Oil & Fuel Diesel Gal/Hr

[W5FL]

Looks like a cable hooked up to the transmission input gear that goes to the hour meter and tachometer. Guess that would be rev/minute x minutes at pto speed translates into hours and fractions of an hour. Don't see how the hour meter could read anything except hours at pto speed. Run 1/2 pto speed you get 1/2 hours. Guess if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it must be a duck! er hour meter that is - at least it says hours. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[W5FL]

Bird,

The glow plug time is different even on the M Series engines. The M6800 has 0 seconds above 50 degrees and the M4900 and M5700 specify 2-3 seconds. Don't know if that is a function of the engine design or the fuel mixing design, but they are definately different.

p.s. Bet Marks tractor is actually making diesel with the Amsoil and he is having a hard time figuring out how much diesel he has had to drain off each week to keep the tank from over flowing. This in turn makes it very difficult to calculate consumption. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Bird]

Wen, maybe that Amsoil really is slicker'n owl poop./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

They keep changing these engines so much I can't keep up with it. My brother has a GMC Topkick with a Caterpillar engine and you don't wait on any glow plugs, just hop in and hit the starter like it was a gasoline engine and it fires right off (of course it has an automatic starter fluid injection system, or some such). And a couple of weeks ago, my son-in-law bought a new F250 crew cab Power Stroke Ford, and you do wait on the glow plug indicator light to go out to start it, but I was amazed at the acceleration that thing has.

Bird

 

[MChalkley]

Bird - yep, the L-series tractors have a glow plug light that goes out when it's ready to start. I haven't looked at the shop manual to see what kind of circuit it uses, but I think it's just a temperature sensitive relay. Maybe they figure the average L-series owner isn't as smart as the averabe B-series owner. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Mark

 

[MChalkley]

Wen - Alright, alright, I said I haven't had a chance to look yet. Just for you, I hope it burns 10% of the fuel yours does. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Mark

 

[Bird]

Mark, I think having a glow plug indicator light to go out when it's ready to start is the best idea. Maybe they just figure you L-series owners spent more money and ought to have more bells and whistles (like having a brake indicator light that we don't have)./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Of course, if it were up to me, my tractor, car, and pickup would all have at least as many instrument lights as an airplane.

Bird

 

[MChalkley]

Bird - I wish everything I own had a gauge and a light for every function that has anything to do with a measurement of any kind: temperatures, pressures, voltages, you name it. I don't hate lights necessarily, but I hate lights without gauges.

Mark

 

[gordon]

Mark I wondering if that hsd doesn't do as well on fuel as my old gst? Noticed I have not posted about my fuel milage or should I say hourage. Is that even a word (hourage) well it is now.

Wen if that doesnt get him hunting that book nothing will/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Another way to tell if your "hour" meter measures time or engine revolutions is to follow the cable from the meter and see where it goes. on my B2400 it goes to the injection pump, which is a dead giveaway that it measures revolutions, not time. It happens to be calibrated such that the revolutions when operating at 540 PTO speed is magically the same as time. What a surprise.

This does throw an interesting wrench in the works around the gal/hr question. Anyone reporting consumption figures will need to be clear if they are reporting real time, or meter time. If meter time, they wiull also have to report how their meter works and what speed they were running at.

For my B2400, I can only give a qualitative answer. I refuel very infrequently. I've got 80 "hours" on the machine and doubt I've filled up 8 times. I've spent the better part of two days cutting fields and not gone through a tank in that time.

 

[gordon]

Good point about the hour meter and the injection pump. On the other end I would say if the hourmeter is wired to the keyswitch than its safe to say its a straight time unit.
Guess this would throw everyones fuel measurments out the window as far as being accurate comparing two different hour meters. Actual time versus wear time.

 

[JimBinMI]

Bird & Others,
I am curious about how Kubota & JD compute their "hours" on the meter. As I stated, NH tells me in my manual...doesn't yours state how it's calculated in your manual? And yes, Bird, 1833 is below my pto speed of about 2450. If the JD, Kubota, and other brands all calculate "hours" by different methods, that could give people buying used a very difficult time truly determining how used the engine really is? JimBinMI

 

[Bird]

JimBinMi, the only thing I've found in my manual (not that I couldn't have overlooked something) says, "The hourmeter indicates in five digits the hours the tractor has been used; the last digit indicates 1/10 of an hour." I've just learned from watching it and my watch that it seems to register pretty close to actual time at PTO speed and considerably less at lower RPMs. I guess your blue tractor's going to show to be more worn out faster than my orange one./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Maybe they figure the lifespan of a blue tractor is supposed to be less./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

 

[JimBinMI]

Bird,

/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
Now you and I both know that IF Kubota records at pto speeds that means that a New Holland with 4000 hours on it has way more left in it than a Kubota with 4000 hours on it!

Since none of you Kubota "experts" have come forward with the info on your hour meters, I have taken it upon myself to contact a reputable Kubota dealer and request the info. when I get the answer, I'll post it here.

JimBinMI

 

[gordon]

Jim on my L3750 it records on rpm not true time. Now about the life left well its like this. The Kubota has enough extra life to report real use whereas big blue has to pad it with real time.Just joking, so I guess mine is a proof meter not an hour meter. I would rather know real use as opposed to real time in the matter of hours on a tractor. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

On the serious side this has opened my eyes as something else to look at before looking at a used tractor if accessable. Which type of meter and if it's just wired or has a cable going to it possibly? A question that I have to look into for myself.

Thanks for the eye opening information on this board I'm always learning something or at least making me use the old noggin for something other than a hat rest. Thanks Gordon

 

[Bird]

JimBinMi, it'll be interesting to hear what you're told, but whatever it is, I'm sure the tractor'll outlast me./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif In fact, I spent most of the day trying to wear out a DR trimmer/mower, a Kubota with a finish mower, and an old man; and succeeded on one out of three./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Bird

 

[W5FL]

Recording hours at pto speed has been pretty common and I seriously doubt that it is any concern for buyer of used equipment as that accurately reflects the equivalent engine "miles" the tractor has been driven. If blue figures hours at 1800 rpm and pto at 2400 rpm then some engineer just screwed up and they had to write the manual to match. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

The much more serious problem is hour meters that quit working 5000 hours ago and have just been fixed or the buyer is told that the meter just quit working. I saw a tractor that was represented to have 800 hours on it and it may have actually had 10800 hours on it judging from the condition of almost everything on the tractor.

I would also think that any meter that takes DC voltage and makes hours from it will probably not last as long as the tractor SHOULD. The mechanical driven ones will probably keep ticking much longer and more accurate. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[MChalkley]

I've got 6 to 8 hours of rough grading to do today, so I'll have ample opportunity to check the hour meter and will post back.

And, Wen, if all goes well, I'll have my maintenance/fuel log in my back pocket when I come home today, so I can finally get you off my back. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Mark

 

[MChalkley]

Wen - Today is your day. Your big moment has arrived. If you decide to go anytime soon, you can now go in peace. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

The last 36.9 hours (according to the tractor's hour meter) prior to my last fill-up required 22.1 gallons. According to my HP48GX calculator, that means my L4310HST is burning .599 gal/hr.

I noticed today that it took 1 hour 17 minutes to increment the hour meter by 1 hour at an average rpm of 1700 or so, with less than 5 minutes of that time idling. I had set the throttle at 1800, but I was doing rough grading the whole time: Moved/spread 8 small truck loads of sand, pushed over a 6" holly tree and dug it up, used the box scraper to dig up roots and smooth out the house footprint site, etc.

So I stopped by my dealer's place on the way back and asked him about the hour meter. He said I was right - there's nothing on it or the tach in the shop manual. He once called Kubota and asked them and they told him that all models with a tachometer measure hours at PTO speed. So 1 hour at PTO speed on the engine takes 1 calendar hour.

It occurred to me, though, that this should make fuel consumption comparisons much more accurate, as long as we're all using numbers from this type of meter. If anybody is using a meter that just records the amount of time the key is on, their fuel consumption should be much lower, generally speaking.

So, Wen - are you satisfied now? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Mark

 

[Bird]

So it measures at PTO speed if it has a tachometer. I guess that might explain the hourmeter just being a clock on the B7100 because it didn't have a tachometer, or any other gauges./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Bird

 

[tbarber55]

my 1220 proof meter works at 2000 rpm to equal 1 hour,also
1 gallon last about 1 1/2 hours, and I need new injectors so it will get better.