Kubota L35, 3830, or 4330

Carp · Jul 28, 2003

Hello,

Your advice is much appreciated on helping me make the best decision given the challenge of price vs. performance. I have 12 acres of land, mostly forested with trees 12" diameter or less. I'm on a ridge, so the land slopes gently to moderately on all sides. I reside in the Granite State and there is plenty of it on my property.

The projects I've thought of initially for my tractor are:
- stumping and turning the soil for a 100'x150' area that will hopefully support a garden
- stumping a 50'x75' area for a barn
- moving rocks for the building/addition to stone walls
- moving fill and loam that I will have delivered to the house site and spread to create a lawn that will produce green grass (instead of the brown variety I have now)
- creating a pasture out of an acre or two

I'm sure there will be many odds and end jobs along the way and my creativity to use the tractor will not end. I'm planning to get a TLB, york rake, fixed thumb on backhoe, quick attach heavy-duty loader, and a set of quick attach forks.

I could use help on choosing between the ruggedness of the L35 (pricier option) vs the 3830 with the BH90 or more powerful 4330 with BH90 tractor.

I have never driven or owned a compact tractor. Please let me know if other information that I could provide would be helpful in getting your recommendations. I had my mind set on the L35 but today a dealer said I should think about saving a money with the 3830 (save $5k) or the 4330 (save $3k). What should I do? I want to take advantage of the 0% financing.

Thank you,
Carp

rjsmit1 · Jul 28, 2003

I don't have any experience with the L35 tractor, but I have about 30 hours' experience with an L4330 HST. First thing I would observe is that you have set a very aggressive agenda to tackle with the stump and rock removal and tillage. I suspect that the L35 would do a good job in the stump removal process, but I would also suspect that the 3830 or the 4330 would be better 'all around' tractors for all of the work that you do after the heavy stuff is done. If I had to choose between the 3830 and the 4330, I would go with the 4330 because of the torque that the extra cylinder delivers. Another thing to consider is to either rent a larger machine (tracked?) than any of these for the stump removal and other heavy work or hire someone to come in and do that work and buy a smaller tractor for the ongoing maintenance after the hard stuff is done. Either way, best wishes on your project. Let us know what you decide.

( Hello,

The projects I've thought of initially for my tractor are:
- stumping and turning the soil for a 100'x150' area that will hopefully support a garden
- stumping a 50'x75' area for a barn
- moving rocks for the building/addition to stone walls
- moving fill and loam that I will have delivered to the house site and spread to create a lawn that will produce green grass (instead of the brown variety I have now)
- creating a pasture out of an acre or two

I have never driven or owned a compact tractor. Please let me know if other information that I could provide would be helpful in getting your recommendations. I had my mind set on the L35 but today a dealer said I should think about saving a money with the 3830 (save $5k) or the 4330 (save $3k). What should I do? I want to take advantage of the 0% financing.

Thank you,
Carp )

Bird · Jul 28, 2003

Lots of personal preferences involved in selecting the "right" tractor so it's a good idea to try out the ones you're considering as much as possible, but if it were me . . ., I agree with rjsmit1. The L35 might be the best choice strictly for backhoe work, but when that's done, I'd much rather have the L4330 for the rest of the chores, and like you said, you will find lots of other unexpected uses for the tractor.

MikeIIA · Jul 28, 2003

If it were me I would hire someone with a bulldozer to do the stump removal and rough grading for the projects you mentioned. There is a lot a tractor can do but they have their limitations. In east central Iowa the rates for a bulldozer run $110-$150 dollars per hour but when you consider what they can accomplish in an hour of time it is well worth the price.
Working in a timber with a tractor is dangerous. ie: falling dead branches,etc.You could be killed if you have no protection from falling debris. It has recently happened in my area.

Dahammer · Jul 28, 2003

A lot depends on what kind of trees you are going to be digging up. A 12 inch dia. maple is a LOT harder to stump than a 12 inch dia pine. Same goes for oak. I had a JDeere 4600 w/48 hoe (8ft) and it worked OK on the pine, the rest was a bear. Of course it would be a LOT cheaper to hire a dozer for five hours to do the work you have planned with your compact tractor, but where is the fun in that? What do you plan on doing with the stumps once they are out of the ground? Another thing is that I *think* the L35 loader is not a quick attachement type, which may be a problem, maybe not. If it were me I wouldn't even consider a L35 when for about 3.5K more you can have an L48 which is LOT more tractor. Don't for a second think that these little itty-bitty compact tractors can do what an excavator or dozer can do, it is not even close. These tractor backhoes are designed for digging trenches and holes, not wrestling with stumps. Around here they use D-9 dozers and plow down trees like you would cut the grass. I've seen 20,000Lb. excavators struggle with some medium size stumps. It CAN be done, but plan on taking your time and don't abuse the equipment. If I had it to do all over again, I would have gotten an L48 or most likely hired it out. I cleared about an acre of Maine woods for a home site. Once you get the hang of using a hoe, figure on about 20 to 30 minutes on each pine stump, larger maple stumps can be measured in hours..... Another thing you might try if it is available, is to get the compact tractor and forget about a hoe and just rent a nice 12,000 lb Hitach for three-hundred bucks a day. Here in Maine they rent them all over the place. You get 8 hours of seat time and have all the fun without killing your pocketbook or equipment. Rates are even cheaper by the week, something like 900 dollars or so.. that is the way to go if you can...

_RaT_ · Jul 29, 2003

I now own a L3830 after having had a L48. Biggest reason for the switch was being able to remove the loader, a huge benefit when mowing, even if in open fields. The other reason was that the L48 had a top speed in medium range with it's HST of 4.5 mph while the L3830 HST is 7.5 or so. A big difference when mowing especially since those speeds are based at 540 RPM PTO speed or about 2600 RPM on the engine which I rarely if ever use. While the L48 could do all of its work at about 1800 RPM, the L3830 is about 2300 RPM. Funny thing is though, the L3830 with a 3 cylinder is quieter then the L48 with a 4 cylinder which already was pretty quiet. The advantage the L4330 has over the L3830 is loader lift ability, the engine performance is in my opinion barely noticeable between the two. The 4 cylinder on the L4330 is certainly not any smoother or quieter, the LA 853 loader is noticeably larger and like the LA 723 on mine, is very well made especially when contrasted with those on JD's comparable compacts. I would consider the L4330 or L3830 for your needs based on what you have mentioned and of course with HST. Rat...

I've posted this picture before, but here is my L48 with a tree I removed quite easily. The power of the L48's loader is huge compared to the L3830 or L4330. Rat...

Carp · Jul 29, 2003

I apologize for my ignorance, but is a "12,000 lb Hitach" an excavator, dozer???

The vast majority of the trees on my land are beech. I was planning to cut the trees down and then remove the stumps with the TLB. I was going to dig a hole in the ground at the edge of the property for a stump dump.

Thank you all for your feedback. It's making me think twice about the investment.

Carp

Dahammer · Jul 29, 2003

I apologize for my ignorance, but is a "12,000 lb Hitach" an excavator, dozer??? 
It is a small excavator, (backhoe). As far as backhoes go, 12,000lbs is light. The more weight you have, the easier it is to use. If you don't have a way to tow it to the property, figure on around $75 to $100 for delivery and return. The one that is attached is located in Milford, NH and will run around 14K to buy. Easily outdig any compact tractor for not too much more money than a backhoe attachment would cost.

Kytractor · Jul 29, 2003

I have an L3830 with the La723 loader and 509 bradco back hoe and couldn't be happier with it. Since May 9 th I have put 101 hrs on it. Most of it with the fel and backhoe and a few with my box scrapper. The whole set up was under 26,000 the bradco back hoe was 6,000. I had several land slides to move and 1500 feet of water lines to put in plus over 1500 feet of ditching and also grading my 900 ft. drive. I could of hired it done, ($2500 or more just to put in lines and hook up) and have in the past, but guess what, I actually enjoyed it. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Now some may say I'm crazy (and maby I am) but I still have my tractor for future things (That keep popping up) and all that money I would have paid out went toward the tractor. Yesterday a person that lives with in tractor driving distance found out I had the backhoe and hired me at $40 Hr. to help dig for a septic tank. They had rented too small of an excavator, the bucket would not hold near as much as mine, So there was more money for my tractor implements. Hope this helps. ---Shane