L3800 Pricing

[TripleR]

A test drive is a great idea if both the HST and gear tractors are available. If not, I suggest you drive to a dealer that does have them, at least to try them.

Not much feedback yet about the L3800 here, but the rest of the L series are good tractors.

As to the price, I'm in Canada. Your price sounds good to me, I paid nearly that for the tractor and FEL plus taxes 2 years ago.

Sean

Always an excellent idea. I personally have found you can't fully appreciate the difference until you spend a few hours doing close in and FEL work. On the lot, a geared machine "doesn't seem so bad".

As evidenced by Chilly and some others though there are experienced operators who prefer the gears.

 

[ChuckinNH]

Main plan is cutting grass, cutting grass, and cutting some more grass. I do have some plans to level out some of the land/moving some dirt and clearing some of the trees/brush. Also considering a auger for assisting with posts etc. Friend has a box I can borrow to help with the land moving. The main reason I was looking at the 3800 gear vs hst was because of the horsepower loss from what I was ready, but based on everyone's response so far that must not be too bad.

Andy

For grass cutting I would also look at the B3200, B3300SU, B30-30 etc. size. If you are looking at rough ground, and rotary cutting heavier brush I would stick with your current plan. I like the L3200, or L3800 pretty well, and will have to try one out some day. I bought the smaller B since I thought finish mowing with a mmm might be in the future, but it is looking less like that is going to happen all the time now.

 

[zmjc]

The quick-attach bucket is brilliant. It really makes my life easier (because I can't fit the tractor into the barn door with the bucket on...)

I have the L3800HST with the Landpride 6-foot rear finish mower (and QA-FEL, and backhoe). Very nice setup! Spend the extra on the HST, though. When you're mowing, you will HUGELY appreciate the ability to easily back up (by rocking the floor pedal, rather than stopping, clutching and changing gears).

I have filled R4s. They seem to be working out well.

- Mike

 

[Code54]

Have to agree -the HST is WELL worth the money - makes mowing about 10X easier!

 

[crazyal]

I'm a big fan of HST but if you plan on mowing with it then gear may not be a bad choice. If you have lots of trees and other stuff where you'll be mowing around requiring you to change speed often the HST will just be so much nicer than gear. But if you'll be doing long straight runs and the ground is smooth then gear would be fine.

 

[Chilly807]

One of the nice things about mowing with HST is that the mower speed stays constant while the ground speed can vary. Even I will admit that, as well as the ease of going back and forth using just one pedal for forward and reverse.

One of the things I don't like about the basic HST is keeping the engine revs high whether the load is there or not. I like having the engine come back to idle when I'm not working it. I guess the newer, more advanced style of HST (Plus maybe?) has the auto throttle that bumps the rpm up when you press the pedal?

Anyway, clutches are for young knees, or sound ones at least. Mine aren't that bad yet.

Speaking of clutches, I'm about to post a new thread on an L3400 clutch problem I had recently.

Sean

 

[geewhz01]

Just wanted to tell everyone thanks again for the recommendations. This is my first tractor. I ended up checking with Barlows and he was much cheaper than the dealer in my area. I found another dealer about 20 miles away but the same driving time as the one in my town. He got within about $400 of Barlows so I went with them. I ended up purchasing the L3800HST model.

Thanks,

Andy

 

[Chilly807]

You DO realize we want to see pictures when you get the new tractor??

Sean

 

[teg]

...I found another dealer about 20 miles away but the same driving time as the one in my town. He got within about $400...

Good deal :thumbsup::thumbsup: Let us know how it works out for you! Photos... please

 

[k0ua]

Good deal, Welcome to club orange, You are going to love your new L3800HST, and will soon wonder how you ever got along without it, glad to have helped, and hope to see your arrival pix, and more from you.

James K0UA