One of my clients let me use his tractor this week, one of those little diesel Kubotas. For the size that things has MUCH more torque and power than I ever thought. Mowed the field (5 acres) with the brush hog, moved 12 16' logs into a stack, spread and leveled 50 yards of pit run, and had an absolute blast. Those things are handy.

Dang, I might need to pick one of these up.

love em, ran lots workin for olympic veiw dairy, as well as john deere.

My dad's had a Kubota 4wd tractor for years, decked with every implement imaginable.

SOB bought it about a year before I graduated from HS. Ditches for sprinkler lines I used to dig with a pick and spade, he'd dig with the backhoe. Mowing the back 40? Took me all day with the Lawn Boy. Took him less than an hour with the mower.

I did get to use it pretty steady for about a year. It was the worksavingest unit he ever bought. I learned to love that thing, because whatever the project was, it was getting done. The only question was whether I was going to do it running an idiot-stick or the tractor. Hydraulics and diesel beats muscle any day.

I don't know that I would want to buy a foreign made tractor. I like to support American workers. I guess I did own a Nissan 210 HB for a short while but all my other vehicles have been made in the USA. Sounds like Kubota is made in Japan like Toyota. However it sounds like the Kubota is good quality. Last time I went to my dad's home town we saw the John Deer and International Harvester Headquaters. All the relatives used to work for them but now they are working elsewhere including Wall Mart.

Anyway my dad got an older John Deer a few years ago. I got to try it out last month doing a little logging on his property. I just used the bucket to chain and pull some old alder across the pasture to cut up for firewood.

I love that piece of property as it has a little creek that used to hold steelhead. Dad still talks about the two steelhead he spotted in the creek back in the 70's when I was with him. I don't recall it. I used to fish it for cutthroat with a bobber and worm. A few years ago he has a big 200 lb black bear out there that he showed me behind the barn eating a buried cow carcuss. She ran fast once she sensed us there and ran under the wire fence.

Look at it this way:
My old man was too cheap even for a tractor for himself.

funny you mention foreign made tractors...most of the smaller JD tractors have yanmar engines...made in japan.

when i was in the rental business the owner would never touch the kubotas because they had a tendency to crack heads. the JD machines weren't much better, lots of plastic and a ton of useless wiring(the expression is, "so safe you can't even use it") that would cause problems.

I love playing with machinery. Renting the stuff you don't have is cheap and probably more practical than actually purchasing, however. I do own two tractors...older ones...both Fords...one gas, one diesel...with some implements, 2 brush hogs (one 4 ft, one 6ft), drag bucket, blade. Don't have a front bucket or backhoe though. But have rented excavators and backhoes for the projects that pop up once in a while. It's very inexpensive when you consider the amount of work you can do for the coin spent. And no maintenence when you rent.

The one I am using has a front bucket. Spreads dirt like nobody's business. It is amazing the amount of work that can get done in a few hours.

If I can find a decent used tractor, with blade and brush hog, I might just pick one up. I'm not too concerned about the brand per se', just a reliable piece of machinery. I figure I'll have steady work for it for the next 3 or 4 years until we finish our house and yard. I'd probably sell it after I finish and rent from there on out.

A friend has a Kubota at his tree farm on the Satsop and it is a nice ride to the river to fish, haul gear, fat fishermen, and tow the DB.

I swear my first car was a 580 Super K. My dad ran the local Case International dealership when I was a kid and I hated it. Until I figured out that I could have been doing all that work with a shovel. These days I'll admit I've become an equipment elitist.
Caterpillar simply the best....

Here's a Yanmar for sale that a friend's son has for sale. He's facing the downside of a promotion- having to relocate to Phoenix area. What you see is what I know but he does need to sell it:

http://seattle.craigslist.org/kit/grd/600508543.html

we bought a yanmar 2 years ago, thoses littlethings are work horses. they have alot of hydrolic power, i think as much as kubota and more than john deere. has a front loader that will lift or spread damn near anything, just make sure u have weight on the back (backhoe) or something to counter weight it, or else your first load of dirt u will nose dive into the ground.

We bought this bad-azz 3-ft splitter and put 'er on the back of a 600 series Ford tractor PTO.......sure saves some wear-n-tear on the Fat Man

Maybe the FAT MAN needs ta go back to hand splitting his wood!!

do your research and stay away from gray market tractors as there is a ton of them out there. just google gray market tractors. hard to get parts for and not worth a sheet.

I have had my Kubota 3430 for about five years. I absolutely love it! It has saved me a ton of work. I fenced around my house and shop shortly after I got it. 187 fence posts and over a mile of rails. Got 'er done in about five days. I still have most of the perimeter fencing to replace and bought a post driver for that.

I have every attachment known to mankind except for the backhoe. I could not justify it for 9k. I have a friend with trackhoe! I don't use the implements all the time but nice to have when I need them. I have the quick attach/detach mounts on the front and rear end. Makes it a breeze to hook everything up. I looked at a logsplitter for it a couple of years ago and decided on a stand alone for the same price.

I agree renting is cheaper but nice to walk out to the shop whenever I need the thing. I have ran John Deere equipment a lot. Nice stuff the bigger you go. The smaller tractors in the horsepower range that I have in my opnion the Kabota is the best there is.


Captain out!