Cub Cadet/Yanmar ~ sx or ex class tractors, opinions wanted

Hi guys, not new to Doc's forums, not new to tractors, but new to THIS forum and I'm possibly in the market to upgrade a tractors.

I've got a New Holland TC24d tractor, great machine, love it for its small size but great power. Still, as my projects expand, the small size is becoming more of an issue for me and I may need a bigger machine.

Local dealers are John Deere 3.75 miles east. Cub/Yanmar & Kubota, 4.50 miles east. And New Holland 8 miles west. I don't care to look farther than these dealerships, I've had dealings with all of them, all have given me great service over the years.

Cub Cadet dealer has a two tractors on the lot that look good. One is the sx3100, the other is the ex3200. Both are attractive because Cub/Yanmar is offering a "free front end loader" if you buy before Aug 31, 2010.

• The sx3100 appears to be similar to the New Holland I own in that it is a feature filled small machine, even has a cup holder Obviously more powerful engine, bigger bucket, but size is really just slightly larger than my TC24d.
• The ex3200 is a bigger heavier machine, more basic in some ways, but still nice enough. Seems to be the better machine for moving dirt, hauling things, etc because of its size.

But here is my problem, when I look over the specifications I don't see either of these machines as being stand outs in any way other than price advantage:
What seems to shock me about ALL of these options is that NONE of them are overwhelming my little TC24d except the larger New Holland 2030, and that is physically the largest tractor of the bunch. In some cases I would give up some capacity to go to a new, somewhat larger, tractor, depending on the model chosen.

ALL of the newer models listed above have more PTO horsepower than my current tractor and for tilling in my heavy clay that will be a very helpful thing!!! So that can be some justification for upgrading to the larger engines all these newer models utilize.

I really have never had a lift capacity issue with my FEL. Carrying a full bucket of clay soil has not been an issue, I don't expect it will become an issue with a new tractor. But I do run into BREAKOUT FORCE capacity issues and the more of that, the merrier!!! Two of the 3 new models offer significant increases, one offers a modest increase in that capacity.

The one other issue that I consider reasonably important is 3pt lift capacity. I have a home made pallet mover that attaches to my 3pt lift. When I get pallets of bagged materials delivered I often am forced to unload 1/2 the pallet so that I can lift it with the forks. So this is another area where I'd like lots of capacity. NONE of these tractors gives me any significant improvement and the one that has the best other spec's actually has the worst 3pt performance!?!

I've not yet checked out the new models from New Holland in person, on paper they look darn good, in fact it confirms why I went with New Holland last time. But all those great specs come at the price of size. The NH 2030 is a good bit physically larger than the other tractors. That will be a problem on my property so while it looks great, I'd probably disqualify it because it won't fit through my gates and will require me to rebuild/widen some paths, etc.

I went by the John Deere dealer and he had exactly 2 tractors on the lot and neither looked to be what I was looking for so I continued past.

So here is my question, and I must decide before the end of August to get a free front loader, is it even worth it to upgrade my tractor to the new Cub Cadet ex3200?

Rather than trading have you thought about keeping the NH for the small stuff and getting something a good bit larger?

We had the same problem here. Needed something fairly small to use around the barn, in and out of the turnout areas, cleaning the manure pit, and pulling the manure spreader. We also needed to bush hog and mow the pastures, plow and till. We started with a riding lawn mower and a B2910. The riding mower wasn't big enough for some things and having to pull a trailer instead of having the fel made barn cleanup quite a chore. The B2910 was just a little too large to move around the barn and the fences and wasn't large enough for some things we needed to do.

We now have a BX2350 with FEL and a belly mower and an L3400 with FEL for the larger stuff.

I think the BX is @23 hp and the L is @34 hp. I think the BX is around 2k and the L with loaded tires goes across the scale at 5800 lbs.

Jim

PS - if you hadn't noticed we enjoy spending someone elses money!

Well I looked at the L3400 today. Physically its quite a bit larger than the ex3200 and would have more capacity for work, but would also require that I then get rid of all my implements and I want to avoid doing that!

I share implements with on of my neighbors, most of them are mine and mostly he gets to use them because he can repair anything. So if I go up too large in tractor size then I have to factor in a few thousand extra dollars for implements and he won't be able to use them.

After a more detailed analysis of the ex3200, it seems to me to be an upgraded version of the old John Deere/Yanmar 790/990 series tractor. Upgraded in a few ways, mostly in the fact that it has an HST transmission. Overall ergonomics are OK, not great/not bad, but not up to the standards of New Holland or newer John Deere units. You can tell this is not the newest design off the drawing board. It is clearly serviceable and the fender mounted loader control valve is in a good location, the floor platform is fairly roomy and semi-flat. The hydro pedals are 2 different pedals, one each for forward/reverse instead of the more common single rocker pedal. It does not have independent right/left brakes, just one pedal to control both.

Looks like Cub/Yanmar is coming out with a new line of tractors too. Not sure if it will be more of a luxury class like the smaller sx3100 tractor or if it will be an expansion of the more utility ex3200 series.

Will the ex3200 work for me? Yup. Will I buy it? Not sure. I'm not sold on it but there don't really seem too be many choices that would fit the 'sweet spot' of size/capabilities that I am looking for.