Thinking about a Kubota

SoonerAviator said:
Since we sold the L3130 last year, we've been trying to find a used 24-26HP B-series, but they sell used for $12K+, which starts making a case for buying new at that point.
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I saw the same thing AND waited too long until I truly had the equivalent of a dead / nearly unsupportable tractor that I also have difficulty operating.

So when Karen said go shopping, I went shopping! Haha.

I feel a little bad that the little Ford will be unceremoniously dumped into the wholesale market but no room to hang on to it waiting on a “loving restorer” type to come along and buy it, and definitely no room or time to part it out for the “loving restorer” people.

Just the way it goes with equipment sometimes. You get attached because it’s been “in the family” but at the end it becomes time to get the new tool.

I should have this conversation with myself about the crap in the garage too. I’m never going to reach for the hand crank bench grinder that grandpa owned... to use it for anything. Ever.

But it’s sure a cool old piece of gear.

Maybe the new tractor will help me by making it easy to throw things away in the bucket and then easily into a dump trailer to take to the dump? Hahaha.

Don’t look. Just shovel. Yeah it was grandpas. Chuck it anyway. Pick a couple nice old tools to keep and toss the garbage, man. Sigh. Ha.
 
As the odd man out, I have a Mahindra 45 hp. You'd need an actual plow blade to really get snow out of the way, but, hey, you can buy them, as long as you got the SSQA on the loader. The backhoe is great for burying your neighbor's dogs when they did; I've done that four times since I got it, tears cause mud on your face. Also great for pulling fence posts, and you get to buy another attachment. Not enclosed, the next one will be. Looking at 90 acres for retirement, so of course I'll need a bigger tractor.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
As the odd man out, I have a Mahindra 45 hp. You'd need an actual plow blade to really get snow out of the way, but, hey, you can buy them, as long as you got the SSQA on the loader. The backhoe is great for burying your neighbor's dogs when they did; I've done that four times since I got it, tears cause mud on your face. Also great for pulling fence posts, and you get to buy another attachment. Not enclosed, the next one will be. Looking at 90 acres for retirement, so of course I'll need a bigger tractor.
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I really wanted to look at Mahindra but the dealer network here just doesn’t exist. It’s too bad that really only Green and Orange even bother.

Part of that is this isn’t Ag country down here, it’s horse country. And Green and Orange has that market locked up tight. I saw where Orange has some nice deals for horse people who are members of some horsey thing. Ha.

Way up north as you get into Ag land there’s New Holland and Case and such — but they want nothing to do with selling tiny machines or sending service techs a hundred miles south to a house.

There’s one big place in Ft Collins CO that carries three of the smaller Chinese tractor companies all under the same roof but I suspect they’d not want to deal with that 100 mile service stuff either.

Your dog burying story reminded me of the time I accidentally stood on a dead horse without knowing it one dark snowy night. It actually has an aviation twist. I was hunting an ELT. In a landfill. Seriously. Ha. After the horse thing I told the powers that be they could go find the ELT themselves and went home. We had six of us out there working with the landfill loader driver digging around for that damned thing. We all came to the “eff this!” conclusion at about the same time after I stood on the dead horse.

That was the day I learned that dead horses end up in landfills. And the last time I ever said I’d hunt for an ELT somewhere I didn’t feel comfortable working in. AFRCC wants it dug up out of a landfill and turned off, send over a truckload of 18 year old airmen and I’ll point at the trash pile 1000’ high and tell them to Go Fish. Ha.

Dumb things I did in my youth. Brilliant. LOL
 
Just a data point. Mahindras are heavier built than Kubotas. And likely cheaper. It's my understanding that Mahindra used to build for IH, or still does.

Oops, see it's already being discussed.
 
No longer thinking. Signed paperwork today. Ha.

Will do pics on delivery day.

Was noticing steel prices skyrocketing and also caught that in this weeks tractor news that dealers are out of stock or low on stock in much of the Midwest and plains states and stocks are drawing down everywhere and supply chain issues mean... they’re all headed into spring sales season with almost nothing to sell.

My dealer said they’re at 25% of their usual inventory and they only are barely seeing enough trucks a week to replenish what’s selling this winter.

In the LX they had three on the lot.

The lot definitely wasn’t empty but there were maybe two of each model and that was it. One row of all of them. Maybe a couple extra BXs. That was it.

Forks are out of stock but they might get them in before tractor delivery. If not they’ll usually get them in in a couple weeks and they’ll drop them by.

Snowblower official estimate of delivery is August. We’ll send the tractor over to have the front hitch, subframe, and blower attached and checked out when it comes in.

Decided to add one rear remote.

Mower they had. So we’re good there.

Chatted a bit about the implements and I’ll probably want a larger rear blade but they do have those so if I play with the old one and decide to grab a new one, that won’t be a problem. I’ll also see if my box blade is big enough for that I do. I think it will be.

If you know any Ag people who are really going to need a new tractor soon, I’d tell them to get on it. The dealer said they are fine right now and 2020 was their biggest year ever, but now it’s a supply problem and a steel price problem will hit right behind unless something changes that.

Anyway got the hat. Ha. Delivery next week on the tractor. Purple is Karen’s favorite color so... that was obvious. And 1972 is a good vintage so, that explains the one I got. Ha.


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SoonerAviator said:
Congrats and welcome to the Orange tractor club. It's about the only thing I'll admit to owning in that color.

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Technically my company color is also orange. The shirt they gave us one year is kinda hideous. Ha. But good for being in the woods with during hunting season. LOL.
 
Not sure how I missed this thread but I've had a Mahindra 3535 for quite a few years now. Been pretty happy with it, especially as much as I've asked it to do stuff that really should be done with a one size bigger machine. This weekend though I'm headed out to pick up an old Massey Ferguson to do some of the heavier ag work...

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TCABM said:
What’s the hats cost?
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Round numbers, $37K including multiple implements, rear hydraulic remote, and insurance paid up in full for five years. Zero percent financing.

(So... each hat was $18.5K? LOL!)

- Tractor and quick release bucket was just under $28K. If all you needed was a cab tractor and that’s it, that’s the price. (They’ll even occasionally sell one with a pinned on bucket for the extremely price conscious (usually the open station not the cab too, cab basically adds $5K.)

- $5K was the front blower and subframe and hitch. (Lots of ways to do that cheaper if you’d rather push snow than blow it or drive backward and do it on the three point. A luxury item for sure...)

- $4K in hydraulic add ons and other implements (one rear hydro, pallet forks, and the 60” mower).

- Insurance was $2800.

... and $1500 to the local government to keep them happy.

And $700 back in two different dealer incentives.
 
cowman said:
Not sure how I missed this thread but I've had a Mahindra 3535 for quite a few years now. Been pretty happy with it, especially as much as I've asked it to do stuff that really should be done with a one size bigger machine. This weekend though I'm headed out to pick up an old Massey Ferguson to do some of the heavier ag work...

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They seem like capable little machines.

Like your photos.

I mentioned that I couldn’t find reasonable dealer support around here for them above.

Strangely I went to the wrong place for a noon appt in the city today and taking the surface streets to the correct location I see a brief glimpse of a building with their name on it jammed between two big townhouse dense properties.

It’s a dinky little building with two garage doors, one halfway open, tiny parking lot with nothing in it, no back lot, and didn’t even have an open sign. Literally the only marking on the building was the Mahindra logo.

I’ve got no idea what it was but it sure didn’t look like it was selling anything.

Was kinda surreal just seeing it like that as I drove by. Maybe a little service center for the commercial mowers and landscape people? Looked totally dead.

Was weird.
 
I purchased a Yanmar 424 about 4 years ago, been using it regularly on my small farm. Moving hay, and leveling are a weekly activity, never had a single issue with it.
 
Congrats on the new machine. It looks like you ended up with something that is going to be very capable for a number of different jobs. I love my 63 Ford 4000 but get a bit envious when using it around friends that have new machines. 4wd, rear hydraulics, and a hydrostatic transmission makes a world of difference in capability and opens up alot more doors to different jobs you can do with it. My bobcat mini-excavator has a 4 cylinder kubota motor in it and the thing has been rock solid requiring nothing but oil and filter changes over 3100 hours of use. The company makes good equipment. Have fun getting that new orange paint dirty!
 
Re: Mahindra, India has never had a stellar reputation for producing top quality machinery. I dunno, maybe that has changed.
 
What does insurance cover for a tractor? That seems like a lot.
 
Ted said:
What does insurance cover for a tractor? That seems like a lot.
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Nearly everything other than fraud and regular wear and tear. The testimonials on what they’ve covered are kinda nuts actually.

Quite a few of the testimonials I’ve seen, I would have chalked up to operator error and called it a day in other equipment.

https://www.ktacinsuranceagency.com/
 
Sac Arrow said:
Re: Mahindra, India has never had a stellar reputation for producing top quality machinery. I dunno, maybe that has changed.
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I believe they are one of the largest tractor manufacturers in the world. I also believe a lot of the USA stuff is largely sourced from South Korea and assembled in the US factories. I've operated a few and been around several in the 25-40HP range. They are solid tractors, no doubt about it. I don't believe their quite at the level of "refinement" of the Orange/Green brands from a pure fit-and-finish perspective, but it's close enough for most people. I wouldn't hesitate to own one if a good deal came across my lap. I equate them to a modern Massey Ferguson. I can't speak to their bigger AG equipment though, which may not have the "tech" behind it.
 
denverpilot said:
Round numbers, $37K including multiple implements, rear hydraulic remote, and insurance paid up in full for five years. Zero percent financing.

(So... each hat was $18.5K? LOL!)
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Heh. I remember being a kid and going to the Deere dealership with my dad back when he farmed full-time. I acquired a pretty good fleet of toy tractors over those years. I remember making a comment not terribly long ago about how the guys at the dealership 'gave' me the toy tractors. Dad quickly responded "They didn't 'give' you anything that I hadn't already paid for somehow."
 
Ted said:
What does insurance cover for a tractor? That seems like a lot.
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From what I've read in the Kubota world, it covers nearly anything you can think of. Have a roll over on a slope, covered. Forget to tie your tractor down on the trailer and it falls off going down the road, covered. Twist the loader frame trying to overload it, covered. Blow out a hydraulic cylinder, covered. As long as it isn't outright fraud, or standard wear and tear items, its covered.
 
midwestpa24 said:
From what I've read in the Kubota world, it covers nearly anything you can think of. Have a roll over on a slope, covered. Forget to tie your tractor down on the trailer and it falls off going down the road, covered. Twist the loader frame trying to overload it, covered. Blow out a hydraulic cylinder, covered. As long as it isn't outright fraud, or standard wear and tear items, its covered.
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Yeah it’s wild. A different business model for sure. Can you even get such a thing on a Green machine?

Dealer said someone took a chunk out of their loader bucket during the snowstorm. Covered.

I was like, “Don’t you pretty much have to smack a curb at full speed to do that much damage?”

He shrugged and said the dealer didn’t ask. Whatever the guy told KTAC, the check arrived at the dealer to repair it that day.
 
denverpilot said:
Nearly everything other than fraud and regular wear and tear. The testimonials on what they’ve covered are kinda nuts actually.

Quite a few of the testimonials I’ve seen, I would have chalked up to operator error and called it a day in other equipment.

https://www.ktacinsuranceagency.com/
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Got it, that makes sense.
 
Ted said:
Got it, that makes sense.
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I think they’re playing the numbers pretty well. I’d like to think I’ll never have a claim that will cost them more than the couple grand they got out of me.

But there’s stories of folks ripping up their machines less than 24 hours after they first hopped on the thing, paid.

Must be a fascinating analysis for the actuaries.

How many people will be idiots on their machines and will they cost us more than $1.30 per dollar financed?

Actuarial work is fascinating but I couldn’t do it all day, every day. Takes a certain psychology to want to do that.

Imagine what aviation insurance would cost in a similar business model. Good lord.
 
Country Flier said:
I’m not a car guy, but I love tractor porn! Lol.
Looks like you got the combo tires that are like a cross between R1s and R4s?
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New tire design: R-14. Blend between the ag tires and R-4 industrial tires that doesn't require a new set of wheels/rims.

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Definitely a great tractor choice with all of the best options included. Congrats!

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Thanks all. Here’s the side by side.
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And I never realized I have commercial garage doors. It fits! Barely. Antenna needs to be flipped upside down.

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SoonerAviator said:
New tire design: R-14. Blend between the ag tires and R-4 industrial tires that doesn't require a new set of wheels/rims.

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That’s the ones. Yup. There’s some good tire chain options for them too.

Had em ballasted in rear with the beet juice like stuff.
 
Our L3130 would barely slide in with the ROPS up, although we never kept it in that garage. I'd imagine if we had the cab version like yours it would have not cleared the garage door.

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SoonerAviator said:
Our L3130 would barely slide in with the ROPS up, although we never kept it in that garage. I'd imagine if we had the cab version like yours it would have not cleared the garage door.

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Yeah I kept looking thinking “I think that thing actually would fit... decided to make room and drive it carefully to the door and then I realized, “Someone put 8’ doors on here and set the openers to hang down a foot.”
 
The ROPS on dad’s JD 790 clears the framing/barn door track by about 1.5 inches. And it isn’t something you can see/confirm as you go through either. I just wonder how many years until the dirt floor builds up enough, or one of the poles sinks enough that it no longer clears. Might be a less than pleasant, interesting day.

Though, last time we expanded that pole barn, the gable end was simplified a bit, and over the next 6 months we realized that one of the posts had been basically hanging from the gable end truss, and was settling. Thankfully it was structured in such a way that we could run the post hole digger about one foot behind the existing pole, jack up the existing one (way easier than we expected) and set a new pole that has been carrying that load ever since. So maybe one of us will actually notice before we run out of clearance.
 
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-KLB- said:
So maybe one of us will actually notice before we run out of clearance.
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Yeah I hear ya. My garage door won’t settle but I could have muddy tires or a small bit of packed snow right at the door amd a couple inches is too close.

Going to see if I can tell the door opener to go a couple inches higher.

I suspect why they’re set lower is they’re already “around the curve” that way and it’s easier on the opener.

Hopefully I don’t screw up the opener too much asking it to push that first panel around the corner. I know very little about garage door config other than that I won’t ever mess with those springs without someone who knows what they’re doing.

Changing the stop set on the opener... that’s my speed. Ha. Can do that. Whether I’m supposed to or not is a different story.

Could also have been done to keep the opener’s “I hit something” motor current sensor from tripping once in a while making that corner.
 
Got her dirty mowing down some tall dry weeds and crap in one area of the property as a quickie during my lunch break.

Oil filler on the circular mower gearbox wasn’t tightened properly. Always pre and post flight! Minor QA issue after maintenance by the dealer during prep!

Some low spots had a bit of mud. The tires do leave some marks but I think they’re the right choice over turfs.

Tested out the ditches and how planted it feels on mild slopes sideways. You definitely notice the lean more in a cab since you don’t counterlean in the seat much. Felt very solidly planted but I may put 1” wheel spacers on it. It’s really narrow and tall.

Didn’t feel tippy at all but definitely good the tires are filled. The Ford had two sets of wheel weights on it that never came off.

And a side kudos — I have a bunch of the Ryobi cordless stuff and four of the big 4.0 AH batteries. I picked up their high pressure tire inflator on a whim and it’s great. I won’t bother using the compressor for tires anymore.

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Mowed the rest today. All ready for some badly needed moisture. M

As an aside I climbed up and attempted to adjust that garage door opener for a couple inches more clearance.

Someone installed 7’ residential openers on 8’ commercial doors. That explains why they’ve always hung down about a foot when open.

Sigh. That may have even been dad being cheap. LOL. So I guess since it fits I’ll count my blessings and move on. It’s not worth swapping either opener.

(Or messing with attempting to lengthen the chain bar. It’s at it’s max extension. )
 
All tucked into the mess. The dumpster for the junk gets ordered in about two weeks. That garage is getting a purge.

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Well I’ve managed to mow once (cut the tall dead weeds down) and re-grade most of the driveway with the box blade so far.

The little beast is impressive. Stalled it once with the scarifiers down on the box blade. Most places say it’ll pull a bigger one but with the tines good and dug into our hard clay and a box full of dirt, 48” is enough. It’d be better if it was wider than the rear tires for angled work but I rarely have to do much of that so, will stick with the old box blade for now.

Just turned 10 hours, so time to check torques on wheel bolts and nuts and a couple other things. Think it’s also finished burping air bubbles from the hydraulic system so it’s a little low and needs a top off. Check oil and hit all the grease zerks. Picked up an electric grease gun. Will give that a shot.

Dealer said the front snowblower came in way early of their estimate of Aug but they knew I didn’t need it yet and were waiting to see if the pallet forks show up. Their lot looked like they sold a few more tractors and hadn’t gotten any replacements in yet. They still have stuff for spring but not as much as they usually keep in inventory.

The green tractor place next door looked equally low.

When I was in MN I just happened to go past a green place and a blue place there and they were much lower in inventory. Made them look weirdly empty. Only got a glance from the Highway, they could have had more in a back or side lot.
 
Check coolant and front axle fluids as well. On my BX, both were low after 10 hours of operation and working the air out of the system.

I have a 48 inch box with 4 scarifiers on my BX2380, and I can load the engine pretty heavily if I try with them all the way down. But it always amazes the neighbors how much my little BX is capable of with a little patience and a careful hand on the controls.
 
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