Tractor Sizing Kubota L3901, L4701, L4060, MX5400, stability, miscellaneous

[jeff9366]

The tread width thing is useful. What is the width they give in all the Kubota specifications? They use the phrase "Overall width (min. tread)". Are they using the inside edge of the tires as the boundary?

I believe so. This so potential buyers know if existing moldboard plow will work behind new tractor. Right front and Right rear tires must follow one after the other along the bottom of a moldboard plow furrow.

May also be important to vegetable and melon growers who want to pull "hillers" or have a certain width bed they need to straddle, then cultivate.

Kubota is inconsistent between model families with how width is specified.

 

[chim]

Whether the lawn will be happy with the tractor depends on your soil and how you operate the tractor. My soil is fairly firm. It drains well, even next to the creek. I never mow in 4WD and always drop the loader and frame before mowing. Rear tires are filled. I need to try to damage the turf. There's one sloped area in particular that I'm more comfortable with this tractor than any previous smaller ones. This past December this tractor had been through all 4 seasons with mowing, snow removal and general use. Couldn't be more pleased with this lawn mower. It cuts 7-1/2 feet wide and is a stable and comfortable machine:

 

[Bullwinkle123]

Whether the lawn will be happy with the tractor depends on your soil and how you operate the tractor. My soil is fairly firm. It drains well, even next to the creek. I never mow in 4WD and always drop the loader and frame before mowing. Rear tires are filled. I need to try to damage the turf. There's one sloped area in particular that I'm more comfortable with this tractor than any previous smaller ones. This past December this tractor had been through all 4 seasons with mowing, snow removal and general use. Couldn't be more pleased with this lawn mower. It cuts 7-1/2 feet wide and is a stable and comfortable machine:

Well, that's an enviable lawn/tractor setup you have there with a huge tractor and your flat open grass as far as the eye can see. Mine is more like a maze of New England stone walls. buildings, trees, and garden beds. There is a fair bit of grass, but it's like the old Zork maze "you are in a series of twisty passages, all different".

Here's some snaps of part of my driveway to be maintained, grass to be cut (without a tractor), and part of the field to brush-hog (not in that order). They can be deceptive, for example where the field appears to end on the left is really the ground dropping off more steeply for a while before it reaches the trees.

 

[chim]

Well, that's an enviable lawn/tractor setup you have there with a huge tractor and your flat open grass as far as the eye can see.....................View attachment 643723View attachment 643724View attachment 643725

You have a beautiful place there!

The background in the picture I posted is a small corner looking toward the neighbor's barn. About 50' on the other side of the rock is a farm field that may look like grass. Here's a picture that shows some of the things that need mowed around. The land near the creek is about 12' lower than the area where the house sits. The slope varies from gentle on the right side to rather steep to the left of the house.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Well, that's an enviable lawn/tractor setup you have there with a huge tractor and your flat open grass as far as the eye can see. Mine is more like a maze of New England stone walls. buildings, trees, and garden beds. There is a fair bit of grass, but it's like the old Zork maze "you are in a series of twisty passages, all different".

Here's some snaps of part of my driveway to be maintained, grass to be cut (without a tractor), and part of the field to brush-hog (not in that order). They can be deceptive, for example where the field appears to end on the left is really the ground dropping off more steeply for a while before it reaches the trees.

View attachment 643723View attachment 643724View attachment 643725

ZERO TURN...

 

[Bullwinkle123]

ZERO TURN...

Yeah, except for the cost, I'd want a zero turn for the lawn. But for now I'm hiring it out.

Looping back to my original questions, the question on my mind is whether the L3901 is overkill or underdone for me. I've been setting a line at 30 minimum PTO HP for brush hogging that field. Not only is it hilly, but we only do it once a year (that's a plan for the wildlife) and so the sapling growth is aggressive. Given a general rule of thumb of a _minimum_ 5PH per foot of cutter for "normal" brushhogging situations, that's where I'm shooting for 30HP PTO minimum (and a medium duty cutter). Then there's my stability worries. Only partly for the field with its odd scary small sub-slope or two, but also for my secondary goals of going in the woods with it. From where I'm standing on the field photo to the bottom of the property (not the field) is about 450 vertical feet (which will mostly be inaccessible to any tractor), with more upward slope behind me. Definitely not a level place.

Upshot is that I'm looking at 3901 for minimum pto power, and wondering about a the 4060 for wider stance. Probably not worthwhile, though who wants to say no to more power? Dealer says I'd probably be talking at least a $6500 increase in cost, and I'm not sure he's factored in wider implements and taxes on that guess. Anyway, again, opinions welcome. For now the top candidate is the L3901 (with 1.5" spacers).

 

[jeff9366]

The forty-horsepower L4060 'Grand' model is more than 11 inches wider than the L3901 with thirty-nine horsepower!

 

[Bullwinkle123]

The forty-horsepower L4060 'Grand' model is more than 11 inches wider than the L3901 with thirty-nine horsepower!

Yes, I pointed that out earlier! The questions is, should I be seriously considering it, or am I pointlessly concerned and the L3901 is enough (or even too much?)

 

[old and tired]

...or even too much?

I don't think it's too much. It's the smallest I would get. I think you might be better off with a L4701. Much heavier that holds the ground pretty good. I used a L4701 to plant some corn on a side slope and it did fine. It's a much beefier tractor than the L3901. L3901 is the same frame/weight as my L2800, which is pretty light. (which is a big Plus for driving over the lawn).

Whatever you get, make sure you have money left over to outfit with a grapple and hydraulic top link and side link if you want to take care of your road. All the extra's add up quickly and most people wished they had gotten the extra's sooner vs. later...

So (I wonder) if the 1.5" spacer is the largest Kubota sells. I would seriously look at after-market for wider ones, if you are really needing stable feelings!!

Any chance to get to test drive these at your place? I used to worry about tipping my tractor over - 10 years later, I take it now more places and it feel's a lot more stable.

 

[Jstpssng]

That's a nice area that you live in. i used to cruise timber up that way back in my previous life.

there's plenty of evidence of past cart and/or logging paths that cover some pretty steep terrain. Weird to think of horses managing it when tractors can't.

"Back in the day" they often used small crawler tractors to bring wood from those steep slopes. Often it was hard maple and/ or yellow birch veneer, so it was worth the extra effort. A former colleague called it "mining", they cut the wood and didn't go back for another hundred years.
The most interesting method that I ever came across was outside Berlin NH, in Milan right next to the White Mountain National Forest. I was going up a steep hill, and kept seeing old stumps so was calling it all operable ground despite the extreme slope. As I got almost to the top I walked back from a tree to take the height and almost tripped over the chute from the old flume which they had sent the wood down years before. Of course I never carried a camera, so all that I have is memories of it.

I wouldn't be too concerned with getting a tractor which is too big, considering the land you will be using it on. It's better to get enough tractor the first time, trading up is always costly.