Ducati07
Bronze Member
I could have purchased any tractor I felt was the best tractor for my application. A couple of months ago I went with a brand new, 2013 model Kubota L45 TLB. I had them throw in a Landpride flail mower to the contract. I just hit 75 hrs on it and so far, I have mostly used it for mowing and around 10 hours or so doing dirt work. A couple of days ago, I couldn't be happier with my purchase....today, I'm wondering if I should have went with a Deere because of some pretty small stuff. But, that just has me afraid of what's to come in the future with this machine that I spent a heck of a lot of money on. Is it a lemon?
Two days ago....I'm 2 hours into a job that's going to take around 6 to finish. I break down. Everyone knows that downtime kills a job! I'm 45 minutes from home and my three point hitch will not raise. I put the mower down and I felt like the handle went limp. Sure enough, I look around and I see the roll pin came out of the linkage on the lift/lower handle. I was very, very fortunate that the pin was still there, barely hanging on. I took off the cover by the seat and by a small miracle, I was able to get that pin out, and back in within 30 minutes. It could have been much worse if I had to leave the mower there, go home for repairs, and back another time to finish the job and pick up my mower. I was very lucky and I know that could have been a costly down time experience. I'm not cheap to hire and time is money!
Today....I get a call and someone needs 4 hours of dirt work and some mowing. No problem I tell him...I'll be there at 10 am sharp. I'm NEVER late. I cleaned my air filter and washed my radiator off and I'm ready to go. No, not so fast. My stupid hood won't close! Ever since the day I bought this thing, the hood has been really hard to close. Today, I never was able to close it...it's still open! I showed up on time but I spent 1/2 hour trying to close that lame hood. Once again, I am very lucky because I back my tractor on while the mower is attached to make it fit. Otherwise, I guess I would have had to tie it shut with rope? That would be very lame, new tractor with a rope tied to the hood!!! I really not happy because in trying to close the hood 500 times...it made a very small dent in the hood. I am very picky about dents and this one is very small. But, what the heck!
What if I get a call right now for backhoe work? I front load the backhoe. The hood will rip off going down the highway. Yeah, you'll know it's me because I'm the guy with rope tied on the hood of his new Kubota tractor.
I know these issues are not major but how often are small stupid stuff like this going to pop up? How am I going to close my darn hood!!! I actually lost money today because I didn't have time to fuel up before the job and the guy decided he wanted a lot more work done after he saw what I could get done. I was able to stick around for a few more hours but I could have spent a couple more there.
Should I have bought a Deere? Maybe....
Two days ago....I'm 2 hours into a job that's going to take around 6 to finish. I break down. Everyone knows that downtime kills a job! I'm 45 minutes from home and my three point hitch will not raise. I put the mower down and I felt like the handle went limp. Sure enough, I look around and I see the roll pin came out of the linkage on the lift/lower handle. I was very, very fortunate that the pin was still there, barely hanging on. I took off the cover by the seat and by a small miracle, I was able to get that pin out, and back in within 30 minutes. It could have been much worse if I had to leave the mower there, go home for repairs, and back another time to finish the job and pick up my mower. I was very lucky and I know that could have been a costly down time experience. I'm not cheap to hire and time is money!
Today....I get a call and someone needs 4 hours of dirt work and some mowing. No problem I tell him...I'll be there at 10 am sharp. I'm NEVER late. I cleaned my air filter and washed my radiator off and I'm ready to go. No, not so fast. My stupid hood won't close! Ever since the day I bought this thing, the hood has been really hard to close. Today, I never was able to close it...it's still open! I showed up on time but I spent 1/2 hour trying to close that lame hood. Once again, I am very lucky because I back my tractor on while the mower is attached to make it fit. Otherwise, I guess I would have had to tie it shut with rope? That would be very lame, new tractor with a rope tied to the hood!!! I really not happy because in trying to close the hood 500 times...it made a very small dent in the hood. I am very picky about dents and this one is very small. But, what the heck!
What if I get a call right now for backhoe work? I front load the backhoe. The hood will rip off going down the highway. Yeah, you'll know it's me because I'm the guy with rope tied on the hood of his new Kubota tractor.
I know these issues are not major but how often are small stupid stuff like this going to pop up? How am I going to close my darn hood!!! I actually lost money today because I didn't have time to fuel up before the job and the guy decided he wanted a lot more work done after he saw what I could get done. I was able to stick around for a few more hours but I could have spent a couple more there.
Should I have bought a Deere? Maybe....
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