Looking for advice on buying a tractor

[SACKETTSLAND]

Hey, i'm new here and I hope I'm doing this right. I'm looking for advice on buying a tractor. I was looking at the L3800HST was thinking that was the one. Plane Jane was what I started with. Then I looked at the L3240HST and kinda fell in love with it. Anyone that has the L3240HST I would really like to hear about their experiences with it.
Thanks in advance.
Cheers

 

[Eric McCarthy]

The L3800 is the basic tractor in the Kubota line up. Basically a no frills tractor that is pretty popular and owners love them. The L3240 is the pimp daddy deluxe model with all the bells and whistles. Both very good tractors and one is a little pricer over the other.

Give us a few ideas what your needs and plans are for a tractor and maybe we can help to determine if you're picking the right size tractor. We usually tell people when in doubt go bigger if you can. Also take into account future needs of a tractor. Do you plan to get a loader, maybe add a backhoe in the future.

 

[searay]

I have the little sister of the L3800, the L3200. It has done everything I could ask it to do and been dead reliable to boot. Not sure if you are getting a loader or not, but if you are a ballast box is the first attachment I would purchase. I'm sure you still have snow on the island but down here beside the lake we lost most of ours today.

 

[Bluegill]

I have the 'plain Jane' L3800DT and Absolutely Love It!!!

Only way I'd upgrade/spend more $ would be to go bigger (if needed).

 

[bcbull378]

I have the Grand L3830 HST and it has done everything asked of it , when in doubt go bigger as for the HST can beat it with a front end loader

 

[TripleR]

Nothing wrong with the L3800; maybe jerky hitch, but the Grand L is really nice and you cannot beat the HST+.

I often hear of people buying too small, but rarely too big, so wile not universal, pretty close and it is often better to go a bit bigger than anticipated and I would be looking at the 3940 or 4240 if you can find them before the L60 Series comes out with the Tier IV and increase in price.

I was looking at a 4240 and got a 5740; glad I did.

As mentioned by another member, it might help to outlline expected uses etc.

 

[SACKETTSLAND]

Thanks everyone, for what I want to do I was thinking 30-35 HP would be enough. I'm retireing up to the Island and am sick of doing landscapeing with a wheelbarrow and shovel. Looking at 100 acres for hunting so trails to be cut, food plots to be planted. Doing snow in the winter for me and the neighbours. Digging holes and filling them in. So Tractor, Loader, Backhoe.
I started with the B3200 series. Watched here for advice. (Which there is lots of storys and good advice on here.)
Then for only a couple more thousand, well the L3200 looked good. Then of course the L3800 for only a thousand or more. Months have gone by and now I'm looking at the L3240. I really thought it would be easy to just buy a tractor. I have looked and sat on numerous tractors. The L3800 is as big as I want to go in size. I know the attachments I want and the implements I want for what I want to do. It's just what tractor. I know Im new and sound crazy but I figured it was time to put this out there to you guys to hear what you have to say. I am waiting to find a dealer that has a L3240 so I can go and sit on it. I just read the specs on the L3540 and for another 1350 dollars for 3 hp engine and pto, is it worth it?
Thanks for listening and glad for everyones advice and knowledge.
Cheers

 

[TripleR]

Trust me, I and the others "feel your pain" and many can sure identify. I have driven tractors for over fifty years and it is still hard to pick just the right tractor without a LOT of research and climbing on and trying them out.

We have tractors from 22 to 85 HP and when I went looking for a mid size tractor in between, I took a very similar path and one day went out with my wife on a Sunday when no salesmen were around to look at a B3200 as I was pretty sure that's what I wanted. I ran up the adder just like you until I got to the Grand L Series and decided that was the one for me; fortunately my wife agreed.

We really liked the L32/3540 and thought they were for us. My wife told me we really needed a cab due to my age and allergies, so I figured with the extra weight of a cab and pull of a AC compressor I needed more HP, so a L3940 made sense.

We saw a used L5030 on the lot, but I deemed it "too big" though my wife liked it. By the time I got home, I had decided to order an L4240 so I wouldn't have to run tractors back and forth all the time between farms.

By the next day I decided to get the L5030 and replaced it last year with a L5740; long ways from a B200 and a LOT more $$$$.

I know my situation is different than yours and I am not saying you need a 50 HP machine, but I wouldn't recommend anything less than the L3540 and once you use the HST+ transmission you will be glad you got it. This will probably be the last tractor you ever need to buy, so a few bucks more here and there probably won't make a big difference if it gets you the right tractor.

One thing I have found is that for new tractor buyers and even a lot of us who aren't, a tractor tends to "shrink" once we get them on our property and start using them.

Good luck in your shopping; hope I haven't confused you.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

I'm sure most of us on here will agree that we just make do with the tractor we have and all of us wish we had something larger. Myself included. You have the oppertunity to buy the right sized tractor from the start. A 100 acer plat of land isn't small and having an under powered tractor can be a PIA trying to keep up with all the chores.

 

[SACKETTSLAND]

Well TripleR my wife read this form and after your comments you just cost me more money LOL At first she was leaving me alone, she humored me every time I switched it up to a new tractor or a new series of tractors. Ya ya she would say what ever you think you need to make it easier for yourself. So she really started looking at my stuff and said why don't you get the cab model. She really liked your wife's comment about the getting old part and the cold and snow we get in northern Ontario. So long story short I was up most the night looking and reading everything I could find on the L3540HSTC-3. Went to my local dealer and behold he had one sitting outside. Well let me tell you. What an awesome tractor. I must have sat in it for about 30 min playing with all the gadgets the winds blowing the snow around me and I was oblivious to it all. So I took a pic and texted it to my wife saying I had the most wonderful sex just now. LOL. HER REPLY WAS. WHAT???? Went back in and told the owner John I was in Love. The wife and I are going back on the weekend to take it for a spin around the lot. Looking forward to it. Want to thank everyone for their comments and wisdom. I've been searching since before Christmas and reading as much as I could find here. Lots of good comments and advice and humor.
Cheers everyone
And thank your wife for me TripleR

 

[TripleR]

Well TripleR my wife read this form and after your comments you just cost me more money LOL At first she was leaving me alone, she humored me every time I switched it up to a new tractor or a new series of tractors. Ya ya she would say what ever you think you need to make it easier for yourself. So she really started looking at my stuff and said why don't you get the cab model. She really liked your wife's comment about the getting old part and the cold and snow we get in northern Ontario. So long story short I was up most the night looking and reading everything I could find on the L3540HSTC-3. Went to my local dealer and behold he had one sitting outside. Well let me tell you. What an awesome tractor. I must have sat in it for about 30 min playing with all the gadgets the winds blowing the snow around me and I was oblivious to it all. So I took a pic and texted it to my wife saying I had the most wonderful sex just now. LOL. HER REPLY WAS. WHAT???? Went back in and told the owner John I was in Love. The wife and I are going back on the weekend to take it for a spin around the lot. Looking forward to it. Want to thank everyone for their comments and wisdom. I've been searching since before Christmas and reading as much as I could find here. Lots of good comments and advice and humor.
Cheers everyone
And thank your wife for me TripleR

I will sure tell her and I think you will both love the new tractor; we like ours more every time we use it.