Pondering swapping out my AG for a TLB

[Smokeydog]

Glad I got mine years ago in a good economy. Significant price increases on both new and used. Like things that increase in-value.

 

[mike69440]

Is your M5400 in decent shape? Pre emissions and no electronics are something worth keeping if its doing pretty good for you.

If you don't have to trailer it around, consider getting a used full sized backhoe and keeping your tractor. Even though costs of most stuff is still through the roof, full sized backhoes are a bargain for what you get. People want mini excavators who are in the trades for digging so full sized backhoes are plentiful on the used market.

A full sized 4wd 75 to 90 hp backhoe with a 4 in 1 bucket and extend a hoe with thumb is pretty dang versatile as a farm machine.

Agree on full size TLB, but only on hard ground as even my 8K lb L39 sinks like a rock. A full size TLB will totally disappear in mud.

 

[mike69440]

TLB's work well with a grapple as they have some weight to counterbalance the load Really needed to get the diverter valve off my tractor so I can get the Grapple working. I'm too old to remove it myself. Fitting were stuck. Ordered new valve. Lots of brush and stumps to clear.

 

[rScotty]

Howdy -

I've got a mid-90s Kubota M5400 with a TYM FEL and I'm pondering swapping it out and trying to find a 7-8K# TLB. Maybe a JD 110 TLB or a Kubota L45/L47/M62.

I could use a stout loader and a backhoe more than I have a need for a bushhog / plowing machine. I understand that some of the TLBs can drop the backhoe and use 3PH components and approximate an AG style tractor. That would let me get a land leveler or box blade or carryall and have a sturdy loader. I'd probably get a grapple too.

I'd love to hear folks' thoughts.

Cheers,
Nate

There's a group of us that have the mid size Kubota TLBs, so you've come to the right place.

Thoughts? Well, the thing that surprised me... is we use our backhoes much more for lifting, loading, and moving heavy things than for digging. Having a hydraulic thumb is pretty much a necessity for doing landscaping work.

The Kubota line of TLBs are ridiculously overbuilt compared to their AG tractors. Compare frames & loaders. They weigh more too. The reliability is amazing. They have an enormous operatiing platform with room for two, an insulated canopy, and a lot of headroom. Very tight turning radius. Stable. Downside is definitely the cost. But with that much attention to quality, Kubota has pretty much locked up the TLB market. We started looking at the JD110 - I love the styling and concept. But the 110s have a lot of serious and well-known reliability issues. Frankly I wish JD had simply improved them instead of abandoning them. But the Kubotas are very nice machines.

Most of us that that have TLBs have more than one tractor. While it is true that you can swap the backhoe on Kubota's TLBs for a decent 3pt hitch, it is heavy work, lots of pins and adjustments make it not so quick or convenient as I had expected.

Something I can't explain is that several of us have not one, but two TLBs. Big and little. There probably are as many reasons as there are owners, but if you try to use your M59 on the lawn it will make sense. And our family hobby is landscaping the 5 acres right around us with a creek through it. That means lots of lifting and carrying. Plus, the big old JD310 TLB becomes a dump truck when we use the M59 backhoe to fill the 310's bucket and take it away.

Both our TLBs are 4wd, but the commercial yellow JD310 could probably get by with 2wd. If I had to have just one, it would be the M59 - or maybe the next size smaller Kubota TLB. They are just amazingly handy. But we also have an old 3pt tractor. Because the TLB gets 95% of the work, the 3pt tractor mostly sleeps.

rScotty

 

[Smokeydog]

Been doing the usual annual fall bush hogging with the M59. Have used many different tractors over a span of almost 50 years on the same now fallowed pasture. Lots of rain and hot weather this year has thick growth. Was worried about how well an HST tractor could handle this task compared to the larger gear tractors of the past. With the many ups, downs, side hills, trees, dips and bumps it’s exceeded my expectations. Especially in high hazards, tight, steep banks and terraces. Having the optimum speed and power easily controlled while negotiating obstacles improves cutting performance and safety. Hate to use age as a crutch but it’s just kinder on us older folks. Don’t have big flat fields. Bunch of hilly small tree lined patches and meadows. Four post ROPS does a good job of protection from branches. Biggest con is it does like more fuel.

Added an override pto clutch this year. Needed a little length for the rototiller drive shaft. The added length from the tractor side also makes connecting the pto easier. With the bush hog hear it clicking when disengaging the pto or reducing rpm’s.

The hawks watch me mow, snagging meals from the freshly cut field. Turkeys like the bounty of bugs and seeds. Owls happy. Coyotes singing approval at 4am this morning. Once the leaves fall watch herds of deer graze on the grass from the house.

 

[mike69440]

See Post #32
Missing my L39. Hope to get it back next week.

Rear Axle Failure, Max 28, Service Manual Pages?

That is really innovative thinking on your repair and I hope it works out long term. How did you make the epoxy to bond to the metal? Brake cleaner, but what helped was spreading the Devon putty out like silly putty, letting it partially cure, then chiseling and pulled the stuff out. The paint...

www.tractorbynet.com

Agree on having minimum of two tractors.

An excavator is sure handy to own, but for general stuff the Swiss Army knife L39 can get most jobs done, but much slower. A small Ag tractor is great for farm stuff.