L3560 vs Deere 2038R

[FLTRAC]

I know i may get a biased opinion, but been looking for a first tractor to maintain 15 acres , run a 6 ft bush hog and possibly a rear finishing mower and light FEL work.

Was set on getting a John Deere 2038r, but was concerned with the 2 speed HST transmission.

Looking at the L3560 seems to be an upgrade, but it is 4k more. Are there enough positives to justify the 4k bump for less power?


Thanks,

 

[jryser]

I'm biased. I've never owned a Deere so I can only comment on the L3560. Mine does a 40 acre family farm except the finishing mower, the kids have a zero turn for finishing. I do a LOT of work with my orange tractor, and it does great and I have yet to wish for more HP.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

for less power?

They are both 37 HP tractors so it's not less power.

Just about everyone on here will tell you buy the Kubota!
go on a JD forum and just about everyone on there will tell you to buy the JD.

Drive both and see which one feels better for you.

 

[skeets]

Get the color you want,, if you don't get what you want and like, well you will find all kinds of faults with the other brand you bought.
Like Wolfman said drive them both, see if each dealer will let you run one for a day or so you can put it through its paces.
Green one's have stuff the Orange one's dont and visa versa .
The main thing is you are happy with what you bought, Red, Green Orange, Blue. they all work well. It's your call.
There is nothing to be concerned about the 2 speed they are well proven, but just remember, that a man made it, and some time, some place its going to crap out on you no matter what color it is

 

[virginiavenom]

I own a 4060, slightly more power and a little larger frame, otherwise the same. I looked at deere for a short time. I even rented one. it wasn't as smooth and felt like using a far inferior product to the kubota, so I bought the kubota. our work has a deere. I use it on occasion and I hate it, nothing about the deere is smooth, we have 400 hours on the one at work, use it to move brush and some larger wood from downed trees, some till work, some brush hogging and back filling, but overall I hate it. I have no brand loyalty, I look at specs and drive/operate items. similar to a gun, use the one that fits you and you are comfortable shooting. My local deere sales person was really good and very responsive. he himself said, "Kubota makes a better product until you get above about 100 horse", he said most below that are rebranded yanmars. I'll agree with this because we also have a much larger deere that is I believe in the 135 range we use for bulk brush hogging operations and it's great. but you can really tell the build quality between those two.

 

[Newlyme]

My local deere sales person was really good and very responsive. he himself said, "Kubota makes a better product until you get above about 100 horse", he said most below that are rebranded yanmars.

^^^ x2
Either the engineers forgot or corporate was too cheap because when I lifted the hood of my former John Deere on the outside there it was right on the engine inside, Yanmar.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Why are you comparing these 2 models? The 2038R is more in line with the Kubota B series tractors. If you want to compare apples-apples, then look at the 3039R John Deere. Completely different machines.

 

[nickelplated5s]

I say, of course, Kubota for the simple fact their numbering scheme makes sense.

 

[ItBmine]

After years and years of seeing the JD 20 and then 2R series have the exact same issues (bent loader stands, fuel tank brackets that bend until the filler wears through the hood, hidden grease zerk no one knew about on driveline that would fail, having to hold a button down to reverse without PTO shutting off, etc) and then my combined JD/Kubota dealer telling me Kubota is a lot better to get warranty from......that all was enough to turn me off of JD and buy Kubota. And I couldn't be happier.

 

[savoy9020]

Have a 2016 L2501HST with the LA525 and ssqa bucket.

My dad has a 2013 JD 3032e with the 305 Loader. I'm keeping at my place for him for a few months, so getting to compare the Deere. Obviously, the 3025 would be closer to my L2501, but that's what they are.

NOTE: This is meant to be a full-blown comparison, but really just some observations, having the chance to use both of them around the place.

Used the Deere and my LP box blade to grade the road today. Did fine, handled same as mine did. The dual pedal layout isn't as intuitive, but enough time on it, I'm sure it would be second nature as the rock pedal on the Kubota.

Something I found surprising:
The JD has just 2 gauges.. the Tach, and a tank-cap Fuel gauge.. like a riding lawn-mower has. Whereas my Kubota has Tach, temp, fuel all in the dash. That "seems" kinda cheap on Deere.. 1 big tach, surrounded by idiot lights.

The JD doesn't come standard with a draw-bar, my L2501 did. Why JD had to charge extra, ??

The kubota has a heavy, well-made 5 foot bucket, the JD is a much lighter weight 4 foot. That's likely how it was bought, so not necessarily a complaint. My neighbor has a JD compact, and noticed his bucket also wasn't nearly as well made as mine.

Given the JD has a 7hp more on the engine, it only has a 6.5 gallon fuel tank, where the L2501 has a 10 gallon tank.

The hydraulics on the JD are very (too) fast on the FEL joystick, harder to ease lifting etc. Specs say they are nearly the same on capacity.

The flat platform on the JD is nice.
Engine is plenty strong, though I like the sound of the Kubota engine better.

Handling is about the same, the 4wd steers a bit smoother than my Kubota does when it's 4wd is engaged.

One thing that was humorous, my dad had never realized how to use the glow-plugs on the 3032. I took it into a garage near me to have a diesel leak fixed for him, and it's was in the 20's.
A little reading found that: you put the HST into gear, turn the key, which engages the glow-plugs (audible click of the relay). Then you put it back into neutral, and turn the key to start. Started every time for me..

There is nothing at all wrong with the JD 3032 as far as being a good compact tractor, just like my trusty Kubota L2501.

I just had to get mine out this afternoon, too. had to push up some brush into burnpiles. Got a hour or two on both of them.

What it does make me realize, is that Kubota is very well made, and feature rich tractor. It's clear, that when compared to JD, it really comes out ahead in the features, and design/quality. Given that JD charges such a premium, one would think that it would at least be on par as far as quality and features.

 

[FLTRAC]

Thanks for the replies guys and MtnViewRanch was right, the 2038r was really not in the same league as the 3560. I went an looked at the 3560 and the Kubota dealer was great and really wanted to sell me a tractor. He gave me a great price, but I told him I wanted to at least go see a John Deere 3039R. Went to john deere and had to find a salesman and they only had a 3033r, but same frame.

The deere looked smaller and everything looked less capable, but did drive well. They could order a 3039r but would not negotiate at all. I thought i was getting a better dealer and tractor at Kubota, so I went back and somehow bought the 4060 which was $2,400 less than the deere

 

[Tractor Dell]

Congrats! As everyone always says, if the tractors are close, the dealer makes a big difference. Glad you got a great tractor, a better price and a good dealer.

 

[Dave_eng]

Now that you have decided, it is the time to ask your dealer for all manuals, owner's, WSM and FEL, if you have one, on a USB stick.

You wont need the manuals for a long time but read how many owners years later are trying to find manuals for their tractor.

The electronic pdf manuals are far superior to paper ones. You can search, zoom in on components to see what is inside such as a engine stop solenoid.

Go with a USB stick and your check. It costs the dealer nothing.

Dave

 

[barbjk]

Checkthe height width ratio. Our 70hp kubota is really tippy (5' wide 9' high). Go with the widest base. It isn't fun having a wheel come off the ground.