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Kubota Mower and Tractor - Thirty Month Review

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BrokenolMarine
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Kubota Mower and Tractor - Thirty Month Review

Post by BrokenolMarine » Wed Nov 09, 2022 12:44 pm

Daytime Dave's recent post made me think about the Kubota's we purchased when we first moved to Oklahoma, after selling off the nicely set up Simplicity Legacy with the farm in VA. I didn't want to have to haul all that equipment across half the country, and to be honest, I didn't see how, logistically, we were going to be able to accomplish it. (So, I hinted that the guy was going to need it all, and truthfully he was, and he agreed.)

I started searching for NEW equipment over the phone, calling the dealers in Oklahoma and discussing my needs. I talked to them all. Kubota, Deere, Mahindra, and the rest. Nothing runs like a Deere and Tina was leaning that way, but when we tried to talk with them... I hate to say there were two things that knocked them out of the running early on.

1. The Dealer in the area where we were going to buy the Farm was Arrogant and Rude, telling me to do my research and get a real idea what I wanted, the information was on line for me to see; and he would talk to me in person when I was in town and was ready to actually buy.

2, For some reason, GREEN paint was really high in Oklahoma, the same packages of Tractor, accessories and trailer, and a small mower was about 20% higher than the Kubota package. They didn't offer any financing deals at the time, nor any discounts for a straight cash purchase.

I did the research, and called the Kubota dealer and the Salesman called me back within a half hour. I asked if he would like to call when he had plenty of time. He said he HAD plenty of time. We went thru our needs and requirements and he agreed with my assessments. No need to buy MORE tractor than we needed, we should look at what we would be doing 90% of the time. Those few times we would need a larger tractor, we could rent or borrow a larger tractor.

I settled on the L2501 with 4wd and a bucket and bushhog. We made sure we had the Skidsteer connectors and added Forks, hay spear, and grading box. A quick attach three point hitch in the rear and a trailer. Zero Turn mower with 42" deck completed the package. Two and a half years later, we are happy with the performance of the package. Over the last two years there have been a few times we have wished we had a slightly bigger tractor, but rarely. The 2501 has done the job well.

tractor.jpg
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That pool in the background was gone within the first month. WE gave it away. A teacher drove down from Tulsa to pick it up for her sons. They took the pool, filter system and the deck. That was the deal, take it all. We put Miss Tina's She Shed there, where she does her quilting. Below are the implements:


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The zero turn has done a good job, though the grass catcher attachment Tina added the second summer was a huge disappointment to her. Not recommended.


zero turn.JPG
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She was also very disappointed in the dealer we worked thru once we started using their service. Twice we used them, twice they failed us.
I won't go into the details here, but the customer service was lacking and the work was subpar.
We found someone else to do the service on the tractor and mower. The problem is the owner of the local Kubota dealer owns ALL SIX of the dealers in the geographic area. You can't say, "Fine, you won't fix the issues, we'll take it to another dealer."
The owner just grins, because the other Kubota dealerships are his as well. :twisted:


Regardless of the issues, Miss T still loves her tractor and spends a lot of time ON it. She makes up things she needs to do from the tractor. :roll:
Here she is just clipping the tops of the pasture to control weeds. NOT made up, necessary. ;)

miss T at her happiest 220530.jpg
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We use it a lot, and have used every one of the implements.
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dave77
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Re: Kubota Mower and Tractor - Thirty Month Review

Post by dave77 » Wed Nov 09, 2022 3:27 pm

BrokenolMarine wrote:
Wed Nov 09, 2022 12:44 pm

1. The Dealer in the area where we were going to buy the Farm was Arrogant and Rude, telling me to do my research and get a real idea what I wanted, the information was on line for me to see; and he would talk to me in person when I was in town and was ready to actually buy.
I wonder if the guy you spoke to was the owner of the dealership. If not he would probably be interested in hearing about your conversation with his employee.
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BrokenolMarine
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Re: Kubota Mower and Tractor - Thirty Month Review

Post by BrokenolMarine » Wed Nov 09, 2022 3:59 pm

dave77 wrote:
Wed Nov 09, 2022 3:27 pm
BrokenolMarine wrote:
Wed Nov 09, 2022 12:44 pm

1. The Dealer in the area where we were going to buy the Farm was Arrogant and Rude, telling me to do my research and get a real idea what I wanted, the information was on line for me to see; and he would talk to me in person when I was in town and was ready to actually buy.
I wonder if the guy you spoke to was the owner of the dealership. If not he would probably be interested in hearing about your conversation with his employee.
I spoke to the GM just before we made our move, he basically told me they stayed busy, but they would be happy to talk with me once I actually got into Oklahoma. So... I went with Kabota.

I ran into similar attitudes when car shopping a few years before, looking at Jeeps and Dodge Chargers and Challengers. When I made an attempt to deal on the new vehicles, (2014 models?), I was told they didn't have to deal on them, the models sold themselves. I bought another Nissan, still driving it. :D
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Re: Kubota Mower and Tractor - Thirty Month Review

Post by daytime dave » Wed Nov 09, 2022 7:57 pm

Marine, I'm glad I inspired this post. There is plenty of good information here. I'm sorry to hear that the Kubota dealerships around you are duds. I have much the opposite here. In my area, most of the John Deere dealerships are owned by the same owner. The dealership near my house is absolutely the best to deal with. The John Deere units and items are pricey, but the service at my local dealership is above what I would expect. It seems to be that way throughout the dealerships under this owner.
The dealership I frequent recently doubled their display of Stihl items. It helped me get a blower for leaves and such for Mary. They were very helpful with my questions and were rewarded by a quick purchase.
I try to buy everything at my dealer, knowing sometimes I'm paying an upcharge for a certain "green color". I went in early fall to order a leaf sweeper as I had seen on there in the Spring. They were $100.oo over for their green one and then it was another $100.oo freight to get it there. I went to the internet and got it for $200.oo less from the same manufacturer. I wasn't willing to pay that much of an upcharge. The leaves never knew.

I'm glad Miss Tina likes her tractor and enjoys her seat time. We all do.
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Re: Kubota Mower and Tractor - Thirty Month Review

Post by GeoBoy » Wed Nov 09, 2022 8:34 pm

It’s unfortunate that the JD dealer has an attitude but it cost him a good new customer. It’s also unfortunate that the Kubota offers poor service and may cost them a good current customer.
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Re: Kubota Mower and Tractor - Thirty Month Review

Post by DsGrouse » Wed Nov 09, 2022 8:49 pm

I had a similar exp here in va. JD was not arrogant per say, but they never returned 1 of my phone calls. I stopped at the Kubota dealer one day, and they spent about two hours going over what I wanted to do.

I ordered my Kubota delivery time 4 to 6 weeks.

12 weeks later, I still didn't have it; the first payment was coming due. I called Kubota headquarters here. It took us 4 hours to straighten it out. I had my tractor the following Saturday. The dealership had been holding the tractor for the implements. They had gotten multiple shipments of my implements but let the sales guys sell them out from under me for people purchasing more.

My kubota has been fantastic. I've been able to do most of my own maintenance. I've had a few repairs, but nothing out of the ordinary. Kubota corporate was pleasant to deal with.
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BrokenolMarine
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Re: Kubota Mower and Tractor - Thirty Month Review

Post by BrokenolMarine » Thu Nov 10, 2022 12:05 am

daytime dave wrote:
Wed Nov 09, 2022 7:57 pm
Marine, I'm glad I inspired this post. There is plenty of good information here. I'm sorry to hear that the Kubota dealerships around you are duds. I have much the opposite here. In my area, most of the John Deere dealerships are owned by the same owner. The dealership near my house is absolutely the best to deal with. The John Deere units and items are pricey, but the service at my local dealership is above what I would expect. It seems to be that way throughout the dealerships under this owner.
The dealership I frequent recently doubled their display of Stihl items. It helped me get a blower for leaves and such for Mary. They were very helpful with my questions and were rewarded by a quick purchase.
I try to buy everything at my dealer, knowing sometimes I'm paying an upcharge for a certain "green color". I went in early fall to order a leaf sweeper as I had seen on there in the Spring. They were $100.oo over for their green one and then it was another $100.oo freight to get it there. I went to the internet and got it for $200.oo less from the same manufacturer. I wasn't willing to pay that much of an upcharge. The leaves never knew.

I'm glad Miss Tina likes her tractor and enjoys her seat time. We all do.

We had such a great experience with sales, we expected to continue a long term relationship with the dealer. They also rent equipment, like large tractors, skid steers, excavators, and the like. We just won't do business with them again, at all. We found another brand dealer that we will have do all our maintenance.

As for the tractor itself, I use it when I need it, but leave the bulk of the tractor work to Miss T. Up and Down onto the tractor is difficult, but once in place, I'm good. I used it a lot for the Range Construction, which is why I insisted on the forks. Setting the berm wall would have been a real challenge without them.

sweet.jpg
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I also moved a lot of dirt to build the berm itself. Otherwise, it's a Miss T thing. :)

reworked berm.jpg
reworked berm.jpg (511.22 KiB) Viewed 1623 times
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BrokenolMarine
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Re: Kubota Mower and Tractor - Thirty Month Review

Post by BrokenolMarine » Thu Nov 10, 2022 12:10 am

Between the tractor and the mower, she keeps the range looking good for me. I'll say, "I think I'll cut the range this week, it's getting shaggy." ;) Within a day or so, she has cut it. She doesn't like me running the tractor with the bush hog, on uneven ground... or so she says. I think she just likes running the tractor. :)

Looking downrange from 60 yards:

60 yards.jpg
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Re: Kubota Mower and Tractor - Thirty Month Review

Post by graywolf » Thu Nov 10, 2022 7:58 am

Looks like y’all ready to do some shooting.
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Re: Kubota Mower and Tractor - Thirty Month Review

Post by Hatchdog » Thu Nov 10, 2022 10:15 am

Interesting story about your local dealer and crappy customer service.

I experienced the same thing when I bought my tractor. Went to the local dealer and was treated right by the salesman demonstrating and recommending implements. Then the sales manager stepped in and priced out the package and told me, “now don’t come back looking for a better price”. Pissed me off so I drove 35 miles to Idaho and bought the same package from them at $1000.00 less. Been back to the Idaho dealer several times for other equipment and service and have been treated right every time. Needless to say the local dealer is gone. Bye bye.
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