Home Forums Miscellaneous Topics Rural Living Looking for a tractor

We have a local farm store here that has begun to sell LS tractors. I have looked at them, and they seem to be a well made tractor. I've been told, that this is the same company that makes the smaller New Holland and Case-IH tractors. When I was looking to buy a 40-50 HP tractor for what I call piddling work, I looked at a used LS. My main concern was parts. I was told the concern there was not the availability, but the time it might take to get them.

Well the CFO or Household-6 as she likes to call herself had a serious heart to heart with me yesterday. She reminded me that I've only been back to work a little over a month now after taking a year off for a shattered leg, and that our O'Crap account is still a little depleted. She's agreed to let me look for a bigger tractor in the future, maybe one with a cab.

Looks like I'm getting the Kubota L3010. It might be a little underpowered for some of my needs, but our household budget will like us better at $13,675 out the door vs. $26,250 for the LS. I feel like I did okay, they were originally asking $15K for the Kubota and I was able to negotiate them down to the price I got with a new 5' Land Pride mower and Rhino 9" post digger.

That's about exactly what I need. I'm real tired of running a snowblower into the wind!

And when the snow melts you can clean up after the dog

I have a 1958 Ferguson 35 around 38hp I was looking for something to plow garden work the gravel driveway and square bale some hay.I previously had a 8 n and upgraded somewhat to bigger and better.With chains plowing snow it's a tank and with a sickle mower in hay I can damn near keep up with a disc mower people probly laugh when they see me baling hay but it gets the job done on a small budget.

I sell John Deere for a living.I would look at a 3032 or 3038.On the 32 you should be able to get one with a loader for right at 20k.Deere has 0% financing and the tractor comes with a 6 year powertrain warranty.I sell a ton of this model and they are hard to beat for the money.

My Tractors

International 986 = $11,000 ~90 hp
M Farmall = $1,000
Super C Farmall with a Woods mower = $1,400

The Santa Fe Trail -- maybe not severe winters - cab needed?

I bought a JD 3032E with hydro static drive, FEL, and Frontier brush cutter brand new in May for $18,500. I use it for discing firebreak, knocking down brush in the thicker areas of planted pines and mowing a pecan orchard. 80 hours of use and love it.

I have a 3038E that I've been using for several years. No complaints with it for what it is and love the 0%. Very rare that it will sit more than a day without being used for something.

Edited to add complaint of the small fuel tank.....

My Kubota B2601 just turned 100 hrs. I bought it new in Oct. '15.I have used it mostly for snow removal, firewood retrieval and tree thinning here on 57 acres(pasture and timberland). I bought it with a snow blower, back blade, bucket and forks. It is also 4wd, which is a must with a low hp tractor. This was the smallest Kubota that has the quick change system up front. Changing bucket to forks takes seconds. It is the bobcat system. The tractor also has a class 1 3 pt hitch in the rear. There many implements available for this tractor. I did add a Pat's quick hitch system for the 3 pt.I also have a Bush Hog mower for the 3 pt. So far, this tractor has been faultless. Sometimes I wish for something larger but this is not the tractor's fault. I do not necessarily bang the drum for Kubota as I suppose there are many good brands. Kubota is the closest dealer, parts are common and the resale is great. The biggest issue I have is for my height I cannot see the tips of the forks when close to and level with the ground. We also have an old 8N which in it's day was fine. Compared to today's tractors it is slow, clumsy and is pretty much a brush hog puller.

Need to look at the weight of a tractor before you buy. Kubotas are good just don't weigh enough to do lifting A utility tractor needs to do all

^^^^^ lightweight build is a problem with all new tractors, even 50+ hp. In many situations a letter series Jd or Farmall will out perform a newer, higher hp, 4wd. The old tractors made huge torque at very low rpm, add the weight of build, and they are unstoppable. We used them to pull wagons with 500 gallons of maple sap before pipelines brought the sap down to a collection tank. Working from December to April the trails would go from packed snow to knee deep mud. Getting stuck was pretty rare.

Down here, a heavy tractor will get you stuck. When it rains in the sandy part of the country, and becomes soaked and saturated, the sand is now "quick sand" for lack of a better description.

In the black gumbo part of the area, heavier gets stuck faster as well.

Some guys down here I know add weight to their tractors by filling the tires with water, or getting their tires foam filled. Both add LOTS of weight.

Tag

Different part of the country that I don't understand. Here we fill tires with fluid that don't freeze, hang weights and chain up 4 months out of the year. Small light tractors can't put HP to the ground, lift anything and slide around or spin

There's a trade off on weight. A heavier tractor with slimmer, heavy lugged ag tires will definitely put more HP on the ground, especially when using ground engaging equipment. Same tractor is much more likely to get stuck when bushhogging in wetter areas like the banks of ponds or fence lines in low places (especially if the ground is uneven putting more weight on one side) than a lighter tractor with wider industrial tires. Lighter tractor is much easier to get out if it does get stuck as well.

Another trade off is with the lighter compact tractors that have a hydrostatic transmission vs a manual transmission. A bit of PTO HP is lost with the hydrostatic, but the trade off may be worth it depending on the type of work it's going to be used for.

I spent several weeks sowing down pasture this fall and using 3 different tractors. Heavy with a geared transmission used in long straight stretches are the clear winner for heavy lifting or ground engagement. Tight corners, uneven/wet ground, lots of maneuvering, the lighter hydrostostatics are so much easier.

Every one's situation is different, but I wouldn't own a tractor without fluid in the rear tires. I've had experience with both with and without fluid, and in the work I do around here, I need the traction that fluid provides. I'll give you an example....I had a Kubota L4200 that I used for a small tractor, FWD with frontend loader, no fluid in tires. It was constantly losing traction, with the rear tires spinning out. I sold it and replaced it with a NH TC45A, same horsepower, but lighter. It is also FWD, with frontend loader, and has fluid in the rear tires. It will outperform the Kubota easily, simply because it has the traction the fluid provides. On my large tractor that I use for the big jobs and haying the cows, I wouldn't consider using it without the fluid filled tires. I use calcium chloride, but am considering the switch to Rim Guard, a product that doesn't rust the rims.

JamesJr, I'm with you.

I'm here in sandy country, just like rocknbbar, and heavy tractors just don't do well here.
I have a Kubota L5030 FWD with a front loader and Rim Guard filled rear tires. No problems lifting to the capacity of my front loader nor problems pulling a gang disc or 16" bottom plow.

IMHO, the hydrostatic transmission is the only way to go for a small operation like ours where the longest straight stretch of ground I cover is a hair over 400 yards and I have a lot of trails to maintain, timber to manage, and every other horse ranch duty you can imagine.

Ed

Both my tractors have the shuttle transmission.

Love it!

To me, shuttle shift is the happy medium between manual and hydro. I want to use all the hp I bought and you lose some in hydro.