I upgraded from a
L3200 to a
L4060... the new machine is 12" wider (could set tires in a bit, but the extea stability is nice) not to mention double the weight. Even on 2wd I tear up turf more. Way more stable, definitely, but not more maneuverable. There are a good handful of places I cant get the big machine into that i could get the old one. I turned the
L3200 around completely inside the barn in, cant do that with
L4060 in under an hour. I drove the
L3200 into my shop & garage (ROPS down). Cant do that with the cabbed machine, not sure if I could do it with a
L4060 open station either.
I'm glad I upgraded 98% of the time. 2% of the time I need to lift a lathe in the shop or what not.
Having re-read my post before hitting the "Submit" button, I realize this is quite lengthy. If it's too long to read, please skip it. The goal is to explain my earlier comments based on my usage and provide useful information to those who may have a similar application.
I wonder if we have much different soil, although about an acre of mine along the creek does flood a few times each year. More than a few last year.
First off, I never use 4WD when mowing. When I had a
B7500 there were a couple places I either had to use 4WD or raise the RFM for weight on the (loaded) rear tires for traction while backing up a grade. When I bought the
L3200 that problem went away. All three Kubotas have had fluid filled rear tires. The little Ford just has air.
I never mow with the FEL attached. It's too easy to drop the entire frame and everything. That's been my practice since 2002 with all 3 tractors that I've had with FEL's.
Our Ford is the only tractor I've used with R1 tires. It leaves the most noticeable marks. The next 3 all had R4's. I'd imagine a larger tractor with R1's could be a real problem. Until the first mowing with the
L4240 I was afraid that due to its size I might need to get turf tires for it. I guess the relationship of weight to tire width must play into this because the
L3200 was easier on the grass than the
B7500 and the
L4240 is better than the
L3200. Looking back, I think the other R4-equipped tractors (bought new) treated the grass a bit better when they got some hours on the clock. The front tires on tight turns sometimes left a curved line of dots where the turf was stressed. Could be that the sharp edges of the lugs wore a little. Since the
L4240 had 977 hours on it, maybe brand new tires would behave differently.
Most of my seat time is mowing. Maneuverability for me is primarily getting the RFM where it needs to be. I have posted the picture below in another thread. The
L3200 and
L4240 are shown having completed a 180 degree turn. I parked both tractors and stuck a driveway marker against each left rear tire. Then I drove each tractor in the tightest left turn they'd make. When I completed the 180 degree turn I measured from the driveway marker to the new location of the left rear tire. The measurement for the larger tractor was 27" less. There's one tree in an odd place here with a mulched area around it. I can now turn hard and mow around it in a circle without backing up or re-approaching it. When I complete the work on the wider deck, it may even get better. Or I'll start scalping off the high spots in the yard
As mentioned before, the marks at the lower right in front of the
L3200 are the tracks left by the
L3200. The less noticeable tracks between the tractors are from the
L4240. That's how it looks in real life. It might also make difference that the rears on the
L4240 are more toroidal in shape without the flat ground contact area the tires on the
L3200 have and the
B7500 had as well.
Since December I've put about 30 hours on the
L4240. The first perhaps 15-20 were doing snow removal. We didn't get much snow this year, but I do our church parking lots and help out a few neighbors. The next largest use was mowing with some FEL work and odd stuff like dragging a shed and flipping a mower deck I'm working on. I have no inside or confined area loader work. The last time I used a tractor inside a building was carrying large rolled-up pieces of used conveyor belt inside our club's pistol range. That was way back with the
B7500 and that was the last tractor of mine that would fit through the door.
I mentioned somewhere that tree trimming was necessary for mowing with the "new" tractor. I mowed a few times without doing that, and had to be careful with the taller tractor. Last night I trimmed the neighbor's trees to get rid of the smaller branches that rubbed the roof. If the weather is decent I'll do our place this weekend. Since building the cab for the
L3200 I already needed to be aware of clearances. The
L4240 just needs a little more. If I had gone from a ROPS-down open station to the
L4240 it may have felt like going from a Mini Cooper to a Tahoe.
Yes, I need another shed due to the height. When I built the cab for the
L3200 I made it to fit the shed
