Owner Dissatisfied With Deere Wants To Switch To Kubota

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

Actually there are some. renting one from an outfit like Black Swamp or Herc Rentals, no upkeep involved and they come full of fuel too. I always rent excavators when I have to dig something. Get mine from Black Swamp Rentals. They deliver it and pick it up too.

Great way to 'test drive' a tractor you might be interested in purchasing too.

We don't have Black Swamp but we have Herc. Might have to check into that.

 

[RalphVa]

I've updated my ways that the B2601 is better than previous JD 4010, 1025R and 2025R:

o Starts cold a lot better: no shudder/shake nor smoke..
o Float on FEL is very easily engaged, almost too easy.
o 2wd/4wd is so easy.
o Hydraulics are MUCH stronger. Flow is near 3 times but makes for a more jerky FEL use.
o Idles nicely at 1,100. The 1025R was abnoxious at 1,650; 2025R was 1,300.
o Drink holder is bigger than the joke one on the 2025R. Not sure it'll hold my little thermos. Put the Frontier doc holder top on the left side of the FEL tower as my drink holder.
o Parking brake is easier to disengage but seems a tad harder to engage.

o Guards to the valve stems.
o Metal covering over the driveshaft (JDs only have plastic)
o 3ph raises a tad higher
o The fuel cap actually screws on and off easier.

o The radiator overflow container is right in front and easy to get to. Needed a screwdriver to take the top off the one on the 2025R and a funnel with long snout to refill it. Then top was hard to put back on. Actually, the B’s is not much easier to get off, and a long snout funnel is needed on it.
o More room to get the end snorkel off the air cleaner.
o The brake pedal lock snaps off by tapping the pedals. Hard to get off at times on the JDs.
o Top link is really easy to turn, e.g. that grease point maybe. Actually smaller, too. The tilt one is also smaller and easy to turn if load is taken off it..
o Three position steering wheel.
o Of course, 3 range HST control. Only 2 on the JDs.

o Fuel use of all 3 JDs is 50% higher than the B. Exhaust is not blackening the back side of the FEL. One owner of an L39xx had 0.4 gph fuel usage.

o Slightly lower hood for easier refill. Have a battery pump that makes this easy by sitting container on foot area of the tractor.

o The stuff under the seat is easier to clean out. There’s a clear path to put silicone spray on all moving parts. All the JDs seemed to have a pan/sheet metal there that made cleanout almost impossible.

o Quiet HST vs. 3 JDs that whined like mad.

o No stinking driveshaft Ujoints to grease. The driveshaft of the HST is lined up with that of the engine. There's only a slipover thing to combine the shafts.

At 74 hours the reverse treadle pedal has gotten lots easier. Other owners have removed the horizontal spring among 2 other more vertical springs on this pedal to make it even easier. This plus not having one Kubota dealer even remotely nearby kept me off a Kubota back in 2004. Now, there are 3 dealers within 35 miles. JD is still the closest and is needed for repairs. No repairs so far on the Kubota.

o STILL has steering brakes.

 

[5030]

There's only a slipover thing to combine the shafts.

The slipover thing (called a coupler) is considered a consumable item btw. The shaft splines are hardened, the couple is soft. I've replaced a few already. It's a 50 buck Kubota part and comes with a new roll pin as well.

 

[RalphVa]

The slipover thing (called a coupler) is considered a consumable item btw. The shaft splines are hardened, the couple is soft. I've replaced a few already. It's a 50 buck Kubota part and comes with a new roll pin as well.

That would be a ***** to have that thing to go while out in the boonies.

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

I've updated my ways that the B2601 is better than previous JD 4010, 1025R and 2025R:

o Starts cold a lot better: no shudder/shake nor smoke..
o Float on FEL is very easily engaged, almost too easy.
o 2wd/4wd is so easy.
o Hydraulics are MUCH stronger. Flow is near 3 times but makes for a more jerky FEL use.
o Idles nicely at 1,100. The 1025R was abnoxious at 1,650; 2025R was 1,300.
o Drink holder is bigger than the joke one on the 2025R. Not sure it'll hold my little thermos. Put the Frontier doc holder top on the left side of the FEL tower as my drink holder.
o Parking brake is easier to disengage but seems a tad harder to engage.

o Guards to the valve stems.
o Metal covering over the driveshaft (JDs only have plastic)
o 3ph raises a tad higher
o The fuel cap actually screws on and off easier.

o The radiator overflow container is right in front and easy to get to. Needed a screwdriver to take the top off the one on the 2025R and a funnel with long snout to refill it. Then top was hard to put back on. Actually, the B’s is not much easier to get off, and a long snout funnel is needed on it.
o More room to get the end snorkel off the air cleaner.
o The brake pedal lock snaps off by tapping the pedals. Hard to get off at times on the JDs.
o Top link is really easy to turn, e.g. that grease point maybe. Actually smaller, too. The tilt one is also smaller and easy to turn if load is taken off it..
o Three position steering wheel.
o Of course, 3 range HST control. Only 2 on the JDs.

o Fuel use of all 3 JDs is 50% higher than the B. Exhaust is not blackening the back side of the FEL. One owner of an L39xx had 0.4 gph fuel usage.

o Slightly lower hood for easier refill. Have a battery pump that makes this easy by sitting container on foot area of the tractor.

o The stuff under the seat is easier to clean out. There’s a clear path to put silicone spray on all moving parts. All the JDs seemed to have a pan/sheet metal there that made cleanout almost impossible.

o Quiet HST vs. 3 JDs that whined like mad.

o No stinking driveshaft Ujoints to grease. The driveshaft of the HST is lined up with that of the engine. There's only a slipover thing to combine the shafts.

At 74 hours the reverse treadle pedal has gotten lots easier. Other owners have removed the horizontal spring among 2 other more vertical springs on this pedal to make it even easier. This plus not having one Kubota dealer even remotely nearby kept me off a Kubota back in 2004. Now, there are 3 dealers within 35 miles. JD is still the closest and is needed for repairs. No repairs so far on the Kubota.

o STILL has steering brakes.

Ralph you put some serious thought into this. I appreciate you taking the time to write out such a detailed comparison of the two brands.

 

[Lakeport]

How could it already be out of warranty if it's a 2019 model?

August of 2019 purchase date, and it started blowing the hose off the rock shaft in September of 2021. Two year warranty. I had to fight to get them to cover it. Fortunately a service tech at the local dealer made me aware of the service bulletin regarding the problem since they were aware of all of the other issues I'd already had with the tractor.

 

[Lakeport]

I have the same issue with the timing bar on my 4052R, i have broke two now and the tractor only has 700 hrs. Same issue with paint flaking off of the loader. Other than that I like the tractor.

My answer to the timing bar so far has been an adapter plate converting from the JD quick attach to a standard skid steer quick attach. It adds some weight to the FEL but it's definitely more solid and no more sheared shafts. I have three JD tractors, 2 identical 4600's (I came across one for sale this year and purchased it) and the 4052, and I can put up with the 50 cent sheared pins on the 4600 tractors but refuse to buy a new $200 plus bar on the 4052, thus the switch. Any new FEL attachments are going to have skid steer mounts, like the hay grabber I purchased recently for the baleage I feed to the cattle. At some point I'll probably get rid of adapter plate completely and change over to the skid steer mount. And I can always modify any of the JD FEL to the skid steer with my welder and some steel.