Buying Advice L3240 purchasing advice please (longish)

[TalonDancer]

...Both are superb tractors. I just think that your "to do list" and the amount of digging that you are facing calls for the most powerful TLB that you can afford. Renting is convenient for quick jobs, but your projects do not appear to be quick.

Trenching [and digging in general] can uncover issues that require re-thinking, more time, and/or secondary plans to be executed. That type of down time and/or re-directed planning is painful when you rent by the hour. ...

Thanks again for your advice and clarification.

I guess the TLB rental issue cuts both ways. Lots of places around here have full size TLB's for rent but NONE have CUTs with back-hoes (except for my dealer who uses that L39 as a 'demo' model for prospective purchasers) .

So my thinking is that the L3240 will handle most stuff I want/need to do in the foreseeable future. And offers more flexibility for future, probably less demanding, use (e.g. removable FEL, smaller footprint / attachments -- more maneuverable for landscaping, post construction maintenance etc.). And it will allow me to build up the skill to fully utilize a full size rental TLB if needed during the construction phase.

Of course there's always PLAN B - Take advantage of the Kubota's high resale value and trade up to an L39, etc. when I finally realize you guys were right all along

Talon Dancer

 

[TalonDancer]

...at the end of it all I bought a 3830... with a BH90 BH and overall I am very pleased with it...
BUT....
I now sometimes do wish that I would have went bigger... ...

Thanks for posting your experience.

When you say you wish you had gone bigger --
Is it the Back-hoe, Loader or just the Whole Package that feels undersized?

TIA - Talon Dancer

 

[dfkrug]

Oh yes, the new Kubota enhanced HST. Heard about that, but never
tried it yet. Most HSTs are like the B26's with throttle controlled only
by the hand lever. You might also try JD's "eHydro".

Your experience with the GST gear tranny on a slope is one reason why
I prefer the HSTs: safety on slopes. I do like the GST as essentially
the ultimate gear tranny.

 

[john_bud]

Talon,

Sure the smaller kubota can do the jobs outlined, but will have a harder time and the equipment will suffer for it. There is also the possibility that you will run into larger rocks or other obstacles when trenching. The industrial machines would have less problem with that stuff. A Used Case 580 would have about zero depreciation if you used it for a year, then sold it. Heck, if you are the careful type and clean it good it may sell for more than you paid.

It sounds like a mute point in that you have ordered the Kubota. That's ok, it's a great machine. With time you will triumph! I have not yet driven a 40 series HST. It sounds nice.

jb

 

[TalonDancer]

...There is also the possibility that you will run into larger rocks or other obstacles when trenching. The industrial machines would have less problem with that stuff. A Used Case 580 would have about zero depreciation if you used it for a year, then sold it. Heck, if you are the careful type and clean it good it may sell for more than you paid....

Thanks again for your insights. Depending on how the trenching goes, I may end up with two tractors during the construction phase. But don't tell the wife just yet

FWIW here in the Texas hill country almost all trenching is done with a rock saw even when the shallow layer appears to be soil, for the very reasons you describe. Rental places have them lined up like skid steers. They go though rock slowly but cut through soil & gravel like butter.

I included the trenching in my to do list was because the limestone ledge where the construction will be, is covered with an alluvial deposit over 6 ft thick, of soft soil and smallish gravel (peas - grapefruit size). I've seen this in 4 widely spaced test profiles, the hole dug for the septic tank and the footings for our pier and beam cabin. BTW I watched the guy who put in our septic use a rock saw at full speed to dig 100+ ft of sewer line & 120ft of electrical conduit trench (in different directions). He slowed down considerably digging the 250' of septic spay field line into the next ledge up which has less than 6 in. of soil cover. Still he did all that trenching in just less than a day.

Thanks again -- Talon Dancer

 

[crazyal]

I went the case 580 way and now find myself deciding whether or not to keep it. Of course my first plan was use it to build my house then sell it for a Kubota. Now I'm asking myself if selling it makes sense. After all if I sold it for the $10K I paid for it that would cover the cost of a backhoe attachment and a FEL and wouldn't have any where near the lifting/ digging capacity. So now I'm trying to decide how much I really need a backhoe, so far I've found lots of uses for it. So now I'm thinking of getting a Grand L (want the center PTO for a Front mount snow blower) without a FEL. I'm still undecided which way to go, lol.

My driveway has some pretty steep grades as well. I had one that was pushing 30% but I have cut it down to below 20%. I can say if you need to do anything more than grading the road that kind of grade it can get tricky. If you have to make a ditch on the side for water runoff with the backhoe you need to be careful. I've found it's much easier to dig with the tractor facing down hill and use the FEL to level the tractor. Otherwise you can easily pull yourself down into what you're trying to dig instead of digging. It also makes getting rid of the dirt a little difficult as you can't always position yourself to use the swing of the backhoe effectively.

I think the3240 should be fine for what you want to do. Sure more HP might be nice but I don't think it's required unless time is an issue. You might want to rent some equipment here and there, say a dozer for a day here and there to do the bulk of the leveling work. A dozer blade is nice to push against with a fel. Now that it looks like the 3130 will be replaced with the 3240 that's what I'm looking towards. Let us know what you choose and how well it works out.

 

[TalonDancer]

When you don't have one its easy to just say "What I need is a tractor with a loader and back hoe. How hard can that be?" Then you go to that first dealer and find out just how tough it is to match your task list with ONE tractor.

In the end, I decided to go with the kit in the original post: GL3240, LA724 FEL with a 66" HD bucket, BH90 w/ 12 in bucket, and Rhino 66"HD box blade. My biggest concern is wether the BH90 will do enough, without straining the frame of the L3240, to be worth nearly 7 grand. It should be delivered early next week.

FWIW money was not the key factor in this decision. It was trying to find the best, long term (10-20yrs) fit of tasks to ONE tractor. I am terrible at buying and/or selling used stuff. So we usually buy new, maintain well and keep stuff for 20+yrs or until it is "plumb wore out". We still own 4 of the 7 vehicles we've driven over the last 37 years. We call the 2001 the "new truck".

Thanks for the advice on handling the steep grades with a back hoe. I'd much rather be pulling the rig up hill, than down Luckily the 30% grade in our construction driveway is a big pile of road base fill, below a 5' high vertical limestone ledge. So I don't need to dig significant ditches on this slope. I only have to keep the driveway crowned enough to allow water to drop over the edge of the ledge. But eventually the main driveway will need to cross this ledge too. The current plan is to have that driveway installed by professionals with much heavier equipment needed to cut down though the hard limestone ledge at a angle (both vertical and horizontal) as part of a more elegant, winding driveway.

Hopefully I won't need the dozer. I have solid rock ledges to push against with the FEL

Talon Dancer