Looking for a new Kubota

[JohnnyRocket]

Newbie here to the site. First off I have about 30 acres to mow and currently have a 1968 JD3020 gas. I'm looking into buying my first Kubota I already have a bush hog 10' pull type mower and a 9' sickle mower. I will be moving hay bales around and also pushing snow here in Mo in the winter time. I've been looking at other models in the Kubota line but it is starting to confuse the heck out of me. I've been looking at L3940, L5240 or the M7040. I don't want something that is to small or to big throwing the idea around on a cab also. Any pro's or con's and what will work for what i'm doing and the equipment that I already have. Thanks in advance.
JR

 

[TripleR]

From what I remember abut that area passing through on the way to Jeff City, it is hilly and I really don't think I would want to pull a ten foot mower with any L Series. I have an L5740 that I use with a Land Pride RCR2672 3ph and it does fine, but put it in front of a ten foot, even pull type, and I just don't think I would want to do it. I have an old Woods 121 I think would do OK on the flatter areas as a semi-mount, but I would stay off the hills I believe. We pull our ten foot Woods DS1260 with an M8540 and it works great and is more stable on steep slopes than our L5740.

I find the L5740 an extremely nice tractor with the HST and use it a lot, but it just doesn't have the weight and power we need for some things. The hydraulic shuttle shift on the M Series is easy to use and the cabs are very nice.

If you were starting from scratch, the L Series would do fine, but if you are going to use existing equipment, I believe my preference would be the M Series and I have cabs on my tractors, can't beat the comfort.

As always take your time and drive them before making a decision. Good luck.

 

[JohnnyRocket]

I'm not far from Jeff City actually I don't have very many hills on the property but there are a few. The 10' bush hog is an older unit I was tossing around the idea of a 8' one.

 

[TripleR]

If you don't have many steep hills and want to pull an 8' pull type cutter then an L5240/5740 should do fine.

 

[JohnnyRocket]

Got it narrowed down to either the M5140 or the M7040 decisions descisons!!

 

[Eric McCarthy]

When in doubt go bigger!!!!

 

[Bonk]

When in doubt go bigger!!!!

True, but be careful. There are expensive unintended consequences. I just bought my first tractor (L4600HST) two weeks ago. I was in doubt so I went bigger and I'm glad I did. The L4600 is plenty of tractor for my needs but not excessively big.

Here's the expensive part: I just bought my second tractor yesterday. BX2370 w/MMM. The 4600 w/brush hog was just too big for the 2-3 acres around the house but it's perfect for the rest of our 40 acres. We needed a solid mower and the price difference between a SCUT and a commercial grade mower wasn't much at all so we decided a second smaller tractor would be of more use than a dedicated mower.

Even if I had bought a smaller L series tractor I still would have needed a separate mower for near the house. Anything smaller would have been a compromise either way. At least now I have the right tractors for their intended purposes. Damn the bad luck!

A month ago I had never owned a tractor before. Now I have two!

 

[TripleR]

Gotta agree with Eric, once you make the jump might as well go to the 7040. We have found the limited slip differential really handy.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

It's hard to have kind of like a Swiss Army tractor to cover all your needs and basis. Sometimes they are too big for the small jobs and to small for the big ones. Trying to go right down the middle and find a decent size tractor is damn near impossible. Its either too much or not enough, and I'm sure most of us here would all agree we just make do with the tractor we have.

 

[skeets]

Bonk,, my friend don't sell that little BX short, granted its not an L or M but they will surprise you given a chance. And who ever said owning 2 Buotas is a bad thing

 

[JohnnyRocket]

Got a price of $36,000 for a M7040 with 2 rear remotes, 3rd valve for attachments on the loader, canopy, tires filled with beet juice and cold weather block heater. Then they want to give me $6500.00 for the old John Deere 3020 gas. So $29,500 for a total.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

$6500 for an old gas powered John Deere WOW that's impressive they offered you that much! I don't think I could refuse that deal...

 

[Eric McCarthy]

WWWOOOOOWWW Tractor data has it listed with the original sale price of $10,000. That tractor has held some value over the years!

http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/000/0/6/63-john-deere-3020.html

 

[JohnnyRocket]

Thanks Eric I believe I will pull the plug next month on it. I'm to busy at the moment here at work working 6-12 hour days till June 1st or 8th they haven't made up their minds yet.