Got my tractor!

[RusselF]

Hello from cold Canada...
Just got my Kubota yesterday. Trucked it in myself from this guys place over 120km away
from my farm, at night, in a snowstorm on ice covered 401 highway. Crazy drive, trailer was
a tad too small, but I made it home before midnight. I heard about this site from an old friend
who now lives in California. He has a Kubota B26, with the backhoe. I had asked him what
he thought, and he spoke highly of the Kubota. I found a nice, low hour 2011 L3400, with
the front loader, and just unloaded it today. Still has the grey oil filter, so first job will be
to change the engine oil. It is the gear model, not the HST, but I like that, being an old
school guy who first learned to drive on manual transmission vehicles.
I lurked about and read a lot of useful info on this site, so figured, I would register.
I have a small forest of a few acres at my farm, and I am really looking forward to being
able to use my Kubota, instead of being the human tractor, and hauling tree-trunks thru the
snow by hand! (Given this crazy polar vortex, we have had almost two months of minus 20
celsius nights, and we've used a garage full of firewood... ) But since the wood-pile is gone,
I have room to park my newly aquired Kubota. Thanx to all on this site who posted technical
comments and reviews of their machines.
Once I learn some more about the Kubota, I will post a mini-review about it.
One thing, I am quite imprressed that they can start up in minus 20 temperatures... (More
than I can do some mornings...)
- Rus.

 

[mddorange]

:welcome:
To TBN from Alabama where we are getting our first snowfall today. How many hours on the L3400? Did he give you all the manuals and did he have records of all the maintenance?

 

[Al Mac]

Welcome from another Canadian.

Al

 

[Industrial Toys]

You should have made the requisit pictures of the whole event. Were you MTO legal? I own a Duramax and can't even pull anything legal anymore on account of the costs! I have the truck and dump trailer yet it's still cheaper to hire someone for the occassional heavy move!

A tractor may start in the cold, but do yourself a favour and if it does not have one, get a block heater. It's the first thing I do when I get something that isn't so equipped. That massive temperature rise in the pistons isn't a good thing. Too many dissimilar materials in there!

And yes, freaking cold! My underground water supply line has froze in the first time in almost fifty years!

 

[check]

Welcome, Rus, from Toronto and Kawagama Lake!

You will love your Kubota. I have had one for six years now, and I do seriously enjoy it. Also, yes, it does start when it is very cold. I have started up at -30 myself.

However, I did get a block heater, and during this cold spell, I have left it plugged in 24/7. Up to the cottage this weekend to blow snow again.

 

[davesl708]

Welcome and have fun with the tractor.

 

[John Dougherty]

Congratulations! nothing like a new tractor on a trailer (even a used good one). Kubota is an excellent brand. Good Luck!

 

[vulcancowboy]

Welcome! I got my L3400 HST a little over a year ago and love it. The only minor complaint is the jerky 3 pt hitch.

 

[deerseeker001]

Welcome from Wisconsin enjoy your tractor

 

[DuckSlayer1017]

Welcome and congrats on the new tractor. I know the 401 well, a couple years back I was doing a project with a company in Cambridge and made the drive from Michigan every couple weeks. That hwy is awful when the snow starts to blow. Glad you got her home ok.

 

[TBN Support]

Hi and welcome to TBN!! Lets move this thread over the Kubota forum where you can speak with others Kubota owners and get lots of useful info. Best of luck!!

 

[RusselF]

Wow, great forum! Thanx so much for the various comments. The question from mddorange was a good one.. Not only did the seller not have any data sheets or info, he only had one key! He was a decent fellow, and did caution me to change the oil, which I just did yesterday. But he did not even have the owners manual! I have been fortunate, in that a nearby Kubota dealer has some helpful folks, who have already emailed me the 94 page Operators Manual. The tractor has(had) 302 hours, and was in really nice shape.. No rust, no dents, gentle use it appears, hydraulics look good, everything works, etc. I was not planning to buy this big a tractor (was looking at a B2400 with front loader at the dealer, but everyone cautioned to "go a bit bigger than you think you need". Really glad I did this, as I cleared out the parking area at my farmhouse yesterday, using the loader, and it worked really well, but any smaller, and I dont think I could have done it. (This winter has been as crazy as last year - heavy packed 4-foot snow drifts everywhere... We get the same storm systems as Boston gets...) Been years since I drove a loader, but it came back to me ..
Thanx for the kind comments. I will post some pictures of the whole event, even the oil change, once I lift them from my phone.
The previous owner had at least changed the oil, and had the right filter. The L3400 (2011 year), uses an oilfilter from Kubota numbered "HH164-32430", and this filter was in the tractor. I used a Mobil "M1-204", as it was listed (and was) compatible. (The oil was black, so I felt I better change it before I did my first bit of work). Everything worked really well, and I was impressed with the power of the hydraulics. I'll post some pictures when I get chance.

 

[k0ua]

Looking forward to seeing your photo's.

Don't forget that the engine oil in a diesel engine gets black very quickly due to the suspended soot in the oil. Oils formulated for diesel service suspend this soot by design. Of course it is always a good idea to change fluids in a used tractor as now you know when to change the oil again at the required interval.

 

[RusselF]

Here are a couple of pictures of my new Kubota L3400.

The first shows the tractor still on the trailer, which is a tad too small, as one can see. My home-made
wooden ramps are also visible (they did *not* break, when the tractor was removed from trailer!)

And this second one, shows the tractor already at work, with a loader full of snow, to be removed from
my parking area. Cold climate, but the tractor works good!

I will post some additional pics, as I learn more about this machine. - Rus.

 

[herringchoker]

Wow, Rus! The tractor looks brand new. Congratulations on a great purchase, and welcome to TBN.

 

[vtsnowedin]

I see someone that will soon be in the market for a soft cab Enjoy your new favorite piece of equipment But bundle up good in this cold.

 

[Knight9]

That looks to be in great shape! Double check to see if he had a block heater already installed in it, and if not, pick one up. They do wonders for helping with cold starts in our climate.

Welcome to TBN!

 

[k0ua]

Russel I noticed at least from the photo, that your floorboards still appear new. As they are just painted, they wear pretty quickly down to bare steel. When I had an L3400 I coated my floorboards and step with do it yourself truck bed coating. I was very pleased with the results, as it added traction as well as protecting the steel. Here is the thread if you are interested.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...ed-coating-floorboards.html?highlight=coating

 

[sandyc]

Welcome to tbn from Maine

Sent from my iPhone using TractorByNet

 

[varmint]

Hey kOua- glad I saw your link to coating the floorboards of your L3400- I am planning on doing the same thing this spring, since the original paint is really worn looking. I was thinking about disassembling, but your posts told me otherwise. I am okay masking.
Russel- you're gonna like your new Kubota. You can find the maintenance manual online thru TbN, too. You might want download it to a storage drive, for future reference. The owner's manual is pretty thorough for regular stuff, I find. And, years ago I used to travel the 401 when my mother-in-law lived in York, above Toronto. Your trailer looks a bit marginal, so glad you made it without the OPP stopping you.