The Forestry Forum

I need your opinions guys. 
I have been looking to buy a roughly 50hp tractor for quite some time now.  I almost pulled the trigger on a brand new Kubota a few months ago but held off.

I found an '03 Kubota L4610 with front end loader for sale near me.  It comes with a box blade, landscape rake, and quick attach forks.  I plan to use the forks for moving logs and lumber around the mill, and also using a farmi skidding winch on the back.  It is 4x4 with R4 tires and Hydro transmission which is what I want, I will use it for a lot of loader work, moving logs and lumber, and general 'woods' work that I always seem to do. 

Currently my dad and I have two tractors, one older case with a front end loader, and one mid 80's case with no loader but is 4x4 and has forks on the rear hitch.  We want to sell those two and buy one decent tractor. 

The L4610 I looked at is in good condition, has been garage kept, has been maintained regularly, runs/looks like new and has 500 hrs on it.  it doesn't look like it's been beat or ran hard.  The tires are in good shape but one has a plug in it from a nail, but holds air. 

Originally the guy wanted 17,500 and I talked him down to 16k.  Do you think that is a fair price for New England?  THe guy that is selling it seems to think I'm 'stealing' it from him but I don't think I am.  I think its a pretty fair price.  I plan to have this tractor a long time and eventually upgrade to a cab tractor.  Do you think I should buy it or wait for a better deal to come along? 

Thanks for your help guys.

If he was to go out in the morning and the tractor was gone he would have a better idea of what stealing is. What you offered is a more reasonable price than his. bg

Piston. By american keep the money in the USA. and it will be worth more when you sell or trade it in or keep for ever. like the WM. keep america working. stay away from the chinese junk. you can save money in the short run with the junk, but in the end it will get you, help save america, I have a John deere.I hope no one get mad at me. its just I love america and I do what I can Pete ;)

Peter I agree with you, but can you buy atractor thats all american made? I have a 1987 Ford and its made in Japan. Its been a good one. bg

L series are for hobby farming the L4610  is great for landscaping you could find a new one for 23,000 implements are the plus for your deal. but if your looking for something to lift 2000 lbs or more the M series are the tkt. first thing i would look for is how much you want to be able to lift and move around easily. 50 hp range for all tractors with loaders average 2500 lb that is a good average spec. Better to get more tractor than you need especially if your shopping for used models. Tractors hold there value so it is a investment. Hydro is a great option but it dose rob HP.

I'm with redbeard here. Go for the bigger M series. You will be pushing the limits on the L's all the time. I have an M4700 50 hp that does all I ask and then some, and its been rock solid. Front loader with forks and a logging winch on the back.

I would look over the front wheel drive design, it may be on the light side for the amount you want to lift.

When I was looking at a 4 wheel drive tractor 2 years ago, I decided that the New Holland tractors were heavier build and should handle a loader with less problems. 

Sounds like you found yourself something you like. Garage kept is a big plus.  M series is stronger . I have a B3030 4wd with cab and loader ,  bought it used 3 yrs ago from Ahearns in Spencer, about the same price. It barely picks up a 22" x 12' pine log. The hydro is great. Now if you could keep 1 of the older tractors and get the kubota and the attachments you should be set for quite a while. Holmes

Quote from: Peter Drouin on January 01, 2011, 08:25:24 PM
I have a John deere.I hope no one get mad at me. its just I love america and I do what I can Pete ;)

What model JD? You do know that many of they are built overseas and shipped here...? Many are built by yanmar and then painted green and put on a boat.

Piston, I almost bought an L4610 in January of 2001, but when I got to the dealer they had the first L48 in the area, which I promptly put a deposit on. :D

As long as you are comfortable with the lifting range of this machine, I think I would go for it. The M series are nice, but no hydro, which I wouldn't be without. You may not be able to lift some of the logs you can skid with it, but you can roll them up ramps on to the LT15. You will certainly be able to lift any timber you might need to saw, and just make thinner stacks of lumber. A friend of mine bought the L3710 in 2000, it's been a great machine. I believe the L4610 has a beefed up front axle like the L48, as well as the backhoe style linkages on the bucket cylinders.

My Kubota is more American than any other compact tractor that I know of, the loader and hoe were made, I think, in Georgia. All of the small JDs are Yanmars from Japan.

I had a 1710 Ford, it was made by Shibaru in Japan I think it was a 1983 model.  If I remember right John Deere up to about 50hp are made in Japan with Yanmar motors.  John Deere log loaders are Hitachi, made in Canada, painted JD green now with JD motors and pumps.  The rest is Hitachi.  Case and Link Belt log loaders are made by Samsung I think.  There are only a few foundaries world wide that produce these things, unfortunately not many in the US. 

My 4320 does everything I've asked it to do and has taken a beating! I gotta say go Orange here!

Not sure about your area but around here you can often find larger 75~100hp tractors at a lower price than the CUTs.   I agree about the JD tractors they are mostly made overseas and somewhat assembled here (mostly putting on the wheels and roll bars ect not much more than that though untill you get to the BIG tractors.)   Most of even the BIG tractors are castings ect made in India and Japan with most of the assembly done there & shipped here in hunks that are bolted together.   I do like the Kubotas but they have become a high priced machines there are a lot of good tractors made in china & korea that are more than capable of what you are wanting and for 16,500 you can pretty much get all new for that or less.  look at the FOTONs and JINMAS I think BOLTON power and equipment are out east and may have some in-stock that can provide you some answers. look a at TBN for some additional help.    try RK and FarmPro as well as Nortrack.

Mark

Quote from: chevytaHOE5674 on January 01, 2011, 10:08:20 PM

Quote from: Peter Drouin on January 01, 2011, 08:25:24 PM
I have a John deere.I hope no one get mad at me. its just I love america and I do what I can Pete ;)

What model JD? You do know that many of they are built overseas and shipped here...? Many are built by yanmar and then painted green and put on a boat.

There was a time when there were green Yanmar's. In the mid to late 90's, Deere moved into the "build-their-own" markets and not sure any of them are now re-badged Yanmar's.
Deere also has been getting into building their own diesel engines in the 40-50 HP and up, but think the 3 cyl Yanmar power is still used around the 35-40 HP size.

The CUT plant assembly in Augusta, GA lines turning out the Deere 4200, 4300, 4400, 4500, 4600, 4700 started up in about 1998. The production numbers at that plant were pretty staggering (around 44,000 tractors), and about 4 times what Deere expected them to be. At that time the 4100 was the only Yanmar painted green.

Since that time, Deere built at least one if not two more large assembly plants in or around Augusta, GA.

And Burlkraft is pretty happy with his latest M series Kubota.  ;D

There's a big plant North of Sioux Falls, SD airport that turns out every color front end loader we use here in the states. My Ford is 45 hp and made in England. The comparable JD's I looked at all had Yanmar engines. Up to 60 hp the dealer was saying.

God bless America !! Go orange,buy the Kubota !!!! You will not regret it, it is American Made !!!  As for John Deere its takes 7 foreign countries to get one built !! Not Made in America !!

I owned a 4610 for 5 years great machine,awesome yard machine for loading mulch, traded in because leg injury,prevented operation of HST foot peddle.....

I have owned a 1979-L195, 1987-L2550, 2000 -L4610, 2005-M6800, All great machines, all still in use today.  As for JD, IH also have owned or operated many as well

I think I'll probably pull the trigger on it.  I'm not too worried about needing more power than it has as far as getting a bigger tractor as I think this will do about 85% of what I need it for.  We also have a full size backhoe that I will use for anything that's too large for the tractor, we don't have any trees around that I can't handle with the backhoe. 

I looked into the M series and if they had available HST in the used market I would have gone that route.  To me the HST is more important for now, it seems like everyone who has used the kubota HST raves about it.  I wish I could spring for the new 5740 with cab but its just too far out of the budget right now. 

I just wish Kubota would put the dang brakes on the left side so it was easier to brake and turn, but that is an entirely different argument altogether  :D

Thanks for your opinions and I'll keep you posted.  I have a few days to decide.
The only thing I will need to ad is some extra hydraulics so I can operate a grapple on the FEL, I know that will be a little chunk of change too but will be so worth it!

Hi Piston, Sounds like you made up your mind, good luck to you.  I knew I would get a lot of heat with this post.  To the fellows who ask questions, my John Deere is a 2000   5410   and has an 81 horse engine 4 cylinder, no turbo, 41/2 inch pistons. I don't know what to say, the tractor says John Deere all over it, so in my mind you can buy an American tractor.  Happy New Year.  8) 8) 8)

Hi Piston, I bought a new 3130 Kubota TLB in 2006.  It has about 1000  hours now and I would not sell it for what you are payin for a bigger machine with fewer hours.  To replace my machine would cost $24000 plus tax.  I bought a John Deere 110 last summer and I really don't need the 3130 anymore but I'd rather just keep it than take such a big loss.  So I think you are being offered a good deal.
Another thing.  My Kubota is a shuttle shift and the JD is hydrostatic and I'll take the shuttle shift over the hydro by a big margin.  I can do way more accurate work with the clutch.  I know that many prefer the hydro...not me.  My JD was mainly made out of the USA.

I don't know of a Kubota that has been any thing but good for its owner. We use 40 ish HP model (cant remember model #) around our mill and it is marginally adequate at best but we had it and will replace as finances allow. It is a great tractor but it is an acreage tractor and is just not enough tractor. You can never have to much lift capability when you are using a tractor around logs and lumber.

You will never regret buying a bigger tractor but you don't need 200HP either. :D

Lift capacity should be a major consideration for you.

Qweaver, the JD hydro is not comparable to Kubota's HST, way more slop. If they made a Bic pen attachment for tractors, I could sign my name with my Kubota HST.

Piston, in almost 1900 hours, I've never once needed to use the individual brakes, in fact the little tab is rusted, I'd have to free it up just to used them. Your mileage may vary on that point.

Dave,
I'm used to two older tractors, one with no power steering and the other with no front weight on it (no FEL so if I have a heavy load on the forks in the back the front wheels don't turn too good) so that is why I use the brakes a lot to assist turning. 
I'll probably notice the same as you though once I start using a nicer tractor, I have to say I'm pretty excited for it and hope the deal goes through.   8)

I've never used an HST tractor so I hope I like it, but I really don't have any doubts.

I have a quick question.   What is the difference between "Hydro"  and "HST"  ?

I believe HST stands for HydroStatic Transmission, so I don't think there is a difference.

HST is hydro, GST is Kubota's shuttle shift transmission.

Correct, my Kubota is a GST shift. I'm not sure I use it as I'm supposed to cause I still clutch for every shift.

Your looking at a good tractor and you won't regret it, especially with the implements.  My ancient L series has been very good to me.

As a comparision, Koiti is selling brand dk45's with loaders for 18.5k and often factory financing can be pretty good.  The dk is not a hydro tho and is a stripper of a tractor so I don't think you did too bad.

As far as made in the USA goes, no sub 50 horse machine is made in the us.  YOu might argue that the profits end up here with a US company, but even that is a stretch these days with conglomerates. 

All I can really say about tractors is I have never heard a bad thing about Kubotas and Mahindrahs.

Dave

Thanks guys,
Hopefully I'll be posting a pic of my new to me tractor here within the next week!  8)

I'm pretty excited about it.  This is gonna make loading logs on the LT15 a WHOLE lot easier...especially once I get the grapple.

Well I did it guys..... 8)

This will make handling logs a WHOLE lot easier for me! 

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/17127/2939/Tractorandtruck.jpg)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/17127/2939/Tractor8.jpg)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/17127/2939/Tractor14.jpg)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/17127/2939/Tractor2.jpg)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/17127/2939/Tractorforks.jpg)


Now I just need to get some action shots! 

 8) 8)

Nice looking tractor. You will have plenty of snow to move in the morning ,12 to 18 inches .  Have fun   Holmes

Those open, easy access cockpits sure are nice.  It might be the nicest thing about the tractor.   I'm sure it will do what you want it to do if you don't get in a hurry.  I've done it with a lot less.  :)

One thing that you might find handy is a flat-bar for bracing welded along the upper side of the bucket and a locking chain hook welded on it.   It makes it easier to pick up logs without the forks.   Put the skidder hook on a short chain and hook the chain on the hook.  Roll the bucket over and hook the skiddeer hook to the center of the log (balanced as best as you can) and then roll the bucket so that the cutting edge goes under the log and the skidder hook pulls the log up against the sides of the bucket.  The bucket actually ends up holding most of the weight and the skid hook holds it there.

You are probably already aware of losing a load over the top of the bucket.  A log might kill you.   I think I would invest in a 4 point ROPS or at least build a stop of some kind in front of the steering wheel.

Sweet!

Good move kicking your wife's car outside to make room for it.  ;D

Quote from: Norm on January 12, 2011, 08:00:34 AM
Sweet!
Good move kicking your wife's car outside to make room for it.  ;D

Here it was this morning....  :D :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/17127/1748/IMG01194-20110112-1030.jpg)


Tom, thanks for the advice.  I've read quite a bit on tractorbynet in the 'safety' forum over there for operating and didn't come across that one yet! 
I am planning on getting a root grapple for the front end to replace the bucket.  The majority of what I'll be doing will be made a lot easier and safer with the grapple.