Kubota M9960 Rides Rough Please Help

[brushcutter]

Have had little to no wheel slip with the drill. Case dealer is about an hour away so trying to stay in the local area. Both the Kubota and JD are 15 min drive tops. The New Holland dealer hear has terrible service other wise I would look at a New Holland. That and we had a New Holland C238 CTL which is why we know about the service problem but also the ctl was lacking in power. The service was a bigger factor in going to the cat then power but the cat we got could run circles around the New Holland machine.

 

[Navasot]

Well I guess this begs the question whether all tractors this size ride "rough" or is it just Kubota? Do the JD guys complain of the ride also?
Nobody is bashing brands here, just trying to figure out what works best.
Until the cabs have suspensions, which many larger tractors do, I can only wonder what could be the difference from brand to brand vs psi or tire construction
I was totally disappointed with my stock Kubota seat and the dealer would not install a Michigan seat in it because of the warranty. Well it's out of warranty now so I might try that first, plus lower the rear tire pressure a little.

You got a big difference in operating weight when looking at Kubota compared to other brands in the same HP. Usually a good size scale in the 40 and more so the 60 series. You don't notice much like the fella stated when just putting out hay and messing around but hook some large equipment up to it and it and time to hang on... you also have to take in the dimensions of the tractor and how weight is distributed.. Even JDs E series tractors at 85hp outweigh the 9960 by over 1000lbs I believe

 

[Navasot]

Theres also no reason to go up to a 135 when the heaviest equipment your pulling is a 15ft wing.. Just find a tractor with weight to the ground. Id take the JD over the Kubota any day. But Case, JD, Mahindra, NH, Massey offer 100hp tractors that all weigh around 9k tractor alone and would handle that type equipment fairly easy

 

[Navasot]

but you will never loose having more HP than you need

 

[brushcutter]

That was our thinking can't hurt having more hp. At the moment our planter is the biggest strain on the tractor but it is rated at 80hp min to pull it so not hurting for more hp. We are looking at getting into hay baling for people since we already do weed spraying, fertilizer, planting and other things for people. A JD 5M would possibly do what we need but where thinking at this point we should just go to the larger class tractor for any future growth. Wish we could keep the 9960 it would be a good rake tractor if it wasn't so rough.

 

[ovrszd]

If you trade better get a couple days of demo on whatever you choose. You are going to take a bath on the trade. Certainly would suck to end up with another "rough riding" tractor.

 

[daugen]

Shock-Mitigating Marine Seats | Shock-Absorbing Boat Chairs | STIDD

I'm sure one of these would do the trick.
Stidd is unaffordable to me but if I hit the lottery...
happened to see this looking for a boat seat.

 

[mcrey1]

Have a m126gx with ksr loade and air seat cast iron wheels and loaded rears. The ride is very nice and quiet. bought Dec 15 2014 got 458 hrs still happy

 

[Fromjim]

I have an M108X and the tire manufacturer even replaced all my tires with radial tires, a cost of 10,000.00 they told me, at first it seemed better but within a few weeks the tractor was bouncing around on perfectly smooth pavement, I gave up and never mentioned it to them again, they tried and wasted money without fixing the problem, I think the wheels are just not round, I have checked them with a laser and found ever one to be out of round, but they tell me it's a tractor, what do you expect. I actually think the wheel rims are too weak and bend when we hit deep holes in the fields. I just think the wheels are not strong enough for this size of tractor and self destruct. That's just my opinion, but I would love to get a set of wheels to try out.

God bless
Jim

 

[ovrszd]

I have an M108X and the tire manufacturer even replaced all my tires with radial tires, a cost of 10,000.00 they told me, at first it seemed better but within a few weeks the tractor was bouncing around on perfectly smooth pavement, I gave up and never mentioned it to them again, they tried and wasted money without fixing the problem, I think the wheels are just not round, I have checked them with a laser and found ever one to be out of round, but they tell me it's a tractor, what do you expect. I actually think the wheel rims are too weak and bend when we hit deep holes in the fields. I just think the wheels are not strong enough for this size of tractor and self destruct. That's just my opinion, but I would love to get a set of wheels to try out.
God bless
Jim

Bummer. I'm surprised you got the tire manufacturer to replace the tires. My M9540 rides fine with Radials. It does have a gentle side to side sway when running wide open in 12th gear on the highway. I assume that's caused by wheels. I've never investigated that or followed it down the road to see. Pretty common in AG tractors it seems.

 

[kuboman]

Large tractor tires are very difficult to seat evenly on the bead, hence you end up with that out of round feel. With great care and a lot of bead lubrication you can get the tire to seat evenly if you rotate it and carefully inflate.

 

[SDT]

I'll start by saying that I read only the original post, none of the replies.

My new M9960HD12 ROPS was delivered the day before yesterday.

Though I have not yet used it, as always, I checked everything on the PDI checklist because experience has taught me that many (most?) dealers simply check everything off without any such inspection.

The rear 18.4X30 radial tires on my 9960 were inflated to approximately 30 PSI and the front 12.4X24 radial tires were inflated to approximately 35 PSI, both maximum inflation pressure per sidewall indication.

According to the owner's manual, my rear tires should be inflated to 16 PSI and the fronts to 20PSI.

Obviously, inflation pressure will affect ride quality.

IF tire pressure is not your issue, consider the Kubota shockless ride accumulator system for the FEL.

SDT

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I'll start by saying that I read only the original post, none of the replies.

My new M9960HD12 ROPS was delivered the day before yesterday.

Though I have not yet used it, as always, I checked everything on the PDI checklist because experience has taught me that many (most?) dealers simply check everything off without any such inspection.

The rear 18.4X30 radial tires on my 9960 were inflated to approximately 30 PSI and the front 12.4X24 radial tires were inflated to approximately 35 PSI, both maximum inflation pressure per sidewall indication.

According to the owner's manual, my rear tires should be inflated to 16 PSI and the fronts to 20PSI.

Obviously, inflation pressure will affect ride quality.

IF tire pressure is not your issue, consider the Kubota shockless ride accumulator system for the FEL.

SDT

SDT, how is the ride of your 9960?

 

[Amelia Farms]

How are your wheels set up width wise? I have a JD 5520 that I felt was bouncing me out of the seat. The wheels were set to the narrowest setting when delivered. I widened both front and rears by about 6" and the ride improved dramatically. Might be worth a try.

 

[ovrszd]

How are your wheels set up width wise? I have a JD 5520 that I felt was bouncing me out of the seat. The wheels were set to the narrowest setting when delivered. I widened both front and rears by about 6" and the ride improved dramatically. Might be worth a try.

Good point that is often overlooked. Lost track of how many Utility tractors I see with wheels all the way in. Really aggravates the ride.

 

[daugen]

Good point that is often overlooked. Lost track of how many Utility tractors I see with wheels all the way in. Really aggravates the ride.

hmmmm, now that's going to make me look at mine this morning as i hike in the rain to the barn. I never saw much extra axle in there...
and I'm also going to put an air gauge on my tires despite what the dealer just did. I look at my tires occasionally when I have a full load on with the loader to see how
much sidewall flex there is. Not much...of course soft tires suck up hp, right?

 

[ovrszd]

hmmmm, now that's going to make me look at mine this morning as i hike in the rain to the barn. I never saw much extra axle in there...
and I'm also going to put an air gauge on my tires despite what the dealer just did. I look at my tires occasionally when I have a full load on with the loader to see how
much sidewall flex there is. Not much...of course soft tires suck up hp, right?

The L owners can verify this, but, I believe your rear wheels are two piece? Meaning the pieces can be separated and rearranged to change the width of your footprint.

The larger M series are designed with as many as six different width configurations on the rear and front.

Manufacturers almost always ship tractors in the narrowest configuration for obvious reasons. My local Kubota dealer sells them all that way unless the buyer requests a change. Rarely is that requested, and, around here most buyers never make a change.

It was one of the first things I did to my M9540. I work in steep terrain a lot.

 

[farmer2009]

While most Ag tire wheels are adjustable for width. It's a toss up whether R4 wheels will be adjustable.

 

[ovrszd]

While most Ag tire wheels are adjustable for width. It's a toss up whether R4 wheels will be adjustable.

Yep, most times R4 wheels are not. Guess I didn't ask, but just assumed the OP's wheels are adjustable since he's in a larger Utility chassis rather than a CUT chassis.

 

[daugen]

I don't think there is any adjustability here.