Skip to the last two paragraphs to avoid my preamble
We ranch on 30 acres in the Texas Hill Country (a micro-ranch around here) and raise Blackbuck Antelope (native to India.) They are sold to other ranches for 'eye candy' and a mature buck makes a beautiful wall hanger. Anyway....
We currently have a 2010 Deere 4720 cab large frame compact (66 hp turbo, 50 at the PTO) and it has been in the dealer's shop for a few weeks for routine maintenance and a slipping PTO again. I was hot to trot for a Deere 5075E utility tractor but the dealer's service department is so dysfunctional I want nothing to do with them. In the last three or four years we recently bought a diesel UTV and a diesel ZTR from the dealer so this is going to be a messy divorce.
The 4720 has an HST and besides the PTO has been a very reliable tractor. I use it for grooming our various driveways, shredding and grapple work. A lot of grapple work. Bought it with 340 hours and I've put 600 more on the clock. 25 years ago had a Kubota L2900 (forgot the exact model but it was ~30 hp) and was extremely reliable but I was done with an open station tractor so that's why I bought the Deere.
Now on to the question. I need to step up to a utility tractor for various reasons and the Kubota M4D-071 seems to be a good fit for our needs. I drove one around the dealer's lot for several minutes and it seemed fine. It didn't take long to get used to the 'shuttle shift' again. The cab was very nice and ergonomic, I'm not real crazy about the location of the AC vents but that's not a deal breaker one way or another. The Kubota dealer has a good reputation and they do on-site service which greatly tips the scales to buy from them.
I have a quote for a dealer demo (20 hours) which is quite attractive. The quote includes a 3rd function on the loader and a 3rd SCV on the rear. Also R14 tires and cast steel rear wheels. I have a lot of Deere 3 point implements which I think will work well for the M4. For the front attachments I'm looking at a Deere to skid steer quick attach adapter.
Anything I'm missing or should know? I've done many hours of research and at this point the M4 seems to be a good fit for our ranch. BTW, we are rural and there's only two Deere dealers and one Kubota dealer within 50 miles of us.
-- John --
We ranch on 30 acres in the Texas Hill Country (a micro-ranch around here) and raise Blackbuck Antelope (native to India.) They are sold to other ranches for 'eye candy' and a mature buck makes a beautiful wall hanger. Anyway....
We currently have a 2010 Deere 4720 cab large frame compact (66 hp turbo, 50 at the PTO) and it has been in the dealer's shop for a few weeks for routine maintenance and a slipping PTO again. I was hot to trot for a Deere 5075E utility tractor but the dealer's service department is so dysfunctional I want nothing to do with them. In the last three or four years we recently bought a diesel UTV and a diesel ZTR from the dealer so this is going to be a messy divorce.
The 4720 has an HST and besides the PTO has been a very reliable tractor. I use it for grooming our various driveways, shredding and grapple work. A lot of grapple work. Bought it with 340 hours and I've put 600 more on the clock. 25 years ago had a Kubota L2900 (forgot the exact model but it was ~30 hp) and was extremely reliable but I was done with an open station tractor so that's why I bought the Deere.
Now on to the question. I need to step up to a utility tractor for various reasons and the Kubota M4D-071 seems to be a good fit for our needs. I drove one around the dealer's lot for several minutes and it seemed fine. It didn't take long to get used to the 'shuttle shift' again. The cab was very nice and ergonomic, I'm not real crazy about the location of the AC vents but that's not a deal breaker one way or another. The Kubota dealer has a good reputation and they do on-site service which greatly tips the scales to buy from them.
I have a quote for a dealer demo (20 hours) which is quite attractive. The quote includes a 3rd function on the loader and a 3rd SCV on the rear. Also R14 tires and cast steel rear wheels. I have a lot of Deere 3 point implements which I think will work well for the M4. For the front attachments I'm looking at a Deere to skid steer quick attach adapter.
Anything I'm missing or should know? I've done many hours of research and at this point the M4 seems to be a good fit for our ranch. BTW, we are rural and there's only two Deere dealers and one Kubota dealer within 50 miles of us.
-- John --