Tractor help, Kubota Grand L 4060

[Joe13]

Hello all,

I guess I will introduce myself here and ask some questions at the same time. I just recently built a new home in southern ME. Im now the proud owner of 11 acres of wooded, hilly land at the end of a private road. The road is roughly 12-14 ft wide, mostly dirt and a half mile long until it meets the public road. I know I will need a tractor, and im looking into the Grand L 4060 Cab unit. Main reason is going to be snow removal. Plowing is not feasible due to stone walls, hilly roads and nowhere to put the snow in bank format. my plan was to get the Grand with a 74" front mount snowblower to clear the half mile road. I figure I could do it in two passes, one out one back to keep the road at least 12 ft wide instead of the 8 it shrunk to this winter while I was building.

1) What I am looking for is some help. First off, will the 40 hp model be adequate for that type of snow removal? I have no problem doing multiple runs to clear snow on big storms, but I am hoping to maintain a walking pace when clearing it at the very least.

2) I want to get a sander for the rear, but something economical. A spreader for sand is my real goal. I don't need it to be fancy, cost will really be a big factor.

3) I would love to go used, but it seems like the market is junk for used Grands, or they cost almost the same as new. I have never bought a tractor before, so what would be a reasonable price to pay? I think when I used the build on their site it clocked in at 53K with the loader and the front mount snowblower and manual hitch.

I also have plans to use the tractor for some firewood duties, and want it as stable as possible. Is there a way from the factory to have the rear wheels a bit farther out? the tractors on the lot seemed pretty skinny.


Thank you all for your help in advance! here is a gratuitous shot of the new house and property for you guys!

 

[Gator6x4]

Never blown any snow, but several have posted picture on TBN where they are blowing snow with a tractor with less than the horsepower of the Kubota 4060. I say go for it the 4060 will also with a scrape or box blade maintain the road in the summer, or non snow months. Always check your head room travel path when using around trees or in the woods. Cab repair is expensive.

If any of the driveway is up hill you may also need chains for the wheels. A lot move snow without chains.

 

[Joe13]

Never blown any snow, but several have posted picture on TBN where they are blowing snow with a tractor with less than the horsepower of the Kubota 4060. I say go for it the 4060 will also with a scrape or box blade maintain the road in the summer, or non snow months. Always check your head room travel path when using around trees or in the woods. Cab repair is expensive.

If any of the driveway is up hill you may also need chains for the wheels. A lot move snow without chains.

Thank you for the feedback! I hope to get a box blade as well, but it would probably have to wait until next year. Good Idea on the chains, I didn't event think of that.

 

[devildog1]

Hello and welcome. I have a Grand L3540 with a three point 74" L2674 snow blower for which I use to do two drives about 200' each. You will have no problem with the 4060 blowing snow and clearing your road. Sometimes I use the LP3584 back blade to clear out the snow that is not over 10" as it's faster then the snow blower for small snow falls. This past year we had record snow falls around West Charlton in upstate N.Y. Many times every three days I would be out scraping the driveways clean,pita. This spring I added a 3rd function valve on my grand L along with a HLA angled front snow plow to also push the every few days snow falls. You may want to make sure you have at least one set of rear remotes along with a 3rd function valve for the front of your tractor. Don't limit yourself to just the front snow blower because you may miss the FEL or the back blade for moving frozen snow banks, I never had or needed chains with my R-4's
DevilDog

 

[peterc38]

Hi Joe, I think I responded to a couple of your posts on a woodcutting forum (recognise the house picture). I think the L4060 will be more than adequate for what you need to do. I am also sending you a PM.

 

[lungdoc]

I think you'll be fine on power though cost of next step up in power sometimes isn't very much. For cost and ease of attachment I wouldn't overlook a rear pull-type blower. Lots of threads on here, MK Martin/Meteor, Erskine/Quick Attach and Provovost/Puma all well regarded brands. Many people use screw in studs instead of chains, we are planning to do that with a new L6060 cab. We're currently debating rear-pull (advantage cost and ease attachment, keep FEL on), front Kubota mechanical drive (advantage is at front, efficient power, drawback is frame install and storage of FEL/frame) and front hydraulic driven with rear PTO "power pack" pump and reservoir (advantage ease of install, keep FEL, can drive other hydraulic summer tools, drawbacks cost, lose some power/efficiency and ties up 3 point hitch during use).

 

[crazyal]

I have the previous model Grand L, the 40 series with a 72" front mount blower. With a front mount blower you loose some HP vs a rear mount blower. For the most part 40HP is enough. On occasion when going up some of the steeper parts of my driveway it'll bog down forcing to go at a very slow pace. Usually isn't a problem because I start out at the top of the hill and go down first so when I come back up there's only about 3 to 4 foot wide section of snow left. On real heavy snow falls I have been forced to go into low gear with the H-DS set to low as well. But not because of HP, that's usually because the blower can only throw so much snow and you will actually start to push it like a plow. But we are talking 2' plus dumpings. Like with anything tractor related, more HP is almost always a good thing. I wouldn't be afraid of going up tot he 4760 (it's always about money though).

I can tell you this, the duel speed hydrostatic transmission that the Grand Ls have can't be beat. I wouldn't buy a tractor without it now. When blowing snow being able to just push a lever and having the tractor go into low range when you come up to a drift (or something else) without having to stop is a real time saver.

 

[Joe13]

I have the previous model Grand L, the 40 series with a 72" front mount blower. With a front mount blower you loose some HP vs a rear mount blower. For the most part 40HP is enough. On occasion when going up some of the steeper parts of my driveway it'll bog down forcing to go at a very slow pace. Usually isn't a problem because I start out at the top of the hill and go down first so when I come back up there's only about 3 to 4 foot wide section of snow left. On real heavy snow falls I have been forced to go into low gear with the H-DS set to low as well. But not because of HP, that's usually because the blower can only throw so much snow and you will actually start to push it like a plow. But we are talking 2' plus dumpings. Like with anything tractor related, more HP is almost always a good thing. I wouldn't be afraid of going up tot he 4760 (it's always about money though).

I can tell you this, the duel speed hydrostatic transmission that the Grand Ls have can't be beat. I wouldn't buy a tractor without it now. When blowing snow being able to just push a lever and having the tractor go into low range when you come up to a drift (or something else) without having to stop is a real time saver.

Thanks a lot for the info! I figured if we are getting snow, the usual amount is 6-12" at a time, though we get 2' storms sometimes. With those, I would just go out middle of storm and clear it, like I do with my walk behind. I looked into the 4760, but I think it will be a bit too much more cash at this time. I price out the 4060 with loader and blower, weighted rears and turfs and it seems to be the sweet spot for me financially. I entertained the 3350 B series, but I think with the length of the road it wont be enough tractor to manage the snow and the eventual road upkeep.

 

[lungdoc]

For probably similar money I would consider a 4760 with a rear pull blower. Off-season storage of the front blower and frame isn't small either compared with conventional or rear-pull blowers. Needs a perfectly flat surface (at least for re-installing and not easy to move once off tractor), preferably indoors, and is length of tractor. Assume you priced the mid-PTO as well as all the frame bits for the blower - adds several thousand to blower alone.

 

[crazyal]

I can't speak for the 60 series but on the 40 series the sub frame isn't hard to install or remove. I do it on the garage floor and use a floor jack. There's a way of using the tractor's hydraulics and the sub frame to do it. It takes me about 10 to 15 minutes. The blower is a little trickier to install. The expansion joint on the PTO shaft looks to be square but it isn't, it's actually 1"x 1 1/8" so if you are not careful you can try to slide it together wrong (think square peg into round hole). It does have a more standard connector on the end of the front most pto shaft but it's in an awkward spot making hard to pull the collar back to install/ release it. Other than that it's pretty easy too. Storage is an issue. The sub frame goes the full length of the tractor (it uses the rear draw bar to hold it in the rear).

What I tell everyone is if your driveway is straight then the standard rear blower is a good option. If you plan on doing sidewalks or if you have snow banks you'll be clearing then a rear drag (front facing) blower isn't going to work that well. If you have the money to buy a front blower then do it. Most likely any other option is going to be a compromise. But the OP said he wants to have a rear mounted sander so that pretty much means front mount driven from a center pto or swapping attachments in the winter.

I do have a Herd 3pt sander. My driveway is a little steep in spots and after a couple of years of back to back ice storms I found a good deal on a used one and rebuilt it so it's like brand new now. I didn't use it once last winter. The few times I had ice I used my grading scrapper's ripping teeth to break up the ice. It works pretty well as long as the temp doesn't plunge to below zero before I can get to breaking it up.

The biggest problem with the spreader is the amount of gravel I go through. With a 3/4 mile long drive in the hills of Vermont it can take quite a bit of sand. The hopper is at least 3' high and takes about twenty 5 gallon sheet rock buckets to fill it. I usually have to fill it twice. That's a lot of gravel to move. The other issue is sand will freeze to the inside walls of the hopper if it's really cold out. The Herd spreaders have an agitator that bangs the sides of the hopper but it's not perfect. I could mix salt in to keep it from freezing but that's just more work. Every other year I just get a dumptruck load of sand delivered, maybe 15 yards. By mid January it has a thick layer of frozen sand that you have to bust through to get the unfrozen sand. I use my backhoe. If you had to do it with a pick axe or something it would be a job. I've always wanted to get a shed to put the sand in and get a small conveyor belt to load it but haven't yet.