sunandsand
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2020
- Messages
- 315
- Tractor
- Kubota B2601
Well at the tender age of 72, I suddenly discovered I needed a tractor. Seems the 70 acres or so I've got are just not willing to mow or clear themselves (dang ingrates), so I have to do it.
Spoke to a number of dealers, the Mahindra dealer was too far away if I needed anything, JD was a tad on the pricey side and I've heard (unconfirmed) horror stories about captive service (but I think that's for bigger stuff), so the Goldilocks solution was a Kubota 2601, price was right, dealer is 15 miles away and I felt that he sold me what I needed, rather than what he had in stock.
Wound up with a B2601 4wd HST with belly mower, 5' Land Pride bush hog, LA 434 FEL with bucket. Added Titan pallet forks and a Pirhana tooth bar - I have to be careful around that, if I walk into it, my next stop will be the ER.
Have about 100 hours on it in 16 months or so.
Observations:
The tractor is fully capable of destroying anything I can drive over, which at this point is just about anything. Need to be careful and remember that with the pallet forks and bush hog attached, it is long and stuff "swings" when it is steered. Came very close to putting an impressive crease into the side of a fancy, expensive convertible. Dear Bride would have killed me, unless I beat her to it by killing myself first.
Stuff falls off. About a third of the hardware fastening the rubber skirt to the bush hog either vibrated off or wasn't tightened at the dealer in the first place. Replaced all with stainless bolts, large fender washers and Nylock nuts. That won't be falling off again. Safety triangle reflector vibrated off, same cure. One of the rollers on the belly mower came off, as I was mowing, I noticed something very orange in the grass and said what the heck is that . . . bolted that back on, too. The roller heights were never set up properly by the dealer, nor was the belly mower properly centered and pitched (front supposed to be higher than back). Various loose hardware here and there. Lost two lynch pins, replaced from Tractor Supply.
Changed the filters, one of them just POURED that expen$ive $pecial fluid out until I got the new filter on and tightened. I think a remote oil filter adapter (like the hot rod guys use) with some braided hoses might be a good idea, just get the filter above the level of the fluid, mount the filter vertically, screw-end up, so changing it is fast and not nearly as messy. Filter part numbers cross referenced, engine oil filter from WalMart, the two hydraulic filters from NAPA, same parts, a LOT less than from the dealer. Also lost a flasher lens (round lens) somewhere in the woods, Kubota wanted $14, come back in a week, Tractor Supply had it now for $1.29, same part. (Also bought three more for $2.00 total at the local flea market.)
Handle for the front mount of the belly mower interferes with the hood latch release ring. Need to slide a pipe over it and "persuade" it to move over a little.
The front U-joint for the PTO has a grease fitting which is in EXACTLY the wrong place to get a grease gun onto it. Next time I have the bush hog off, I'll turn the U-joint around so the Zerk points to the rear instead of the front, and then I can grease it easily. (Did anyone look at this at Land Pride before they sent it out?)
Questions:
1) The throttle won't stay open. I can open it to full RPMs (2,350), but when I let go, it drops back down to 1,950 to 2,100 or so. I can hold it open, but it won't stay there. I loosened the lock nut, tightened the friction nut, re-tightened the lock nut. It is better, but still not right. Does it sound like I need to go back in and tighten the friction nut some more? (Or is this an indication that something else might be amiss?)
2) The boots on both the tie rods are torn. (Revenge of the scrub palmettos or something.) There are some you-tube videos about changing the boots on a BX, these are different. I haven't found the part number, and I think I read that the OEM boots are expensive and not the greatest quality. Any suggestions for alternates? R and R doesn't seem to be too bad.
3) About those scrub palmettos . . . wow, are they ever TOUGH! I'm digging around them with the bucket and Pirhana tooth bar, then I put the pallet forks on and go under them, and lift. Each one takes a good 15 to 30 minutes, and I have a LOT of them. Would a stump shovel (V-shaped device with toothed top edges) help me do this a little faster? I can buy one for about $500 from Titan, and there's a company not far from me which makes root rakes, really quality stuff, heavy and strong, but they'll get $1,300, and it is worth it. Unfortunately, property taxes are due, so no toys for me for the next few months.
4) I notice the new LA 435 FEL for 2019 has a self-leveler for the pallet forks. Having come perilously close to dropping a pallet of "stuff" into the mud while unloading a 40' container, I went and looked at the new 435 to see if I could buy some parts and install them onto mine, and get the self-leveling feature. The good news is that it is all mechanical, the bad news is that everything is different on the 435 and there is no retrofit. Only solution is sell my 434 FEL and buy a new one, probably about $3,000 total expense. For $3,000, I'll finesse my wrist movement, thank you. I do maybe three containers or so a year, so that isn't cost effective, if I were doing three a week, it would be. Anyone have any ideas on getting self leveler capabilities for the LA 434 other than throwing lots of money at it to buy an LA 435?
Anyway, I'm glad to be on Tractor-By-Net, and hope to contribute as well as ask questions.
Best Regards,
Mike in Florida
Spoke to a number of dealers, the Mahindra dealer was too far away if I needed anything, JD was a tad on the pricey side and I've heard (unconfirmed) horror stories about captive service (but I think that's for bigger stuff), so the Goldilocks solution was a Kubota 2601, price was right, dealer is 15 miles away and I felt that he sold me what I needed, rather than what he had in stock.
Wound up with a B2601 4wd HST with belly mower, 5' Land Pride bush hog, LA 434 FEL with bucket. Added Titan pallet forks and a Pirhana tooth bar - I have to be careful around that, if I walk into it, my next stop will be the ER.
Have about 100 hours on it in 16 months or so.
Observations:
The tractor is fully capable of destroying anything I can drive over, which at this point is just about anything. Need to be careful and remember that with the pallet forks and bush hog attached, it is long and stuff "swings" when it is steered. Came very close to putting an impressive crease into the side of a fancy, expensive convertible. Dear Bride would have killed me, unless I beat her to it by killing myself first.
Stuff falls off. About a third of the hardware fastening the rubber skirt to the bush hog either vibrated off or wasn't tightened at the dealer in the first place. Replaced all with stainless bolts, large fender washers and Nylock nuts. That won't be falling off again. Safety triangle reflector vibrated off, same cure. One of the rollers on the belly mower came off, as I was mowing, I noticed something very orange in the grass and said what the heck is that . . . bolted that back on, too. The roller heights were never set up properly by the dealer, nor was the belly mower properly centered and pitched (front supposed to be higher than back). Various loose hardware here and there. Lost two lynch pins, replaced from Tractor Supply.
Changed the filters, one of them just POURED that expen$ive $pecial fluid out until I got the new filter on and tightened. I think a remote oil filter adapter (like the hot rod guys use) with some braided hoses might be a good idea, just get the filter above the level of the fluid, mount the filter vertically, screw-end up, so changing it is fast and not nearly as messy. Filter part numbers cross referenced, engine oil filter from WalMart, the two hydraulic filters from NAPA, same parts, a LOT less than from the dealer. Also lost a flasher lens (round lens) somewhere in the woods, Kubota wanted $14, come back in a week, Tractor Supply had it now for $1.29, same part. (Also bought three more for $2.00 total at the local flea market.)
Handle for the front mount of the belly mower interferes with the hood latch release ring. Need to slide a pipe over it and "persuade" it to move over a little.
The front U-joint for the PTO has a grease fitting which is in EXACTLY the wrong place to get a grease gun onto it. Next time I have the bush hog off, I'll turn the U-joint around so the Zerk points to the rear instead of the front, and then I can grease it easily. (Did anyone look at this at Land Pride before they sent it out?)
Questions:
1) The throttle won't stay open. I can open it to full RPMs (2,350), but when I let go, it drops back down to 1,950 to 2,100 or so. I can hold it open, but it won't stay there. I loosened the lock nut, tightened the friction nut, re-tightened the lock nut. It is better, but still not right. Does it sound like I need to go back in and tighten the friction nut some more? (Or is this an indication that something else might be amiss?)
2) The boots on both the tie rods are torn. (Revenge of the scrub palmettos or something.) There are some you-tube videos about changing the boots on a BX, these are different. I haven't found the part number, and I think I read that the OEM boots are expensive and not the greatest quality. Any suggestions for alternates? R and R doesn't seem to be too bad.
3) About those scrub palmettos . . . wow, are they ever TOUGH! I'm digging around them with the bucket and Pirhana tooth bar, then I put the pallet forks on and go under them, and lift. Each one takes a good 15 to 30 minutes, and I have a LOT of them. Would a stump shovel (V-shaped device with toothed top edges) help me do this a little faster? I can buy one for about $500 from Titan, and there's a company not far from me which makes root rakes, really quality stuff, heavy and strong, but they'll get $1,300, and it is worth it. Unfortunately, property taxes are due, so no toys for me for the next few months.
4) I notice the new LA 435 FEL for 2019 has a self-leveler for the pallet forks. Having come perilously close to dropping a pallet of "stuff" into the mud while unloading a 40' container, I went and looked at the new 435 to see if I could buy some parts and install them onto mine, and get the self-leveling feature. The good news is that it is all mechanical, the bad news is that everything is different on the 435 and there is no retrofit. Only solution is sell my 434 FEL and buy a new one, probably about $3,000 total expense. For $3,000, I'll finesse my wrist movement, thank you. I do maybe three containers or so a year, so that isn't cost effective, if I were doing three a week, it would be. Anyone have any ideas on getting self leveler capabilities for the LA 434 other than throwing lots of money at it to buy an LA 435?
Anyway, I'm glad to be on Tractor-By-Net, and hope to contribute as well as ask questions.
Best Regards,
Mike in Florida
