Kubota Tractor 3408

[rideswings]

Im a farang thinking about buying a 2 year old Kubota 3408 for myself with front plow and rear disc plow with around 1400 hours on it for around 260,000 baht. I want to own it in my name and keep it at my house but I will let my father-on-law use it to do his rice and maybe let him do his relatives as well as long as he pays me for the gas. (They live around 2 hours away). I dont want to buy it in his name or my wifes name.Im just wondering how much diesel will cost per hour, the dealer told me it will burn around 500 baht worth of diesel in day which translates into about 2 liters per hour. Is this realistic for plowing up rice fields? It seems like a very low estimate. If he uses it around 100 hours this year, are there many other operating costs I should know about? Also, can a tractor this size do a rai in an hour?I have wanted a tractor as a big boy toy for myself for a long time, but this one is affordable for me and maybe I can have some use for it as well as the pa. If things go badly, I might be able to resell it without losing too much money. Thanks in advance if you can provide any links to any other similar topics...

[Lickey]

If you are gonna buy a tractor and lend it to the family, fuel consumption is the least of your worries.

[IsaanAussie]

The purchase price and fuel usage are minor issues. The logisitics of moving it and its implements between locations (2 hours) will need a trailer. The tractor needs to be maintained and you need to look at the equipment to do that, even daily routine stuff, air, grease and oil. Cleaning the soil buildups off...... Spare pins and grease nipples, filters, hydraulic fluid.

These types of things are what will break the deal. Many of us have seen Thai ideas of preventative maintenance as drive it until it stops, then leave it where it is. Basic engineering knowledge of what a spanner is used for is missing, how do people expect a tractor to be taken care of.

Yes a 34HP tractor will do 1 rai or better an hour with an average operator assuming that the ground conditions are right.

As a sanity check, the tractor has done 1400 hours in 2 years, 700 per year. Around here they charge 200 baht per hour. If you factor in running time between jobs and at idle, with a reasonable amount for lubricants and minor spares and repairs, there isnt much left. I would suggest after operator wages (or FIL tip) not more than 20 to 30 baht. If you see any of it you will be lucky.

How many rai? At one hour per rai, twice to prepare the paddies, and once to turn in the stubble, you would only use it for 3 hours per rai. Multiple that by 200 baht and no problems per year, then divide that into the purchase price to get the number of years to break even. As a big boys toy OK, as a source of revenue forget it. To maximise its use in a rice growing environment you need a rotary hoe, a slasher and a baler, a hill or row maker, and perhaps a water pump. Review the total usage and cost of buying all the gear needed.

Get it checked out first if you do buy it. Dont rely on the dealer saying it has been through his workshop. It will probably be a repossession and after its warranty expired will not have been maintained at all.

My experience has been most times our family used my tractor I found something broken or missing. Daily checks and maintenance never done. Even when the gear was supplied.

[crazygreg44]

it has been taught and said on this forum : If you invest into something in Thailand, be willing to loose it.

A Kuboto tractor is easily bought and used, However, know your family well. The question always is, do they know and are they trained to keep the tractor maintained and serviced well ? I doubt so. In the Eesarn, I have seen more than many numerous farm machine devices left to rot and rust after a few years of use. Nobody here will ever care about just oil the tools weekly. Before you can not be sure that your dumb family members know how to maintain a steel tool, you better never buy such for them. You will be dissapointed at the results on a long term. Your tractor will be inefficient and broke soon after the first little problem that arises. Make sure your family is rich enough to pay for the repairs

[crazygreg44]

ah yeah and I forgot to mention. Always seek to give all the landless , poor village inhabitants a chance to work . Hire them for field work harvest, planting , etc. Like the Thai always in their history did. It is cheaper than a Kuboto and good for the reputation of your family in the village. It feeds the landless and helps community life. Kubotos are only good for the traders. They don t really ease work neither do they simplify it. They just shift the job from the landless to one poor sucker who drives it every day . . .

[rideswings]

Thanks to everyone for the answers. After reading the post "Farmers Sob Stories" that some of you have contributed to, maybe I will rethink the tractor. Im almost certain that my wifes relatives will make use of the tractor and FIL labor and not pay for the gas or anything else, maybe give them an IOU, but Im sure I or my FIL will never see one baht from them. Same thing when her brother borrowed 70k baht from me to get married. One year later not a single payment to me. I am not a newbie in Thailand, but still not the smartest guy.

[humblefalang]

my friend i have been doing it for the last two years,

we have a kubota 3408,

i drove it non stop for 2008 and 2009, i did paddy fields, pushing earth in between peoples house when they are buidilding them, road farms, it is a small tractor not a lot of power but once you get the hang of it, you will be fine, get the "lottery" is that rotating thing you attach to the back istead of the usual 6 blades, about 50000. lending it to your father in law, not sure about it, mine father in law is a nice guy he can drive it but in two years he twisted the trailer attachment thingy while doing a reversing manouver with a trailer which i spent 3 weeks welding together, and also feel asleep on the main road ending up in the rice paddy up side down, hes excuse( it drives slow) no kidding noone will care for it if they have not paid for it,

diesel consuption i go by litre not money, i can do 10-12 ries with about 30 32 litres,

hope that helps

[canuckamuck]

Does anyone know the price of a new 3408? I am going to look at a second hand one tomorrow?

Also what sort of things should I be looking for as far as wear and damage?

[bergen]

Thanks to everyone for the answers. After reading the post "Farmers Sob Stories" that some of you have contributed to, maybe I will rethink the tractor. Im almost certain that my wifes relatives will make use of the tractor and FIL labor and not pay for the gas or anything else, maybe give them an IOU, but Im sure I or my FIL will never see one baht from them. Same thing when her brother borrowed 70k baht from me to get married. One year later not a single payment to me. I am not a newbie in Thailand, but still not the smartest guy.

Many are not "the smartest guy", but I take my hat off, for the one who admits it.

[Gary A]

I looked for second hand tractors for a number of months and most were simply worn out. It's possible to find repo's but the maintenance my have been neglected.

I ended up buying a new Yanmar 312, It is four wheel drive and 31 HP. I take good care of it and have had no problems in five years. It uses about 2 liters of diesel an hour when working hard. It runs a 1.5 meter wide rotary tiller easily. I have found that it has plenty of power but the tractor is small and light weight. It will slip all four wheels when trying to pull a four disk plow. I ended up dropping one of the disks off and it handles three pretty well.

I bought the Yanmar rather than the Kubota because it has what they call synchroshift. That is a lever on the steering column that allows you to shift back and forth from forward to reverse with no grinding and without actually changing gears, It makes doing work with the dozer blade much easier as well as very handy working in small rice paddies.

[canuckamuck]

Interesting, how much for the Yanmar?

I looked at the 2nd hand Kubota today, it has 1075 hours on it, and has definitely been used, but I can't see any sign that it is wore out. The nipples haven't seen a grease gun recently, but they definitely have been used previously. No other signs of wear other than what you expect on a 2 year old tractor. The guy has 330k left owing on it, from 600k, and he wants 30k for himself. The tractor comes with the roto-attachment for tilling the soil. It seems like a good deal but I am second guessing if I need it or not.

[Gary A]

I paid 550,000 for my Yanmar but that was about five years ago. It came with the dozer blade, rotary tiller and a four disc plow.

My wife thought I was crazy because the Kubota tak tak is enough. I didn't care, I wanted a toy to play with so I bought it. I think it now has about 420 hours on it. I refuse to loan it to the Thais.

It may have actually saved me money because I was looking at a 4X4 pickup truck so I could go to the two small farms during wet weather. It will go places a 4X4 pickup won't go.

[canuckamuck]

Thanks Gary, I have been wondering about Yanmar quality because I am unfamilliar with the brand. Sounds like you got a good deal. Is it hard to find implements for it? Do they have a front loader attachment for that size?

[Gary A]

I was familiar with Yanmar because the small diesel John Deere tractors in the US are made by Yanmar. They are very dependable. Mine has a standard three point hitch and a two speed power take off. All attachments are made by companies other than the tractor manufacturers, so yes a front loader is easily available.

I think Yanmar is a little more advanced than Kubota and also a little more expensive. Yanmar is a big company and a leader in small diesel engines.