My wife just bought me an
L3400 with FEL and 72" RFM R4s gear transmission -- I guess she was sick of hearing me try to convince her why we needed it for the last 6 months.
Only a few hours on it getting the trails ready to start working on my firewood. Very hilly property. 17 acres.
Very impressed with the power to weight ratio of this machine. It will spin long before it runs short of hp. I've worked hard to get it stuck -- almost succeeded. Able to walk the machine backwards with the loader bucket with the differential locked. I wonder whether loaded rear tires would help?
I am very pleased with the gear transmission. It shifts smoothly, seems very natural to me, and is very quick. I thought I would like the HST after hearing everyone rant about it. It is not for me: seems to use up some hp on these small units, requires higher rpm for ideal performance, personal preference I guess. I've grown up with gear transmissions -- this is by far the quickest, tightest, most user friendly shifter I have driven, though I haven't tried them all of course.
I jammed the unit between two smaller trees after sliding sideways on a fairly good side slope -- not used to the 4x4 I guess. I was surprised to be able to back right out over the trees. I was expecting a walk back to the garage for the chainsaw.
The
B7800 looked great. I guess I figured I was getting more basic tractor -- hp and function -- for the money.
We shouldn't be allowed to have this much fun!!!