Kubota 4701/4060LE/3560LE?

[NWertz]

We are getting ready to purchase asap. 3901 chassis just seems too small - probably would do the job but small and narrow. We live on a VERY steep hilly property where we need to rotary mow 8 acres a few times a year in our horse pasture and so some arena dragging and moving downed trees/wood regularly. We have 11 acres total. Our old tractor really bogged down on hills mowing so we are considering HST+ over the HST to help with this. Most feedback I see is that it helps with loader work which we will have a 4 in 1 bucket but really won't be doing a lot of loader work. My question is does it help in the hills? More interested in getting up and down hills without having to be in snail mode while rotary mowing.

 

[Hozzie]

So most would normally say more weight is better. Just basing this off of what you have outlined, I would be looking for the most HP in maybe a little bit lighter tractor. I would probably be leaning towards the L4701 with weighted tires. In fact, depending on how the hills are, a geared L4701 may be even better than the HST. The transmission of an HST on big hills is going to be working hard and may overheat depending on how thick of grass you will be bushogging.

If going the LE route, absolutely get more HP. That tractor weighs more than the 4701, but I have the same concern about the HST on hills while also bush hogging. The extra weight will take up more HP on the HST.

 

[Bullwinkle123]

I also have hilly terrain. If you're even remotely thinking about the 4701, do yourself a favor, spend a tiny amount extra, get the MX5400. It's 20% wider than an L3901 for stability, more ground clearance, and just a terrific tractor. I bought the MX5400 and it has been nothing but great, does everything I hoped it would do. Still gotta be careful on those steep hills, and if you're new to tractors, you are going to experience a pucker factor. Read up on technique.

 

[jeff9366]

I have an L3560 with HST/PLUS. (My part of Florida is flat.) An L3560 does NOT have enough power to mow on hills.

Both R1/ag rear wheels/tires and, unusually, R4/industrial rear wheels/tires are adjustable for spread on all Grand Ls, the primary method to increase tractor stability.

An open station L4060 will not have enough power for you on hills. I would choose an open station L4760. If you opt for a cab, L5460.

If you are over 4,000' in altitude purchase a turbocharged engine tractor: L5060/L5460/L6060.

We will have a 4 in 1 bucket but won't be doing a lot of loader work.

For 11 acres and tending horses I have to believe a set of SSQA (Skid Steer Quick Attach) Pallet Forks would be simpler, more useful and much less money.

 

[jeff9366]

We live on a VERY steep hilly property where we need to rotary mow 8 acres of horse pasture a few times a year, drag our horse arena and move downed trees/wood regularly. We have 11 acres total.

Consider a Ventrac for your primary mower, in lieu of a Three Point Hitch tractor. Ventrac is a division of Toro.

Rugged, two-plane articulated equipment designed for mowing slopes.

Front PTO is straight mechanical drive like a compact tractor but power transfers by rubber belt rather than tractor splines to implement PTO coupler.

We need to drag our horse arena and move downed trees/wood regularly.
Rear TPH optional. No rear PTO.

Watch the Ventrac videos linked immediately below.

VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Ventrac+Steiner




Another slope mower. Less versatile.

 

[jeff9366]

It is really helpful to have your LOCATION included in your T-B-N PROFILE.

Here are my reasons for wanting OP location.

ALTIITUDE - Tractors lose 3% of engine power output for every 1,000' altitude increase, over 1,500' Sometimes twenty posts will be made advising on tractor horsepower, then we find OP is a 6,500 feet altitude and is considering a low power, naturally aspirated tractor.

WEATHER - ESPECIALLY SNOW - Blowing snow and mowing are the two tasks that require considerable engine power. If we know an OP is in Buffalo, NY rather than Key West, FL snow needs are apparent.

WEATHER - Large swathes of the country have a continental climate, four seasons, with great temperature variations between winters and summers.
Areas near the coast have varying maritime climates.

PRICING - Tractor and implement pricing and dealer service pricing varies a great deal. Lowest prices are usually in the south. Prices along the west coast and in the northeast are usually highest.

Some states exempt agriculture and forestry equipment from state sales taxes. Florida is one example of liberal ag sales tax exemptions.

IMPLEMENTS - Availability of implements brands are regional, not national. ie: CountyLine, Rural King, etc.

SOIL AND GROWING SEASON - Whether game food plots or market crops, soil and length of growing season(s) in important. Soil type influences tire selection.

USED TRACTORS - When the OP posts a location, OP is often referred to good used tractors nearby or provided local tractor listings from Craig's List, eBay, TractorHouse, Machinery Peter or other sites.

 

[Jchonline]

We are getting ready to purchase asap. 3901 chassis just seems too small - probably would do the job but small and narrow. We live on a VERY steep hilly property where we need to rotary mow 8 acres a few times a year in our horse pasture and so some arena dragging and moving downed trees/wood regularly. We have 11 acres total. Our old tractor really bogged down on hills mowing so we are considering HST+ over the HST to help with this. Most feedback I see is that it helps with loader work which we will have a 4 in 1 bucket but really won't be doing a lot of loader work. My question is does it help in the hills? More interested in getting up and down hills without having to be in snail mode while rotary mowing.

I have had experience 2 HST+ machines (one sold) in relatively non-flat mountain terrain. There is no real impact to hill travel with HST vs HST+. There are many great things about HST+, but hill travel advantages over HST is not one of them.

For example the auto shifting to high/low within a range on hills has a pause to it…so you loose momentum. With a mower in tow running PTO you will want to already be at appropriate RPM, range, and speed going into the hill.

With loader work the HST+ is helpful. That auto shifting makes it really nice for scooping and traveling.

 

[Bullwinkle123]

Jeff's comments on a ventrac or other alternative are also worth considering. Tractors and hills can be dangerous. It might help if you quantify information on the slope, i.e. how many degrees.

Still, at any angle, all it takes is one tire in one small hole to cause a bit of unwanted excitement.

 

[Rock Crawler]

I can pull a 72" finish mower up my shallow sloped yard with a 3560. It does need the low side of mid range, and you want to get out of the auto hi/low shifting mode otherwise you do get a weird lag between the auto shifts that kills your motion. I use the auto shift mode for normal loader work as well as mowing my father in laws near flat pastures, but here I use manual. More HP would be nice only in this instance. Pulling the 72" up the slope using the stall guard means that it cuts HST motion to maintain the PTO speed and not dog out the engine. The system seams to be designed so that the motion is where the system takes from and the PTO speed is what the system wants to maintain. But unless your mowing on slopes like this that are pretty dang steep, even the L3560 gives pretty dang great torque for 72" mowers. I will tell you that I don't have any emotional issues in using this machine to mow this, my old B2650 flat out could not do it. And in honesty, this machine was not bought or intended for mowing this yard. I prefer my twin 54" Husqvarna garden tractors with my wife and I running in a line getting over 100" of cut width per pass. As far as mowing goes, this is for my father in laws place and doing some side work. But it's major reason for existing is for trail maintenance and handling thousands of triaxles of material each year. She's a real nice machine at around 4200 LBS plus another 1400 for the loader and bucket and around 1600 lbs of rim guard.... it's around 7000+ lbs of machine. She pushes pretty hard and can do some real work. My dealer claimed it was over 10K lbs as built with the backhoe on it, but I don't quite see that. I did ad rear top and tilt and a front 3rd function, that top and tilt is a total game changer. I recommend that every tractor owner on earth add that!

 

[Fxfymn413]

I find it ironic that the LE or Limited Edition tractors actually come with fewer features than the standard Grand L models.

If you go with the 4060 I would try to come with the cash to go to the full Grand L which comes with the "shift on the fly" Hydro Dual Speed Hi-Lo which gives you the ability to drop to a lower gear without changing ranges. This is immensely helpful when going up a hill, especially with a heavy load. It also has the auto throttle advance feature which makes the HST perform better.

I have owned three Kubota HST machines and these features make this one a much better machine than the others I owned.