L2502 vs L3302 vs ? HP or Skill Issues?

[dogowner]

Looking to get a new tractor for a small ag business on a hilly property, maybe 5-10 acres but more greenhouses and grounds keeping than acreage farming if that makes sense. The actual property is larger but mostly unusable / unused. Mostly moving soil, maintaining a lot of small roads and then a bunch of small odd-jobs. Looking at a loader+forks and box scraper to start. Maybe a smaller mower/brushhog type attachment. The business isn't making tons of $$ so there isn't a blank check or anything.

We couldn't decide and ended up renting the L2502 w/ HST + Loader + Boxscraper. We really like the footprint size, not too big and not too small. The precision after driving around an older constructor-style backhoe is amazing. I feel like a surgeon on wheels. There will also be a lot of climbing on and off which fits the size. I think this tractor would be fine and is a safe bet but.... it seems a little under-powered in general. I'm not sure if its just the footprint or the horsepower or skill issues... "The Internet" seems a little unsure on if or what HP really affects at least with respect to going up in the same series. I'm mostly considering the extra ~8HP of the 3302. I know it will affect the PTO and I haven't tried the PTO yet(!) but that isn't a super common use case but I would probably be using the 60" landpride rotary mower in low and maybe 1 week in a year.

A few examples:

(1) Pushing into a roadbank with loader trying to dig with cutter blade attached and I bogged it out and killed it a few times. I was able to get going again immediately and backed off a lot and dug in a bit more slowly and methodically. This worked and is doable. (This might be me overloading the HST by metal-pedalling it, which the dealer mentioned)

(2) I kind of knew there were hills but didn't think about how much time is just spent driving from one place to the next. High seems pretty much useless which I saw in other threads too. Seems like medium with the throttle at the higher RPM setting is mostly doable for driving in general and light work but still seems to struggle on steeper hills. I don't need to be driving at 100MPH but don't want to be suffering through hours of excessive self reflection.

(3) Lifting wet soil up and out of a pile seems to cause it to struggle.

So I was hoping to get advice from people actually using these models:

- Do you pretty much have to have the RPMs bumped up to the 540 PTO setting almost all of the time?
- Do you end up burning through more diesel than expected?
- Do you drop the power out regularly trying to lift heavy loads or break out things with the loader? Or on very steep inclines?
- Do you have any issues with the DPF, eco filter thing? I'm not against the concept but just seems like something that might be buggy/glitchy. I was kind of avoiding it because it seemed like just "one more thing that could go wrong".
- Did anyone find that the 3302 made a difference over the 2502? Especially with overall power not just PTO.

Thanks for your time.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Your simply overworking the tractor.
Most of the tasks your asking it to do would be done much better and safer with a skid steer.
If your going to stay with a tractor bump it up to an MX to get lift power and hill work capability.

 

[midironman]

Yep, over working it. The L3302 will do a bit better, but you won’t notice it. If you stick with the L-series, you’re gonna need to go bigger or move up to MX or M series and you can work faster.

 

[PaulL]

If the L2502 is the right size for you, then on your specific issues:
1. Speed up hills, speed from place to place. An L3302 will have more power, and when moving fast you're not traction limited. So an L3302 or L3902 will move faster
2. Running a rotary cutter. Again, the L2502 is known for bogging down running a cutter and climbing hills. It's not a lot of HP for it's size, even though they're Clydesdale horses (large displacement engine). The higher HP L models will do better. Still not a race car, but better
3. Pushing into a pile. This is user error. You should be in low ratio for that. And remember that your HST pedal isn't a throttle, it's a gear stick. You go faster when you press harder becuase it's changing up gears the harder you press, not because the throttle is increasing. So, bizzarely enough, it has more push into a pile the lighter you press the HST pedal - because lighter pushing on the pedal = lower gear.
4. Lifting wet soil up won't be any better on a higher HP model - that's hydraulic pressure and hydraulic pump, they all have the same pump. You need to take smaller bites if you have heavy material. Most Kubota tractors will lift a bucket full of whatever - the bigger machines have bigger buckets, and still lift a bucket full. But very heavy soil or gravel they won't lift a full bucket easily.