Kubota F series

[Hay Dude]

Kubota F series decks lift up hydraulically, no manual lifting required for cutting height adjusting.

I have set the cutting height once to where I wanted it and let it be - no need to mess with it in my case.

Mine requires all 4 corners of the deck to be adjusted manually. You have to pull pins and rotate the vertical supports.
Mine lifts hydraulically, but only for the purpose of clearing obstacles or setting the cutting wheels to the height you desire.
If I lift my deck off its’ wheels and tried to cut, the deck would bounce up & down.

 

[sawtooth]

Grasshopper definitely has the front deck models figured out. Even for the vertical service position of deck it’s completely servo driven so just the flip of a switch away. If they made a 4x4 model I would get another Grasshopper without hesitation

 

[arto98607]

It would likely take a redesign of most everything so it's understandable why it has not happened - has not made business sense for them so far.

 

[Mikefromcny]

Picked up my 2nd f series kubota. 2010 3080 with blower and mower. Local dealer trade, price was pretty reasonable I thought. 2600 hours. Definitely lots of maintenance needed, but I'll slowly get the bugs worked out.

 

[Hay Dude]

Great machine for hillside mowing. Extremely safe & predictable.

 

[arto98607]

Picked up my 2nd f series kubota. 2010 3080 with blower and mower. Local dealer trade, price was pretty reasonable I thought. 2600 hours. Definitely lots of maintenance needed, but I'll slowly get the bugs worked out.

Great mower & blower!

 

[Hay Dude]

So I was going through my F3680 today and removed the breather on the top of the valve cover. I made an interesting finding. Popped the screws on the cap and looked underneath. Theres a small flat rubber flap. Looked ok at first, then I saw something strange in the valve cover opening- a dead, little wormy-lookin bug.
I then peeled the rubber flap back and was surprised to see a mud wasp got in through a tiny hole in the breather cap cover and built a pretty significant mud nest between the metal cap and the rubber flapper. The mud was also in the spring between the flapper and the cap, so the spring was kind of frozen-up.

I vacuumed out the debris, cleaned all the mud cells between the rubber flap and the cap and reassembled.
May have to replace the assembly, but it seemed ok. Hopefully no more blown rubber plugs down on the block from crankcase over pressure.

 

[RBsingl]

After spending around 10 hours for the last two days clearing up storm debris with my chainsaw and Deere 955 with loader, I finally had the chance to mow my 5 acre property for the first time with my new F 2690.

I love the cut quality and it is definitely faster than using my Deere 955 with its 72" midmount deck. The rear discharge is great since it will mow flush either side but what I really like is not having all of the clipping and debris blowing back on me. What a HUGE difference from the side discharge on the tractor in not getting coated with clippings.

This first cut took about 90 minutes with a definite learning curve so I will get faster and it was interesting transitioning from using the Deere two pedal hydrostat in the morning and then the Kubota treadle pedal this afternoon. I initially hated the single pedal but once I got used to it I started really liking it for mowing. I am still being cautious with the rear end swing with the rear steer setup until I get used to it, much like using the 3 point field mower on my Deere when working near a fence line

The ride is comfortable over my less than glass smooth property and I think I got the seat position, weight adjustment, lumbar, and tilt dialed in to what I want near the end of the mowing session. I checked the grills and screen 30 minutes in, the grill had a very small amount of grass with nothing on the hydraulic cooler and radiator screen so the engine compartment hood/screen is doing a nice job. I only had to slow down for bogging down in part of the area near the creek where the grass was already VERY high, the 955 would have probably gone through this faster with its higher HP engine but I just slowed down for those sections to avoid putting too much load on a new engine. Normally the grass won't get that high and for the 2 acres closest to the house I could go as fast as I wanted but it has been a strange storm filled spring leading to a very thick and tall grass area at the south end of my property.

Bottom line is I am really happy I decided on the 2690 after looking first at ZTR and then front mount mowers from both Deere and Kubota. It definitely adds to quality of life!

Rodger

 

[RBsingl]

So I was going through my F3680 today and removed the breather on the top of the valve cover. I made an interesting finding. Popped the screws on the cap and looked underneath. Theres a small flat rubber flap. Looked ok at first, then I saw something strange in the valve cover opening- a dead, little wormy-lookin bug.
I then peeled the rubber flap back and was surprised to see a mud wasp got in through a tiny hole in the breather cap cover and built a pretty significant mud nest between the metal cap and the rubber flapper. The mud was also in the spring between the flapper and the cap, so the spring was kind of frozen-up.

When my Deere 955 was a few years old, I drove it out to start mowing and as soon as I engaged the PTO the engine bogged down. I drove it back to the barn to check the problem and a mud wasp had built a home around the vent on the fuel cap. Once removed the tractor was fine.

Not sure whether the little bugger built it there because he liked the smell of diesel or if he was trying to block the smell

Rodger

 

[OrangeRidge]

My F3690AU 72 inch back in April 2017 upon delivery . Replaced a BX2360. Just done 300 hours and decided to replace all the fluids : rear diff , crown drives , hydro and filter ( second filter ) . It now has solid rubber castor wheels on those little rims .
Also has a rear metal plate for garden trailer attachment and a larger one for a rope if it slides in a gully and needs the LR3 to pull it out . Being designed back-to-front wheel arrangement , it's easily stuck if pointing downwards in the wrong place .
Here in Oz they're USD21k plus sales tax nowadays . That's 35% up in 6 years .

 

[arto98607]

That is a nice looking mower!

I switched my F3060 and Grasshopper to Carlisle solid rubber gauge wheels couple of years ago and so far they have worked trouble free.

For axles I just cut pieces of water hard drill rod and drilled cotter pin holes at each end. Replacement bearings are easy to find if ever needed.






Could use little larger diameter wheels due to pretty soft ground during our long wet season, but so many other projects .......

 

[OrangeRidge]

The all-in-one Kubota set were expensive , so I bought identical Carlisle solids on unwanted rims ( bearing size too small for most makes ) and swapped over the rims to the Kubota . That was half price !

 

[Brown Dog]

Are these solid deck tires the same height & width as stock ?
I’m assuming the yokes wouldn’t accept a bigger tire idk

 

[Brown Dog]

They are nowhere near the height & width of my ZD1511 front tires & their not big enough for my rough farm ground so I have to go much slower

 

[arto98607]

Are these solid deck tires the same height & width as stock ?
I’m assuming the yokes wouldn’t accept a bigger tire idk

Yes in F3060 case they were the same diameter & width as originals and the yokes limit the wheel size. Bigger diameter gauge wheels are doable but would require couple of modifications.

They are nowhere near the height & width of my ZD1511 front tires & their not being enough for my rough farm ground so I have to go much slower

Yes they are smaller - in F models they are deck gauge wheels and carry only part of the deck weight wheras in ZD they are the mower front wheels and carry the full weight of the mower front.

 

[RBsingl]

I have now mowed about 10 times with my new F-2690 with 72" rear discharge deck and I am VERY happy with it. It is faster than my Deere 955 with 72" midmount deck and the cut quality is so much better since I don't have heavy tractor wheels pushing down the grass before the mower blades. It was definitely a good purchase.

I am still getting used to the setup but I am really liking the treadle pedal now that I am used to it although it does require a little though when switching between the Deere 955 and the F-2690. A few weeks ago I was using the loader and rear cutter on the Deere for a few hours before mowing. I now have a good feel for the amount of swing with rear steer now so I don't feel like I need a rearview mirror to see how far the rear of the mower is going to swing during turns.

The rear discharge deck setup is very nice and I am still optimizing my mowing pattern after spending so many years with a side discharge deck. Every mowing time gets a little faster.

The only negative I have found with the rear discharge deck is at least with the F-2690 you do have to disconnect the PTO shaft instead of just properly positioning the U joints in order to tilt the deck up 90 degrees. Not a big deal since it is easy to remove/install but I spent several wasted minutes the first time trying to figure out how to tilt it up with the PTO shaft still connected. I suspect the layout/geometry of the rear discharge deck is just different enough from the side discharge that the shaft doesn't have quite enough clearance.

The low filler neck height of the Kubota is convenient but after buying the F-2690 I also bought a diesel transfer pump and nozzle and use the 80 gallon tank of my diesel generator as fuel storage for the mower and tractor. Filling is quick and easy for both and it keeps the fuel from sitting forever in the generator tank.

Rodger

 

[Sigarms]

The rear discharge deck setup is very nice and I am still optimizing my mowing pattern after spending so many years with a side discharge deck.

As long as the grass doesn't knee high and I don't have abut buttload of grass clippings that should be raked up, I don't care about my mowing pattern let alone optimizing it!

Great thing about the F mower is I can say that about my "lawn" when I mow with it, and when I mow the fields out back or shooting lane for the gun range, I don't care about the grass clippings!

 

[arto98607]

.....snip........

The only negative I have found with the rear discharge deck is at least with the F-2690 you do have to disconnect the PTO shaft instead of just properly positioning the U joints in order to tilt the deck up 90 degrees. Not a big deal since it is easy to remove/install but I spent several wasted minutes the first time trying to figure out how to tilt it up with the PTO shaft still connected. I suspect the layout/geometry of the rear discharge deck is just different enough from the side discharge that the shaft doesn't have quite enough clearance.

......snip.......

Rodger

That is interesting - in F3060 with rear discharge deck it's not a problem at all to flip up the deck with the PTO shaft still connected.

Zoom in in the photo of my post #495 above and you can see it's still connected.

The operator manual is advising against doing it this way, probably due to resulting major damage if PTO is engaged accidentally while the deck is flipped up....

I agree, it is easy to disconnect the PTO shaft and that gives us a good chance to re-lube the spline.

 

[RBsingl]

Art,

I suspect the 90 series (and maybe just the 2690) is different enough that it doesn't tilt all the way with the PTO shaft connected. It will go most of the way but there isn't quite enough clearance to reach the point where the locking pin can be engaged.

I really like the ease of hitting all of the grease fittings on the Kubota, some of them on my Deere 955 are not convenient.

Art: On edit, it looks like the deck design changed a little since your model and that is probably why this one won't allow full tilt with the PTO shaft still attached. The gear box mount location appears to have moved slightly and the bracing/support for the deck is different. Photos of mine below.

Rodger

 

[Happy Gilmore]

Hey guys, just gonna toss this out here, my 2011 F2680 with 72” RD deck has a quick intermittent vibrating rattle sound coming from the right blade spindle, precisely every 11 seconds at full throttle. Can’t see anything wrong with it. I’m stumped.