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My uncle has either the 25/39 model and he loves it. Mows big fields for people and does some sidework with it.

Also didn't they put the smaller motor in the bigger frame to kind of get around the emissions stuff recently?

All I got. :flipoff2:
 
JeffsJeep04 said:
That’s why I went new…0% freed up cash for our house build. We’d have been screwed without the tractor last winter.
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I have to have the tractor for the build. I was hoping to get away with just putting a blade on my older Cummins and parking it up there, but we're too far into summer now without having broken ground I am going to be forced to keep my plot clear all winter and without a blower its going to suck ass. Was hoping to do the tractor after the build, but I dont think logistically thats feasible now.
 
Alpine4x4 said:
What implements have you found worth the investment? Do you think a 39hp unit is going to restrict me too much? Is a 64" blower big enough and worth the $4000 price tag?
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HP doesn't hold you back unless you have PTO that needs more horse-ma-ponies. The lighter weight of the L series will be what holds you back, for the most part. If you have to choose between the two, side with more weight unless you are mowing in the wet.

Stuff not worth it:
  1. 3 point post hole diggers: No down-pressure. Don't dig worth a shiz. Better off with a hand held for less money or rent one. Ones that are hydraulic and mound to the FEL are awesome, but have high flow requirements.
  2. Backhoe on rear of Tractor (BH77). Have one. It is ok, but you will likely never make it pay for itself versus renting a backhoe/tracked excavator. On small tractors, the backhoe just doesn't move enough dirt fast enough compared to alternatives. They are great to have around if you don't have time to rent/borrow one and drive to pick up and drop off-- but otherwise not worth the cost.
  3. Lots of PTO powered attachments are not worth it. Outside of 3-point powered mowers and snow blowers, PTO powered equipment is insanely overpriced compared to stand-alone or 3-point self-powered equipment with their own dedicated engine. Which kinda sucks. Check prices and compare carefully before pulling trigger.
  4. R14 tires are an overpriced rip off. R-1s bounce but have traction in the dirt, R-4's are better for loader work.
  5. Mid-mount mowers: Sometimes you are really better off with a zero-turn than a mid-mount mower deck. They are PITA to get on and off. Always cause problems. It is just faster and more stable to use a zero turn.

Stuff I like:
  1. Box-blade: Jack of all dirt moving trades, master of none. But good enough.
  2. FEL: Obviously mandatory for use of the grapple or a bucket or forks. The L-series class tractor ain't gonna lift a fully loaded pallet though. Your around 1200 pounds max at the pins to the top of the lift range. If you need more than that, you need a M or a dedicated fork-lift.
  3. Grapple: Great. Never-endingly useful on wooded property. Requires 3-rd function at front, but worth it.
  4. Forks: FEL really needs forks or not very usefull.
  5. Counter-weight: Can be anything, but operating a FEL is scary/unsafe without appropriate counter-weights at the rear.
Remember the FEL on an L series is not a substitute for bulldozer or a skid steer. If you ram it into hardpack stuff or constantly lift the front end off the ground while back-dragging-- you will fook it up.
 
Love my old Case. Use it weekly. Wish I could find a grill for it. Picked it up for IIRC $1900 5 years ago. Has a pile of receipts for $4kish of in chassis rebuild about 300 hours ago from the local dealer. Clutch is starting to slip pretty bad. Probably have to split it and fix that this winter.

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I’ve been toying with a PTO wood chipper for cleaning up limbs and pedophiles, that’s on my short list of stuff to add also. Will wait for a deal to come along, I can’t justify more than around $1500 for tractor farkles.
 
JeffsJeep04 said:
I’ve been toying with a PTO wood chipper for cleaning up limbs and pedophiles, that’s on my short list of stuff to add also. Will wait for a deal to come along, I can’t justify more than around $1500 for tractor farkles.
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They are kinda shit. The only reason I have one is because it was free. It does ok. My machine is only rated for 18hp at the PTO. It will chip 6” soft if I jam it in and work the machine. The weak point is definitely the feed roller. It’s dinky. Straight from China- likely alibaba. “Chipper 6”. But…free, so 🤷🏻‍♂️
 

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WoodburyZuk said:
They are kinda shit. The only reason I have one is because it was free. It does ok. My machine is only rated for 18hp at the PTO. It will chip 6” soft if I jam it in and work the machine. The weak point is definitely the feed roller. It’s dinky. Straight from China- likely alibaba. “Chipper 6”. But…free, so 🤷🏻‍♂️
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Kinda disappointing as a chipper was one thing I thought about. We have plenty of shit that needs chipped.
 
Pablo said:
HP doesn't hold you back unless you have PTO that needs more horse-ma-ponies. The lighter weight of the L series will be what holds you back, for the most part. If you have to choose between the two, side with more weight unless you are mowing in the wet.

Stuff not worth it:
  1. 3 point post hole diggers: No down-pressure. Don't dig worth a shiz. Better off with a hand held for less money or rent one. Ones that are hydraulic and mound to the FEL are awesome, but have high flow requirements.
  2. Backhoe on rear of Tractor (BH77). Have one. It is ok, but you will likely never make it pay for itself versus renting a backhoe/tracked excavator. On small tractors, the backhoe just doesn't move enough dirt fast enough compared to alternatives. They are great to have around if you don't have time to rent/borrow one and drive to pick up and drop off-- but otherwise not worth the cost.
  3. Lots of PTO powered attachments are not worth it. Outside of 3-point powered mowers and snow blowers, PTO powered equipment is insanely overpriced compared to stand-alone or 3-point self-powered equipment with their own dedicated engine. Which kinda sucks. Check prices and compare carefully before pulling trigger.
  4. R14 tires are an overpriced rip off. R-1s bounce but have traction in the dirt, R-4's are better for loader work.
  5. Mid-mount mowers: Sometimes you are really better off with a zero-turn than a mid-mount mower deck. They are PITA to get on and off. Always cause problems. It is just faster and more stable to use a zero turn.

Stuff I like:
  1. Box-blade: Jack of all dirt moving trades, master of none. But good enough.
  2. FEL: Obviously mandatory for use of the grapple or a bucket or forks. The L-series class tractor ain't gonna lift a fully loaded pallet though. Your around 1200 pounds max at the pins to the top of the lift range. If you need more than that, you need a M or a dedicated fork-lift.
  3. Grapple: Great. Never-endingly useful on wooded property. Requires 3-rd function at front, but worth it.
  4. Forks: FEL really needs forks or not very usefull.
  5. Counter-weight: Can be anything, but operating a FEL is scary/unsafe without appropriate counter-weights at the rear.
Remember the FEL on an L series is not a substitute for bulldozer or a skid steer. If you ram it into hardpack stuff or constantly lift the front end off the ground while back-dragging-- you will fook it up.
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Great insight. I agree the forks are pretty much a requirement. Mower deck is going to be a PTO powered drag behind, no mid mount bullshit here. The grapple is intriguing as I think we will get a lot of use out of it, even with the 1144lbs FEL limit. And 100% on the dirt work, like said before, buddy has a mini and he also has a skid steer we can borrow for real dirt work. Bucket will be for moving mulch, soft dirt, brush, and shit I dont want to carry.
 
WoodburyZuk said:
1987 JD 750 4x4. It’s my right hand. Love that machine. Have 5’ brush hog, post hole digger, wood chipper, box blade (neighbors), sub soiler, and a carry all. Neighbor has pallet forks too. Oh and a backhoe, it’s wimpy, I need to narrow the bucket and make it more of a trenching bucket.
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Another JD 750 4x4 owner here. Mine is an 1988, SN indicates it was within ~ 150 tractors of being the last off the assembly line. 5' rotary cutter, 5' finish mower, 3 point hay forks and a boom. Going to pick up a box blade and straight blade Wish it had a FEL but other than that it is a handy little tool. Got it a couple years ago with only 500 hours, was owned by a local guy and rarely used as they had several larger tractors. I only paid $1000 for it because it wasn't running right. The fuel rack on the injector pump was stuck and so it would run at high speed only - which apparently is a common problem. It also had a leak in old original radiator hoses. Spend an hour or so spraying the rack w/ PB blaster and working it back and forth to free it up, replaced the radiator hose, and put in a new battery and it was running. Had original turf tires on it, so I splurged and bought new rear wheels and a set of R4's for $1500 and a new seat for $100.
 

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I've got an L3130 with a FEL and backhoe. As long as I don't get in a hurry, the back hoe is very handy to put in conduit and water lines which I do pretty regularly on my sidehustle. I would like to have a grapple and I need another set of forks. Right now, I share some with our farm where I have 3 larger tractors. I have a grapple there also, but I can't take it off the farm, I use it too much out there. I wish I had a smaller box blade for it, the one I have for my big tractors is too big for the 3130. The hoe is also a nice ass weight for counterbalance to FEL.
 
Keep in mind the 1200lb lifting capacity on the kubota is pretty much a dream. If you removed the bucket and rigged off the cross tube it might maybe do it but otherwise id figure its more like 8-900
 
Alpine4x4 said:
Kinda disappointing as a chipper was one thing I thought about. We have plenty of shit that needs chipped.
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Since your interested in a chipper...

We've got a 3pt one and for lols we hooked it up to the L2501 and it was fine with 3" stuff, getting up near / past 4 inches is about the most we were able to do with it before it ran out of power and it wasn't too happy about it. I forget the brand but I believe the PTO powers a hydraulic pump which runs everything. Something more direct gear driven wouldn't waste as much HP and should chip larger diameter limbs.

Not an issue for us, we just run it with an older larger tractor.
 
2big bronco said:
Keep in mind the 1200lb lifting capacity on the kubota is pretty much a dream. If you removed the bucket and rigged off the cross tube it might maybe do it but otherwise id figure its more like 8-900
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Yep they are pretty pathetic unless you don’t need it for much.
 
While I agree they're no forklift, (you should just buy one of those as well, they're so worth it) it is amazing what they can pick up and its so nice to move shit around without having to touch it with your hands :laughing: Hydraulics are amazing.

Also if you ever plan on a sawmill, the L2501 is the perfect size for loading logs on one.
 
allegedly Kubota sets them very low in the acceptable hydro pressure range and you can shim them up to lift quite a bit more. I’ve lifted some pretty dumb logs and boulders, but you better not get in a hurry or you’ll be in your side.
 
No complaints with Kioti dk4210. Nothing against the other brands, but nobody else wanted my $$ bad enough to pick up the phone and give me a quote.
 

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We have a 64 JD 4020 Wheatland open cab that we use for baling. Run a 9 foot discbine, NH 650 baler and two NH Rolabar rakes 256 and 260 to grab three swaths into one. Love the mechanical stuff, currently have it apart to pull the hydraulic pump as she was peeing on the ground when I was loading bales. have a JD 48 FEL with bucket and spears.

Also have a Kubota L3600 with a blade on the front for snow and FEL (swap them). Bale spears on the back 3pt so I can pick up my 700lb bales the 4020 makes and feed in the winter. Have a JD flail for the back that I hit the field edges with in the fall. Never got to it this fall as we went summer directly into winter.

:dustin:
 
Alpine4x4 said:
Kinda disappointing as a chipper was one thing I thought about. We have plenty of shit that needs chipped.
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I have the Woodland Mills 8" chipper I run behind my Ford 3930. (50-ish HP PTO) It does everything I need. Ive never tried to prove it'll chip 8" material and I highly doubt it would if I tried. To me, anything over 3" diameter is firewood either for the house or the fire pit. We use the chips in the chicken pens , garden, greenhouse and the flower beds around the property.
 
Alpine4x4 said:
Kinda disappointing as a chipper was one thing I thought about. We have plenty of shit that needs chipped.
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To reiterate. It’s not useless, ya just gotta be smart about it. No big crotches. It’ll chip plenty, I think they are like $2300 new. I guess what I’m saying, is if I spent more than a grand on it, I’d probably be disappointed. Plus it functions as a nice ballast
 
I’ve gained a lot of respect for Ford 4000 series tractors. Very simple to work on and run seemingly forever.

I agree on getting the cleanest mechanical diesel you can find.
 
I went with the L2501 for three reasons. no emissions being number one, powerful enough to do what I need and it's Kubota resale value.
My bucket still looks brand new, tractor is a 19 with 160 hrs on it. I use forks almost all the time with the grapple thrown on for firewood duty.
My only regret was not getting the third function installed at the dealer before they delivered the tractor. I'm pretty sure I could sell mine today for what I paid for it. My dealer loads the rear tires, installs an engine block heater and in my case they threw in wheel spacers because you need them if you want to run chains, at least with the R4's
 
We have two JD tractors, a 2025R and 4052R.

The 2025R is a mower, snowblower, roto-tilling, loader around the yard machine. Only has 25 hp but does fine snow blowing 10” of wet heavy snow, or 2’ of fluffy snow. It replaced a 1025R loader backhoe because we wanted more ground clearance.

The 4052R has grapples, skidding winch, rear blade, 7’ bush hog, 8’ disc harrow, and forks. It’s a field/woods machine, it skids logs in the winter, and hard scraping duties in the summer.

The tractor mounted backhoes are frustrating if you have ever run an excavator. Slow and not really great at digging, but will do the job. We also bought a mini excavator.
 
Alpine4x4 said:
OK so this came up back in February and it seems a lot of people here have experience with tractors and tractoring. Lets use this thread as a general discussion for all things tractors!

I'm about to invest in a new Kubota L3902 with blower, cutting deck, and probably a box blade. Currently using my FIL's Kubota 4740 around their place, but they dont do anything with it but push some snow and till a garden once a year. We have 20 acres, inlaws bought 20 next door. About 5 of it needs mowed/managed while the rest is timber and hillside we'll tinker with here and there.

What implements have you found worth the investment? Do you think a 39hp unit is going to restrict me too much? Is a 64" blower big enough and worth the $4000 price tag?
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I have a 2021 Kubota L3901, I used it for everything, loading and unloading trucks, trailers, plowing lots of snow, log skidding, grading driveway, clearing brush etc. I love it.

My only wish is that it could pick up more weight. I have had some sketchy situations really pushing it trying unload things, moving logs, and moving large rocks.

Get a light weight made with ar plate grapple like the landpride one. Don't go crazy heavy on it, you need one designed light enough you don't lose capacity. Mine has the real short forks on the bottom only 6" maybe. These are awesome for getting logs, pulling rocks out of the ground, breaking up hard dirt, and I also use it to break up ice on the driveway during the winter.

I have a brush cutter, it works good, I kind of wish I also had a flail mower. Maybe one day...

I have a box blade. Mine has the adjustable teeth, Its been handy, its good for work were you are moving lots of materials, I want a rear grader blade as well for when I don't want the material piling up in the box blade but just moving over.

Get third function and also get rear hydraulics, hydraulic top and side link. Makes everything you do with the back attachments 1000X easier.

Remote Hydraulic & Hitch Kits | Tractor Innovations is where I got a diverter kit for my rear hydraulics and the cylinders, price was good, easy kit to install.
 
Also get yourself a piranha tooth bucket edge. That thing makes the tractor actually dig. Also great for pulling up small trees and brush.


Light weight grapple, lets you pick up some heavy things. This is was on my last firewood log skidding adventure.

I put $10k down and did the rest with 0% financing from Kubota, also bought the insurance through them. Can't really go wrong with that deal.


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Pook said:
I run a pto wood chipper from Woodland Mills, their 6" model, the 3901 runs its fine, haven't had an issue.
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Want to buy one of these, but can’t seem to justify…
 
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