Kubota SVL97-3 vs. SVL110-3: Which Large-Frame Track Loader Fits Your Fleet?

Sep 29

6 min read

Kubota now sells two machines in the same physical footprint class that couldn't be further apart on paper: the SVL97-3 and the SVL110-3, Kubota's first compact track loader ever built over 100 horsepower. Both wear the same-generation "-3 series" cab and styling. Under the hood, they're built for genuinely different jobs, and the gap between them is bigger than the 16-horsepower difference on the spec sheet suggests.

The Headline Number Isn't Horsepower — It's Hydraulic Flow

The SVL97-3 runs a 96.4 gross-horsepower Kubota V3800 turbo diesel. Step up to the SVL110-3 and that same basic architecture is retuned to 112.7 gross horsepower, with 279.8 ft.-lbs. of torque — Kubota calls that the most torque of any compact track loader it has ever built. But the number that actually matters to a contractor running high-demand attachments is auxiliary hydraulic flow: the SVL97-3 delivers 23.8 gpm standard, expandable to 41.2 gpm with the optional high-flow package. The SVL110-3 makes 45 gpm standard — no upgrade required, no option box to check. If your work leans on cold planers, mulching heads, or trenchers that need serious oil to run properly, that standard 45 gpm is the entire reason the SVL110-3 exists.

What You're Actually Getting for the Extra Horsepower

Rated operating capacity climbs from 3,459 lbs. (35% tipping load) on the SVL97-3 to 3,700 lbs. on the SVL110-3, with tipping load moving from 9,884 lbs. to 10,571 lbs. That's a real, usable capacity gain — useful for a contractor regularly moving heavier pallet loads or running a grapple loaded closer to the machine's limit.

Here's the number that surprises most buyers, though: bucket breakout force is essentially identical between the two machines — roughly 7,650 lbf on both, with lift arm breakout landing at 5,277 to 5,288 lbf on each. Top travel speed is the same, too: both machines run 5.5 mph low and 8.4 mph high range. Kubota didn't build the SVL110-3 to out-muscle the SVL97-3 in raw digging force or move any faster across a site — it built it to move more material per lift and run hungrier attachments without hitting a hydraulic wall. Know which of those two things your work actually needs before paying the premium for the bigger machine.

The Trade-Off: Footprint and Weight

Bigger hydraulics and a bigger engine come in a bigger package. The SVL110-3 measures 77.2 inches wide against the SVL97-3's 65.9 inches — more than a foot wider, a real consideration on a tight urban lot, a residential retrofit, or any South Florida infill site where the working footprint is genuinely constrained. Operating weight climbs from roughly 11,676–11,929 lbs. on the SVL97-3 to 12,322 lbs. on the SVL110-3, and overall length with a bucket grows from 142.1 inches to 153.6 inches. Turning radius opens up from 57.8 inches to 63.7 inches. None of that makes the SVL110-3 a bad machine — it makes it the wrong machine for a job where the SVL97-3's tighter footprint is the whole reason a track loader was the right call over a wheel loader in the first place.

The SVL110-3 also introduces Creep Mode — Kubota's first compact track loader with dedicated low-speed precision travel control, adjustable from the touchscreen or jog dial across a 1-to-50 range. That's a genuine, purpose-built feature for attachment work like a mulching head or a cold planer where holding a precise, slow, consistent travel speed matters more than raw ground speed. It's not available on the SVL97-3, and for an operation running high-precision attachment work regularly, it's worth real money on its own.

By the Numbers: SVL97-3 vs. SVL110-3

Engine: 96.4 gross hp (SVL97-3) vs. 112.7 gross hp / 279.8 ft.-lbs. torque (SVL110-3)
Standard auxiliary hydraulic flow: 23.8 gpm, 41.2 gpm optional high-flow (SVL97-3) vs. 45.0 gpm standard (SVL110-3)
Rated operating capacity (35% tipping load): 3,459 lbs. (SVL97-3) vs. 3,700 lbs. (SVL110-3)
Tipping load: 9,884 lbs. (SVL97-3) vs. 10,571 lbs. (SVL110-3)
Bucket breakout force: ~7,650 lbf on both machines
Top travel speed: 8.4 mph on both machines
Width: 65.9 in. (SVL97-3) vs. 77.2 in. (SVL110-3)
Operating weight: 11,676–11,929 lbs. (SVL97-3) vs. 12,322 lbs. (SVL110-3)
Creep Mode precision travel control: not available (SVL97-3) vs. standard (SVL110-3)

South Florida's hurricane season adds a real-world wrinkle to this comparison that's easy to miss on a spec sheet. Storm debris cleanup — running a mulching head or grapple through downed canopy and brush across dozens of properties in a compressed window — is exactly the kind of sustained, high-flow attachment work where the SVL110-3's standard 45 gpm and Creep Mode earn their keep, and exactly the kind of work where a contractor who only owns SVL97-3-class flow finds themselves hunting for a high-flow rental unit at the worst possible time, when every other contractor in the region is hunting for the same machine.

Rent or Own: A Real Fleet Decision

A land-clearing contractor running a mulching head five days a week has a straightforward case for owning the SVL110-3 outright: that standard 45 gpm flow and Creep Mode aren't nice-to-haves for that work, they're the difference between the attachment performing to spec and the attachment starving the engine. Renting a high-flow CTL every time a clearing job comes up — and paying rental-house premium rates for the high-flow package specifically — adds up fast against a financed purchase that keeps that same machine on the trailer for every job going forward, building equity the whole time instead of disappearing into a weekly invoice.

A general grading and site-development contractor whose work is mostly bucket, pallet fork, and standard-attachment material handling, on the other hand, gets very little practical benefit from the SVL110-3's extra flow and horsepower — and a lot of practical benefit from the SVL97-3's tighter, lighter footprint on constrained urban and infill lots common across Miami-Dade and Broward. That contractor is often better served financing the SVL97-3 and putting the difference toward a second machine or a stronger down payment on the loan.

Trades That Should Be Looking at Each Machine

The SVL110-3 makes the most sense for forestry mulching and land-clearing contractors, demolition crews running heavy grapple attachments, and utility contractors trenching with high-flow attachments where the standard 45 gpm circuit directly determines production rate. It's also the better call for any fleet operator who's tired of paying rental-house high-flow premiums every time a job calls for more than a standard machine can deliver.

The SVL97-3 remains the smarter buy for general site-development and grading contractors, landscape and hardscape crews, and any operation working tighter urban or residential lots where the extra foot of width on the SVL110-3 genuinely limits where the machine can work. It's also the more capital-efficient choice for a business adding a second or third CTL to an existing fleet, where matching the new machine's footprint to jobs already on the board matters more than chasing maximum flow.

Fleet Management Across Both Machines

Whichever generation and size you finance, both the SVL97-3 and SVL110-3 run Kubota's WorkSmart/KubotaNOW telematics standard — hours, fuel level, location, and maintenance alerts through the myKubota app. For a fleet running more than one CTL, that shared telematics platform matters as much as any single spec on either machine. We cover exactly what that system does for a financed fleet in our KubotaNOW telematics guide, and if you're weighing the SVL97-3 against outside competition rather than Kubota's own lineup, our SVL97-3 vs. Komatsu CK50-8 comparison is worth a read too.

Financing the Right Size for Your Work

The SVL110-3 costs more to finance than the SVL97-3, full stop — but the real financial mistake most contractors make isn't overpaying for capability they don't need, it's renting instead of owning either one. A machine sitting on a rental yard's schedule, waiting for the next contractor's project to wrap before it's available for yours, is a machine that's costing your business money every single week it's not on your jobsite, with nothing to show for those payments once the job is done. Whichever size fits your actual attachment lineup and jobsite footprint, financing it outright turns that same monthly cost into an asset that keeps earning for your business long after the loan is paid off.

Down payment structures on either machine scale with your credit and time in business — stronger-credit, established operations can often finance either the SVL97-3 or SVL110-3 with little to nothing down, while newer businesses should plan on a modest deposit rather than a large one. Any figures discussed here are illustrative only and not a quote; your actual terms depend on your credit profile, time in business, and the specific deal structure. BFC underwrites both sizes the same way: as a growth partner, not a lender that makes you wait years before helping fund the next machine your business needs. That matters in this specific comparison, too — a contractor who finances the SVL97-3 today and finds their work has genuinely outgrown it within a year or two shouldn't have to wait out a five- or six-year note before BFC will talk about trading up to the SVL110-3. We structure financing so growth stays possible, not so it gets punished.

Ready to size the right large-frame Kubota loader for your fleet? Visit our home page to explore BFC's full equipment financing lineup, apply for financing to start the process, or browse our buy/sell inventory for used SVL97-3 and SVL110-3 units. For more real spec-by-spec breakdowns, subscribe to our blog.