Used L3901, 12 hours, 24k-ish$. Deal or no?

[PaulL]

Taking off the loader might be the ticket. I have to try that! Is that a "duh" moment for me? Thank you for suggesting that. I'm mowing with a 6 foot (180 cm) finish mower or a 4 foot (120 cm) heavy duty bush hog.

My dealer recommended leaving it on for forward ballast. So I never thought to try without. Easy enough experiment. I've never taken it off. So that would be a good learning point for me regardless of mowing side hills.

Speed? I creep when things get sketchy. Like ready to jump slow. I have one trail I can mow, but I am sideways crab walking. Pucker factor galore.

Yeah, running a mower on the 3ph will change the balance. Suitcase weights on the front may be better than the loader though - the loader sits quite high compared to the weights. Ideally you want your weight axle height or lower.

With the loader off, you should find lots more traction in 2wd on the flat. And also a lot less pitching - I find loader + 3ph implement equals lots of pitching back and forth over bumps. But you may find your front wheels pretty light, so turning will now be a bit more of an issue. I can't see that you'd tip over backwards (the mower would just hit the ground), but on side slopes now all your traction is coming from the rear. Which might be fine, or might be a real problem if you need to turn quickly for some reason.

Anyway, worth a try. Nothing to lose from it.

 

[jyoutz]

Raised my mental eyebrow too when I started doing the math... I agree with you and the other gentleman that mentioned it.

I stopped by to kick the tires again today. Pass. It is aftermarket and gear drive. I'm not opposed to either. Actually love gear drive for some applications. But that isn't my next tractor, in that configuration. However it would serve someone well without a doubt. He's also willing to sell it without the FEL. Even older than me guy running the place, by appointment only. I was happy to make his aquantaince. Would be happy to do business with him.

Smart move to pass on this. An aftermarket loader will greatly reduce resale, and no loader even more so.

 

[GrizBota]

An L3901 is easily twice the tractor a B2061 is, even if it’s gear drive with an aftermarket FEL. But if what you want to do is use a MMM to mow your yard and forested trails, your B2601 is the ticket. Take off the FEL to mow. O Theiss it’s like trying to run in quicksand. My little B can mow 1.0 vertical to 3.0 horizontal slopes up and down easily (unless it’s wet, then the R14 tires load up and it’s a mess) as well as side hill, but not as “comfortably”.