Kubota L4060H or LS XR4046H

CoMoFarmer · Sep 9, 2015

I have been looking all over to find the tractor that is going to be my best fit. I have looked at Deere, Kubota, Kioti, Mahindra and LS. I will be on about 6-7 acres heavily wooded trying to clear it out and eventually building house/road/yard/pool etc.

I narrowed it down to the Kubota and LS. I like both and they are both very sturdy machines but getting the LS scares me because everyone is a fan of the Kubota. I like the two pedals for the LS Hydro better than the rocker but the Grand series rocker is not that bad, you can keep your foot off to the side. I plan on doing a lot of FEL and using a Grapple. Plenty of dirt work and brush cutting. Seems like the LS has a stronger FEL but that's on paper.

As it sits right now to get the 3rd Function valve to the controller for both and fluid in tires the LS is $5500 cheaper. Both I feel are offering a pretty good deal.
Kubota 29.5
LS 24

Kubota dealer is closer (10 minutes) very nice and I have purchased mowers from him. LS dealer was also very nice lives near by but his shop is about 30-40 minutes away. The price point is pretty big and I had no problems with the tractor itself. It felt good and drove good but so did the Kubota. I guess I am worried about the LS brand but that dealer has been around for nearly 20 years and has had LS since the name change.

Does anyone know about the LS and can I get a fair comparison to the Kubota

TSO · Sep 9, 2015

CoMoFarmer said:
I have been looking all over to find the tractor that is going to be my best fit. I have looked at Deere, Kubota, Kioti, Mahindra and LS. I will be on about 6-7 acres heavily wooded trying to clear it out and eventually building house/road/yard/pool etc.

I narrowed it down to the Kubota and LS. I like both and they are both very sturdy machines but getting the LS scares me because everyone is a fan of the Kubota. I like the two pedals for the LS Hydro better than the rocker but the Grand series rocker is not that bad, you can keep your foot off to the side. I plan on doing a lot of FEL and using a Grapple. Plenty of dirt work and brush cutting. Seems like the LS has a stronger FEL but that's on paper.

As it sits right now to get the 3rd Function valve to the controller for both and fluid in tires the LS is $5500 cheaper. Both I feel are offering a pretty good deal.
Kubota 29.5
LS 24

Kubota dealer is closer (10 minutes) very nice and I have purchased mowers from him. LS dealer was also very nice lives near by but his shop is about 30-40 minutes away. The price point is pretty big and I had no problems with the tractor itself. It felt good and drove good but so did the Kubota. I guess I am worried about the LS brand but that dealer has been around for nearly 20 years and has had LS since the name change.

Does anyone know about the LS and can I get a fair comparison to the Kubota

Both good. The HST transmission on the Kubota is better, and also offers a linked foot throttle (engine can stay at idle, and will automatically increase RPM's as needed according to foot throttle position... Massey, Yanmar, and now Kioti also offer this). The Kubota loader will lift over a foot higher than the LS loader, which may or may not be an issue for you. It was an issue for me, and when I upgraded from my LS R4047 to a cab tractor, I went with Massey and have been extremely happy. And keep in mind that the loader strength is likely very close when considering both numbers are published at max lift height.

LS will come with two remotes standard, quick would probably cost you up to $2000 to add on the Bota.

CoMoFarmer · Sep 9, 2015

TSO said:
LS will come with two remotes standard, quick would probably cost you up to $2000 to add on the Bota.

That price was with the 3rd Function on both. The LS did have two remotes the 4060 had one.

You know the one thing I didn't factor in was LS charging me 4.15% to finance. Kubota had 0% and when you factor that in I am only like 1.5k off. Granted I would pay this off early but the $ gap gets smaller and I need to factor that in.

BlessedMess · Sep 9, 2015

Last September I ended up financing the balance of my LS purchase with a local credit union for ~2% APR... if that is an option for you, might be a way to further save if you go LS.

Shopped both tractors last summer and personally believed LS offered a comparable tractor with more std features for less $ (e.g. Telescoping link ends, aforementioned rear remotes, CD player on XU series with cab) and would be around a long time given their success internationally and here in N. America. My only gripe with the XR series was the loader lift height. Also, after reading all the negative comments on DPF regeneration, glad I ended up upgrading to the XU. It uses EGR instead of a DPF to meet Tier 4 emissions requirements. And there are times I wish the loader went higher still, so it definitely was a wise move in retrospect.

So, if you ever might need a larger/heavier frame tractor, higher HP at the PTO, the option to run Cat 2 implements without modifying implements or using a quick hitch, and/or a higher weight capacity loader and 3PH, think you could pick up a XU5065PS for about the same price as that Kubota (high 20s?) plus gain an automatic load leveler for the FEL. I thought I HAD to have a hydrostatic transmission, but powershuttle wasn't hard to learn at all... in fact, when bush hogging and finish mowing I've enjoyed 16 speeds to pick from (well, 8 really... range 1 is too slow and range 4 is way too fast). Good luck and hope everything goes well!

mx1alex · Sep 9, 2015

The auto throttle as mentioned earlier is a very nice feature. I love it on my Kubota.

Another thing to consider is the how each tractor achieves Tier 4 emission standards. At one point I had my mind made up on buying an LS XR4046 but going into regen every 4 hours and the fact that they only used that motor for one year kinda scared me. I'm not sure how the new Kubota's meet Tier 4 standards.... I went with an older Kubota and avoided the Tier 4 stuff all together.

And Welcome from mid-MO!!! Kewpie and Tiger alumn here!

CoMoFarmer · Sep 9, 2015

I do still have the option of looking at the Massey Ferguson. I didn't realize that we had a pretty good size dealership about 20-25 minutes from me.

I will probably go by there today just to see them. I do like the MF I wonder what kind of price I could get on those...

TSO · Sep 9, 2015

CoMoFarmer said:
I do still have the option of looking at the Massey Ferguson. I didn't realize that we had a pretty good size dealership about 20-25 minutes from me.

I will probably go by there today just to see them. I do like the MF I wonder what kind of price I could get on those...

The MF 1749 will be the appropriate comparison. Good luck!

Grateful11 · Sep 9, 2015

The 2 speed ranges in each of the 3 HST ranges is a really feature on the Kubota. I think the LS is great looking tractor and seems well built but how long has the dealer been carrying them?
The closest one to us has been in the Ag business for decades but only carried LS for about 3 years and then just stopped for some reason.

CoMoFarmer · Sep 9, 2015

Went by the MF dealer. Nice tractors but the salesman was a little off. Every question I asked him he had to go ask someone else. Then when I asked the price he went right for the book. At this point I knew I should wait and talk to someone else. It is a well know and very large dealership. If I am going by his prices the 1749 was 32K+ and the 2705E was 26.5K He wanted 1500 to put on an electric 3rd function valve because I told him I wanted to keep the back remote.

Now I am wondering if I should check back with the Kioti dealer.

I don't know how you all ever decide and pull the trigger on a tractor!