Kubota G-1900

[wh500special 2,184]

Looking for first-hand experience here...

My cousin needs a GT for his new house. All he needs to do is cut the grass, but a zero turn is out of the question due to the slope in the back yard. If it wasn't for the tendency of a 520H to freewheel on downhill runs and their somewhat common electrical problems, I'd recommend one of those to him. As it is, my suggestions have primarilly been green machines.

I know, I should be ashamed of myself.

Anyway, he stumbled on a nice G-1900 Kubota with 60" deck and 4 wheel steering and the price seems very reasonable for a diesel powered machine (winter is here, so prices on grass cutters seem to be down a bit). I've been around a lot of Kubota products and have always been satisfied, but I have never taken enough interest in one of these specific critters to give them a close inspection.

Does anyone have any good or bad things to say about the G-series?

They look like this:

Thanks!

Steve

[Kelly 1,029]

I can't say much on that tractor, but do your home work on the rear steer, just google it, see what is out there on them, I know other brands they can be a problem, not everyone, but when they break it's big money, and yes Kubota makes some nice stuff.

[SousaKerry 501]

We had 3 of the earlier GT-2600?? series with 3 cylinder water cooled engines. No rear steering but they were a great machine. Little hard to start on a cold day but you could cut 4-6 hours on one tank..

Make sure that you use that glow plug everytime it is started cold, even if it is hot out they still need it, starters for these things ain't cheap. They should smoke a bit on startup and during acceleration to full RPM's but if it smokes more then that walk away. A rebuild will cost more then the tractor is worth by far.

Keep your fuel, air and oil clean and filter changed, the injector pumps don't like any dirt at all.

Other then that at least the older series were tough as nails.

[IthacaJeff 151]

What kind of price are you looking at? And what kind of service is available in the area? Around here WH and JDs are

king, with Simplicities a distant third. For about $3-4K a JD 430 diesel could be had in this area, not a lot more for

a JD 455 diesel. For $1-2K you could get a nice Simplicity Sunstar, 20 hp Kohler Magnum, 60" deck. Of course, these are all

20 year old machines.

Jeff

[wh500special 2,184]

Thanks for the replies guys.

The unit pictured isn't the actual tractor he found, the one in question isn't t cosmetically as nice. But it's only $1200, which seems pretty good to me for a 5-foot diesel GT. I don't know the hours.

My primary concern was hearing something like, "the transmissions explode" or "the front axle falls off" etc. I know regardless of the inspection we give, older machines can have problems. He knows that too, but undstands the difference between an older heavy duty machine and a new big box model.

He's budgeting $3k. I was thinking of Deere 430's and 420's but we haven't seen the right one yet. His yard is big enough that a 60" deck is probably the best choice. I suppose the possibility to use a snow blade exists, but we seldom get snow in the st Louis area that lasts more than a few days, so most people just leave it in the driveway and let God take care of it.

Service on any make around here is pretty easy to find. Simplicity actually hadn't crossed my mind, so thanks for the reminder.

In any case, he has a few months to find something.

Thanks!

Steve

[shallowwatersailor 3,213]

You might find a Toro Wheel Horse 523Dxi with a 60" deck in that price range as well. It used the Daihatsu 3-cylinder engine that is sold currently as a B&S engine. It's still available in the Simplicity Legacy. They come up on C-List very so often for under 3K.