Fair price for a 2008 L3400?

[TheOldHokie]

Wanted to take moment to appreciate the time and thoughtfulness of everyone's answers. Very much appreciated, and very helpful to me. So often on forums you get cynical or throwaway responses. Here we have people genuinely trying to help!

I am still trying to figure out how a 14 year old tractor only has 170 hours on the clock. Best I can do is either somebody died or they bought a tractor and implements they did not need.

Dan

 

[fried1765]

I'm on a 95 L3300 and don't consider it old.
Before this one i was on a tractor 70 yrs old. Now that was old.

Check out this link with L3400s for sale to get a good idea
what others are asking/selling for.

https://www.tractorhouse.com/listings/for-sale/kubota/l3400/farm-equipment

I have a 1989 Ford 1920 FEL, and I don't consider it old either.
It has less than 1,100 hours, and looks like new.
And..........my '51 FORD is 71 years old, and still runs like a champ.

 

[fried1765]

I am still trying to figure out how a 14 year old tractor only has 170 hours on the clock. Best I can do is either somebody died or they bought a tractor and implements they did not need.

Dan

My 2006 L48 TLB was 13 years old with only 251 hours.
Nobody died!
Original owner was a small time building contractor, and decided that it was more efficient to farm dirt work out.

 

[Floydy]

Only thing else we require............... pictures of your new to you machine!!!

haha Done!

 

[woodsy]

" When it comes to turning a wrench willing and able are two different things for me. Able? - yes. Willing? - no. I am half way through restoring a C3 Corvette and trying to build a house myself. I would have very little patience for another "project".

Inevitably there will be some wrench turning unless you buy something
brand new. I am replacing some hyd. hoses now, some had already been replaced when i bought it.
Rebuilt the battery box and had to find a new neg. battery strap grounding location on the frame. Some electrical troubleshooting like a corroded safety switch. Mostly issues related to outside in the weather storage .
Good reason to keep your tractor under cover .

 

[TheOldHokie]

My 2006 L48 TLB was 13 years old with only 251 hours.
Nobody died!
Original owner was a small time building contractor, and decided that it was more efficient to farm dirt work out.

I think that is making my point. The contractor fellow bought a special purpose machine (TLB) he did not need/use and still clocked 50% more hours in less time.

I would consider my usage as "light" and my 9 month old L3901 just rolled over 100 hours. Assuming I don't die that tractor will easily have 10X the hours on the L3400 by the time it hits 14 years old. When shopping last year I looked at a 2 year old L3901 that had 170 hours on it and I considered that "light use". It was owned by a hunting club that only used it to maintain trails and food plots. By comparison that L3400 has seen no use. I just find that odd.

Dan

 

[Floydy]

I am still trying to figure out how a 14 year old tractor only has 170 hours on the clock. Best I can do is either somebody died or they bought a tractor and implements they did not need.

Dan

Its a wealthy cattle farm. Owner has four other tractors and bought this one to fill a niche need that seemed to be little more than yard maintenance. The son is the one selling it as he's realized its surplus to their needs. The father still wants to keep it in the collection. So, its the latter I think.

 

[Creature Meadow]

I think your point touches on the core of my concern. Hours and age are very different things when it comes to deterioration and likely need for maintenance. Clearly the hours are very low which means the motor and mechanical moving parts haven't done any work but 14 years is still 14 years and seals dry out, rubber cracks, bearings go dry, critters inhabit warm places etc. I guess my original question would have been better asked as "Is a 2008 tractor with low hours likely to need much maintenance?" When it comes to turning a wrench willing and able are two different things for me. Able? - yes. Willing? - no. I am half way through restoring a C3 Corvette and trying to build a house myself. I would have very little patience for another "project".

In response to above, while my tractor is 4 years newer I have had to replace nothing that I didn't break myself. I do the typical maintenance that a new or older tractor would require and I use it. Should be at 500 hours soon so after nearly 320 hours and 8 years owned "NO" issues.

If confronted with the same decision again I would in the blink of an eye.

Happy hunting.

Jay

 

[TheOldHokie]

Its a wealthy cattle farm. Owner has four other tractors and bought this one to fill a niche need that seemed to be little more than yard maintenance. The son is the one selling it as he's realized its surplus to their needs. The father still wants to keep it in the collection. So, its the latter I think.

From an hours stand point thats a "new" machine. As I said I looked at a low hour L3901 when I went shopping last summer. For all practical purposes it was a new machine but I passed on it for two reasons:

1. It was nearly out of warranty
2. It was a cash sale and I could buy a new fully warranted machine for very nearly the same price and get 0% financing. On machines of this complexity I placed a pretty high value on that warranty. I have turned a lot of wrenches but that's getting old and these machines are not easy to work on.

In your case you also have a much older model which may or may not be an advantage. I would consider it a disadvantage but others will feel differently. As long as it got REGULAR annual use I would not worry about things deteriorating but if it sat unused for years on end that calculus would change. For me the price would have to be substantially lower but again others will feel differently.

Dan

 

[fried1765]

Its a wealthy cattle farm. Owner has four other tractors and bought this one to fill a niche need that seemed to be little more than yard maintenance. The son is the one selling it as he's realized its surplus to their needs. The father still wants to keep it in the collection. So, its the latter I think.

I think like the father!

 

[fried1765]

From an hours stand point thats a "new" machine. As I said I looked at a low hour L3901 when I went shopping last summer. For all practical purposes it was a new machine but I passed on it for two reasons:

1. It was nearly out of warranty
2. It was a cash sale and I could buy a new fully warranted machine for very nearly the same price and get 0% financing. On machines of this complexity I placed a pretty high value on that warranty. I have turned a lot of wrenches but that's getting old and these machines are not easy to work on.

In your case you also have a much older model which may or may not be an advantage. I would consider it a disadvantage but others will feel differently. As long as it got REGULAR annual use I would not worry about things deteriorating but if it sat unused for years on end that calculus would change. For me the price would have to be substantially lower but again others will feel differently.

Dan

My 1989 FORD 1920 FEL has less than 1,100 total hours.
Is that a bad thing too?
33 years old, and an average of 33 hours per year.

 

[DVR]

It's top dollar. Like everything else in todays market.
Probably would be a good idea to change every filter and fluid.
I had a gear L3400 with no loader and it was a great machine.
The warranty value everyone keeps talking about is a little overrated.
I've owned about 15-20 kubota tractors in the last 15 years or so. Aside from a seeping hose or two (cheap fix or diy)- I can't recall a single warranty covered issue out of all of them.
I currently have a L3301, L3560 cab and MX5400 cab.

 

[ctfjr]

fwiw I sold a 2008 L3400HST with fel, no name box blade, Kubota backhoe and 5' Normand snowblower in 2018 for $23.5K. It had 125hrs on it and sat in a heated garage its whole life.
Granted, it was to a friend but that's what I sold it for.

 

[fried1765]

fwiw I sold a 2008 L3400HST with fel, no name box blade, Kubota backhoe and 5' Normand snowblower in 2018 for $23.5K. It had 125hrs on it and sat in a heated garage its whole life.
Granted, it was to a friend but that's what I sold it for.

I would say that was a good deal for your friend!