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So I'm gearing up to buy a Kubota FEL soon. Two reasons we passed on JD FEL is 1) financing isn't as good 2) you have to pay JD a yearly maintenance package AN

So I'm gearing up to buy a Kubota FEL soon. Two reasons we passed on JD FEL is 1) financing isn't as good 2) you have to pay JD a yearly maintenance package AND take it in once a year otherwise your warranty is shit. That could be incorrect and just one dealer we spoke to, but it didn't add up with the better stuff we're hearing from the Kubota side.

randomdata 5y ago
Interestingly, all my neighbours who have tried them are back to running Green machines. A good friend is the mechanic at the Kubota dealership and he speaks quite highly of them, though. May be a case of Deere getting aggressive. Another friend bought a new Steiger series tractor a few years ago and before it even showed up in his yard, Deere rolled in to make him an offer he couldn't refuse to trade it in.
abakker 5y ago
I'm curious about the Value prop for an FEL. I bought a bobcat T590 last year because it had a lot of capacity - both PTO power and absolute ability to lift. It isn't good for turf, but I can pick up a 4000lb pallet. FELs all seemed to max out at ~1000 lbs for the same footprint. is the bucket really just not the use case for a FEL anymore?
- coding123 5y ago
  I think it is the use-case. I'm just working on my property. It's like a big lawn mower and landscaping tool. I am getting the backhoe so that I can do some light trenching work. I can also use it to plow through medium levels of bush in the way. Also good to help with spreading gravel or smoothing out a building pad. It's like - if you have a normal size house with 10k sq ft lot, you own a lawn mower. When you own 10 acres or more, you probably need a tractor of some kind. edit: Sorry I see you were specifically discussing the FEL that can handle 4k vs 1k. Mostly Gravel is my largest use-case. I won't be able to pallet lift a ton of bricks, that is correct. But for the rest of the tool it's like a swiss army knife in that it has different attachments both on the front, the back (and the bottom).

randomdata 5y ago

Interestingly, all my neighbours who have tried them are back to running Green machines. A good friend is the mechanic at the Kubota dealership and he speaks quite highly of them, though. May be a case of Deere getting aggressive. Another friend bought a new Steiger series tractor a few years ago and before it even showed up in his yard, Deere rolled in to make him an offer he couldn't refuse to trade it in.

abakker 5y ago

I'm curious about the Value prop for an FEL. I bought a bobcat T590 last year because it had a lot of capacity - both PTO power and absolute ability to lift. It isn't good for turf, but I can pick up a 4000lb pallet. FELs all seemed to max out at ~1000 lbs for the same footprint. is the bucket really just not the use case for a FEL anymore?

coding123 5y ago
I think it is the use-case. I'm just working on my property. It's like a big lawn mower and landscaping tool. I am getting the backhoe so that I can do some light trenching work. I can also use it to plow through medium levels of bush in the way. Also good to help with spreading gravel or smoothing out a building pad. It's like - if you have a normal size house with 10k sq ft lot, you own a lawn mower. When you own 10 acres or more, you probably need a tractor of some kind. edit: Sorry I see you were specifically discussing the FEL that can handle 4k vs 1k. Mostly Gravel is my largest use-case. I won't be able to pallet lift a ton of bricks, that is correct. But for the rest of the tool it's like a swiss army knife in that it has different attachments both on the front, the back (and the bottom).