Help! Should I buy this L4150?

[farmermaker]

I'm looking at a tractor listed on a Canadian classifieds site and I'd love your advice as there are two known problems with it.

We're 5 hours away from the seller. I local Kubota dealer can zip up and have a look or the seller has offered to wait until I come down on Friday.

The questionable:

1. The 3pt hitch lowers on its own when the RPMs are reduced. The seller was told it could a sticking spool valve or a simple adjustment.
2. The steering is sloppy, especially at higher speeds. The seller says it has to do with a bushing that is hard to reach and could cost $1000 in labour if done by a tech.

The good:

1. 2nd owner
2. 1840 hours
3. Loader
4. Comes with a skid steer disconnect system up front for changing attachments.
5. New front tires
6. New seat

Asking $18k CAD (approx. $15k USD)

Our uses:

1. Year-round chore tractor on a small vegetable farm
2. Snow removal
3. Moving compost
4. Lifting pallets of sandbags around
5. Discing
6. Plowing

Photos: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tL4RrQST8NoWJFhaIlgk6-7JBHelbKMt

Thanks for your time & help!

 

[jimh406]

Seems like a good deal if it it meets your needs. I would personally like to have an estimate of repairs from the local dealer before buying it.

 

[farmermaker]

Seems like a good deal if it it meets your needs. I would personally like to have an estimate of repairs from the local dealer before buying it.

Yeah it's a tough call without a proper estimate for repairs. I called my local dealer and they said it could be a relief valve that needs to be replaced to fix the 3pt issue and he can't even source it. I see that it's an expensive part new in the US. We'd probably have to find a used one if that needs to be replaced in the end.

 

[PaulL]

The question is whether it needs repairing. If it only leaks down at low revs....run it at high revs. Sloppy steering isn't exactly unusual in a tractor either. Ann L4150 is a good size machine, it's got a bit of age on it so you'd expect some things to be wrong. Price sounds about in the ball park of what you might expect.

 

[farmermaker]

The question is whether it needs repairing. If it only leaks down at low revs....run it at high revs. Sloppy steering isn't exactly unusual in a tractor either. Ann L4150 is a good size machine, it's got a bit of age on it so you'd expect some things to be wrong. Price sounds about in the ball park of what you might expect.

Thanks Paul. We're leaning towards buying it with the issues, running if it's not a big nuisance and planning to fix it if necessary. We'd still come out ahead, in the long run, to have a quality machine vs a cheaper brand/model.

 

[PaulL]

Agree. It sounds like your uses are lift and carry type work, rather than "set my 3ph at a given height and require it to stay there." You can tolerate a lot of things wrong with a 3ph if you mostly use it all the way up and all the way down. I don't know anything about spool valves, but if it sags at low revs that sounds to me like it's leaking somewhere, and the reason it doesn't drop at high revs is because it's pumping faster than it's leaking. That's clearly not ideal, but if it's a leak internal to the hydraulic setup (i.e. not pouring fluid on the ground) then it's not the end of the world. Presumably it'll get worse over time until you have to fix it anyway....so may be easier to just fix it now.