yanmarcbl40 vs kubota L39

[BigKid]

Hey guys, never posted here before but have been reading alot of reviews and seems like alot of people have received alot of help so i was hoping you guys could help me. I have a kubota L3940 and am looking to upgrade to a tlb. I have looked at many of them and have narrowed it down to the yanmar cbl40 and the kubota L39. I am looking for any opinions good or bad on either machine. Only thing i saw on the yanmar was the low pto Hp but other than that it looks like a very well built and thought out machine. Any advice would be greatly appreciated and i thank you all in advance for you help

 

[yekrut]

I looked at the Yanmar a little about a year ago when I was looking at TLB's. I probably didn't give it as thorough a look as the JD 110 and the Kubota line of TLBs. It looks like a stout machine but I didn't have many dealers around and had a little trouble getting any feeback on them. Not fair for me to comment further on it. I ended up with an L39. I have about 200 hrs. on it in 11 months. It fits my needs really well. Not sure what you are looking to do but it has the right combination of power, manuverability and reliability (so far) I was looking for. It's kind of a swiss army knife. There may be other machines that will do particular things better but it has done everything I have needed it to very well. The hoe is a stud for it's size and the loader has perform well for me as well. I have a stock FEL bucket, grapple bucket and and 12 and 24 inch BH buckets. I have dug out 50+ stumps (ranging from 5-30+ inches in diameter) and taken down 20 some trees rootball and all. I've cleared a couple acreas of brush, put 75 ft of drain tile in, moved 20 ton of #57 gravel, cleared a creek (still working on that), moved 100 ton of fill, Dug drainage ditch, graded several low areas with fill I moved in, moved tons of Landscaping boulders and mulch, transplanted 8ft tall pine trees, moved a couple holly bushes, fixed a septic problem and several other odd jobs. Didn't mean to run on but just wanted to give you an idea the type of work it does for me. I'm just a homeowner - don't contract out. It's a chunk of change but the efficiency it brings to the scope of work I have on my 14 acres is a good match. I have a 21hp CUT that compliments it so I thought the stronger integral frame TLB was what would supply the best bang for the buck in my situation. I have attached a few photos. If you like to see more or have any questions let me know. Good luck with your decision.

 

[BTI]

Yanmar CBL40=JD110 unless something has changed in the last year or so.

BTI

 

[BigKid]

I agree Yekrut that the kubota is an awesome machine. I have spent hours looking it over and was only unsure about 2 things. One is the seat, it spins but you have to get off, spin the seat and then walk through. ON the yanmar you can spin on the seat. It seems like a little thing but maybe something that over time will have me irritated. The second is the GST on the kubota. I know it puts lots of power to the ground but does it slow overall production down or is that a non factor. I have also looked at the john deere and i think the yanmar is different in many ways and it is a good different but thats only my opinion and it's only from what i have gathered from looking at the 2 machines. I will continue to keep you guys posted on the whole deal and hope your feedback continues. Thanks again for all your help

 

[yekrut]

I agree Yekrut that the kubota is an awesome machine. I have spent hours looking it over and was only unsure about 2 things. One is the seat, it spins but you have to get off, spin the seat and then walk through. ON the yanmar you can spin on the seat. It seems like a little thing but maybe something that over time will have me irritated.

Not sure why you think you have to get of the seat? I'm 5'11 235lbs and never get off the seat to run the hoe. Maybe the yanmar has more room but you shouldn't have to get of the seat to spin. It was a little tricky a first first - second nature now. You spin left. I pull up the spin lever on the left, move you left leg around the corner of the seat keep your right leg about where it normally is and spin you shouldn't have a problem. When I first spun the seat the left corner of seat and my left knee would get caught. But if clear your knee of the corner first before you spin it's really quite easy. I just got off the seat about 20minutes ago. Did this 3 times. Most of my work lately is driving to the creek, spinning,setting up the hoe, diggin everything I can, spinningback around running the dirt to the fill locationtil the piles gone. Resesting the hoe and doing the same thing again.Did 3 sets tonight in a couple hrs. If you are really large it may be a problem but I would think you would be fine.

The second is the GST on the kubota. I know it puts lots of power to the ground but does it slow overall production down or is that a non factor.

I'm guessing here but I would imagine with the 39HP engine they were looking at just what you indicated when they decided to go with GST on this machine. Power. The pto, hoe and fel need it and to sacrifice the few hp loss of HST was probably giving up to much in performance. I glad to have the power. I would say it's what allows the L39 to spec right with the 43 hp 110 and darn close to the L48. I have run the hoe on all of them and the L39 is every bit as good. GST has been around awhile and is quite a proven transmission.Very dependable. I probably use the clutch more than I need to but it's habit I guess. I think HST probably has advantage for some but dought that speed in most case is one of them. If were doing a bunch of really short fel runs it would probably help a little with performance. I actually think HST tends to bog down more getting into piles. If you have varying situations I would imagine sometime you would prefer HST in some and GST in others.

Creep type function is attainable as well. Mike (from NH) showed me this. He used a hanger (See attached pic). I used alittle piece of Tyvek tape to bypass the switch which kills the engine when you shift out of neutral from the hoe position. By doing this you can lower your rpms set speed level at 1 and go F or R. Kinda slick.

Also - Here's my front remote setup for the grapple and the joysitck with remote controls in case your interested.

 

[BigKid]

Thanks for the advice about the seat. I am going to have to stop by the dealer and see how that works for me. I am 6'1 215lbs so i shouldn't have a problem the way you expalined it. I also agree with your take on the GST, in fact i wa told by the dealer that the reason they don't use HST is just as you say, they had to put power to the ground to compete with the 110. You deffinitely have a nice looking setup their and i hope whichever machine i choose it turns out just as nice. Thanks for the help and if their is anything else that you or anyone else thinks may help me decide which way to go please let me know.