciding factor. The JD is a lot of plastic including the floor board and its drive housing is aluminum. Now none of these elements can factor in unless you are looking for weight. Whether I was right or wrong to shy away from the JD because I log mostly with my tractor and thinking I needed steel and iron, may not mean much in the long run as far as strength but I'm glad I have the extra weight. I think the Kubota's are nuts for what they are asking for their stuff. Since 2008 they've gone up $6000 for their mid sized tractors and they would not move much off their pricing. I just do not think an L3400 was worth over 20K when I went shopping. I did not like the material their E series tractors were made of and is why I ended up with a Mahindra 3016 shuttle which had its own things I did not like but was the lesser of all evils. Plus JD was giving me $1700 for my trade where Mahindra gave me $7000 plus took 3 grand off their tractor.
For 10K out of pocket I had a brand new tractor. Of them all, I considered the Kubota the best built.