Kubota L3400 - Pros & Cons?

[TDVT]

I know from the "I love my tractor" thread that alot of you guys have a Kubota L3400. We have been using our old 8N (no loader) for all our tractor work but want to get something a little more modern.

We were at a Kubota dealer this afternoon & checked out the L3400 but also looked at the L4400. It's always nice to have extra power but the extra expense & maybe the size of the 4400 (less maneuverable?) are factors.

What are your thoughts pro & con?

Thanks, Ted

[Fred Henderson]

The L3400 is a good solid ,no frills tractor. It will go the distance and bring home the bacaon or should I say sap. I myself have an L 3830 kubota.

[TDVT]

Thanks for the input. My understanding was that it was no frills which is fine with me. We bush hog 3-4 acres but would like the clear a little more as well as landscaping around the house. another shed project, etc.

We are just wary of spending $$$ & later wishing it were bigger, so I thought I'd ask guys who have them.

Ted

[MASSEY JACK]

The L3400 is a great seller for us. I think is it only about $1200 more for the hydrostatic version. It is money well spent for loader work and for bushhogging as you are always changing directions.I like the R4 industrial tires a little better as they are larger and hold more liquid ballast which is a plus with the loader. The L4400 is a lot bigger. It is also available with a hydrostatic trans (just happened for 2008). A general rule of thumb is that the bigger the machine the easier it is to operate...

If you want pricing then give me a call

Jack Daniels
518-573-9805
Salem Farm Supply
Salem NY.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I love my L3400. It is 2.5 years old and has about 82 hours on it. It will do about everything I have ask of it. I have a 140 gallon sap tank on the rear and a 70 gallon on the front and with about 130 in the rear tank, I can easily handle 200 gallon of sap per trip. I have a 4' x 4' carryall on the rear and it handles about all of the hardwood I can put on it. With no more property than you have, it should be great. If I had it to do over, I would have probably went with the hydro as Jack said, but the main thing I do with mine is haul sap and wood which is mostly forward, just some stop and go, so the DT trans works fine. Make sure you get a 4x4 and a bucket. I bought mine in Dec 2005 and they wanted $ 1,900 more to get it with a Loader vs without and it was definitely the best money I ever spent.

Unless you land is flat, go with the AG tires as the R4's are like a sled on hills but are fine if the land is flat. Also, have them to put fluid in the rear tires. The L3400 is an awesome tractor with everything you need on one and nothing extra to tear up, but it is a little light. It is around 2,660 lbs without a Loader and around 3,200 lbs with a Loader and without fluid the best I can remember. I have winshield washer fluid in my rear tires. It was supposed to cost me an extra $ 100, but the dealer forgot to charge me and when I offered to pay it, he stated not to worry about it as it was not charged out on the tractor. It should handle a 5' hog fine too.

[Dill]

While my tractor purchasing power runs more to Jeremy's idea.
I do want to add a bit to WV mapler's post.
You need the ag tires if your in snow, hills, mud or anything more than lawns. There are a reason they are called turf tires.
Buy some good chains. I not as sure with the Calicum, its nice to have weight. Weight= traction, but its nice to be able to drop the weight also. I have loaded tires on my current rig, but I think I'll swap it out for nonloaded with serious wheel weights.
Tractors are a lot like guns, they don't lose a heck of a lot a value and they last forever with proper maintainence. That being said. I would never shell out the dough for a brand new one. The compact tractor market is slipping as of late. The Kubotas are holding value, but still I would look for a good used deal.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Turf tires and R4's are a lot different, but as Dill said with any of the above, better to go with AG tires. I could probably sell me Kubota for a much or more than I paid for it 2.5 years ago with the steal deal I got on it. I am not against buying used and there are some great deals out there at times. I take care of stuff extremely well and service things they way they are supposed to be and don't push my equipment, so I would rather pay a little more and get something like maple equipment or a tractor new and then I know how it is taken care of. Just a personal preference.

[gmcooper]

We have a Kubota 4330 that we got last summer. It really has been great and I am not a Kubota fan. We have the Hydrostatic drive which is a real time saver for us moving round bales. I wish the front tires were a little larger to give a smoother ride and better bite on really slimy mud and snow.

[TDVT]

Thanks everyone for the replies. While I'm typically NOT inclined to buy new, we looked at a several used machines & as Brandon said, they're going for almost as much as a new one. That point along with the 0% it makes a new one pretty enticing.

We have gotten good use out of our Ford N & plan to keep it, but not having a loader is an issue. The Ford gets most everywhere we want to go (w/chains year round) & I really like the size for our trails & back acreage.

The dealer we stopped at yesterday agreed that the Ag tires were the way to go around here for the woods & he loads them as part of the sale.

A neighbor has an L4400 but I haven't had a chance to ask what he thinks as he lives out of town. We just didn't want to buy anything underpowered but from what I've been reading power/weight seems to be one of the 3400's strengths.

Other than actually deciding to take the plunge I guess the biggest question is the tranny. It seems they sell more gear trans around here than hydrostatic plus the gear tranny is a bit less expensive & probably more bullet-proof. I don't have any seat time with a hydro so can't really compare. Shifting the 8N has never been a bother though so....



Ted

[forester1]

I went with the R4 tires in my 3400. My dealer said they are better in snow than either the AG or turf tires. R4 are sort of in between tread type. So far I have been really happy with the tractor and the tires. I had them put ballast in the tires which was a product called rimguard, which is sugar beet juice, supposedly non-corrosive. I looked for a used Kubota for 2 years. They sell fast and hold their value really well. I ended up buying new since there is no interest for 42 months right now. Should last a long time with careful use and not cost much in the long run if resold later.

[forester1]

I forgot to say I got the hydrostatic trans. I really recommend it. I was leaning toward the gear drive, but bought the hydro due to it being on the lot. Plus my dealer said he sees way more gear drive transmissions in the shop. I had to move about 2 feet of wet heavy snow from my driveway. It would have been a real pain with a gear drive.

[Big_Eddy]

I would STRONGLY recommend a hydro transmission. They have been around long enough now that the bugs are worked out, and there is just no comparison when working in the woods, or back and forth with a loader. Talk to any tractor dealer - they won't do any more hydro repairs than they do gear tranny repairs.

I have a John Deere 855 4wd. Smaller compact tractor - about 3000lbs with loader installed, ~24HP. It does everything that I need it to do in the woods. It will pull a 5' bush hog or snowblower without difficulty, and the smaller size makes it easy to negotiate my tight trails. The only thing that is limited is the traction. The tires are smaller than most, and I have turfs on the rear. When it gets muddy, I stop being able to pull 100gal tanks up hills. The tradeoff is that the ruts I create are nothing compared to the mess my neighbour makes with his old 2wd Massey. I'll eventually replace the rear tires with R4 industrials, but not until these ones have worn out.

With a lot of things bigger is better, more power is better. For ground engaging tractor tasks - that is definitely the case. But for maple syrup work in the woods, sometimes smaller is better, and manueverability is just as important as overall power. My recommendation is to test out several models doing normal day to day tasks, and choose the one that best meets your "usual" needs, not the once in a lifetime exceptions.

[DS Maple]

In my opinion I would select a transmission based on what you are going to do with the tractor. Hyrostatics are great for mowing because you can change speeds instantly without worrying about decreasing PTO rpms. On the other hand, you lose a lot of power to them. I've heard numbers around 20% of the rated horsepower is lost to a hydrostatic. This is particularly evident on our New Holland TC33D when you push the loader into a dirt pile. All of a sudden you don't really have enough power to move forward and lift the loader at the same time. (I blame part of this on garbage New Holland products. They are junk, don't buy one. I could go on and on about all the things wrong with the machine.) This isn't anywhere near as much of a problem on gear transmissions. The other thing to consider is that manufacturers are now coming out with some pretty interesting innovations in terms of tractor transmissions that involve a lot of electronic stuff. I occaisonally run a 115 hp New Holland (which I still don't like very much) that has a 16 gear transmission (forward and reverse) which is all electronic. No shifting levers, just punching buttons. You can go from forward to reverse instantly without even stepping on the clutch. Although I'm not entirely up-to-date on my new tractor knowledge, I'm still willing to bet that companies such as John Deere and Kubota are offering similar technology that allows for the simplicity of a hydro, but without the unnecessary loss of power.

[Valley View Sugarhouse]

The R4 or industrial tires are about the best all around tire, they have some lug, but not what the ags do.. they wear like steal, and they will not destroy lawns, maple feeder roots etc as much as teh ags do.. as far as transmission, I have shuttle shift and I am very happy with that...

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Just a note, the L3400 does not have a shuttle shift, you have to completely stop it before shifting between gears or ranges.