Sub-compact tractors, thoughts?

[topside1]

Do you own a sub-compact tractor? What brand, and why did you choose that brand? I will be purchasing one soon equipped with a 60 inch belly mower and a front end loader, plus 4 wheel drive. This tractor will only be used mainly for mowing, the loader uses are endless. I'm wide open for any recommendations and suggestions. Thank you for your time....Topside

[Michael W. Smith]

I would suggest a Mahindra.

We had bought a very large Cub Cadet lawn mower brand new and the first couple of years it was fine. Once the warranty was off of it though, we started having trouble with it - costly trouble several times a year.

When we decided to upgrade to a tractor, we started checking around for smaller tractors and Mahindra had the cheapest prices, and they are 4 wheel drive.

We have had our Mahindra for nearly 5 years now and have been very satisfied. We opted for the pull behind mower which can be a challenge to be mowing around things and have to keep the extra length in mind. We possibly should have got a belly mower, but one of the things considered was with the bucket, the pull behind acts as a counter weight.

[Darren]

How big of an area will you mow? Buying new or used?

[topside1]

Thanks Michael, right now Mahindra is my number one pick. Visited the dealer last week and really liked what I sat on. Thanks again.

[topside1]

Mowing 10 acres, rolling hills. The machine will be new....Topside

[Muleman]

I have never had a little tractor/mower like that. A guy I work with just bought one of the little Kobotas 25 hp, front loader 4x4 and a backhoe attach. plus a trailer and a disc, I think that was all. He said they got some kind of limited time 0 down 0 fin. deal going and I think it was like $19,000.00
I have never had a kabota, but they seem like good tractors. I have a New Holland but not the little one and I like it.
I would buy a Tonka toy tractor though, if that was the dealer nearest me. I learned the hard way about buying "The best" tractor when the dealer, thus service, was over an hour away. Never again. I would rather have a piece of junk I can get worked on local, than the best there is, I have to haul far away for service, sooner or later they are all gonna break.

[agmantoo]

I bought 2 Kubotas (B series size) in the last ten years. One had front end loader and the other was 4 wheel drive. Neither tractor has ever needed any repairs! One still has the original battery. Both tractors have held their value and the cost of operation has been low. Fuel consumption is minimal and they start readily in cold weather. The 4 wheel drive tractor is light on the rear with a large load and needs a counter weight. However, my preference is for the 4 wheel drive due to the great traction. We have some fairly steep hills!

[Conhntr]

"Mowing" 10 acres seems like a tall order for a subcompact belly mower. You will need to mow very often for a belly mower to handle it think a couple times a month at 4+ hours each time?

For that size property i would be looking for a 5' or larger bushhog and a 30+ horsepower compact or larger tractor to pull it. With a bushhog you can cut it whenever when its 1' tall or 4' tall. The belly mower will bog down if its pver a certain height (ask dealer he will tell y recomended acreage and grass height the unit you are looking at can handle). So you will need to mow all the time.

I have 11 acres and i settled on a 5' bushhog behind a 35hp tractor. Then i use a 21" push mowrr for right around the house and septic where i dont want the tractor driving.

You will be much happier with the capabilities of the larger unit. A subcombact cant do nearly as much. Another advantege is the larger tractors are cheaper on the used market becuase all the mcmansions love the subcompact 4wd loader setups

[Old Vet]

I used to have a Kobota to mow 10 acres weekly. I now have a MF 1530 with a front end loader with a 6 foot bush hog and a finished mower that I used now. The finished mower for around the house and a bush hog for everything else. It was the air condition cab that soled me on this but it is very good for everything I used it for.

[Darren]

Kubota made a subcompact I liked. My compact isn't small enough to get around trees, landscaping, etc. even though it's only 30 hp. I've been impressed by Kubota's older B7800. They'll handle a 60" mower and are around 22 pto hp (30 engine hp). I've seen them on the market with low hours. It might be worth looking at.

http://www.tractordata.com/farm-trac...ota-b7800.html

[topside1]

The ten acres are pasture land grazed by my livestock, so mowing it three times a season is not a problem, it's not thick like a hay field. The other reason for the belly mower is to mow the grasses around the house and down by the pond, etc. Just time for an upgrade in machinery with versatility as an extra....Topside

[Gray Wolf]

Check to see how hard the belly mower is to take off. There are a lot of things you can't do with it on. Brush-hog type rotary mower on the 3-point is easy for one person to put on and off.

Our tractor is 37 hp Kubota we bought new about 15 years ago. Love it.

We bought new figuring that if anything went wrong it would cost us just to get it the 60 miles to the dealer. Very few brand choices around here so Kubota won.

[Gravytrain]

Originally Posted by Darren

Kubota made a subcompact I liked. My compact isn't small enough to get around trees, landscaping, etc. even though it's only 30 hp. I've been impressed by Kubota's older B7800. They'll handle a 60" mower and are around 22 pto hp (30 engine hp). I've seen them on the market with low hours. It might be worth looking at.

http://www.tractordata.com/farm-trac...ota-b7800.html

I bought a B7800 new and it has been the best money I've ever spent. I also have a new Kubota 70hp that mostly collects dust because the 7800 does just about everything I need it to including running a 6' brushhog.

I can go places with the 7800 that I can't with the 3.5 ton 70hp because it floats over wet areas. I used to mow 7 acres with it with a 3pt finishing mower, but it was too high to get under trees even with the ROPS down. It worked well for open areas...I clip pastures with the finishing mower now. The newer B3200 would be comparable.

The sub compacts on the other hand seem too lightly built for me. I see them for sale all the time pretty cheap. I could sell my 7800 for $15k in an hour. I paid $19k for it 8 years ago.

[ET1 SS]

I have a 24Hp Massey/Ferguson, diesel, 4WD, mid and rear pto, front loader-bucket, backhoe, pallet forks, disc harrow, and front pto driven snow-blower.

No lawn to mow, so no mower.

We have 150 acres though, and we are very happy with this tractor.

[highlands]

We have a JD4700 and JD4720 and are happy with both of them. I have no loyalty to John Deer, but the tractors work and we are able to both use and repair them. They are NOT made in the USA. When I bought the first one I was assured parts would always be available because it was made in the USA. That was a lie. We waited two months for a new transmission to be shipped from Japan by JD. Insane. That should have been in stock in the USA at the very least.

These are 48HP and 65HP tractors. We have bucket loaders (extensively used), 4-in-1 grabber bucket, forks (extensively used), a backhoe, sander (heavily used in winter), seeder, box scraper (driveway work mostly), rake (almost never used), logging chains on the rear tires. Weld some hooks on the backhoe and buckets for chain grabbing:

http://SugarMtnFarm.com/2006/06/29/j...4-in-1-bucket/
http://sugarmtnfarm.com/2006/12/08/c...elivering-hay/

At one point we took the 4700 to a non-dealer for a big repair. They screwed up so we now have no PTO on that tractor. Someday I'll fix that but it hasn't become priority and is a lot of work. The dealer is better at repairs but not a whole lot. I give them lists of things I want done and they do a little on the list but not everything which is aggravating. At the moment I don't have a good setup to do some of the work so I still have to use them - that will change.

Do get yourself a copy of the technical/repair manual or plan to spend a lot at the dealer for maintenance no matter what brand you go with. Keep up with regular maintenance and they last a long time.

-Walter
in Vermont

[Darren]

Originally Posted by Gravytrain

I bought a B7800 new and it has been the best money I've ever spent. I also have a new Kubota 70hp that mostly collects dust because the 7800 does just about everything I need it to including running a 6' brushhog.

I can go places with the 7800 that I can't with the 3.5 ton 70hp because it floats over wet areas. I used to mow 7 acres with it with a 3pt finishing mower, but it was too high to get under trees even with the ROPS down. It worked well for open areas...I clip pastures with the finishing mower now. The newer B3200 would be comparable.

The sub compacts on the other hand seem too lightly built for me. I see them for sale all the time pretty cheap. I could sell my 7800 for $15k in an hour. I paid $19k for it 8 years ago.

I've looked at the B7800s quite a bit. It's a big little tractor. Kubota has two ways of connecting the belly mower on that tractor. Both are easy on, easy off. I like the idea it has a 4 cylinder diesel, useable loader capacity and the option to add a remote if they weren't added before.

I can't speak specifically for the B7800, but the L3710 I've had for 14 years has been outstanding for the amount of abuse. I bought it because I was tired of repairing tractors when I could only work on the place during the weekend.

[Awnry Abe]

Kubota L5740 HST. I think it is considered a sub-compact. It performs countless tasks. Only major repair was self-inflicted.

This is just my opinion: the more utility-esque your tractor, the more you are going to want:

4WD, front end assist, and most importantly, HST. Especially when doing loader work. You'll have a better chance of getting your spouse to spend a few hours in the seat if you equip it with an automatic tranny.

[SouthGAMan]

I don't own one nor have I ever owned one......however I have through the years used them quite a bit. My father when he was alive had a utility construction company (mostly underground cable and wires) Although he had some big equipment he also used a couple of different sized Kubotas through the years (sorry I don't recall what size specifically). I could be wrong but I want to say that he purchased his first one in the very late 80's. I know I was married at the time so I don't think it was earlier than 88 or so. The Kubotas were used also around the homeplace and then around the 'new place' him and my mom moved into in 95. We did about anything possible with them and they held up well. My brother still utilizes one of those two original tractors on his property. I'd hate to think of the hours that were on them and they have seldom needed much repairs.

I do recall that my initial reaction to them was surprise since almost everyone around here in the late 80's early 90's were all using JD and MF. Was wondering where my dad found them out but man they proved themselves durable.

[Conhntr]

[QUOTE=highlands;7109803]. The dealer is better at repairs but not a whole lot. I give them lists of things I want done and they do a little on the list but not everything which is aggravating./QUOTE]
You forgot the part of not only do they only do half the work they where supposed to but it takes 3 weeks longer than quoted as well!

Im not the handiest individual but with youtube many more jobs are doable than before. I would never tackle tearing alot of jobs but with step by step video instruction its not as scary

[rambler]

Was around my bil's 15 hp old Kubota.

Otherwise I have a 27 hp compact, and do farming with bigger tractors.

I think you'll find you'll want a tad bigger than a sub compact. They are handy, but getting over 24 hp sure is handier....

A belly mower might not handle cow pies the best. I would ever more suggest a 3pt bush hog type for the pasture, even on your sub if you had to go down to a 4 foot, it will deal with cow pies, hoof print rugged terrain, rocks, heavy grass patches so very much better.

A belly mower and a loader do not ever like each other. The belly mower takes away ground clearance, and the loader takes away manuverability, each of which the other implement wants. So be sure you get easy on/ off models if you get a belly and loader combo.

A good used sub compact might be a good cost saver, they are durable enough not to worry about several 100 hours on them, see if you like it, when you decide to trade up a size in a year or two you won't take the depreciation hit.

The big brands are top tier, Kubota, JD, case/nh (tho they change manufacturers so often, worries me on resale...), Massy. Big dealer networks, lot of design history, etc.

The stuff from Korea are mid tier, good quality for the cheaper price.

Bottom of the line is the stuff from China. Someday they will make better quality stuff. Their engines are actually good, but the rest of a China tractor leaves a lot to be desired, just poor casting and fit and finish and features....

Paul