Buying Advice Kubota L3430 advice

[freereinexecdirector]

I am the executive director for a non profit therapeutic equine program in Spokane Washington. We use horses to help disabled children, adults and veterans. I have 8-10 horses at any time in my program. We manage about 8 acres, using a tractor for grooming the arenas, moving hay, maintaining dirt/gravel roads, snow plowing, etc.

I looked at a used L3430 HST today. A local farmer bought two from a mine operation and refurbished them over the winter. He looks to have done a quality job. This one has new tires, new loader, new seat, new hydraulic hoses, paint re done, etc. all in good working order. He is asking $14,000 and figures he is cutting me a deal. It does have 3,400 hours on it.

Any concerns or advice? Money is something we manage very closely being a small non profit and I want to make a good investment.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[TomSeller]

I am the executive director for a non profit therapeutic equine program in Spokane Washington. We use horses to help disabled children, adults and veterans. I have 8-10 horses at any time in my program. We manage about 8 acres, using a tractor for grooming the arenas, moving hay, maintaining dirt/gravel roads, snow plowing, etc.

I looked at a used L3430 HST today. A local farmer bought two from a mine operation and refurbished them over the winter. He looks to have done a quality job. This one has new tires, new loader, new seat, new hydraulic hoses, paint re done, etc. all in good working order. He is asking $14,000 and figures he is cutting me a deal. It does have 3,400 hours on it.

Any concerns or advice? Money is something we manage very closely being a small non profit and I want to make a good investment.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

In general they are good tractors, but what kind of mining operation was it used in? Do you know what it was use for while at the mine? When you say refurbished, is that on the exterior side or engine/transmission side?

 

[mddorange]

:welcome:
To TBN. Are all the manuals and maintenance records with it? The mine would have a record of all maintenance done on it.

 

[PapaPerk]

I am the executive director for a non profit therapeutic equine program in Spokane Washington. We use horses to help disabled children, adults and veterans. I have 8-10 horses at any time in my program. We manage about 8 acres, using a tractor for grooming the arenas, moving hay, maintaining dirt/gravel roads, snow plowing, etc. I looked at a used L3430 HST today. A local farmer bought two from a mine operation and refurbished them over the winter. He looks to have done a quality job. This one has new tires, new loader, new seat, new hydraulic hoses, paint re done, etc. all in good working order. He is asking $14,000 and figures he is cutting me a deal. It does have 3,400 hours on it. Any concerns or advice? Money is something we manage very closely being a small non profit and I want to make a good investment. Thanks in advance for any advice.

That's a lot of hours. I would keep looking. They are good tractors. But price is high for that many hours and you have no idea what that MINE used it for or if it was maintained. The fact that he has cosmetically restored it gives you a solid clue it was run hard.

By the way you say mowing hay... Are you bailing hay or just bush hogging grass and weeds? You'll want more horsepower if you plan bailing. Tractor would excel at everything else you mentioned. I have a L3830 and love it. But mine only has 780 hours. Lol

 

[PapaPerk]

Have you considered purchasing a new tractor from Kubota? You maybe able to find a new tractor for around 20,000 that will do your work. You are wise to consider Kubota.

If you provide more info on what your plans are for tractor we can help you. Example.... Size of mower, side of drag for area, need a loader? Etc etc.

 

[Baby Grand]

3400 hours in a mine sounds like a long, hard life to me.
Sounds like they plumb wore the old loader out, past the point of fixing it.
May have had multiple operators who beat on it every day to make quota.
May have been well maintained, or not.
I'd want to check pump performance, cylinder leak down and run engine & hydraulic oil analyses before I felt comfortable bringing it home to the group at the non profit.
If this purchase become a pig in a poke, it may provide a field day for hind sight critics.

 

[teg]

Personally, I stay away from anything that's re-painted... You can not determine if it was taken care of or abused. Like the others, I would guess it was rode hard. Does he have any "before" photos of the tractor?

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

At 3,400 hours of probably very hard use and, perhaps, even neglect, that motor could be on borrowed time. It could run just fine for 10,000 hours, or something could go at any moment. It's just a crap shoot, and it sounds to me like you are not in a position to gamble on what might be an expensive repair/overhaul. In your position, I would pass. (In MY position, I would pass too.)

Be patient and keep your eyes open. A better option will come along.

 

[k0ua]

Pass. Too many hours for that money.. Would consider if it was 1/2 of that price. Too dubious of a past.. Pass on it.

 

[freereinexecdirector]

I will try and answer questions. I really appreciate the feedback and suggestions. We won't be mowing or baling. Simply moving 80 lbs bales around either with the loader a few at a time or towing a small trailer. The use will primarily be road maintenance, horse arena maintenance (6 ft. groomer), snow plowing, fence maintenance. I've got 4 yards of gravel sitting there now I could sure use a tractor to move. The tractor was used to move people in the mine. It had no loader during that time. They had mounted small platforms and carried 3-4 miners up and down the mine. I'll talk to the seller about maintenance records. I would describe the work as much more than cosmetic. New Rhino 1480 loader, tires, seat, full service mechanically. I have been working with the local Kubota dealer to identify a good used machine and could have them do a pre buy inspection on it. There are many other Korean built machines out there, Kioti, LS, etc. available with fewer hours at the same price point. Should I be considering those? Hours in and of themselves don't really scare me if something has been maintained and has many hours left. New is not affordable for us. $14,000 is pretty much my upper limit. I've thought about buying a smaller tractor but am worried about buying something undersized.