Bobcat or Kabota?

[338 win mag]

I'm gonna go a little against the grain and lean towards a tracked skidsteer. I've had several compact tractors in the 50-60 hp range and while very versatile I almost exclusively use compact track loaders now. When it comes to grading and pushing power its a no-brainer. Also for digging post holes, a tractor doesn't apply down pressure with a 3pt hitch. I have a brush cutter, auger, 4 in 1 bucket, trencher, and power rake attachments. Either will probably serve your needs and it will depend on whether it will receive light or heavy use. My skidsteers will do everything a tractor will do and then some but not everyone needs the extra power and durability either.

 

[Koot1971]

Not about the brands per se, but about the type of tool - skid steer vs small tractor.

We have 70 wooded acres, flat, fairly wet ground, lots of rock below the surface, no real rocks above surface. Looking for a vehicle for snow removal, trail clearing/maintenance, mowing a 5-10 acre pasture, gravel road maintenance, and construction support (moving lumber, pushing up a wall, etc), post hole digging, light excavation, misc projects.

What do you guys recommend?

Personally I’d go with a Small to midsize 4x4 tractor with a Bucket on the front, a Box Blade and a good heavy duty bush hog. That should take care of most if not all of your needs and at a cheaper price than a skid steer.

 

[buckbull]

Always been a green guy but when it comes to baling New Holland all the way.

Grew up on a dairy farm. I second the New Holland for conditioning and baling.

 

[westbranch]

Yep, small to midsize tractor for sure. I grew up on a dairy farm in Northern MN and have a lot of hours in both tractors and skidsteers and we also did maintenance for some people with cabins in our area. We did have a brush chopper and other attachments for our skid steer which worked great for clearing new/younger growth areas. Also had quite a few other attachments that made the skidsteer work great for "new" work. But for maintenance type work on cabin properties once a spot was cleared the tractor was always nicer.

On the farm we were mostly working with 25+ yr old tractors with no A/C and not fully enclosed cabs. Not fun for summer work or winter work. Get a cab with A/C and heat.

Never used a toolcat, but they always seemed like the worst of a tractor and a skid steer at a high price.

 

[Elkoholic]

As most comments.... a tractor is way more versatile. I bought a new 40hp Kioti utility tractor 3yrs ago when I purchased my 40acres, I've used the crap outta that tractor. Very pleased with it, and didnt pay for green paint

 

[88man]

Dont buy a skid steer. They tear up the ground too much and the implements for them cost a fortune.
I have access to a SVL-75 whenever I need it and I always grab the keys to the tractor.

I have a kubota MX 5200 HST with a backhoe attachment on it and I have the 6 foot tiller and brush hog and pallet forks and rock rake.... I promise you that unless you are going full scale farming that you wont need anything bigger than that. Its a powerful machine. I have pushed over some trees that are VERY big with this machine and cleared a pile of land

I would recomend something small in the 30-40 ho range for your needs. Especially since its 70 acres of woods. My tractor is just a pinch too big for 4 wheeler trails and things like that. My father-in-law has a 35 HP kubota and it is just right for just about everything and it is a VERY stout little tractor as well.

My wife's uncle just bought a 40 HP tractor from Kubota and it is pretty nice as well.

All of our machines are 4X4 as well.

Brace yourself....the cost of everything I said that I currently have for my tractor listed above is going to be a religious experience....

I'll throw https://www.ventrac.com/ into your conversation for S&G's.

But given what you described above a 30-50 hp tractor would be choice. Mowing in a SS would be a pain.

I have the MX 5200 and the Ventrec. The ventrec is great for mowing banks/slopes but I wouldn't compare it to a tractor. I wish I had a bigger Kabota. Our Hunting club has a TT75 A new holland we have had tons of electrical and brake issues but it pulls a 14 foot disc and cultipacker in tandem with no worries

 

[Zach]

I have the MX 5200 and the Ventrec. The ventrec is great for mowing banks/slopes but I wouldn't compare it to a tractor. I wish I had a bigger Kabota. Our Hunting club has a TT75 A new holland we have had tons of electrical and brake issues but it pulls a 14 foot disc and cultipacker in tandem with no worries

I'm coming up on 500 hours on my NH T4.75, zero issues. I really do love the cab compared to by neighbors Kubota. My front axle looks slightly beefier too.

 

[VikingsGuy]

One big last question - if I am getting either a 4 series JD or a K Grand L60, do I go with cab or no cab? For work around the grounds I would prefer not to mess with cab & doors. For snow blowing I could see the cab being nice, but only if I can keep the windows clear. In the summer mowing many acres can be dusty and buggy, might be nice, but also may be more difficult to move in and around trails with the extra height/bulk. Plus it adds 25% to the cost, but since it seems that 90% of the new ones on the lot have cabs so wonder if the market has spoken and non-cab will have lower re-sale value. What are your experiences/advice?

 

[MO Betta]

On those bitterly cold days a cab sure is nice, same in the summer when dealing with dust or discovering bumblebee nests when mowing. It beat scrambling out of the IH clutching an EpiPen. I'd try to negotiate the price down on a cab model to lessen the sting. Really depends on how much time you're going to spend on it, though.

 

[NYyotekiller]

Go with the cab without a question. You’ll be glad you did.

 

[BrentD]

You can buy a lot of implements, rifles, dogs, a good moose hunt in Alaska, and other good things for the price of a cab. I can stand any weather for a few hours and rarely, very, very rarely would I be on my tractor for more than an hour or two at a shot. Mostly I'm jumping on and off, between chainsaw and tractor or between shovel and tractor or whatever. A cab would only get in the way. And then in the trees, it is a no go. Plus, the price. I got better places for spending money. I rarely see cabs on small tractors around here. Probably for much the same reasons.

For what it's worth (you paid nothing for the opinion), I've never regretted going cabless. Not for a moment. If I spent 10 hr days mowing or baling, I might have a different story, but I don't, and I bet you won't either.

I've never had a cab, so what do I know?

 

[muleyfreak08]

I would go Kabota. I’d use at least 40 hp min. The bobcat 25 hp is under powered and unless. My shop is a dealer for bobcat and that’s the only reason why I would buy one. The skid steer on the other hand is top notch.

 

[Western Traveler1]

I don’t have a cab on my Kubota and don’t miss it at all. I find myself climbing on and off so often I think it would be a pain. I dress for the cold when clearing the snow from the long drive. If it is snowing like heck sideways and blowing I’m not clearing anything till it stops anyway and clearing usually isn’t more than an hour or two. A canopy would be nice when mowing as that takes me a couple of days in the heat of the summer.
If I was swathing or bailing for days or weeks it would be a different story.
As to resale with or without, check out what the smaller used tractors sell for. They aren’t exactly giving them away. People drive across state lines to buy a good used tractor if they can find one.

 

[stevejfarms]

John Deere vs Kubota Tractors: 5 Reasons Why John Deere Is Better

John Deere vs Kubota tractors. Read five reasons why John Deere is better than Kubota. No, Kubota doesn't suck, but read where they are weak. Watch the video as well to see which is better.

www.goodworkstractors.com

 

[NYyotekiller]

Kubota vs John Deere: 5 Key Areas Kubota Wins

To be entirely forthright, let me preface by stating that I'm not affiliated with John Deere nor Kubota. In the Kubota vs John Deere debate, you really cannot pick a loser. I really enjoy operating and selling both brands of compact tractors and have found their historical reputations to ring...

www.goodworkstractors.com

 

[BrentD]

In the dueling poker hands, each with 5 card flushes, the green suit beats the orange suit.

 

[N2TRKYS]

Having used both(cab and non cab), I would definitely go with a cab.

 

[Shangobango]

On the cab, and as mentioned above, If I was only doing an hour or two it wouldn’t really be necessary. When you are running for 6,8,10 hours a day it is very nice to do that in the comfort of a climate controlled environment, especially with 105+ heat indexes and a good dust/pollen/chaf mix being stirred up.

 

[VikingsGuy]

OK - here is where I ended up. Kubota LX3310 (no cab) with FEL + 60" bucket + 60"grapple + 60" box blade + 60" flail mower + 64" commercial front mount snowblower + 42" forks. Delivered Nov 1.

So, why those choices?

I have almost a mile of class 5 gravel roads to maintain in the winter - too much to do driving backward with PTO mount blower and I prefer blowing over pushing a front blade or bucket. That drove me to a machine with a mid-PTO. I started trying to get 39-40 hp for my needs, but both models that had mid-PTO and that hp level were a bit wide for some of the spaces and trail I need to maintain. Also, getting a tractor that would best pair with 72" implements instead of 60" really jacked up the whole package price (by about $8,000). The LX33, while a little less hp than I was targeting is a perfect fit in size for my tight work (but a bit small for the open pasture work - life is full of compromises). As for cab/no-cab, I didn't like the $7,000-$11,000 premium it required, the added weight raising the center of gravity of relatively narrow tractors on some very uneven land, the added vertical bulk in tight wooded spaces, and the somewhat claustrophobic cab on these smallish tractors. I may regret both of these choices with hindsight, but my wife and I agreed that it would be better to regret the cold weather more than to feel like we can't move the tractor around in the areas we want to work it. We also agreed that if we get the grounds opened up and as I get older the weather is more of a hassle we can always upgrade (I understand the $ impact of that choice) to a bigger machine with a cab.

As for why Kubota? It is a bit of a Ford/Chevy thing and I am sure I would have been happy with either, but I went Kubota for these reasons - I trust Japanese engineering, the sales reps at the 2 nearest Kubota dealers were far more helpful than the guys at the 2 JD dealers nearest (in fact they both acted like I was just bothering them) - I figure if you don't want to work with me when I am trying to give you my money then it will just go downhill later when I need support, and JD was talking March delivery at earliest for the items I was looking at. But like I said, there were reasons to go green as well, just not in my case.

Thanks for all who chimed in - your input was super helpful in shaping my thinking!