Compact Utility Tractors
 

So, since PPOT is huge source of wisdom on many subjects...

I am looking to buy a compact utility tractor. I have narrowed down my search to either a John Deere 1025R or a Kubota BX2680 (or maybe a 2380...). I've read the reviews, watched the videos, talked to the salesman, etc., and just wanted to get some good ol' PPOT feedback. On paper these two are very similar. My goals are ~25 hp, 4WD, loader, belly mower as a minimum. I will also likely get a bush hog and maybe a tiller. Kubotas and John Deeres are the most prevalent around here. Don't see much Massey Ferguson/New Holland/Mahindra/Branson. I actually sat on a Mahindra yesterday and didn't like the ergonomics at all. The John Deere dealer is about 2 miles from my house, so that is a plus.

Anyone have one of these (or their many similar brethren)?

Kubota BX is actually considered sub compact, and the regular B series are considered compact.

I have a B2320 with a loader and backhoe. Have an older JD420 with a 60” deck for mowing. The Kubota is a great machine and is very helpful for maintaining my 13 acre property. I bought it used and expect that I can sell it for close to what I paid should the need arise.

I have two MF GC2300s, both each over 14 years old with a few thousand hours.

The two CUT's you are looking at will be great and you will really enjoy the experience and marvel at how useful they are.

I hopefully will not be in the market for many more years, but if I was (brand independent) the capabilities that would be a discriminator for me based on over 14 years with CUTS:

- Ease of belly mower deck attach/detach. When I bought my tractors belly mower decks were a pain to get on and off all the available CUTs. Now, however, ease of belly mower attachment on some models is simple and easy. Make sure whichever one you buy that is the case. Ease of attaching and taking off implements is key.

- Available implements for the tractor. That should not be an issue for you - both companies treat their tractors like Swiss Army Knife's.

- Dealer rep and proximity. I already had a large MF tractor when I bought the little ones and was very familiar with the dealer, parts availability, service, etc. That helped seal the deal.

- Routine Maintenance. The MF's are very easy to maintain. I would think that the Deere and K are the same, but ask about grease points, where they are, periodicity, etc. Grease is your friend.

- Must have a hydrostatic transmission.

That is about it. Both of those brands will last forever if you keep after them. I did not mention price since the other factors are more important. If the two are equally as capable, price can be the tie breaker.

My next farm purchase is going to be a big Kubota Zero Turn mower.

Enjoy!

i used a B23xx. now I am looking for one
it had a FEL and backhoe and mower under it.

Coincidentally, I called one of the local Kubota dealers during lunch today to get some price quotes/ask a few questions and the guy I talked to went through the same process I am going through and ended up with a Massey Ferguson (this dealer sells MF also). I hadn't considered those but should...

The people that owned our property before us had a Kubota and loved it. I was leaning toward the JD since the dealer is so close, but I am really pretty flexible.

Please let us know what your final utilization is for the unit. We use a Deere (110hp) and a Case (60hp). Deere is constantly broken down, Case only wants normal maintenance. Both were assembled in the USA at about the same time. As a disclaimer, the in-laws let their neighbors constantly borrow (been trying to stop this for five years) the Deere and it gets alot of abuse from them.

BAD about Deere: Who actually makes the one you are looking at? The manufacturers sticker may actually be on the firewall. It could be LS or a Chinese brand. LS appears to be a good tractor. Deere will ALWAYS own the tractor, you are buying the right to lease it. ALL the software belongs to Deere. You will always have to go to Deere for anything electronic related, they will give you a stink eye (well at least us) for replacing filters and fluids yourself. I believe the older Fiat Deeres were relatively good quality and ran for thousands of hours.

My buddy had a five series that was made in China, did NOT have the integrated subframe. Bolts that held the front and back halves together gave way and he was sitting on the transmission while the front end rolled away. Again, he lived in rocky terrain with lots of hills.

BAD about Kubota: Never heard anything. I found their console to be difficult to use but that is MY issue not someone elses.

BAD about CASE: NEVER buy one made in Turkey or China. Just do not do it. Made in USA is best one.

Neighbor had a Branson, down for repairs every week. BUT he even stated his was a misnomer as others in his family had the same tractor with ZERO issues.

New Holland/Case are possibly still made by LS Tractors. If not, check out LS anyway. They are simpler and may fit your requirements.


Other thoughts: Why a new one? There are some good used ones around. The older Massey Fergusons are relatively inexpensive. Stay away from the made in China ones and you should be OK. LS makes a good tractor, they make or have made tractors for all the major brands.

Make sure you get a front end loader, in that small a size get 4WD.

Practice with the different types of shifters. They make a difference if you will do lots of dirt work or picking up of things.

I miss my old Massey!!!!

Tier IV engines require DEF/urea fuel additive. Read up on it.


How many acres do you have? We mow 10 or so acres with a zero turn mower. Quicker and easier than the brush hog. Was mowing about thirty using the zero turn in preference to the brush hog. These are horse pastures.


The Dealer will make or break your purchase. How easy are they to deal with? Do you like the salesguys? Tour the repair facility. How many units are in for repair? How fast do they move through the line? It might take two or more months for our Deere to be seen at the best local dealership. At the mediocre one it is more like four to six weeks.

Just in case you were wondering, I hate the Deere. Except when it is running, then it is a real workhorse that is waiting to break down again. And it is bigger than the Case so I can use it for the heaviest work.

Paul,

For your place check out a Hustler 104. Huge cutting capacity. I am seeing our contractors move to them after we opened up the possibility in our contracts. Using them instead of 15' batwings in most cases.

Thanks you, David...looking!

Looked: Holy ****!!!

You mentioned two good choices for SUBCOMPACT tractors. I went with Kubota.

1) Seriously consider going bigger. To run a tiller, you'll want to get one wider than the tractor itself. That means they get heavier very quickly (which is good) but without front weights steering gets too light and you're probably at the limits of PTO hp (a BX with 23hp engine has 17.7hp at the PTO, for example). You will exceed the limits of the loader for a BX sized SCUT unless you use it only as a heavy-duty wheelbarrow as I do. The relief valves protect the hydraulics but it is easy peazy to tweak it out of plumb (i.e., bend an arm) by lifting not from the center point. That means the quick attach feature is no longer quick. In summary, hardly nobody trades down on tractors. Get the widest possible belly mower. In a counter-intuitive way a larger deck makes mowing around obstacles easier. Do not get Ag tires if you're working turf. You will chew up the lawn and not even know it otherwise. At least fill the rear tires. In tractoring weight is your friend.

2) Buy used! Very lightly used SUBCOMPACT tractors are all over the place because, wait for it, hardly nobody trades down! Save nearly 50% going used. Honest!

3) The dealer. It is unlikely you'll ever need help from the dealer. But when/if you do you'll thank your lucky stars.

The both the Deere and Kubota are good machines. One consideration should be the location and quality of a servicing dealer. A bad dealer can make owning a good machine a miserable experience.
I have a Kubota 2320 and it's great. I would recommend Kubota if you have a good dealer nearby.

About 2.5 acres of property. Used to be a small horse farm - still has about 1.75 acres of pasture and .75 acres of residential/structures. Not a flat spot on the whole place (East TN). I need a mower that can handle some hills and have several projects that require a loader. Also need to resurrect a 20'x70' garden. I don't need (or want) anything bigger than a ~25 hp tractor.

?? According to John Deere, the 1025R is designed/fabricated by John Deere in Augusta, GA. It has a Yanmar diesel engine.

I didn't like the loader control on the BX2670 I looked at but the BX2680 is much better.

Closest LS dealer is a long way away (~2 hours). The New Holland dealer in this area recently moved. I need to check them out.

Used ones are like hen's teeth around here unless you're willing to pay "new" prices. For example, there is a used Kubota BX2670 for sale with a loader and belly mower for $15950. I've been scouring the used market for ~ 9 months and it is rare to find anything less than $12-$15k. My local Deere dealer has a used 1025R right now for $15.5k.

This factor has been moving higher up my list. My closest Deere dealer is about 2 miles from my house. I could walk there if need be. :) The Kubota/Massey dealer is about 40 minutes away, but they seem like good folks.

A buddy at work had a 1025R that he sold a few months ago (for almost $20k). He loved it. He's actually the guy who got me thinking about all of this. His had a back hoe (that I didn't need) and he sold it almost as soon as he listed it.

Thanks for the responses. I knew I'd get some good info...

Hey Mike,

I have a MF GC2410 like this one:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1521482611.jpg

You didnt mention a backhoe in your must haves, but I couldnt live without it.
The front loader cant really dig, its more of a scooper and transporter.
The backhoe makes pretty quick work of digging up trees, planting trees, digging trenches, etc...
I also have no desire to use a belly mower on this beast. They are pretty expensive and I would rather have a cheap JD mower to just cut the grass.

I thought about bigger, but I didn't think I really needed it.

Not around here, unfortunately. I might save 10-20% on something with 250 hours.

Hey Brian! Hmmm...I was trying to tell myself I didn't need a backhoe!! I am currently cutting about 75% of the land with a 54" Husqvarna riding mower that the previous owners left me. That poor mower is taking a beating. It is basically a ride-on bush hog. :)

Good point about the loader/digging capability.

I have owned a 28hp Mahindra diesel 4x4 tractor, and absolutely love it. I went through all the other brands and found it to be better built, better backed (5 year warranty), better priced (+ 0% financing for 5 years). I have a 5 foot front loader and bush hog. I have used this to clear land, plow and move snow (we get lots here), run a McCormick manure spreader, and on occasion pulled cars out of the ditch in front of my house.

I would not hesitate to buy another Mahindra.

P.S. go up a size, I did not like the ergonomics of the smaller one either

I have a MF 1734 and I love it. I use 5' woods mower on the back and have the FEL on the front also have the forks that I can swap out for the bucket. The forks have really been a lifesaver. It's like have a AWD forklift.

I mow about 6.5 acres with it and it does a great job.

Dave

Don't get too hung up on "around here". Look at Tractorhouse.com and shop around a bit. Trucking isn't bad if you keep it withing about 500 miles it'll usually cost about $700 to $750 to ship something like that. A nice feature on Tractorhouse is the auction tab. You can look at what used tractors have been bringing at auction and give yourself some idea what the dealers are paying for them on trade.

Good tip. I've noticed - for instance - that tractors seem to be a lot cheaper in South Carolina than they are around here...

The other reason I dont use the TLB for a mower is the weight.
With a loader and a backhoe, ,this thing is HEAVY!
I dont feel like taking off them off just to mow.
At ~$3k? for the belly mower, I decided to pay ~$500 for a used JD 48" mower.

And... I bought mine off craigslist for $7500 with 130 hours on it!

I've posted on this before.

Bottom line is this: your brand is only as good as the local dealer.

John Deere of that size is made by Deere in India.
Kubota is made by Kubota in Japan.
Massey is made by Iseki in Japan.
New Holland and Case are made by LS in Korea.
LS tractors are identical to the above for a significant cost savings.
Kioti are made in Korea and a decent, inexpensive machine.

I have a Kubota M series and have had a nightmare with the local dealer. I am currently deciding if I am going to trade it in on green paint or deal with an out of territory Kubota dealer.