[chrismahon]

Looking for property over here and it is obvious that everything on the market within our budget is in several stages of decay and usually on a hill. They all need new septic tanks and soakaways to meet the 2012 legislation. They all have land drainage issues and they all need some building work. The last one had an old swimming pool that I would need to convert to a barn.


We need a small tractor and all the second-hand stuff here is knackered. So I was thinking of getting a Kubota 30HP. I need to add a lifting bucket and an excavator arm, plus topping and ploughing attachments. It has to be small to negotiate the terrain. The sales literature is really confusing as it assumes the reader has some knowledge of the subject and I have none whatsoever. I need to specify extra hydraulic couplings and valves to suit the accessories apparently -the machines are built to order.


Anybody have experience of Kubota tractors and can anyone offer advice? I have to negotiate all this in very poor French (which improves by the day mind you)!

[goosepimple]

There must be threads on this already Chris if you search back.
 
My OH bought a little grey Fergie last year and a separate wee digger but our nearish neighbour has had these in the past and got rid of them to buy a Kubota, he things it is brilliant, keeps telling us to get rid of our stuff and get one, it does look a nice piece of kit. 
 
I tried to convince OH to get one but he fancied himself in an old fergie (going through that stage obviously).  A year further on and he wished he'd got a Kubota.    They are supposed to be really hardy workhorses, good quality piece of kit for the price.

[lachlanandmarcus]

Just check that 30hp is enough to properly managed the implements you are planning to use with it, should be fine with loader but eg if you wanted a baler on the back that might challenge it etc

[darkbrowneggs]

I have got one and I LOOOOOOVE it ...reliable, very safe to use and does everything I need it to do, though I don't do any baling (couldn't afford all the haymaking kit, and also I had lawntyres on mine so I can use it round the garden without ripping everything apart, but it makes it useless in wet weather) 


Mine only has a front end loader, but I've got a trailer, topper, log splitter, post hole borer, pallet lifter and they are all really useful. 


I wondered how much trouble the back excavtor thingy would be to put on and take off all the time, and if I had the money I would consider getting a seperate machine specifically to do that job...... but I don't 


How about hiring an excavator  for a week or two, or even paying someone.  I am pretty sure that works out cheaper and easier for me to do..... but I deffo wouldn't be without the Kubota for all the other jobs

[chrismahon]

Thanks for the feedback. I had thought about hiring but that means planning a lot and life here isn't like that. Will look at getting a more powerful model as a 50% increase in HP is only a 20% increase in cost.

[Hassle]

have a kubota RTV which seems to be working well only problem is a little bit of rust on the roll cage it's about 6 months old

[Sbom]

Why don't you contact a Kubota dealer over here, ask all the questions then just phone the French dealer to order?

[MAK]

Chris - Kill 2 birds with one stone. Why not start up a hire buisness that will pay for the tractor?
 An English family from Wakefield are down the road from us. They hire out diggers, mixers,ride-on mowers etc and even a tractor. They buy all their kit off of e-bay and bring it down to a small field on the edge of town. Their sales office is an old caravan and most of their customers are brits. I rented a small digger from them to do the drains for the grey water that now soaks into the garden under a lawn. They tell me that they have been here 9 years and he and the daughter and son are fully employed renting equipment out. He also digs Fosse.
Just a suggestion but it may help with the tractor and future land purchases.

[Small Farmer]

I'm assuming that there's a dealer nearby and that's why you've gone orange.   Kubuta are generally bullet-proof, but the bits when you need them can be pricey so it's worth cross-checking prices with the UK.  Stuff like filters can usually be got cheaper from generic manufacturers.


Bigger is usually heavier and less manoeuvrable which can be limiting depending on your ground conditions.  More powerful also usually means better hydraulics so you can do more with the loader.  If you want to do a lot of digging then you will want all the power you can get: my 33hp MF/Iseki can take a bigger mouthful than it can chew, if you see what I mean.


Spool valves are easy to fit when you buy, more of a pain later.  For things like log splitters you need both flow and return valves on the back while for a trailer only the one is needed


Worth having quick-detach bucket - mine has skid-steer fittings so I can swap between bucket, muck forks etc in a couple of minutes.  Detaching the bucket easily also makes it much less wide at the front so it gaps are easier to get through.   In theory the entire loader can be removed in 10 minutes but I've never bothered cos it isn't in the way.


You can get Ag tyres, R4 plant tyres or turf depending on your soil.  I use R4's which are less aggressive than Ags though there's been some moments this year with all the rain. I found turf tyres no good in the wet at all even on the level.

[chrismahon]

Great advice there!


I am completely out of my depth here and am sensible enough to realise it. I need a course on tractors. There is only so much you can get from YouTube.


Small Farmer. What is a spool valve and how is it different and can you use use everything from it but can't use it for some things??

[Le Recoignot]

hi
Sorry to hear of your dilema, I too live in France with a little land buildings etc (Deux Sevres department), I have a tractor a 49 year old International B414 which we (myself and 3 sons' for charity and raised about £3.5K - what a hoot too!) drove over from N. Lincolnshire about 950 kilometers. My advice would be to buy an old tractor in the UK (Ford, Ferguson, International, David Brown or Nuffield etc) and bring it out here. Go to an Auction take someone with you in the know. If you buy this type of tractor there are plenty of old implements about to fit (implements for modern minature tractors are expensive ne and in short supply S/H.
Good luck!