Buying Advice Newbie needs advice

[Hank03]

Hello, I am in the market for a new subcompact and need some opinions. I have just built a house and have about 2 acres of ground to take care of. I will mainly be clearing trees and moving dirt this summer, followed by anything the wife feels will make it look pretty. What I am looking for is 4wd with a FEL and MMM. So far I have found 2 locally within my budget (<11,000):

Kubota BX1500 with 48" MMM and FEL $9400
or
Cub Cadet 5234D with 54" MMM and FEL $10,700

Price wise I am leaning toward the BX but would think the Cub Cadet would be more capable if any future needs arise.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Henry

 

[frank_f15]

I WOULD ASSUME THESE ARE PRE OWNED? IF so how many and what kind of hrs are on them. the bx is 15 hp (10pto hp) and the cub is 23 hp (17pto hp) if it was me i would opt for the cub cadet, if the extra $$$ is not a problem. i also beleive the cub to be a bit heavier and have a bit more ground clearence. but i am not an expert on the cub cadets.

 

[Hank03]

Actually they are both new, they are leftover from last year. I'm having a hard time finding any information on the cubs, they don't seem nearly as popular as the rest.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

My Kubota dealer is also a Cub dealer. Over the past 10 years I've purchased 5 Cubs from him (1 ZTR and several GTs - all are still in use) and they are nice machines, at least their higher end units are. I would not consider their 1000 series tractors because they don't have shaft drive systems. The oldest Cub I have is used to mow my field at my warehouse. The 5000 series are nice little tractors, not great but nice. Given the choice of a BX1500 or a Cub 5000 I would go with the Cub just because of the added power. The added HP on the PTO will give you more choices in implements that you can run with the tractor in the future. However, given 2 tractors of equal HP, I would pay more for a Kubota than a Cub. Just my personal opinion.

 

[DmansPadge]

Given those options, which are both nice BTW, I would opt for the Cub Cadet. Like Bob Skurka said, if I were looking at two tractors with identical specs and price, I would buy the Kubota. But CC makes a good product. Their equipment, from the lawn tractors to CUTs, offer a lot of bang for the buck. The CC is more powerful and will be considerably more capable of tasks than the BX. I've always been partial to the CCs even though I own a Kubota B7300.

 

[Hank03]

Thanks for your opinions. Sounds like the cub is the way to go.

Bob,
What do you think keeps the Cub from being a great tractor?

Thanks,

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Hank, I don't really know, but looking at their line up, what I see is that the 1000 series tractors are designed by price. They are simply inexpensive and have strayed from the traditional Cub quality & features.

The 2000 & 3000 series tractors seem to be very nice units. There is a 2000 series here at my office, along with an 12(?) year old model 1862. The 2000/3000 series machines seem to be built for quality the way the older Cubs were built.

Stepping up to the 5000/7000/8000 series machines and things get a bit odd. The 8000 series Cubs are nice machines, but they are simply Kioti DK 35, 40 & 45 tractors painted cream & yellow. There is no noticable difference in the 2 brands. The 7000 series Cubs are also nice machines, but they are Mitsubishi tractors, there is no other equivalent here in the US since Mitsu doesn't actively push their brand. I'm not sure who makes the 5000 series tractors, Cub may actually do thost themselves? They appear to be nice tractors, my dealer has a couple parked out front right now. Size is good, not too small not too big, and the design is very familiar to a Cub Cadet owner who is stepping up in size from a garden tractor.

I guess it seems to me that for Cub to really get serious about their machines, then they really need to focus on the 5000/7000/8000 series tractors. They need HST transmissions and they need to have features that the small estate owner (us folks with a few acres but don't really farm) want when we shop for tractors. Comfort, ergonomics and some proprietary design. John Deere & New Holland, to one degree or another have had other companies make many of their small tractors for many years, but they have their own designs and they are built to their specs. Cub is simply repainting someone else's design. If Cub were serious, they would "enhance" the features and performance, and they would have some propietary features and designs.

All that said, I think in the range of their better garden tractors, nobody has the price/performance that Cub Cadet has. I hope that the current owners of Cub don't degrade their quality.