JD 4720; considering leaving Kubota

[rScotty]

I looked very closely at the Grand 40 series and the L48 TLB before I bought a JD 110 TLB. Really liked the M59, too... until they quoted the price!!!
Came down to fit and ergonomics of the loader, seat and the eHydro 2-pedals for me. Didn't like the rocker pedal for the transmission and the loader joystick was more comfortable.
AKfish

AKfish helped me when I was looking at TLBs. I went the other way and ended up with the M59, but could have easily bought the 110 and think I'd have enjoyed it just as much. Frankly I've always been a JD guy and it will always be JD that I have a fondness for. I just think they make the best looking tractor out there. And I don't mind saying that's important to me. But there just turned out to be enough extra features on the Kubota along with the extra power and reach to make me go that way in spite of the paint. I'd have preferred the non-turbo JD motor but need more than 40 hp. In tests I grew to love the easy shifting of the JD tranny with its eHydro 2-pedal over that unfortunate Kubota rocker.

A downside and argument for a cab is that both tractors spit the exhaust right back onto the operator. To me this proves that that neither the JD nor the Kubota engineers or designers ever got out of the office and actually started one up and drove it. Being an engineer and designer myself that makes me a bit disappointed in the profession. But they both got more things right than I'd have expected too, so that's where to focus.

On Kubota's side was more power and reach, the autothrottle and H/L shifter, and real big: the ability to rotate the seat to get into the BH position instead of tilting it back and climbing over it.

The difference in money didn't matter so much as both offered favorable financing and I think this is my final tractor. We also considered and drove TLBs by Case and Caterpillar - but none of them was compact enough for our property. Frankly if they had been smaller, we'd have probably gone that way. The upgrade in quality with Case and Cat is obvious and IMHO is worth the money. My wife must have felt the same way, for after being in the cab while we worked the Cat around the dealers lot she just looked at me with a sad look I still can't get out of my mind. Then she said that both JD and Kubota had a lot of catching up to do. And she wondered if catching up was even possible. Back on the money side, the Kubota M59 financing/warranty at the time was enough better than the JD110 to at least make up a small part of the difference in the basic (loaded) tractors. But adding a cab would have swung the pendulum the other way.
rScotty

 

[art]

For what I've seen I believe that the smaller 45 is more in line with the 110 deere unit. The lack of a factory cab on the TLB's has been brought up many times before on the smaller units.

 

[jenkinsph]

ecoscaper,
Something to keep in mind is you may need more than one machine to work efficiently. I started with the 820 tractor and used it for simple jobs smoothing and tilling, then bought the 110 fullly loaded with the cab. I hoped the 110 would be the all in one tool, it does everything well but to save time bought the 4520. This allows me to get more done in a day while keeping the hoe on the 110 95% of the time.

About the power difference, there are only rare times when I think the 60hp is a real important advantage over the 43 hp. I can share all of my implements between the two tractors and traction is very close. The 60 hp tractor can pull the same load faster which should be obvious. What I have found in the real world is that both machines are fast enough. The two implements that are the highest draft load that I use frequently are the 7' Gannon boxblade and the 8' custom landplane/grader and either tractor can pull these fast enough for me. One place the 4520 surpasses the 110 is running a brushhog in heavy stuff, the extra pto power is noticeable.

If you intend to pickup pallets of stone, pavers other heavy items I would compare the weights first. The 110 will not pick up a full pallet of pavers for example, you would need something larger for that, maybe a M59 would be able not sure. A pallet of pavers is about 3500 lbs.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Jake:

Nice to see you're still drawing. Your perspective is getting better, and so are your tires.

Thanks. It has taken a lot of work and I am always learning new techniques how to better my details.

 

[ecoscaper]

jenkinsph, that would be the ultimate set-up, a regular compact tractor for raking, brushhogging, lighter loader work, and the tlb for the stone and land work. Something to work up to! I do have an 07' Kubota mini ex kx121 bought this last spring; was that or a L48, I chose the mini, held onto my L3830, and I'm glad I did because I ended up with a some big stonewall rebuilding jobs. The efficiency of the mini on these jobs has been amazing, no regrets getting the mini, now I just need a heavier duty loader to keep up with the mini. Throwing boulders into the L38 bucket won't work much longer!
Rscotty, your absolutely right about the exhaust, the L38 spits it right back up to the operator, after 8 or so hours of that u get zombified, and after getting stung twice by bees this year, and all that stonedust, gotta have the cab!
The Jdeere dealer just got back to me with a quote of $30000 for a new 110, without backhoe, said cab is an option this year but pricing not out yet for them. Offered me 17.5 for my 05' L38 w/1200hrs., not too bad... still dreaming about a M59 with a cab but but I lasted this long with my little tractor the jd110 would be a big upgrade. Cats and Case are nice but much heavier, pricier, 1 step at a time.. Again, thanks for the info guys!

 

[jenkinsph]

ecoscaper,

The best advice I can offer you about the "one step at a time" approach is to have a plan where you know the equipment that will be in your future. I should add that I couldn't go out and buy it all at one time either, I have slowly and methodically built up my tractors, trucks and tools.

If you buy a 110 or M59 make sure that you get it with all the optional hydraulics, front and rear. This increases the usefulness dramatically, it seemed expensive when I bought the 110 but after having it 5+years it was a good decision.

edit, I should add that one piece of equipment to look at for your work would be a used Cat 902 wheel loader (compact, articulated). If you do alot of stone work a good used unit like this would be awsome to have. I had considered this 902 loader and a 304.5 mini excavator myself. I may still get one of these, as it is a good compact loader that will do minimum damage to landscapes.

 

[JDGreenGrass]

My dad has a 3720 which is close in hp range to the 110. In my opinion, I would think the 110 would be more heavy duty compared to a 4x20 tractor due to the fact that it was specifically designed for construction or industrial purposes. With the ability to add the cab to the 110, you could have the comforts that you get in a 4x20 tractor and still have the heavy duty machine that is made to get the job done. just my opinion though. And since were on the 110 topic, i figured I'd share a picture i drew of one last night.

Nice drawing. Hadn't seen one by you in quite some time.

You too busy designing attachments.??