Purchase Advice/Opinions on 3x20 series

[jenkinsph]

May I ask why you say without ballast? I always liked ballast in the rear tires, it keeps the tractor from bouncing around to much and just feels more stable IMO.

There will definitely be a riding mower to maintain the areas that are taken under control, once they are. The 3520/3720 I am shopping for is mostly bush hogging, loader work, cleaning up fallen trees, moving manure piles, driving 3/4 inch fence posts, tearing down old buildings, that kind of work.

In the JD brochures they list the weight of the 3x20 series as 2,900 lbs, is this WITH the loader?

On my 110tlb I use the backhoe or the boxblade (1250 lbs) as counterweights for the fel. Doesn't need ballast in the tires for loader work.

In your case for mowing in soft ground I would use a tractor without ballast and choose a pull behind mower. What I did not seem to get across was how to get about equal tractive forces from the larger tractor with less damage. My point being that a 3720 with ballast weighs about the same as a 4520 without ballast, the larger diameter and wider wheels of the unloaded 4520 will do less rutting but would have the same tractive force as the loaded 3720.

I have the 820 setup without ballast for uses where I need to tread lightly and the 4520 cab has 330 lbs of weight per rear wheel so it isn't fully ballasted either. Both have enough traction to get the job done so far.

 

[Craig B]

What I did not seem to get across was how to get about equal tractive forces from the larger tractor with less damage.... the larger diameter and wider wheels of the unloaded 4520 will do less rutting but would have the same tractive force as the loaded 3720.
far.

Great. Just when I was settling in on a 3520.

Honestly, after much debate I think I dont need anything larger than a 3000 series. I understand they are real workhorses.

 

[nwltruck]

I bought a '07 3320. I use a 6' mower, and a 7' blade and snow blower with no probs. I do have to go a bit slower with the snow blower but the tractor is a real work horse. It runs out of traction long before power. For mowing in the spring when my lown is soft I take the loader off to reduse the weight. In the winter when I need weight the snow blower and loader seam to be enough.

 

[Johndeere3720]

We have the 3720. Very good tractor to say the least. Loader wise, the 300x doesn't quite have the best lifting capacity and i have either over loaded it or the rear of the tractor was off the ground. The 300cx with good ballast will suit better for heavy lifting. There is a definite difference between the 3000 and 4000 series machines but with the 3720 the power will overlap the 4000 series, 110, and the 4120. The real only difference between the 3720 over the 3520 and 3320 is just the engine. Specs wise, they all weigh practically the same and preform similar with just more power as you scale up in machine.

The 3720 is tippy i will warn you. We live on some steep ground where the only real flat spot is where the house and barn is and the rest is all hill. i have came close to tipping it over before but haven't. We run the R4 tires which are okay, i am an R1 believer but the narrowness of the R1 that Deere puts on the 3000 series cuts down on the ground contact surface with your tire and the R1 will preform less effectively over say the larger R4 since it has more tread contact on the ground.

To get good stance on steep ground, I suggest reversing the rear tires and possibly either adding weights to the rear wheels or adding liquid ballast. I haven't reversed the rear tires on the 3720 since we run it down a narrow ally in the barn to get manure out of horse stalls but you will increase stance by a bit. I measured from the outside edge from tire to tire and the 3720 was under 5 foot wide. We run an MX6 on the 3720 which powers it well and does just a fine a job as if we used an MX5.

I have had a lot of seat time on the 3720, around 1000 hours myself. With tip factor, you will get used to it after operating it over time. Today i run it on hills that i would have never come close to 2 years ago. It takes time to get the feel of the machine. Try out a 3720, they are good machines and wont let you down. :thumbsup: