L3301 PTO whine

[gshamilton]

Hello, new member here, first time post. I bought a brand new L3301 last year. From day 1 it has a very loud high pitch whine or squeal when the PTO is under load. I would describe it as metal on metal at high speed like a metal lathe. It does not make the noise if nothing is hooked up to the PTO and it is engaged, only with an implement attached. It is loud enough that I can barely hear the sound of the engine over the whine. Of course I called the dealer and he sent the field mechanic to my house to check it out. I assumed I had a bad bearing or a loose pin or something inside the PTO. He stated it didn't sound normal to him either and they should probably take it to the shop. Several days later I received a call from the shop manager stating they couldn't really find anything wrong but they were able to get the noise reproduced at the shop on the dyno and he thought it also was odd and they were getting Kubota regional involved. Several more days later the manager calls to say the regional guy says its normal and they run into that from time to time with the PTO setup on the 3301 and the 3901's. I asked if they had tested others on the lot and they stated they didn't have any 3301's at that time but a 3901 did also make the noise. They suggested I could trade up to a different model that has a different PTO design but I would have to go up into the 40 series at a cost of several thousand dollars. I find the noise very annoying and not convinced it is normal as this seemed to be news to the shop guys and they have been in business for many years. I can't believe that if they all do this that no one has questioned it before. The final resolution I received was just keep using it and bring it in for the 50 hour service and we can check it again and maybe it will get better. Well 50+ hours later it is still making the noise and as loud as ever. I have not had the 50 hour service done but I'm sure it will be the same answer that its normal. Has anyone else had this issue and is it normal or am I getting the run around?
Thanks

 

[diesel85]

Interesting. I'm looking at potentially getting a L3901 in a year or so.

 

[Fallon]

Odd, never had any particular powertrain noise on my L3200 with the PTO on. The HST was always the noisy part. The Lxx01s were just emissions updates to the Lxx00s, so powertrain should have been the same.

 

[Ortimber]

I think you are getting the run around. Myself and my father in law both have L3901s. The PTO is barely noticeable on either tractor no matter what implement we are running. The HST in medium and high gear can be rather noisy at times.

 

[mdhughes]

Is the L3301 a HST or DT model?

 

[Topesrule]

My 3301 never made any noise like that with the PTO engaged. The hydro whine was pretty severe, but having the PTO engaged never made it any worse.

 

[Gov23]

I’ve got and L3301 hydro and the pto is not loud. The hydro on the other hand whines like they all do.

 

[gshamilton]

Its an HST. I am not confusing this with the hydro noise. It is specific to when the pto is engaged under load.

 

[gshamilton]

HST model

 

[gshamilton]

FullSizeRender - YouTube
Here is a link to a video of the noise.

 

[Citydude]

FullSizeRender - YouTube
Here is a link to a video of the noise.

Definitely not normal. Odd that the Kubota rep basically shrugged this off.

 

[lennyzx11]

I’ve got and L3301 hydro and the pto is not loud. The hydro on the other hand whines like they all do.

Same here. Bought at end of 2015 and approaching 300 hrs. Use PTO near weekly for rotary cutter or flail mower.

 

[gimmodog]

you call it a whine but is it possible it's more of a squeal--like metal on metal, possibly a bad bearing

 

[Fallon]

Ya, that video helps a lot. You can hear the standard HST whine in there, then that other odd noise. Bearings or something would be my guess.

Kubota & thr dealers are usually good about following through resolving this kind of stuff. Hope they end up comming through for you at some point, or this just turns out to be an irrelevant sound due to an odd harmonic or something.

 

[gshamilton]

Ya, that video helps a lot. You can hear the standard HST whine in there, then that other odd noise. Bearings or something would be my guess.

Kubota & thr dealers are usually good about following through resolving this kind of stuff. Hope they end up comming through for you at some point, or this just turns out to be an irrelevant sound due to an odd harmonic or something.

If it was an odd harmonic, would you expect to hear it in other units of the same model? Seems no one else here or others I have talked to have had this issue which leads me to share your opinion about a bearing.

 

[gshamilton]

Definitely not normal. Odd that the Kubota rep basically shrugged this off.

That is what the dealer is telling me. I assume he is telling me the truth. I may take to another dealer for a second opinion.

 

[Fallon]

If it was an odd harmonic, would you expect to hear it in other units of the same model? Seems no one else here or others I have talked to have had this issue which leads me to share your opinion about a bearing.

Resonance frequencies of materials change with mass & density. So if a casting had a hollow spot or was slightly different than others it could still be perfectly fine, but resonate at a different frequency.

I dont really think that's the case here, but who knows. All things considered hopefully the bearing or whatever fails as it sounds like it's under warranty. And the problem would be solved. A 2nd dealer opinion might be a good idea to get is solved before something fails (always at a bad time if course).

 

[gshamilton]

Update on issue. I took the tractor to another dealer to check out the noise and have the 50 hour service done. When I dropped it off, they hooked up another 3301 up to a cutter and no PTO noise. At that time they agreed that they could change the PTO gear assembly on mine thinking it would help. Several days later, got a call from service manager who stated he had mistakenly grabbed a geared model for our test and not an HST model and they are set up differently. He had since tried HST models and they too made the whine. He had also called the regional Kubota rep who remembered my tractor from the other dealer and stated again that it was somewhat normal. The new dealer entered another service note on my file and stated he thought that was just the nature of the HST models which have square cut gears in the PTO that can make noise as they don't fit together exactly as they mesh and can make noise. He hooked up an HST model to a cutter fro me and it had a noise like mine if not louder! He reiterated that two notes have been put in my file and that I have a 6 year powertrain warranty and any issue would be covered. He thought as the square cut gears wore in that the whine may lessen. Long story short is I guess I just have to live with this whining noise when using the PTO and hope it lessens with wear of the gears. I am just really surprised with as many of these compact tractors that sell these days, that neither dealer had dealt with this before if it is common on these popular models. Maybe everyone uses headphones while mowing and they don't hear it? My only negative so far with my new Kubota.

 

[Dave M7040]

Update on issue. I took the tractor to another dealer to check out the noise and have the 50 hour service done. When I dropped it off, they hooked up another 3301 up to a cutter and no PTO noise. At that time they agreed that they could change the PTO gear assembly on mine thinking it would help. Several days later, got a call from service manager who stated he had mistakenly grabbed a geared model for our test and not an HST model and they are set up differently. He had since tried HST models and they too made the whine. He had also called the regional Kubota rep who remembered my tractor from the other dealer and stated again that it was somewhat normal. The new dealer entered another service note on my file and stated he thought that was just the nature of the HST models which have square cut gears in the PTO that can make noise as they don't fit together exactly as they mesh and can make noise. He hooked up an HST model to a cutter fro me and it had a noise like mine if not louder! He reiterated that two notes have been put in my file and that I have a 6 year powertrain warranty and any issue would be covered. He thought as the square cut gears wore in that the whine may lessen. Long story short is I guess I just have to live with this whining noise when using the PTO and hope it lessens with wear of the gears. I am just really surprised with as many of these compact tractors that sell these days, that neither dealer had dealt with this before if it is common on these popular models. Maybe everyone uses headphones while mowing and they don't hear it? My only negative so far with my new Kubota.

Perhaps you are well aware of this need but I will mention it out of an abundance of caution. Very recently the owner of a new machine was very upset when his pto assembly failed. He told of using different implements belonging to his Dad all day long. Never once did he mention making certain the pto shaft of each different implement as not too long for his machine. On one implement, the pto was too long and it bottomed out as he raised the implement. The pto could not telescope enough and forced the tractor bits too much breaking the internal parts of the pto

Dave M7040.

 

[Topesrule]

I had issues with a noise in my L3301. When talking to the service manager he told me that there's a bearing associated with the PTO (I can't remember the exact bearing, he showed me when the tractor was apart) that he has had to replace on a few L3301's and L3901's. I don't think it was common exactly, but he was aware of that being a point of failure. It didn't turn out to be the problem with mine.