I’m in the market for a sub tractor with loader and back hoe. What do y’all have and what do you like and dislike about it. Only looking around 25hp . Looking something to remover small stumps, rake driveways and general what to play farmer stuff.
You have have big money😁. I’m looking average people stuff,. Honestly I told might wife that I may be better off buying a used full size back how😁Personally I’d get something a lot bigger.
you can’t do much real work with 25hp
I was planning going up one size but I just talked to 2 more guys that work on machinery and they both said to stay away from Tier 4 engines.While not technically a subcompact but my LS MT35e does it all well. I have 11 acres of rocky root clay and I am slowly taming it. I recommend one size bigger than you think you need.
Kioti is the best deal in orange and LS is the best deal in blue or any other color. And they're based in NC.
While I absolutely agree with you. Even the smallest homeowner sized tractor with bucket and hoe beats the hell out of a shovel and wheelbarrow.Personally I’d get something a lot bigger.
you can’t do much real work with 25hp
I have a Kubota BX24....they came with a FEL and BH. I've used the crap out of this thing for 13 years. Paid for itself the first year I had it! As has been said...they'll do the same work as the bigger brothers (
Bull shit you can’t do real work. My 23hp Kubotas will do anything my dads 46hp full-size will do. It takes a little longer on the big stuff. My Kubota is quick detachable so 99% of the time he don’t use his and just gets mine. I have dug 18in stumps up.
You can do "real work" with 25hp. The limiting factor of subcompact tractors isnt the hp, it's the small size and light weight. Which is also what makes them so great for small jobs.
Kubota BX23S is THE tractor to get for what you desire. Although I will say the backhoe on small tractors is a bit anemic and slow to use in my opinion. Otherwise, the tractor is fine so long as your not expecting to move 50 yards of material quickly. Been there, done that.
I have a Kubota BX24....they came with a FEL and BH. I've used the crap out of this thing for 13 years. Paid for itself the first year I had it! As has been said...they'll do the same work as the bigger brothers (within reason), just takes longer.
within reason), just takes longer.
They just told me the L2501 has the tier 4 motor (re gen stuff) ?Just went through this for our little slice of heaven. Borrowed a friends BX tlb for several weekends and got a lot done with that little beastie. It put me over the edge and started the search for our own machine. I too wanted to stay below the threshold for emissions - looked seriously at Kubota, Deere, Kioti and Mahindra.
Major considerations for me was physical size (smaller being better) as 90% of the work I’m doing is in the woods. A foot wider or longer means I can’t get in all the same spots, or may need to clear out more trees for wider trails.
I wanted at least 1k loader capacity and some decent ground clearance - which steered me up to the not quite sub-compacts, ie bigger tires and a little bigger frame but still very much a small tractor. The subcompacts are pretty vulnerable bombing through the woods, and once you hang a bucket or forks on their front you don’t have much lift capacity left.
Primary tasks are lifting and carrying/dragging out logs, grappling lots of brush, minor ground reshaping with a blade, moving stuff (mulch, soil, gravel, etc), and running our pto wood chipper.
After looking at all of them, it came down to Kioti’s CK line, or Kubota’s L2501 or LX2610SU.
The Kioti impressed me with the loader and features, but I ended up going Kubota because it just felt more refined and the dealer support seemed much stronger. If I lived closer to a Kioti dealer, or had someone I knew with personal experience using them, I may have gone that route.
I went with the LX and am very happy with what it has been able to do. No issues moving very large logs, or as much brush as can fit in a 60” grapple. Honestly, if I wasn’t in super tight quarters I am sure I would have been more happy with the L2501 for the extra loader capacity, greater torque and beefier components, but the LX squeezes into really tight spots and I appreciate that.
The only thing I didn’t really anticipate was how much we would be using the chipper, and that it would have been nice to have a little more power driving that. I might have liked the 33hp version for that reason, but that was a significant price jump and brought in DEF and emissions. The 25 horse motor drives the chipper pretty well, as long as I don’t put anything over 4.5” in there, and slow down the power infeed when it starts to get under a load. Chipper time is only about 10% of the hours Ive put on in the last few months, so I’m probably saving some fuel as well with the smaller motor.
In my application, smaller was better - though if I had a more open property I’d definitely have been looking for something larger as recommended by Scsmith. In the long run, I think I’m going to be very happy to have stayed with the lower cost, less complicated 25 horse machine.
I say go out and try a bunch of them at the dealerships. It’s a fun way to spend some time, and you’ll get a better feel for the different options than you can from spec sheets.
No matter what you get - hang a bunch of weight off the back. You’ll be much more stable moving heavy stuff around with that loader.
Edit: fixing an unfortunate autocorrect.
Wrong. I have a 2501/fel with 136 hrs, it's a non regen. and am looking to step up in hp and loader capacity. As I understand 26hp and over have the regenThey just told me the L2501 has the tier 4 motor (re gen stuff) ?
They just told me the L2501 has the tier 4 motor (re gen stuff) ?
Lots of good info here I’ve been looking at the sub compact mahindea or Massey with a backhoe for a while now. Light use. Not trying to dig a swimming pool or anything. I was told that a sub compact wouldn’t dig a hole. My response was, if I can dig a hole with a shovel then a sub compact with most certainly dig a hole.
Personally I’d get something a lot bigger.
you can’t do much real work with 25hp
LS designed their own engine (for the first time...usually it was a Mitsu) and it regens periodically. On something like this, it honestly doesn't affect how I use the tractor at all, and if anything, makes the diesel fumes less noticeable on my clothes. Something that was an add-on DPF I would say yeah I agree but on my Nissan Cummins 5.0 and this tractor the DPF system just does what it was designed to.I was planning going up one size but I just talked to 2 more guys that work on machinery and they both said to stay away from Tier 4 engines.
I went up there last week. Same price as Carolina power in Sanford so I’m going to see if I get father out of town can I save some money or a trailer throw in😎We just got in three BX23S
Damn hate I missed ya. Kubota national pricing, so we should all be the same. I'd call before you ride anywhere, tractors are very hard to get. Our lot would be over full if everything we have on order would come in. Trailers are in short supply too.I went up there last week. Same price as Carolina power in Sanford so I’m going to see if I get father out of town can I save some money or a trailer throw in😎
enter it in the Thresher Reunion near Denton in July. All I see is Q-tips driving Farmall super As that look better than my truck on any given workdaySomeone donated a fully restored 32 hp 1952 Farmall Super A to our farm... pretty much useless except for hillin' up rows and bush hoggin' fields... unless there are steep parts to yer land, then it's pretty much useless.
hard to till a garden with that, or layoff rows, not to mention the cost of those tracks. But sure to build a shooting berm or do most landscaping tasks nothing beats a skidloader. But for the same price I could own an awesome cab tractor and hire 100 landscapers.
hard to till a garden with that, or layoff rows, not to mention the cost of those tracks. But sure to build a shooting berm or do most landscaping tasks nothing beats a skidloader. But for the same price I could own an awesome cab tractor and hire 100 landscapers.
Tha's what we really need... most of the property is covered with 8" of rolled granite gravel. We dig it up, truck it off-site and bring in tractor trailer loads of compost. Then the Super A plows in leaf mulch and lays out the rows.
Well alrighty then, I stand corrected!!!