New Montanna 3040, and I am loving it!

[Jae]

Hi all..

I have been lurking around the TBN forums a bit and decided it was time to register.

As the title says I am completely happy with my new 2006 Montana 3040. Its down right amazing for the sticker price. Me and my significant other along with our business partner had recently purchased 30 acres of land here in North Texas. It was aparent rather quickly that my old Kub L175 wasn't going to be able to keep up with that kind of acreage. With duties such as mowing the 25 acres of pasture and Arena grading, Landscaping and the like I needed a new/used Tractor with at least 29Hp and fast!

So after taking it upon myself to learn all I could absorb on the good ol www about tractors I had finally (after much driving and searching) found myself at a small tractor shop called oddly enough "A Tractor Shop". Where in a long story made short I found my first new tractor, the Montana 3040. Odly enough I was originally there to look at a used massey but after much searching I had decided that i would much rather lay down $10,000,00 on a new tractor that purchase a used one.

The owner of the shop (Cody) was nothing short of amazing with his service. He answered every single one our questions (even the off the wall type) readily, he also has a nice neat showroom area too which impressed me as a business owner myself.

I had not (until that day) ever heard of montana tractors but I had familiarized myself on the normal offerings from other brands and knew off the bat I was getting an amazing deal for a 30Hp tractor/Loader combo.

but I digress.. I've attached a pic of my tractor after a rather easy 7.5 hours of work round the new ranch. The only problem so far has been a leaky hyd line on the joystick, I must admit getting the flat front tire was likely my own fault, nothing a lil slime cound't handle though.

Can't wait to get more seat time on my new favorite toy....

 

[Dallas_Lilly]

Congradulations on the new tractor. I had a few hydraulic lines that leaked a bit and just needed to be snugged up. I have right at 40 hours on my 3040 now and love it. Have fun with your new tractor!

 

[Maka]

Hi Jae. Cody has done a great job for others here. He is a hard worker as I understand and his customers appreciate him. The 3040 is a hard machine to beat in that class and it should do well for you.

On the hydraulic leaks you probably just need to tighten them a bit. Keep us posted on how all goes and congrats!

Maka

 

[gamble77]

Maka were you able to snap any photos at the expo...like I told you my batteries last about 4 pics and died. It was great meeting you by the way, wish we could have chatted longer but we had to get going and I know you were talking to customers, thats bussiness!

 

[Maka]

Hi Gamble. It was good to meet you. It was busy and yes, I did get a few pictures. Mostly of various displays as it was too big a show and I was to busy to get much of individual models.

I will post them soon. I have to say that the two most visually appealing displays was Montana and Farmtrac. Wow, what a show you all put on in Georgia.

Thanks,
Maka

 

[Doc_Bob]

Montana makes a nice machine. And I own a New Holland TN70A! I have used a Montana and loved it! Smooth, well made.
Bob

 

[Jae]

Thanks for the replys all... I think i am becoming addicted to TBN and all the little home built projects you all share here. It inspired me to start working on my own 3PH lift/trailer mover jobby. Just need to collect a bit of material to get going on the first of what I believe will be many projects to attach to this new toy... errr.. tool of mine!


Maka.. Thanks for the tip, I will try snugging up that fitting before buggin Cody about somthing that may be a simple fix.

Doc... I am a big fan of the New Holland but i just couldn't find one within my budget. Maybe i'll add one to the corral in the future when I need a higher HP (40+) machine. I do love the location of the Joystick on the new holland TC30 (Boomer?) and I will be modifying the joystick on my montana to the same location (RR Fender mount) when time and money allow. The current setup with the lil M only allows me to climb in the seat from the LH side. The bracket for the joystick FEL control is quite large after all...

 

[BRUSHTAMERS]

jae, all Montana aside, tell me about the Kubota L 275, I have a L-210, single stage clutch, 2 cyl rebuilt engine( neighbor instisted, said it was a cakewalk, for him, for me, a real knucklebiter, RUNS GREAT, but kinda spendy to put back together, neighbor was right, runs great) My Montana on the other hand has only 310 hours, holding together alright mechanically, have had some electrical problems, nothing major, and foresee putting a fan type blower in the cab to get enough air flow to keep the windows see through in the winter around here. Not really cold, but really wet. Thinking that one of those dehumidifier baskets hanging from the roof handle might be a good idea. Is your'e property near the coast, or inland? Can make a difference on how your tractor holds up

 

[Jae]

Sorry Dallas_Lilly forgot to mention your sage advice as well...

Must have had one too many Shiner's when I was posting my last reply


BRUSHTAMERS I am inland as it gets I would imagine, In North Texas (near Dallas). I am originally a Northern boy so I am quite familiar with snow and the trials and tribulations of such. Fortunately I won't be needing a cab or any of those goodies as the worst part of the winter in NTX is wondering if the snow will stick one day to the next. The Kubota was free but needed a rear final drive housing welded as the previous user had hooked his Box Blade on a stump and cracked it pretty good. I pulled it all apart and laid a weld on it as best as possible but it still leaked, which reduced the performance of the already worn hydraulics out back. After poking round the gearbox I learned that the gears had almost been strippped clean due to a problem with the direct PTO sysstem these tractors use. Esentially they need what is called a PTO clutch to prevent the gearbox from damage (as the case was). The gears will grind without one, and over time wear out. A few weeks ago the lil Kub finally decided to not go into reverse so I felt it was time for a new tractor. Its sitting in my pasture at the moment, the horses had already chewed all the seat foam clean off, and it is far from pretty, but i Had a good 1.5 years of use of it on the In-laws 5 acre lot so its not all bad

I guess i'll have to figure out what to do with it now that I have the new Montana..

any ideas?

 

[Doc_Bob]

Doc... I am a big fan of the New Holland but i just couldn't find one within my budget.

Hey, your Montana is a great machine. I have used one to do some rotary cutting and I loved it. I would buy one in a second.
Bob

 

[BRUSHTAMERS]

That's funny about the horses eating the seat cushion, around here the deer lick any exposed grease off of the fittings. One thing I've noticed about my Montana is that it does have a similarity to the older Kubotas. The electric clutch/PTO setup means all or nothing to the PTO shaft just like the single stage manual clutch, I also bought an over running PTO adapter, but haven't installed it yet, need to shave a little off the driveline. Does your Kub look anything like this?, if so I just might be able to take a few parts off your hands before you sell it to West Kentucky tractor parts. They buy used and wrecked tractors and sell them a piece at a time to Gomers like us at a very good markup.

 

[Jae]

That's funny about the horses eating the seat cushion, around here the deer lick any exposed grease off of the fittings. One thing I've noticed about my Montana is that it does have a similarity to the older Kubotas. The electric clutch/PTO setup means all or nothing to the PTO shaft just like the single stage manual clutch, I also bought an over running PTO adapter, but haven't installed it yet, need to shave a little off the driveline. Does your Kub look anything like this?, if so I just might be able to take a few parts off your hands before you sell it to West Kentucky tractor parts. They buy used and wrecked tractors and sell them a piece at a time to Gomers like us at a very good markup.

I have yet to grace my little Montana with any sort of PTO driven attachments as of yet. Just shy of 8 hours on the meter and I've been using the Loader and my trusty BB mostly. The PTO cover is still in place .

I think it is probably a good idea to invest in a PTO overrun coupler for safety sake and I will probably get one installed before I hook up any PTO gear on my Lil M. That little piece of equipment would have save this Kub 175 If it had been used.

My service manual covers L175, L210, L225 and L225DT. These are all similar units and share some parts. But my L175 looks to be a bit smaller than yours overall. I don't happen to have a pic of it yet, but i may snap a few shots when I head over to th ranch today.

But as I said I do have a service manual handy so referencing parts is pretty simple. I may try a crazy repair on the gearbox to get the thing moving again so I can sell it as a working tractor along with the little 4' brush hog I bought to go with it. But as of now all projects are on hold untill I get the new/old farmhouse renovated along with getting the shop built. It seems I don't have a shortage of projects going on round here

 

[BRUSHTAMERS]

Y'know, I never even thought about an overunning clutch on the Montana PTO, but that just might keep the blades on the brush hog from lapping over each other when I shut down, and maybe avoid the hard startup to the PTO. It'll only cost 4" of driveline Sidey