Kubota l6060 or mahindra 3550 or kioti nx6010

Doubledeuce · Apr 3, 2015

Hello,

After this winter with record snowfalls and it being near impossible to find anyone in our area that wasn't too busy to clear our driveway of snow, me and the wife are considering getting a business name and buying a tractor and offering snow clearing of residential driveways in the winter, and doing some small excavating jobs in the summer.

I've been looking at basically 3 tractors:

Kubota l6060 hst cab - $74k canadian - dealer 5 miles away
Mahindra 3550 hst cab - $74k canadian. - dealer 400 miles away
Kioti nx6010 hst cab - $64k canadian - dealer 400 miles away

All with loader, backhoe and rear snowblower.

They all seem to have very similar specs(except price) with the only major difference I see is the mahindra weighing almost 1500 lbs heavier, albeit with 10 less horsower.

I've never owned a tractor before, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm of the mind that weight rules when it comes to tractors, so I really am split on this decision because the heaviest tractor(mahindra) is so far away.

I'm in no rush, hoping to get myself set up maybe by the fall to be prepared for next winter. So given this info, what tractor would you recommend for me???

Travis

nybirdman · Apr 3, 2015

Weight may help some plowing but not much with a blower.
I have a L4240 HSTC with a FEL mounted 8ft.Curtis and R1's(loaded) and plow 2 miles of roads and drives.We got about 130in.this year.
Hard not to buy from a dealer five miles away;what if you break something or need service?
You may want to look at a front plow and a rear blower.

Yamaha2112 · Apr 3, 2015

I think these are too big for what you mentioned (residential). I'd be looking in the 30hp range - give or take 5-ish.
More maneuverability, easier transport, can fit in walkways with one sweep, better adapted to a wider range of driveways (especially small and/or narrow ones). Easier to get (and mount) a front blower on the smaller ones as well. No mid-PTO as far as I know on the ones you mentioned.

I'm not in the business though so take my info. with a grain of salt - pun intended. Just my initial thoughts.

And welcome to TBN!:thumbsup:

There are quite a few people here who really know their stuff.

Doubledeuce · Apr 3, 2015

Thanks for the replies.

The only issue I could see with going smaller is that we get a lot of snow. Alot. What seems to happen around here is people push/snowblower the snow onto their lawns(city lots) to clear their driveways, and then halfway through the winter when the snow banks get too high, they call in a tractor to remove the snow. I'm seeing lawns,including my own, with 8-10 feet of snow.

I'm afraid a smaller tractor wouldn't have the loader reach or capacity to deal with this amount of snow. I've got a 1 ton dually, with v-plow and have had to get a loader in twice so far this year to remove some snow as I was unable to push it back any further/higher.

I have no experience with tractors, so if the general opinion of this forum is that I should be looking at a smaller tractor then I will take that into consideration.

Yamaha2112 · Apr 3, 2015

Oh wow. Snow definitely sounds like an entirely different animal up there.
Curious to see other replies as well.

MinnesotaEric · Apr 4, 2015

What is your budget? In my mind the only reason to look at the L6060 is because Kubota has, hands down, the coolest accessory attachment in the business. I'm on an iPhone or I'd link the video, but go to YouTube and search for quick attach and Lano Equipment and L6060.

Personally, I liked the Kioti cab layout better than the Deere 4066R, Massey MF1758, Mahindra 6010, and the Kubota L6010.

With loaded tires an 8' Hiniker 30" moldboard plow mounted on the loader doesn't push around the tractor.

FWIW you want an 84" blower and in my own looking around, it looks like the Snow Max has the best performance of tin the commercial space.

TSO · Apr 4, 2015

For me it would be a no brainer. The Kubota. And mainly because of the dealership proximity. I don't mind my dealer being a reasonable distance away, but I don't think 400 miles is reasonable. All of those machines are good, but any machine can have problems. Usually they will be minor, and you can fix them your self. But occasionally, even new tractors can have catastrophic failures that will need dealership and warranty attention.

Best of luck.

Grandad4 · Apr 4, 2015

Doubledeuce said:
Hello,

After this winter with record snowfalls and it being near impossible to find anyone in our area that wasn't too busy to clear our driveway of snow, me and the wife are considering getting a business name and buying a tractor and offering snow clearing of residential driveways in the winter, and doing some small excavating jobs in the summer.

I've been looking at basically 3 tractors:

Kubota l6060 hst cab - $74k canadian - dealer 5 miles away
Mahindra 3550 hst cab - $74k canadian. - dealer 400 miles away
Kioti nx6010 hst cab - $64k canadian - dealer 400 miles away

All with loader, backhoe and rear snowblower.

They all seem to have very similar specs(except price) with the only major difference I see is the mahindra weighing almost 1500 lbs heavier, albeit with 10 less horsower.

I've never owned a tractor before, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm of the mind that weight rules when it comes to tractors, so I really am split on this decision because the heaviest tractor(mahindra) is so far away.

I'm in no rush, hoping to get myself set up maybe by the fall to be prepared for next winter. So given this info, what tractor would you recommend for me???

Travis

Welcome Travis. I'm going to suggest that you do a search on YouTube for "Paul Short", who has hands down the coolest snow clearing rig I ever saw based on a Kubota L5740. Paul's YouTube channel is full of videos and information about how he customized and uses his equipment. Paul is a Newfoundland lad, so what he does might give you some good ideas and, if you're like me, a tinge of envy for his creativity, skill and perfectionist nature. Paul used to post here on TBN but I haven't seen anything from him here in a long time.

As for brands, everyone likes what they own but the reality is you are looking at good brands and each is very capable. I would say particularly for a new tractor owner, doing business with someone a few miles down the road makes more sense than buying from someone 400 miles away.

As with most things there are two sides to having a tractor that's 1,500 lbs. heavier and 10 hp light on power. You'd really notice something like that if you were to run a snowblower, for example, or need to operate on an uphill grade. So ground-hugging weight can be good or not, depending on the application. None of those tractors you mentioned are delicate little wallflowers anyways.

TripleR · Apr 4, 2015

I have a Grand L5740, but I think I'm objective enough to comment. I'd go with the L6060 because of the distance only, Eric has a really nice Kioti if you've read his threads and Paul (4Shorts) owns a Kubota, but is less than enthusiastic about the L6060 than Kioti.

My Kubota has had to have warranty work and my brother's Kioti has too. My dealer transported mine free, my brother had to haul his over into Illinois to drop it off then go back to pick it up. This is my 5th Kubota and first warranty, but nobody can be guaranteed a totally trouble free tractor.

I'm not a fan of Mahindra, but see Kioti and Kubota being equal in quality. I added wheel weights and loaded tires to mine and it's as heavy as I want. Some may need a heavier tractor, but I don't.

Good luck.

DK35vince · Apr 4, 2015

I am willing to travel an hour or 2 to get a good deal.
But 400 miles is to far IMO (in case of any needed warranty work), so Kubota would be my choice.