What a treat to once again have a machine that is a joy to use! I bought a new Kubota RTV-X 1100C in December of last year to replace a John Deere X739 that I was very dissatisfied with (https://www.mytractorforum.com/12-jo...ping-x739.html, if you want the gory details).
Where I live, snow removal is my main task. The Leelanau Peninsula is the "little finger" of the Michigan mitten, sticking out into the waters of northern Lake Michigan. That geography means milder winter temperatures than our neighbors in Wisconsin, but much, much more snow, too. We got 200" last year, 265" a few years ago... and this year, despite a very slow start and almost no snow on the ground on January 20th, once that Polar Vortex hit we've been making up for lost time with about 150" since then. No big storms, really...just 8" one day, 4" the next, then 10", and so on. Classic lake-effect snow!
I live at the end of a 1000' long private road, so no county plows for me. For years, I kept that open with my John Deere Gator 620i equipped with a good plow. The problem with plowing that often crops up this time of year, is that when you've had so much snow pile up and then you get a thaw followed by cold weather, the 4' high snowbanks alongside the road become nearly immovable walls of ice.
So that's the problem I was trying to solve when I decided to get rid of my Gator and buy a JD X739 with a Curtis Cab and a snowblower. Unfortunately, it didn't work. The JD could throw snow maybe 15', so I couldn't be on one side of my little road and blow the snow across the banks on the other side. I had to develop a technique of starting out in the middle of the road, blowing to one side or another, then turning around and coming back the other way, blowing to the opposite side of the road. That worked OK -- unless the wind was blowing, which it usually is this close to Lake Michigan.
On top of being a subpar snowblower, the X739 was also less than wonderful at lawn mowing and leaf bagging. As this winter approached, I decided I just didn't want to spend any more time with such a disappointing machine. Time to cut my losses, after only 25 hours of use...
I started out looking at a JD Gator but after pricing one out ($7K more than my 1100C comparably equipped) and test-driving both the Gator and the Kubota, it was a very easy decision. Of course, the fact that the Kubota dealer was willing to take my X739 in on trade while neither of 2 John Deere dealers wanted it at all sure helped sway me, too.
With all the snow we've had the last 5 or 6 weeks, I've had plenty of opportunity to use my Kubota and I couldn't be happier. As much as I loved my old Gator, the 1100C is leaps and bounds better. It's not lively or peppy like the Gator -- I think of it as a big, heavy, locomotive that moves very deliberately but has all the power in the world. I can push big piles of snow way off the road in places I'd never have even dreamed of going with my Gator -- much more torque.
I'm a big fan of the Kubota hydrostatic transmission, too. The CVT on my old Gator always engaged very abruptly and it was tricky to use in tight quarters. No such issue with the Kubota -- you can "feather it" in quite easily. If you need it to go forward an inch, but 2" would be a disaster, no sweat with the Kubota. Try THAT with a Gator!
The factory cab is also much, much better than the Curtis hard cabs I had on my Gator and the X739 -- just about airtight.
I was worried that a diesel engine vehicle stored in an unheated shed might be problematic on some of our really cold mornings, but so far it's started right up, even at minus 15* F.
As good as the Kubota has proven to be at plowing, I think I'm going to add the K-Connect system with both the snowblower and the plow. Most of the time, the plow is faster and, of course, can handle wet snow better than a blower. Right now, though, with the banks along the road 4' high and the snow still going gangbusters, it'd be awfully nice to put a blower on that Kubota and not have to wonder, "Where am I supposed to put this stuff?"
Looking forward to many more years of use with my Kubota!
Where I live, snow removal is my main task. The Leelanau Peninsula is the "little finger" of the Michigan mitten, sticking out into the waters of northern Lake Michigan. That geography means milder winter temperatures than our neighbors in Wisconsin, but much, much more snow, too. We got 200" last year, 265" a few years ago... and this year, despite a very slow start and almost no snow on the ground on January 20th, once that Polar Vortex hit we've been making up for lost time with about 150" since then. No big storms, really...just 8" one day, 4" the next, then 10", and so on. Classic lake-effect snow!
I live at the end of a 1000' long private road, so no county plows for me. For years, I kept that open with my John Deere Gator 620i equipped with a good plow. The problem with plowing that often crops up this time of year, is that when you've had so much snow pile up and then you get a thaw followed by cold weather, the 4' high snowbanks alongside the road become nearly immovable walls of ice.
So that's the problem I was trying to solve when I decided to get rid of my Gator and buy a JD X739 with a Curtis Cab and a snowblower. Unfortunately, it didn't work. The JD could throw snow maybe 15', so I couldn't be on one side of my little road and blow the snow across the banks on the other side. I had to develop a technique of starting out in the middle of the road, blowing to one side or another, then turning around and coming back the other way, blowing to the opposite side of the road. That worked OK -- unless the wind was blowing, which it usually is this close to Lake Michigan.
On top of being a subpar snowblower, the X739 was also less than wonderful at lawn mowing and leaf bagging. As this winter approached, I decided I just didn't want to spend any more time with such a disappointing machine. Time to cut my losses, after only 25 hours of use...
I started out looking at a JD Gator but after pricing one out ($7K more than my 1100C comparably equipped) and test-driving both the Gator and the Kubota, it was a very easy decision. Of course, the fact that the Kubota dealer was willing to take my X739 in on trade while neither of 2 John Deere dealers wanted it at all sure helped sway me, too.
With all the snow we've had the last 5 or 6 weeks, I've had plenty of opportunity to use my Kubota and I couldn't be happier. As much as I loved my old Gator, the 1100C is leaps and bounds better. It's not lively or peppy like the Gator -- I think of it as a big, heavy, locomotive that moves very deliberately but has all the power in the world. I can push big piles of snow way off the road in places I'd never have even dreamed of going with my Gator -- much more torque.
I'm a big fan of the Kubota hydrostatic transmission, too. The CVT on my old Gator always engaged very abruptly and it was tricky to use in tight quarters. No such issue with the Kubota -- you can "feather it" in quite easily. If you need it to go forward an inch, but 2" would be a disaster, no sweat with the Kubota. Try THAT with a Gator!
The factory cab is also much, much better than the Curtis hard cabs I had on my Gator and the X739 -- just about airtight.
I was worried that a diesel engine vehicle stored in an unheated shed might be problematic on some of our really cold mornings, but so far it's started right up, even at minus 15* F.
As good as the Kubota has proven to be at plowing, I think I'm going to add the K-Connect system with both the snowblower and the plow. Most of the time, the plow is faster and, of course, can handle wet snow better than a blower. Right now, though, with the banks along the road 4' high and the snow still going gangbusters, it'd be awfully nice to put a blower on that Kubota and not have to wonder, "Where am I supposed to put this stuff?"
Looking forward to many more years of use with my Kubota!
Man, I love my 1100C!
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