Tractor Advice- 96 acre Recreational/Timber Tract

[RidgeRunner]

Looking to buy my first tractor and was hoping for some Orange advice. Have 96 acre tract that has about 50 acres that was clear cut 4 years ago. Soil is clay and some rock in Fairfield County, SC. Property has some hills, over a mile of creek, several other smaller creeks and at least 1.5 miles of roads to maintain. Been 3 years since I had bulldozer blade out some access roads and with all the rain the last few years I have lots of ruts in several spots to work on. I plan on using the tractor to bushhog roads, disc up a couple of food plots (2-3 acres) and put a couple of food plots on the roads in wooded areas. Will be buying a grader plane for maintaining roads, bush hog, post hold auger, disc/cultivator and FEL. Mostly will be using to put in some food plots and grading/bushhog the mile and half of roads a few times a year. Property is mainly used for growing pines and turkey/deer hunting. Have a couple of pond sites that I may add later on. Not a lot of mowing other than bushhogging all the roads. Will use FEL to move some gravel and a little digging.

I started out looking at the M5640 then dropped back to the L4600 but am being told that the L3800HST 4WD is enough for what I need. Going to buy new to take advantage of the 5 yr 0% financing. I can get the L3800HST with kubota FEL for $19,600. I can get the whole package with heavy duty 5.5' Hardees Disc, 5' Howse Dual Grader Blade, 5' Howse Bush Hog and BushHog 9" post hole auger for $24,000. To step up to the L4600DT with larger implements is going to cost me $31,000.

Is the L3800HST big enough for what I need or do I need bigger HP? I was thinking the smaller size might be better in woods and down by creek. The 5' grader blade will be perfect to maintain 8' roads with one pass on each side. Thanks so much my brothers for helping out a rookie with first and probably last tractor.

 

[Bluegill]

L3800 is plenty of tractor!

We have 400 acres of mostly timber. I'm using a L3800DT logging, mowing, 15-20 cords of firewood per year, taking care of 3-4 miles of roads. I've had the 3800 a little over a year now and it as surpassed expectations. Would buy another if needed.

 

[Bulldog]

Re: L3800 is plenty of tractor!

I would say the 3800 will be more than enough tractor for the task you listed. I use my L3000 for alot of the same stuff you're talking about and it does fine. About the only thing mine is lacking is loader power and with the 3800 that would be solved with a larger loader.

That being said I would put lots of thought into your future needs. As long as you think this is all you will ever need the tractor for I would tend to say go with the smaller one. If you think your needs will grow larger now is the time to get a bigger machine. It's much cheaper to do it now then it is to wait for several years and deside your tractor is to small. Not only will you be looking at more money for a bigger machine but all your implements will be to small also.

I guess my advise would be don't settle, get the one you need the first time. I love my L3000 and use it about every day but when needed my M9000 is nice to have. Just remember a big tractor can do small jobs but no matter how hard you try you can't stretch HP.

 

[dude693]

i have l3800 and love it and you are getting a great price with those implements. i also used the 0 percent interest to buy my tractor and implements, if i could afford a 100.00 more for five years i would go for it and get the larger tractor.

 

[TripleR]

Lots of agreement with Bulldog and although I am not a big fan of the L32/34/37/3800 Series, don't like the 3PH or exposed steering linkage, they are good, capable, reasonably priced machines that serve many well. My preference would be for something a bit bigger, heavier with a stronger loader to allow for expansion in the future. It is hard to pick the best tractor for someone else and the fact is there are a LOT of good choices.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

When in doubt go bigger. And now's the time to do that and get a tractor suited for all your need weather now or in the future. You can never have too much of a good thing. Alot of us on here wish we had a bigger tractor then what we currently own and are making do with what we have.

 

[Bluegill]

By all means get as large a tractor as you can afford, or want. I looked hard at the L4400, but didn't want to finance and I got a screaming deal on the 3800. Sometimes I wish I'd gone larger, but most of the time I'm glad I got the L3800. Many times when skidding a log out of a tight place, where a larger tractor wouldn't fit, I just smile and give the little rig a little more throttle.

 

[RidgeRunner]

Thanks to all for your advice...going to dealer next week to sit and drive both the L3800HST and L4600HST and pick one out...just got the OK from the boss tonight...need to take her out to dinner more often

 

[RidgeRunner]

OK so I pulled the trigger this morning. Went to the dealer fully intending on buying the L3800HST.

Test drove the L3800HST with FEL and was very pleased with it. Very tight steering on it and manuvered great. It was parked next to the L4600HST which I was also interested in. I liked the 2in of additional clearance, enclosed front steering linkage, HP and heft of the L4600.

Salesman told me not to get on the L4600 unless I was prepared to buy it. The L4600 was noticeably quieter and smoother driving than the L3800. After driving both the L4600 was like driving a Cadillac. I think the L3800HST is a great machine

L4600HST with Kubota 764 FEL with a few other implements are being delivered next Friday. Ended up costing about an extra $5,200 to step up from L3800.

Thanks to all for your help and advice.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

Ahh the L4600 always a good decision!!!!

 

[Bulldog]

First congrats on the new orange, nothing quite like that new orange smell. I have a feeling in the very near future you will thank yourself over and over again for going with the bigger machine. I love my L3000 and have several jobs just for that size tractor but if I had it to do over again a 50hp machine would have been great.

Be sure and get some pics of the new baby when you get it.

 

[Bluegill]

Congrats! The 4600 is a very Nice rig!

 

[fruitcakesa]

When in doubt go bigger. And now's the time to do that and get a tractor suited for all your need weather now or in the future. You can never have too much of a good thing. Alot of us on here wish we had a bigger tractor then what we currently own and are making do with what we have.

x2. I only have about 50 acres of mostly steep woodland that I used to work with a dozer and decided I needed 50hp if I got a tractor.
I have to say I miss the sheer weight of a dozer for getting the heavy work done but love the versatility of a tractor, especially the extra power and heft of the bigger machine though it is only 45hp not 50

 

[TripleR]

Congratulations on your new tractor; as mentioned nothing wrong with the L3800, but in my experience a tractor seems to "shrink" when you get it home and work with it a bit. My wife honestly talked me into our L5030 HSTC while I was looking for a 35-40 HP. There was a used one on the lot and I kept telling her it was too big.

I sure was glad I listened to her.

 

[Bluegill]

I'm goin to go against the grain here and say I'm glad I got the L3800 over the L4600. We have an old L3750 which is about the same size/HP as the 4600, maybe a bit heavier and I'd rather be on the L3800...

The only time I'd like a larger rig is when mowing open fields. But it'd have to be larger than a 4600 with a 6' mower to make a difference to me.

 

[RidgeRunner]

I'm goin to go against the grain here and say I'm glad I got the L3800 over the L4600. We have an old L3750 which is about the same size/HP as the 4600, maybe a bit heavier and I'd rather be on the L3800...

The only time I'd like a larger rig is when mowing open fields. But it'd have to be larger than a 4600 with a 6' mower to make a difference to me.

I went back and forth between the L3800 and L4600 all weekend. The main thing that sold me on the L4600 was that I got a great deal ($1600) on a new 5.5' disc harrow that weighs 850# with 20" discs (Hardee D-18-1620 3" tubular frame) and I felt like the extra weight (about 800# with bigger FEL) and 8 more HP on the L4600 would handle the clay and rocks better on the property. Would have probably had to go with a disc about 240# lighter and 18" disc on the L3600 and the price was in the same ballpark...the Hardee was new but looked like it had been sitting on the lot for a while.

The biggest negative was the bigger size (about 7" wider at 62") of the L4600 in the woods. Since I will be a weekend warrior primarily I thought the L4600 and the 4cyl would handle 8-10 hrs better at time. It just sounded a lot stronger and even quieter like it wasn't under as much strain driving it around the lot... went with the 5' dual grader LandPride GS1560 and 5' rotary cutter LandPride intentionally since most of my roads and I'm talking like 2 miles are around 10' and both implements would be right at tire width on the L4600 for when I do get in the woods. Both tractors have pretty tight turning radius at 8.5' versus 8.2' but the L4600 is about 11" longer. The front axle looked a little stouter on the L4600 and it did not have exposed steering linkage like the L3800 which I thought was a plus for when I got in the brush.

I just felt like I would be kicking myself if I went with the lighter tractor when I went to breaking soil in the hard clay conditions. For the bush hogging and road grading the L3800 would have been fine. No big fields to mow so no need for the 6' implements and I still keep the overall width with 5' implements close to what I would have had with the L3800.

So I guess I got about as big a compact as there is without stepping up to a full size tractor. This will probably be the only tractor I will likely ever buy and the only piece of equipment I have to work with other than a Polaris 800 UTV which won't have to dodge one foot ruts in the road anymore. The extra $5200 to step up in size still smarts a bit for use on a recreational tract...but at least I can recreate now on my new toy.

The 4WD L4600HST gets delivered on Friday...taking the day off from my day job...a day working the soil is better than a day in the office all year long. Yeahhhh boy!

 

[ibeamcarver]

I have an L4600 HST and it is a great tractor.

 

[RidgeRunner]

I have an L4600 HST and it is a great tractor. I think you're going to love it!
One thing about your post though - L4600 has a 3 cylinder engine. Plenty of other threads on here about why that may be the reason it runs so smooth.

The specs on the Kubota L3200/L3800/L4600 brochure as well as Kubota website both indicate a 4 cylinder engine on the L4600. Both the L3200 and L3800 share the same 3 cyl engine.
Here is another link also indicating 4cyl on the L4600.
http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/007/2/1/7210-kubota-l4600-engine.html

Why do you think the 3 cyl runs smoother than the 4 cyl?

 

[Bluegill]

The L4600 is a very good rig and 4cyl like you said. I likely would have gone with a L4400 or L4600 if my dealer would have had one at the time and if he had not offered me a L3800DT W/5' Land Pride mower for 16k out the door.

 

[ibeamcarver]

That's strange. When I look at the Kubota website it says 3cyl