Kubota 3300 or Deere 3038e ?

[CowboyLawyer]

We have an 8 acre farm with horses. We use a 3 point hitch spear to move 800 to 900 pound round bails of hay into pastures. I am looking at the John Deere 3038e with a 3 cyl Yanmar engine and a Kubota 3300. FEL seems adequate for moving dirt and manure.

I have been using an approximately 15 year old Nortract 254 with a Jinma engine with AG tires. No problems getting stuck in 4WD in mud. We have some mud that occasionally gets 6 inches deep from the horses churning up some of the smaller pastures in the spring with the snow melt and rain. Will the 3300 with 4WD and the industrial tires get through it ?

I want something reliable and that won't be in the repair shop. Are there any known problems with the 3300?

I've seen some negative comments on 4 tier engines, but I think those only apply to 175 HP to 750 HP engines, so I don't think that applies to a 3300.

 

[skeets]

LMAO@ cowboy,,,, My friend go ask the same question over on the green board. Here you know the answer is going to be orange, over there it would be green. You have been really lucky with the nortrack from what I understand, with that being said. Either of these machines will do the job, each has their good points each their draw backs, some nothing more than not liking the foot pedals to a bouncy 3pt to some other off the wall thing. Point is go to the dealer drive them ask the dealer to bring one out to the fame so you can test it,, Most dealer will do this,(if a dealer wont let you try one out I would walk away from that dealer ship),,, and after wards make you choice. Unless you can find a 2013 tier 4 is what you got, its a change and change makes people nervous. SO I will say ORANGE of course go to that other place and I know they will say green

 

[MtnViewRanch]

To start with, shouldn't you be comparing the L3301 to a JD 3032e That or an L3901 to the JD 3038e.

Pretty comparable tractors IMO. Best to at least sit on each one and see if one is more comfortable than the other. How close are they in price? Do you prefer green, or orange? Believe it or not, just the color can make a difference.

I personally would go with the higher HP units, for the extra $$$, it's better to have the HP available and not need it vs needing it and not having it.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Bluegill]

Not sure what a 3300 is, L or B?

When I was looking a 30+hp tractors I looked very hard at the JD 3038e and Kubota L3200-L3800. The Kubota is way more tractor & the JD had too much plastic for my liking! & I couldn't deal with the aluminum gear housing on the JD.

I've had the L3800DT for over two years now and love it!

 

[apeckham]

I looked really close at the 3038e and L3800HST. What was the killer for me on the Deere was you couldn't take the loader off, second was all the plastic. The 3038e was a 2012 with 1 hour. I was lucky to find a L3800 that was sold in Nov. 2011 with 70 hours on it, still smelled new The L3800 was 6000 cheaper than the 3038e. Wished I would have done this 11 years ago when I bought my acreage.

 

[CowboyLawyer]

Thank you for the input. My biggest concern is the tires. I note poster NUMBER9 had put R1 AG tires on a similar sized machine, but it looks like he was going through 1 foot of mud. My mud is nowhere near as deep as the mud that NUMBER9 has in his photo (Which I will try to attach). I like the suggestion of having the dealer bring the machine over to my farm and let me run it around for a day. That should pretty much be the litmus test.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I have what may seem like a stupid question for some of you, but why would anyone have their tractor in mud like is in the picture? The tractor has a mower on the 3pt and it looks as if the mud was driven in many times (just to drive in it?) You can accomplish nothing that I can think of, but then I NEVER have to deal with mud, so what do I know???

 

[Bluegill]

Cowboy, just get R1 Ag tires if you are dealing with any mud. R4s' might be alright but aren't near as good as Ags' in mud.

 

[Bluegill]

I'll mention the aluminum gear housing on the JD again. That really has no business on any tractor!!!

Being able to take the loader off is also a huge factor!!!

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I'll mention the aluminum gear housing on the JD again. That really has no business on any tractor!!!

Being able to take the loader off is also a huge factor!!!

I agree with that statement, but in reality how many people really take there loaders off? I will say that a majority of people do not.

 

[Bluegill]

I agree with that statement, but in reality how many people really take there loaders off? I will say that a majority of people do not.

True, but in my case, the loader is off unless I need it. Stays on most of the winter and off all summer. I Hate to mower with a loader on!

 

[Bluegill]

I have what may seem like a stupid question for some of you, but why would anyone have their tractor in mud like is in the picture? The tractor has a mower on the 3pt and it looks as if the mud was driven in many times (just to drive in it?) You can accomplish nothing that I can think of, but then I NEVER have to deal with mud, so what do I know???

He had just traded his R4s' for Ags' and was just playing.

 

[BAP]

I believe you will find the JD3038E is an economy version of the tractor. Deere makes different variations of their tractors to meet a price point to make them cheaper. The key word is "Cheaper". To do that they cheapen up some of the components. That is probably why it has a loader that can't be taken off.

 

[BotaDriver]

I agree with that statement, but in reality how many people really take there loaders off? I will say that a majority of people do not.

Well you certainly can't take it off it doesn't come off very easy now can you??

<---- this guy takes his loader off 15-20x per year. It takes about a minute flat once you know what you're doing.

 

[BotaDriver]

The deere really isn't comparable to the Kubota. Kubota wins in all categorys.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

True, but in my case, the loader is off unless I need it. Stays on most of the winter and off all summer. I Hate to mower with a loader on!

So do I and I take mine off when I do field work. My guess is that neither one of us would care to own a 3032e or 3038e. Just because the loader is not a quick removal loader. But not having a quick removable loader does not really concern a majority of people simply because they NEVER take the loader off.

My point being that JD decided to build those tractors in that manner to cut costs and IMO that decision affects only a few of their potential customers.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Well you certainly can't take it off it doesn't come off very easy now can you??

<---- this guy takes his loader off 15-20x per year. It takes about a minute flat once you know what you're doing.

I don't know what you are saying here? That you take your loader off 15-20 times a year. Great, and you have a tractor that you can do that with in a short amount of time. Great again.

My statement was that the majority of compact tractor owners simply do not remove their loaders. Does not matter if it comes off in 1 minute, 5 minutes or an hour. They simply do not remove their loader for any reason.

Those of us that do remove our loaders, well, we would not even consider purchasing a tractor that has a semi permanent mounted loader.

 

[gpreuss]

At first there was a lot I did not like about the QA loader bucket, but when I built a snow plow blade I found I was exchanging the bucket/plow every week or so, partly because it was easy, I changed my mind. I often just remove the blade, and leave the frame.
The same is true with the whole loader. Since it is easy to remove, I find I take it off a LOT, to mow, shed weight on the front axle, or just to make the tractor more maneuverable.
I do not understand using an aluminum transmission housing - you usually want more weight and strength in a tractor, not less.
I'd vote for the Orange, naturally - as Skeets pointed out.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

I remember reading here in another posting about what make tractor to buy. A few members on here are also memebers on the fourm Tractor By Net and it was mentioned that a few guys over there had tons of problems with the JD 3000 series of tractors. Might be worth taking a sneaky peak over at TBN and see what people are saying about the 3000 series by Deere.

Here we've had a few members bitch and complain about a Kubota and sware they'd never by another one and had regrets, but its been narrowed down to buying a lemon of a tractor which can happen to any manufacture. And also shady dealers who didn't care to help service and repair warranty work on a Kubota.

Often times its dealer support after the sale that makes all the difference in the world. I've been floating around here since 2009 and I've heard a small hand full of new owners not happy with a Kubota. Other then that everyone rants and raves and loves the Kubotas.

 

[Benhameen]

It goes without saying that the JD is not going to get much support on a Kubota forum, try the JD talk forum and I'm sure the opposite will be true.

I did quite a bit of research before I bought a new tractor and I went orange, I'm never going back.

After it was suggested to me that I take my FEL off when it's not being used, I take it off all the time now, at least once a week during the summer. Super easy to take on and off , one of the best features in my mind.