B3030 trans...what life/longevity for it?

[tuckybill]

I've used my own Kubota L4200 glide shift transmission for 7 years to do everything from dig graves for the family dogs to mowing 3" boxwoods with a 8 foot twin spindle Rhino. Never a hiccup.Love the glide shift. Now my 72 year old mother wants a new Kubota and she's looking closely at a B3030 due to the ease of use. She is concerned however with the hydrostatic transmission. She wants to know its lifespan and if it will cause "trouble". I told her I thought they held up ok but never really read about any hydro tractor with say 4000 hours on them. She is planning on putting the hours on this puppy so if anyone out there can give me a idea of how long a VERY well mantained Kubota hydro trans will last I would appreciate it and pass the info on to her. This is my first post and I found this site trying to do research for her on this B3030 Kubota. Thanks! Tucky

 

[ihookem]

What kind of mom do you have that thinks she is going to wear out a Kubota?

 

[tuckybill]

The kind that wears out a Troy-Built Horse. Two sets of tines later the Horse is ready for the glue factory. She has a small daylilly nursery as a side line. Takes LOTS of tilling in dusty conditions. She is ready to ride instead of walk behind one. We looked at a 1710 Narrow....she liked it but has concerns with stability and ease of use. She likes the hand lever cruise control and telescoping link ends on the B3030. You can just push the cruise lever with your hand and use it like that to set your speed apparently. Don't even have to touch a pedal if you don't want to.Thats correct? She likes that. Its 54 inches wide however and thats wider than she likes. The other stuff seems to be selling her on a B3030 however. She's also looking at a Deere. Everyone seems to detest the 1/4" inching valve on the B1710. The narrow has position control. The B1710 has the inching valve. Is the inching valve as bad in use as it would seem to be from reports? Oh my gosh! I just hijacked my own post! Tucky

 

[Double 00 Soul]

Because the B3030 is a relatively new model, I don't believe you'll hear from too many folks with thousands of hours. Mine only has 95 hours and the oldest B3030 that I have personal knowledge of has 345 hours with no trouble/complaints regarding the trans.. There are a number of people who contribute to this forum that use the B3030 in their businesses, LawnKing comes to mind for one. Hopefully they will see your request and tell you of their experiences.

As far as tilling, I till a 1 1/2 acre tree lot using the B3030 with a Kubota 1271 reverse cut tiller. I've also tilled for friends in different types of soil. This combination is able to make powder out of just about any type of soil so I highly recommend it. Can't say enough about the reverse cut tiller, it bites into the soil instead of sometimes pushing the tractor and riding over certain spots as "normal" tillers can sometimes do. Granted, it's a little harder on the tractor because it works against the direction the tractor is going but my distant neighbor with 345 hours has not experienced any problems with this combo either. His experience is why I bought the B3030 with reverse cut tiller and I'm glad I did.

 

[Egon]

Different model but my B7100 HST has 2600 hours on it. Had some trouble with the linkage after a root bent it up but none with the basic transmission.

 

[lawn_king]

Hydro vs gear is an age old debate. I have owned both in kubota and international. You can expect long life out of any hydro that is well maintained and not abused. I work my 3030 3 to 4 days per week, loading,raking,aerating,hogging, you name it. I expect to get a minimum of 5000 hrs out of my hydro. JMHO.

 

[bandit67]

Wow, that's quite an active mom you've got if at the age of 72 she's concerned with a B3030 tranny holding up for thousands of hours. Sounds like she's a lot younger and healthier than her age would lead us to believe. Good for her.

 

[art]

I've been selling and maintaining both since IH introduced them years ago. The hydro's normally (excusing lack of maintence) will outlive a gear drive by quite a bit. Where people have owned both styles in same model tractors the gear might take up to three or four clutch jobs to make it and thats with no problems still in sight!
I've seen hydro's well past ten thousand hours with nothing more then normal servicing.

 

[TalonDancer]

...Now my 72 year old mother wants a new Kubota and she's looking closely at a B3030 due to the ease of use. She is concerned however with the hydrostatic transmission. She wants to know its lifespan and if it will cause "trouble"....

I hope I'm worried about the lifespan of a new Kubota when I'm 72 !!!

Say Hi to your mom -- she made my day.

Talon Dancer

 

[Bob_Young]

The Quarter Inching valve is certainly useable; whether you're happy with it or not depends on what you're used to. Being familiar with Position Control, you'll probably find it aggravating. But your Mom (bless her heart) may get by with it just fine....if she's not used to Position Control.

I've got the B7610 with quarter inching and I've cursed that setup more than once. The only thing that tractor lacks from being perfect is Position Control. It makes no sense that a tractor that handles so precisely and conveniently is so lacking in precision/convenience when it comes to setting implement depth. Basically the problem is that the only two postions that can be repeated with any precision are full-up and full-down...anything in between is a guess

But, we're reminded again and again here that most people who buy the smaller B-series tractors just use them to mow and rarely ever use the 3PH. That being the case, your Mom might be better off sticking to the B3030/2630.
Bob