Buying Advice L3800 or MX4700 or MX5100?

[Wolfy]

ravencr, I believe the L3800 has 11.2x24 R-1 rear tires. My Ford has 11.2x24 R-1 rear tires, when I bought the tractor it was loaded with calcium. Even with that and a weight box, the rear tires still lifted. I finally found wheel weights and will testify the difference is amazing.

 

[ravencr]

K, you guys are making this even harder...lol.

Chris

 

[teg]

So, are you saying get an economy lined tractor, but with the front and rear remotes instead of worrying about the extra stuff like tilt wheel and hst+? I think a grapple would be handy for cleaning up the rear of our property, but after it's clear, we'd be done using it. I think the TNT is probably super handy, but I'm not sure it's so handy that I can't jump off the tractor and adjust things manually and then hop back on and keep working.

Chris

No, not really, I said that it COULD do the work that you listed. The extra bells and whistles are nice, I wish I could afford them... but I mainly try and buy used (my wife said that she was fine buying a new tractor and I got it before she changed her mind!!!!). My Grapple was $350... the hydraulics were a bit more. Right now I would NOT recommend the economy class with the jerky 3ph, so don't go that route.

Heck, you are only looking at one brand... have you even stopped by a John Deere place and tried their tractors out for size? You haven't even begun to tractor shop.

Also, what I've seen of the HST+ it might be worth the extra $$

 

[ravencr]

Lol...if I bring JD in the picture I'll never be able to make a decision.

Chris

 

[foreman Etexas]

Lol...if I bring JD in the picture I'll never be able to make a decision.

Chris

Yeah if your not stuck on one brand there is alot to choose from personally I like kubota but I dont know much about the tractors but Mahindra compacts look like a good deal for the $$$.Im probaly gonna put my money on the L3540 hst 4x4 if my uncle dont give me my ford 2000 back cause he said taking up his shop and dont use it enough.

 

[ravencr]

My biggest concern is having a reliable tractor that I'm not going to have to worry about a whole lot. Plus, in our business there's a lot of transient work campers, some with lots of experience and others with not as much experience. So, I want something that's easy to drive and handle too, which is why I'm leaning towards the HST.

Chris

 

[crazyal]

Make a list of what attachments you want for the tractor. The price on them really isn't going to change much. Then try and figure out how much you plan on using the fel and if a larger one is really worth the extra money (if you go with a 3800 you're not going to be able to get the larger loader). Personally I would either get wheel weights or loaded tires, not both. Wheel weights are not cheap and an attachment on the back acts like ballast (you just need to be mindful of the extra room needed).

Are you going to finance the tractor or pay out right? If you're going the finance route and are going to get the 0% financing then how much a month are those extra bells going to cost you? If you plan on keeping this tractor for a long time is it worth the savings not to have those features?

I don't think any of us can answer the question for you. The L3800 will get the job done and is a nice tractor. The GL3540 is a great tractor. Both will last a very long time. You can look at other brands, and they also make some great tractors but I would pick out one Kubota model and then ask for opinions what best compares to it in a different brand otherwise you will have a large list of tractors that will get the job done and further from choosing the right one.

 

[Wolfy]

Be careful if you buy a HST. I have seen many inexperienced users try to run a HST in high gear when it should be in low gear. They also don't understand the concept of backing off the drive pedal to gain torque. So if it was mine, I would only trust a selective few to run it, and explain it to them first. Someone ruined the $1,200 clutch in my Kubota. After it was fixed, no more tractor borrowing.

 

[ravencr]

The only advantage I see in getting the smaller bucket is that we can compact the trash in our 6' dumpsters with the fel.

In regards to the HST being ruined because of running in too high of a gear, I would think that if it's an HST+ model, this would be prevented if it was always ran in the mode that automatically switches down to low under load. But, I'm not sure of this because you could still be in too high of a gear I guess since you have a high and low in low, medium, and high.

Chris

 

[k0ua]

I am a big Hydrostat fan, and will never own another standard gear tractor. But to ruin a hydro by running it in high gear all the time , you would have to be a moron. To listen to the screaming hydro, and feel the loss of torque trying to use it for loader work or pushing/pulling on something, would require a total loss of common sense. When you get your hydro tractor, and I highly recomend them, you will see what I mean. High gear in a hydro transmission is for moving the tractor on flat roads at high speed, not for any work requiring torque to accomplish that work. Low gear= low speed high torque, High gear =high speed, low torque, Med= medium speed, medium torque.

James K0UA