Buying Advice L2501 or L3301?

[TheMadOne]

I'm in the market for my first tractor, to be used primarily for:

Gravel road Maintenance(Roughly 1/4 mile long in total, with the worst bit being a +/-200FT hill, I usually pay someone to do this every 2-3 years, when the hill starts to really try and eat my car, costs about 800-900 for just the hill, usually another thousand or more from each of us that share the main drag)

Snow clearing the same 1/4 mile(I have a walk behind big box snow blower, it's on it's last legs after half a decade, and my neighbors are both physically unable to do much snow removal, they're both 70+ years old)

Gathering and stacking firewood.(I've been doing this with a combination of an old Dakota pickup and elbow grease, the former's been a champ, but I'm running out of the later)

Additional one time tasks that I have now: (I expect things to be added as the current ones get done, hopefully at a manageable rate)

Clearing brush and back filling for a parking area.

Tearing down the remains of two old outbuildings and filling in the small basement of one, basically moving a lot of steel and concrete blocks.

Building a swale so that my neighbor's destructive land management practices don't further harm my driveway.(He took over the farm up the hill from me a decade ago and removed the timothy grass border around the fields, leaving the water nowhere to go but down through the woods and flooding my driveway)

Building a woodshed.


I own an eXmark zero turn, so no ambitions of mowing the 3ish acres of grass with this.

I'm gonna go with Kubota, since I know the dealer, and trust them(Hoobers). They're also the closest to me, about 15 miles away, and I pass them going to and from work. I've sat on a Mahindra, but the area dealer has only carried them for two years and don't stock parts. The Kioti dealer is a bit of a hike, and seems to be a similar situation as the Mahindra one. The John Deere dealer is...I have a bad taste in my mouth from dealing with them when I ran my old lawn mowers. Their service department seemed to always have an attitude about the guy trying to get parts for a 20 year old mower. Like I wasn't worth the time I took from them.

I'm looking at the L models right now, I've sat on pretty much everything but the Ms, and the Ls are the only ones I found comfortable, the B and BX models both felt cramped.(I'm a..."big"...guy, with size 15 feet.) The BX models seemed light for a grader.

Is the 3301 worth the money over the 2501? Roughly 2500 bucks between them.

Also, are OEM forks a good idea? They seem expensive vs the aftermarket ones.

 

[BigKid]

Sounds like you might be referring to Atlantic tractor in Oxford when referencing your Deere dealer. Kubota manes a great machine and you will be happy with either the 2501 or 3301. The main things I would consider are your current and future use of the rear pto. Of course more power never hurt anyone. On the flip side the 2501 would be free of any emissions junk unlike the 3301, and I think at one point in time the 3301 was having lots of trouble related to the tier 4 emissions stuff. Just throwing it out there but if you do like Deere you owe it to yourself to check out Deere country off of 283 in mount joy. From sales to service they are phenomenal. Good luck with whatever you choose and have fun while shopping around

 

[Tompet]

For whichever model you choose...
I assume you'll get SS mount for your FEL bucket and then get aftermarket forks of same you will be just as satisfied.

Here was a discussion
On 3301 compared to a 3800 you may find of interest:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-buying-pricing/321033-kubota-l3301-vs-l3800.html

And a recent discussion on forks. My only recommendation would be don't buy forks rated for way more than your FEL capacity as they will heavier than necessary and you wind up sacrificing carry capacity.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/355423-spend-my-money-forks.html

 

[varmint]

Tompet is right on with his comment about matching forks with lift capacity- and aftermarket will cost less without a downside. For what you describe, weight and power is only better- so think big. Get SSQA, of course, HST, and at least one remote or third function, 'cause you will likely wide up with a front plow and a grapple. I maintained about the same amount of gravel lane as you have for 12 years or so, with about the same costs and results and a 90 year old neighbor at the end past us, at first with a B8200 and a 4' rear blade. For lane work, having TnT with two rear remotes would be very handy. Then, in the winter, you could use one for front plow angling. We got our lanes paved last fall, and let me tell you, how sweet snow clearing is now! Even 24" is much easier to deal with (see last sentence).

For a year, we had a much larger L3130, incredibly more capable, with a front plow, but tore the heck up whenever it was taken across grass unless the ground was frozen, so it got replaced with the Goldilocks L3400. Using a rear blade for snow removal gets old, and not having a big bucket to haul firewood is also not ideal, if that's how you get it out of the woods. Seems like the L3130's bucket, at 72", would hold almost twice as much as the 60" on the L3400. I like to cut it to length and stack it in the bucket in the woods, haul it and dump at a splitting pile. I have thought about getting a smallish trailer, but it would need large wheels, and I haven't done anything about that.

I would love a cab in the winter, but not otherwise.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

They're both excellent rigs. Just choose which one fits you best and which one supports any proposed future implements. I think the 3301 can take the BH92? The 92 is a very nice hoe with a large capacity gain over the 77 which is the largest you can put on the 2501.

 

[Citydude]

I chose the L2501 over the l3301 basically because I needed the frame size and weight of the L series however didn't need the extra horsepower at the PTO. If you were to take advantage of the frame size/weight of the L series to match PTO powered implements accordingly, the 2501 is slightly underpowered.

 

[jeff9366]

I chose the L2501 over the l3301 basically because I needed the frame size and weight of the L series however I didn't need the extra horsepower at the PTO. If you were to take advantage of the frame size/weight of the L series to match PTO powered implements accordingly, the 2501 is slightly underpowered.

Lucidly and cogently stated.

If you decide to move snow with a tractor PTO powered blower, you will need the incremental horsepower.

 

[s219]

The 2501/3301/3901 all use the BH77. Only the 4601 can fit the BH92.

I have an L3200 (now the 3301), which is the same basic tractor as the 2501 but with 32HP instead of 25. It is adequate for everything the OP described, but sometimes I wish I had more power when pulling a box blade full of heavy soil, as the tractor has to work hard. So in retrospect I probably would have gotten an L3800 (now the 3901). But that issue only shows up in about 2% of my use of the tractor. For the other 98% it's fine. When box blading gravel or dry/light soil, it's just fine.

So I'd say the 2501 is probably fine for most of what you describe. The 3301 would be better if you need more PTO horsepower, and the 3901 would be best if you need even more PTO horsepower and/or plan to do heavy/difficult grading work with a box blade or similar.

I should note that I have not driven an L2501. The engine is actually a slightly larger 3-cylinder than in my L3200, despite the lower HP, and it makes its rated power at 2200 rpm versus 2800 rpm on my L3200. So it may be that the L2501 is a de-rated "sleeper" with gobs more torque down low to make up for the HP rating. I would not at all be surprised if this was a clever strategy on Kubota's part to meet Tier IV final requirements but still offer a tractor with good performance. I'd want to drive both L2501/3301 back to back to see how they feel.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

I was in the exact same boat and went for the 3301, little more hp all around. However, I'm on 90 hilly acres and have the MX to pick up the slack. My son, who is on 8 acres is going for the 2501.

 

[k0ua]

The 2501/3301/3901 all use the BH77. Only the 4601 can fit the BH92.

I have an L3200 (now the 3301), which is the same basic tractor as the 2501 but with 32HP instead of 25. It is adequate for everything the OP described, but sometimes I wish I had more power when pulling a box blade full of heavy soil, as the tractor has to work hard. So in retrospect I probably would have gotten an L3800 (now the 3901). But that issue only shows up in about 2% of my use of the tractor. For the other 98% it's fine. When box blading gravel or dry/light soil, it's just fine.

So I'd say the 2501 is probably fine for most of what you describe. The 3301 would be better if you need more PTO horsepower, and the 3901 would be best if you need even more PTO horsepower and/or plan to do heavy/difficult grading work with a box blade or similar.

I should note that I have not driven an L2501. The engine is actually a slightly larger 3-cylinder than in my L3200, despite the lower HP, and it makes its rated power at 2200 rpm versus 2800 rpm on my L3200. So it may be that the L2501 is a de-rated "sleeper" with gobs more torque down low to make up for the HP rating. I would not at all be surprised if this was a clever strategy on Kubota's part to meet Tier IV final requirements but still offer a tractor with good performance. I'd want to drive both L2501/3301 back to back to see how they feel.

I have also wondered what the 2501 could be "turned up" to with an injection pump tweak.

 

[TheMadOne]

Thanks for all the help, I'm leaning toward the L3301 due to wanting to move onto more ground someday. It makes sense to me to get the most hp now, since it seems to be getting more expesive every year.

Other than the pretty much manditory box blade and pallet forks, any recommendations on what implements I should get first?

Also, what features should I try to make sure are included? Rear remotes? Which valve style? Float or detent or spring?

 

[s219]

If you are doing serious grading work with a box blade, you'll want a hydraulic top link for sure, and maybe a hydraulic side link. Top link is the most important by far. For that you'll want a float/detent valve. The other valve(s) can be a standard dual-acting valve unless you have a need for something different (they offer float/detent, standard dual-acting, and dual-acting with detent. The Kubota valves run about $1100-1500 depending on the number of them and configuration.

This off-the-shelf hydraulic top link is a perfect match for the L series:

A-TLH1, Ford / New Holland, Hydraulic Top Link Cylinder

And this side link is a good match:

A-SLH1, Ford / New Holland, Hydraulic Side Link Cylinder

You can shop around using those model numbers to find the best price.

 

[jeff9366]

Early on consider a Ratchet Rake bucket attachment, sold by the T-B-N store.

VIDEO: ratchet rake - YouTube

Threads from the T-B-N archive: Google

 

[TheMadOne]

Well, it's in the hands of Kubota Credit now. I don't have the best score(660 FICO a year ago), so we'll see if I'm posting pics of a L3301 or an 8N when they get done processing my credit ap.

 

[Fallon]

I have a L3200, which is identical to the L3301 except for tier 4 emissions junk. Those 2 tractors are the same except engine & HP. Personally I'd be disappointed with any less HP than I have. Weight defines what a tractor can do, HP just defines how fast it will do it (except for some PTO related stuff). You can go with the smaller machine if you are fine being slow & power limited. I'm traction limited as often as power limited on my machine.

Definitely get the SSQA, although it doesn't matter to much where you get SSQA forks from. Ilm happy with my R4 tire compromise. Less traction than R1s but more carrying capacity & less yard tearing up. Whatever you do, load the rears, its unsafe to use the loader without & you are very traction limiteded. You still need 3pt ballast on the back for loader work though.

I love my HST & recommend them highly, although tranny types can be a religious type argument.

 

[TheMadOne]

Just an update, tractor is here, for now. I got three rear remotes, and they weren't in stock, so they sent the tractor down without, and will take it back to install when they come in. I went with:

L3301
LA524 Loader
Land pride BB1272 Box blade
Rimguard in the rear tires
3 rear remotes(Not installed yet)

Next on the list is top and tilt. Then either a tooth bar or forks.

Does anyone know where I can get rigid stabilizers? My google-fu has failed me so far.

I'll take pictures tomorrow, as it was raining today when they delivered.

 

[Citydude]

Just an update, tractor is here, for now. I got three rear remotes, and they weren't in stock, so they sent the tractor down without, and will take it back to install when they come in. I went with:

L3301
LA524 Loader
Land pride BB1272 Box blade
Rimguard in the rear tires
3 rear remotes(Not installed yet)

Next on the list is top and tilt. Then either a tooth bar or forks.

Does anyone know where I can get rigid stabilizers? My google-fu has failed me so far.

I'll take pictures tomorrow, as it was raining today when they delivered.

Nice! Good choice.

 

[teg]

...Does anyone know where I can get rigid stabilizers?

Kubota Dealer, Whole Goods (not the parts dept)

 

[s219]

Do you mean telescopic stabilizers? The Kubota dealer can order them for $175. Wholegoods part # is L8430.

If you want off the shelf hydraulic top and side links, these are perfect fits:

A-TLH�1, Ford / New Holland, Hydraulic Top Link Cylinder

A-SLH�1, Ford / New Holland, Hydraulic Side Link Cylinder

You can shop around to find the best deals. I believe I paid under $300 for both when I bought.