Will 3430HST BE ENOUGH?

[s22]

i want to buy either a 3430 or 3830 hst and am getting down
to deal time....I have seen one 3130 Wr4/s and a 3830 w/ ags
I thought the physical size of the 3830 was a little large but
want to see them side by side..with r4's...I know the sizes are close, but they used different tire sizes and overall widths..I want to be able to
mow open, rolling pastures with a light duty 6' cutter.....can I get away with this with the 3430???....I think I will like the slightly
smaller frame of the 3430 with the r4/s in an outbound position. My other uses will be snow removal(maine), some
logging, grading,etc etc.......I am making the rounds to 3 dealers on Friday and want to narrow my decision.
How about this quote
L3430HST, loaded r4 tires, LA723 w/ skid steer quick attach,
block heater and bucket hooks 20600+tax.....I think I can do a little better....any input.....

 

[icat]

The difference in frame sizes between the L3430 and the L3830 is very minor - but I agree, it does look larger. As for the power differences, most 6 foot cutters are rated for a 30 pto hp tractor. The L3430 falls just short. However most everyone feels that the L3130 will pull the 6 footer and it's only rated at 24 pto hp, so the L3430 should do fine. I have the baby of the bunch, the L3130 and I went with a 5 foot cutter (peace of mind I guess - that and the dealer felt it was better to go with the 5 footer). Having said all that, I just checked the owner's manual on my L3130 and it shows the maximum rotary cutting width for the L3130, the L3430, and the L3830 as 72 inches. No mention of HP at all.

In most cases, anything the L3430 will do the L3130 can do also. Many of the dealers do not feel there is enough of a difference in the two units to stock both - so many only have the L3130 on hand. Going by strict mfg recomendations (cutter mfg. - not tractor), neither unit is rated for a 6 foot cutter. If I was attempting to decide between the L3430 and the L3830 I would go with the larger unit. You'll get a bigger tractor with more power that's rated to do what you want to do.

If the two tractors were the L3130 and the L3830, then the decision would be a bit harder (my delima). The L3830 is quite a bit of a jump in price over the L3130, but not that much more than the L3430. I had to decide that the L3830 was not justified in my case.

Good luck in your decision! Having just been there I know what you're going through.

 

[s22]

I think the 3130 would do almost everything that I would want,
but the more I pull a 5' mower around here, the more I
want more width.........The beautiful thing of having equipment that is breaking down and taking too much time to accomplish the tasks necessary is that when it comes time
to propose the Kubota idea, my wife never even flinched. I pitched the idea and got full support.......I have phoned all 3 dealers and have relatively high quotes from 2 of them on the 3830, they don't stock the 3430 and ask why I would want it if I can have the 3830 for another grand....I want to check out the tire dimensions and wheel widths to see what settings are available to get the lowest height/width ratio of tire to outside wheeltrack while keeping the width to under 6 feet(i.e. best stability)....does this make sense? My 1910 is about 5' on the outside w/ loaded 24" Ag's and scares the crap out of me on slopes sometimes....I want to maximize stability and be less than 6' wide.....

 

[icat]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( ... they don't stock the 3430 and ask why I would want it if I can have the 3830 for another grand ... )</font>

My thoughts exactly. The overall width of the L3830 is 66.5 inches - 6.7 inches more than the L3430. And that's at the minimum tread. R4's would likely increase the width even more. As such, your 6 foot width requirements may be a little short. I'm no tractor guru, but it seems to me that the best stability is with the widest track possible.

 

[Boondox]

Keith - Ditto all that you've said so far. I wanted a 3710 when I was in the market, but couldn't afford it at the time. I pull a 6' finish mower with my L3010HST here in the hills of northern Vermont and have had no trouble whatsoever...even in tall, wet grass. So it seems the engineers played this one way over on the conservative scale.

The only reason I still sometimes wish I had waited was the larger tractor's ability to handle a larger backhoe. I love my Woods 7500, but really could use the extra reach of the 9000!

Scott -- Ah, the stability issue. I have loaded aggie tires set at the widest possible setting. I routinely mow traversely on a 15 degree slope, and there is one section where I have to mow across a 22 degree slope. I do it slowly, and pre-walk the path looking for new rocks, ruts, etc. But the tractor handles that angle (though I've never lost the pucker factor) just fine.

My neighbor has a JD with R4s, and in our mucky soil they load up and spin all the time. That's why I went with aggies. But as I recall you Mainers have much more open, well-drained stuff to ride on. R4s should be fine.

Hope this helps a bit. Pete

PS: I'll be mowing this Sunday and would be willing to let you do it for me if you want the practice! /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[JATO_RaT]

I use a 84" finish mower with my L3830 HST. I'm not sure I understand why the restriction on widths sometimes, I recall the weight was the issue, not so much the width. If you look at the L30 series brochure, I think it shows a L3130 pulling a batwing which would easily exceed the maximum width. The catch may be that you won't be lifting the units with the 3 pt hitch creating an unbalanced situation, a guess anyway. You are right, the L3830 uses larger R4's and R1's but similar size R3's as the 3130 and 3430. I think you would be fine with any of the three as long as you realize that when the going gets tough, the smaller the unit, the slower the travel speed will be, but I rarely think that is an issue. When my grasses are really tall, I go slower then I might otherwise have to if just to allow better mulching of all the cuttings. Whether it's the 31, 34 or 3830, your decision probably won't really be wrong. I have the L3830 because just as I was going to purchase the L3130, 2 dealers suggested I consider the 3830 simply because my previous tractor had much more power. Had it not been for that, they said they would not have recommended it because I would not have ever known the difference. Fine, I got a L3830 HST which is kinda a L3130 thats been working out. It's a superb tractor and in my humble opinion, has yet to have a match. Rat.

 

[5030]

As usual I agree with RaT. I just happen to have a lid on my tractor. I don't like a sunburn on the top of my head.

 

[Moon]

s22,
I got a L3010 last year. I pull a 6' Rear Finish Mower and use a 5' light duty cutter for my fields/paths/hills etc. The tractor is awesome, although I have to be in Low gear to pull my rotary cutter up some of my hills.
For your question about a 6' cutter, are you meaning a finish mower or rotary cutter (aka: brush hog)? While I would guess a 3830 would handle 6' of either one, I believe a 6' rotary cutter would be a bit too much for a 3130. 5' works fine on mine, but it does strain on some of my hills.
Good luck with your shoppin / decision process.
Moon of Ohio

 

[s22]

Will mow mostly with a 6' cutter(aka bushhog, brushhog etc)
but would like to add 6' finish mower as well sometime....there is quite a bit that I mow w/ a bushhog(does a fine job) that would also be appropriate for a RFM...

Yes the soil here in Maine is differnt....I would expect less muck here as we do not have the Bovine Soil Maker density per acre of pasture as you do over there in Vermont......

Thanks all I will keep you posted after my 'shopping trip'.
Some time testing the machines may enlighten me some more...

 

[s22]

What about BB72 vs SQ720 vs Midwest type unit????
The plus side of Woods and BH is drive to town and get parts...The BH appears to be 50-70lbs lighter...both appear good units....