Buying Advice LS the old Landini?

[chas0218]

New to the forum but have spent a bunch of time lurking and driving various tractors over the years. I grew up driving an old Ford 9N and Ford 4000 Gas. Upgraded on our family farm to a kubota L series 2800 and now a bigger L series 5460. It is time in the next year to purchase a new tractor and I am looking at everything. Right now for the money the best bang for my buck is the XG3025 with backhoe by LS but now extremely hesitant. I drove the pre 2000s Landini's and worked on them more than I drove them. We used them for various tasks around the orchards where I worked and they had tons of issues some of which were hydraulic pump failures, very hot running machines (exhaust ran below your feet attached to the metal running board) and a bunch of other things like PTO clutch issues, and so on. These things were piles. We never had any issues with the engines they ran for over 7000 hours but the components of the tractor were what failed. Now these tractors were used every day for 8 to 10 hours a day not always at their peak 540 pto rpm but we never had a John Deere fail in the same places the Landini did. They have now transitioned to all John Deere but now their newer Deere are giving them issues. Not as much as the Landini did but still some issues. The maintenance schedule while I worked their and still is followed to a T. I get the idea if you use something it is going to wear out but I'm talking more about things wearing out prematurely. I will be using this as a homeowner that needs to dig out some small stumps, dig drainage around my home, build a new barn, and just everyday chores. I don't need a commercial tractor for the amount I'm going to use it and for what it's worth my father in laws 2015 3025E cost way too much for what he got. Now fast forward 12 years to today's tractors, is the LS as bad as the Landini used to be? Will the LS stack up to the Mahindra, John Deere, and Kubota of the tractor world?

I'm all ears for other brands but comparing all of the smaller compact tractors the LS seems to have the highest specs for the best price. I have also looked at Yanmar as the dealer is right down the street but again not impressed with their tractors. I just hate to invest $20k into a machine that I will need to be working on as much as I'll be using it.

 

[George2615]

LS has built and sold many tractors including Landini but I wouldn't judge or compare todays LS to yesterdays Landini. Here's a little history on LS. LS Tractors - Wikipedia

I had a Mahindra (NOT made by LS) for 10 years without too many issues other than glow plugs, timer and a loader valve. Have had an LS for 4 years that's never been back to the dealer and have only had to do routine maintenance.

 

[jeff9366]

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a short part of a text that begins on a new line and consists of one or more sentences dealing with a single idea



New to the forum but I have spent a bunch of time lurking.

I grew up driving an old Ford 9N and Ford 4000 Gas. Upgraded on our family farm to a Kubota L series 2800 and now a bigger L series 5460. It is time to purchase a new tractor. I am looking at everything. The best bang for my buck is the LS/XG3025 with backhoe .

I drove the pre 2000 Landinis. We used Landinis around the orchards where I worked. They had tons of issues. The issues were hydraulic pump failures, very hot operating stations (exhaust ran below your feet attached to the metal running board) and PTO clutch issues. I worked on them more than I drove them. Components of the tractor failed. We never had issues with the engines. Engines ran for over 7000 hours.

The orchard has transitioned to John Deere. The newer Deere are having issues. Not as much as the Landini did but still issues. I understand when you use something it wears. I'm talking more about things wearing out prematurely.

I don't need a commercial tractor. I will use LS as a homeowner, for everyday chores. I need to dig out small stumps, dig drainage around my home and build a new barn. Fast forward 12 years to today. Is LS as bad as the Landini used to be? Will the LS stack up to the Mahindra, John Deere (??), and Kubota of the tractor world?

 

[mcfarmall]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[jeff9366]

You relate that Landini and Deere tractors used in commercial farming eight to ten hours per day, 2000+ engine hours per year, with multiple, employee operators, had "issues". I am not surprised.

You are considering an LS for homeowner use. The average residential tractor is used eighty engine hours per year, according to industry data cited here occasionally.

You are an experienced, opetator/maintainer, soon to be an owner/operator. Assuming you can access LS consumables and service, LS will serve you well. You will be dead before the tractor.

 

[chas0218]

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks, looking forward to bouncing ideas off everyone.

You relate that Landini and Deere tractors used in commercial farming eight to ten hours per day, 2000+ engine hours per year, with multiple, employee operators, had "issues". I am not surprised.

You are considering an LS for homeowner use. The average residential tractor is used eighty engine hours per year, according to industry data cited here occasionally.

You are an experienced, opetator/maintainer, soon to be an owner/operator. Assuming you can access LS consumables and service, LS will serve you well. You will be dead before the tractor.

Sorry about the missed punctuation, but all that aside.

My plan is to use the tractor year round I figure 100 hours a year which isn't a lot but still longevity is key for me. Not to mention easier to pitch it to my wife.

 

[K5lwq]

Welcome!! I hope you have success in your search!!

 

[jeff9366]

I plan to use the tractor year round. I figure 100 hours a year. Longevity is key for me, not to mention easy to pitch to my wife.

100 hours X 40 years = 4,000 hours.

An inside stored, carefully maintained LS tractor, with a prudent owner/operator at the controls should go 12,000 engine hours without an overhaul. You will be dead before the tractor.

You will need fuel, fluids, filters, hydraulic lines, tires, batteries occasionally.

My Kubota dealer does all my tractor service except fueling and greasing. I figure my Kubota L3560 tractor operating cost, including multiple implement depreciation, is $35/engine hour.

 

[airbiscuit]

....You will be dead before the tractor.

That is a cogent point, but it kind of hurts to see it in print. It reminds us we no longer have the invincibility of our youth.

 

[goeduck]

Do you still have the two Kubotas? Both are good models and highly regarded in their respective size classes. Do you need a third? Or are you after a backhoe?

 

[paulfun9]

You ask if " Will the LS stack up to the Mahindra, John Deere (??), and Kubota of the tractor world? "

I would have to say Yes. With everything I have seen and heard of LS both on here and the 5 Owners that I personally Know I would not hesitate to buy one myself.

 

[chim]

I wasn't aware LS made Landini, but understand the concern chas0218 has, due to the association between LS and Landini. We have a Montana made by LS at work that colors my view on the LS tractors. It is rough around the edges and we had problems for the first year or so. Most were minor, but the very thin dealer network made it a 3 hour round trip and most repairs couldn't be done while someone waited.

The QA bucket works OK but it takes a team to remove and reinstall the entire loader frame (an operation I can do in a couple minutes by myself on my L3200 and the B7500 it replaced).

Parts have been an issue. When the "dealership" is a small family operation done as a side business to help support the farm, there isn't much of a Parts Department. If it is not something they have on the shelf, you need to wait for the container ship to arrive and the parts to clear Customs.

Parts for most other brands are quite available. Last Spring I replaced the front axle seals / bearings in the old Ford 1210. Messicks had the parts within days for the 30 year old tractor. Messick is so close I could borrow a girl's bike to make the trip and get there before I had a chance to be embarrassed.

In recent years I've seen many reports from happy LS owners, so maybe they cleaned up their act now that they're putting their own name on the tractors. Can't guess how available parts might currently be.

 

[atomchaser]

I'm not familiar with the older LS made tractors but in general Korean manufacturers have significantly upped their game in the past 20 years. I've been happy with my LS (1 year, 65 hours with no issues) and would buy it again. My only concern would be if I was using it commercially due to the distance to a dealer (2 hours) and the somewhat thin dealer network. I do have a New Holland dealer 20 mins away and many parts interchange with New Holland models but they obviously won't do warranty service. When I was shopping around, a similarly equipped tractor from competitive brands were $5- $10K more.

 

[chas0218]

100 hours X 40 years = 4,000 hours.

An inside stored, carefully maintained LS tractor, with a prudent owner/operator at the controls should go 12,000 engine hours without an overhaul. You will be dead before the tractor.

You will need fuel, fluids, filters, hydraulic lines, tires, batteries occasionally.

My Kubota dealer does all my tractor service except fueling and greasing. I figure my Kubota L3560 tractor operating cost, including multiple implement depreciation, is $35/engine hour.

My concern isn't the amount of hours as there are tractors with close to 10k hours, but more of premature failure from substandard parts like in Landinis case. I understand that sometimes you get a part that fails with minimal hours because of manufacturing defects those are unavoidable as every party isn't inspected.

Basically just looking for someone to reassure me that I'm not buying a $20k paper weight.

That is a cogent point, but it kind of hurts to see it in print. It reminds us we no longer have the invincibility of our youth.

Yeah, as much as we don't want to admit it.

Do you still have the two Kubotas? Both are good models and highly regarded in their respective size classes. Do you need a third? Or are you after a backhoe?

Well the L2800 was traded in with the 4000 for the newer L5460. This is my parents tractor about 2hrs without the ability to transport it. I need a tractor for my little 40 acres something smaller (physically smaller) than 50hp, also need a backhoe which the Kubota doesn't have.

You ask if " Will the LS stack up to the Mahindra, John Deere (??), and Kubota of the tractor world? "

I would have to say Yes. With everything I have seen and heard of LS both on here and the 5 Owners that I personally Know I would not hesitate to buy one myself.

That was my thought, I just used those brands because they originally set the bar for tractors today quality and capabilities wise. Similar to what IH, Allis, and older Deere did in the 50s and 60s.

 

[chas0218]

I'm not familiar with the older LS made tractors but in general Korean manufacturers have significantly upped their game in the past 20 years. I've been happy with my LS (1 year, 65 hours with no issues) and would buy it again. My only concern would be if I was using it commercially due to the distance to a dealer (2 hours) and the somewhat thin dealer network. I do have a New Holland dealer 20 mins away and many parts interchange with New Holland models but they obviously won't do warranty service. When I was shopping around, a similarly equipped tractor from competitive brands were $5- $10K more.

That is what I have been reading and seeing among newer LS users. A friend of mine bought the XJ 2025H and haven't had many serious issues. His diesel pump developed a leak that was fixed under warranty basically all it needed was a new line to one of the injectors. Something he could have done but they came to his house to fix it. He had a loader hose spring a leak because the fitting wasn't threaded correctly and again they came out and fixed it and topped off the fluid. Really nothing major and well within my capabilities to fix if it happened to me.

I wasn't aware LS made Landini, but understand the concern chas0218 has, due to the association between LS and Landini. We have a Montana made by LS at work that colors my view on the LS tractors. It is rough around the edges and we had problems for the first year or so. Most were minor, but the very thin dealer network made it a 3 hour round trip and most repairs couldn't be done while someone waited.

The QA bucket works OK but it takes a team to remove and reinstall the entire loader frame (an operation I can do in a couple minutes by myself on my L3200 and the B7500 it replaced).

Parts have been an issue. When the "dealership" is a small family operation done as a side business to help support the farm, there isn't much of a Parts Department. If it is not something they have on the shelf, you need to wait for the container ship to arrive and the parts to clear Customs.

Parts for most other brands are quite available. Last Spring I replaced the front axle seals / bearings in the old Ford 1210. Messicks had the parts within days for the 30 year old tractor. Messick is so close I could borrow a girl's bike to make the trip and get there before I had a chance to be embarrassed.

In recent years I've seen many reports from happy LS owners, so maybe they cleaned up their act now that they're putting their own name on the tractors. Can't guess how available parts might currently be.

The loader frame will remain on the trator for the majority of its life, just too much work for the little bit of time I wouldn't need it. On our old L3200 we never removed the loader since we owned it new until 3 years ago. The bucket we switched out for a snow plow in the winter, it also wasn't a QA loader so it was a pain pulling the pins getting grease all over at least it was only twice a year.

I will be using this in the winter to haul firewood back and forth to the house along with plowing the driveway and such. All in all it will be used as a tractor and might be pushed to its limits once and a while definitely not babied but not abused either. From what I can find parts wise the dealers around me stock a good amount of parts. I'm hoping I won't need any parts but we all know that won't be the case no matter what brand tractor.



The only thing I can see that sets the LS apart from others is the hydraulic pump has higher flow and pressure giving the tractor better capabilities. Also the Mitsubishi engine reaches peak PTO rpm at a lower engine RPM than the Yanmar powered tractors. Less RPM means longer engine life so that is a plus.

 

[airbiscuit]

Messick is so close I could borrow a girl's bike to make the trip and get there before I had a chance to be embarrassed.

 

[George2615]

The only thing I can see that sets the LS apart from others is the hydraulic pump has higher flow and pressure giving the tractor better capabilities. Also the Mitsubishi engine reaches peak PTO rpm at a lower engine RPM than the Yanmar powered tractors. Less RPM means longer engine life so that is a plus.

Most smaller LS models have the Mitsubishi engine and quite a few larger models also depending on the year and model. LS has been using Mitsubishi, Shibaura, and now their own LS engine.

 

[rgr33]

I use my LS g3033 quite a bit in from March to November growing grapes commercially. It is operated by my crew as well as me. I bought it in 2012, and it has never gone back to the dealer shop. I probably over service it, because I like to err on the side of caution. I am simply not willing to pay the price tag for a new Kubota Yanmar or John Deere, though I have a ton of respect for each of them. Two affordable brands I would not hesitate to trust these days are Kioti, and LS.

To compare today痴 LS units to an older Century or a Landini, is to compare today痴 Ford vehichles to an Edsel.
I don稚 care which of the tractors mentioned above you end up buying, you will end up with a very nice tractor, not to worry.