Price Check L3400HST Price / Usage / Sanity check

[Chuck K.]

Excellent advice from everyone and based on your budget I believe you are making a very good choice. The HST will address one of my minor issues I have with my L3400 as I have the DT model and get in a hurry at times shifting = grinding gears ... The limited lifting ability of the LA463 has been a nuisance a few times but overall its a very solid tractor that sips fuel and should give you many years of trouble free service...
Good luck on your choice. Chuck

 

[b33b]

You are in a win/win situation and can't lose with either tractor. You owe it to yourself to try both, I found I preferred the L3240s loader control location over the L3400.

Send Brady an email and see what he can do for you, maybe the KY-OK shipping won't be too bad. Kubota is trying harder to sell the L3240s than the L3400s.

Most likely you will own the tractor longer than the KIA and, after 3-5 years it will probably be worth more than the KIA.

 

[3gun]

Question 1: Am I picking the right tractor for my needs?
Question 2: Am I sane for picking up the 3400HST after reading all those threads? Is everything really good now?
Question 3: Is the following a decent quote? It chews up 99.99% of my tractor budget so I want to be sure it is a fair deal. (I might get $200 knocked off of the tractor if the shipping can get split with someone else)

I believe the L2800-L3400 is the perfect size, weight and power tractor for 10 to 25 acres. I spent all weekend bush hogging saw palmetto and scrub oak so tall a could barely see over it, my L3400 had no problems at all, my worn out 8n would have stalled at least a dozen times.

I considered the L2800, and I believe I would have been happy with it.
But went with the L3400DT-F, 4WD, R4 tires instead, I have lots of heavy duty bush hogging and land clearing to do and believe the extra PTO HP and live PTO of the L3400 was worth the upgrade.

I think your quote is fine, I paid 13K, R4´s, Gear drive, no loader, delivered.

If I could do it over I would still buy the L3400DT, if I had a bigger budget, maybe the L4400DT.

 

[flusher]

I'm just about to take the plunge on a new tractor, which will be my first machine larger than a lawn and garden tractor. I'm hoping you guys can help me out (I've been lurking around for the last week, learning as much as possible as quick as I can).

Property/usage specs:
10 acres, ~6 acres of tall grass/weeds needs rough mowing. The rest is rocks/trees/pond.
Plenty of dirt and rocks to re-arrange (10 years of honey-dos at least).
Neighborhood dirt/gravel road (1/2 mile) that washes out a lot that needs regrading several times a year (and being tractorless, I've not taken my turn at it yet).
~5/8 mile of fence / fence posts to put in at some point
Maybe some snow/ice removal if needed (I live in NE Oklahoma)

Based on a neighbor's recommendation I started looking at Kubotas (he loves his L2900). Based on my budget and lot size, I'm leaning strongly towards a new L3400HST with the matched front end loader, R4 tires, 5.5' box blade, and 5' brush cutter.

I read nearly all the posts here on TractorByNet about the 3pt hitch problem, the PTO cable problem and the PTO cam problem. All those seem to be fixed in the tractors currently coming out of the factory, which is why (plus the 3yr 0% financing) I'm going new instead of used. My sales-guy has assured me that these issues are fixed now and said if I had a problem with anything that they would take care of it.

So:
Question 1: Am I picking the right tractor for my needs?
Question 2: Am I sane for picking up the 3400HST after reading all those threads? Is everything really good now?
Question 3: Is the following a decent quote? It chews up 99.99% of my tractor budget so I want to be sure it is a fair deal. (I might get $200 knocked off of the tractor if the shipping can get split with someone else)

L3400HST (R4 tires) with FEL - $16,800
Rhino 160 mower (5 foot) with front/rear chains - $1,500
5.5' Rhino box blade - $500
Post hole digger - borrowed from neighbor!​

Thanks in advance for your feedback - I feel that I'll be asking a lot of questions around here before too long, as this is by far the best place on the web for talking tractors that I've been able to find.

$16,800 is about list price for that tractor, so you're not getting a break on price there.

$500 is about right for that size box blade, maybe a tad high.

That mower seems to me to be overpriced. I have a 4-ft King Kutter rotary mower that cost $600 new at TSC. Don't think there should be a $900 difference between the two mowers.

I have 10 acres of flat pasture land and mow about 7 acres of weeds with a 21-hp Kubota B7510HST/LA302 FEL. Paid $12600 for it in May05 with the 0%/36 month financing. It takes me about 11 hours for the first mowing in April when the grass is 3-4 ft tall. The second mowing in June takes about 8 hours in about 1-2 ft grass.

That L3400HST is more than enough tractor for your jobs. You should be able to mow your weeds in 4-5 hours. If I were you I'd think about a used 6-ft mower.

 

[mjfox6]

L3400HST is a workhorse.

$1500 sounds high to me for a 5' cutter. I paid less than that for a heavy duty Lowery cutter. I'm not sure that it is the best choice for pasture cutting. I think a 6' medium or light duty might be a better match for the tractor AND it will get the work done a little faster.

The max width for a box blade according to the owners manual for the L3400 is 52" and 694 lbs. I have a 60" box blade and don't have any problems pulling it, but I checked the manual AFTER I bought it. I don't move huge amounts of dirt, so I am not too worried.

 

[BTI]

Rhino 160

Ebay model with flaws needing set-up

 

[wushaw]

I have an 05 L2800 that I use to move dirt, dig trees/stumps, disk and what ever else I will need to do in the future, it had the jerky valve, still has the origional PTO cams and cable, I haven't used the PTO since new but have engaged it recently to see if it still will and it does.

I have 230hrs on mine and it does what I need it to do.

If I had to do it all over again I would probably go with the L3400 just to get a little more HP.

The L2800/3400 is the perfect size tractor for my needs.

My advice is to play with all of em and see which one fits your needs and make sure you are comfortable sitting on it, you will be there for many hrs.

 

[bigballer]

the 3400 is a great tractor, i've had mine just over a year and have 89hrs on it, on my 6 acres it's done alot of brushogging, boxblading, raking, dirt/rock/gravel/manure moving, wood/timber clearing/hauling, post pulling, blackberry clearing, and since getting the backhoe, it's done alot of ditch digging. my only complaint is not having a faster way to swap 3pt implements so i'm looking into one of the EZ systems offered.

Good Luck!!

 

[canoetrpr]

L3400HST is a workhorse.
I think a 6' medium or light duty might be a better match for the tractor AND it will get the work done a little faster.

The max width for a box blade according to the owners manual for the L3400 is 52" and 694 lbs. I have a 60" box blade and don't have any problems pulling it, but I checked the manual AFTER I bought it. I don't move huge amounts of dirt, so I am not too worried.

I would agree with mjfox. I have a 5' regular duty Woods BB60 rotary cutter and I wish I had gone for the BB72 - 6' as 5' just is barely the width of the tractor and gets hard around fence lines. The L3400 can definately handle the 6 ft. Dealer said that I was better off sticking with the 5 ft when I bought. Might have made sense if I was cutting in heavy brush but for pastures - 6ft would be just right.

I've been thinking about a BB myself but heck I was figuring 6 ft! Reason being it is nice to have implements that I can carry over to my next (slightly bigger) tractor. Once my tractor is paid off, if the exchange rate stays this good for us, I could probably go to a GL3240 for not much more money than I can sell a used L3400 up here for or upgrade to a L3940 for a bit more.

 

[mjfox6]

my only complaint is not having a faster way to swap 3pt implements so i'm looking into one of the EZ systems offered.

Yep, spend the extra $200 and get a Pat's Easy Change, it takes the dread out of swapping implements.