GST in the 3130 vs. Gear trans in the 3400
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Bob_Young
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2002
- Messages
- 1,244
- Location
- North of the Fingerlakes - NY
- Tractor
- Ford 4000; Ford 2000(both 3cyl.);JD40; 2004 Kubota L4300; 2006 Kubota B7610; new 2007 Kubota MX5000
Hi LSU,
Don't have first-hand information on either, but studied the specs extensively and looked into the features of Kubota transmissions while I was buying the L4300...which is a basic gear tractor much like the L3400.
The L3130's GST is much more sophisticated than the L3400's straight gear transmission. Clutchless shifting and Fwd/Rev. shuttling is possible with GST from what I understand. This should make it much more convenient to use than the L3400. It will also make it much more complex and harder to repair as there are multiple electrical and (I believe) hydraulic circuits involved that must all be working for GST to function.
With the L3400, you have a range shifter with High-Low-Reverse ranges and a four speed main gearbox. To shift you (should) depress the clutch, bring the tractor to a full stop, select your gear/range, re-engage the clutch. You should definitely do all this if you are shuttling or changing ranges. You can shift between gears in the main gearbox 'on the fly' with no difficulty, so you don't have to stop. Shifting between RANGES 'on the fly' has damaged range gearboxes as a search of the forum will show. This is less than convenient, but the mechanisms involved are very simple and not prone to rodent damage.
Beyond the convenience issues, don't forget that GST offers 12 forward gears and 8 reverse gears; while the L3400 Gear is limited to 8 forward/4 reverse. Even better, the GST offers a creeper option that doubles the amount of forward and reverse speeds. Extra speeds (gears) can be worth their weight in gold in some applications like tilling and snow blowing when you need to carefully control ground speed, while keeping engine speed fixed at PTO RPM.
Although I'm one of the forum's gearheads, I've grown to love the HST on my B7610. Unless you're heavy into ground engagement work, the L3400HST or L3430/3830 HSTs (if you're worried about power loss) might be a good bet. Relatively simple while mucho convenient.
FWIW
Bob
Don't have first-hand information on either, but studied the specs extensively and looked into the features of Kubota transmissions while I was buying the L4300...which is a basic gear tractor much like the L3400.
The L3130's GST is much more sophisticated than the L3400's straight gear transmission. Clutchless shifting and Fwd/Rev. shuttling is possible with GST from what I understand. This should make it much more convenient to use than the L3400. It will also make it much more complex and harder to repair as there are multiple electrical and (I believe) hydraulic circuits involved that must all be working for GST to function.
With the L3400, you have a range shifter with High-Low-Reverse ranges and a four speed main gearbox. To shift you (should) depress the clutch, bring the tractor to a full stop, select your gear/range, re-engage the clutch. You should definitely do all this if you are shuttling or changing ranges. You can shift between gears in the main gearbox 'on the fly' with no difficulty, so you don't have to stop. Shifting between RANGES 'on the fly' has damaged range gearboxes as a search of the forum will show. This is less than convenient, but the mechanisms involved are very simple and not prone to rodent damage.
Beyond the convenience issues, don't forget that GST offers 12 forward gears and 8 reverse gears; while the L3400 Gear is limited to 8 forward/4 reverse. Even better, the GST offers a creeper option that doubles the amount of forward and reverse speeds. Extra speeds (gears) can be worth their weight in gold in some applications like tilling and snow blowing when you need to carefully control ground speed, while keeping engine speed fixed at PTO RPM.
Although I'm one of the forum's gearheads, I've grown to love the HST on my B7610. Unless you're heavy into ground engagement work, the L3400HST or L3430/3830 HSTs (if you're worried about power loss) might be a good bet. Relatively simple while mucho convenient.
FWIW
Bob
napabavarian
Silver Member
I just got my L3830 GTS saturday, 2 reasons I went with the GST were more gears and the fact that I only had 1 lever to shift. With the standard H patern on the gear transmissions an experiencer operator can just reach down without looking and know what gear is engaged, GST is an inline shifter so Kubota fixed this with a readout on the dash.
The grand L gear drives are a little less convinent, but if you don't live in the hills like I do they may be perfectly suited to you and less expensive, at 6'2 a major deciding factor for me was cockpit size, even the L3400 wasn't big enough for me to fit comftorably, the L3830 is quite nice!
The grand L gear drives are a little less convinent, but if you don't live in the hills like I do they may be perfectly suited to you and less expensive, at 6'2 a major deciding factor for me was cockpit size, even the L3400 wasn't big enough for me to fit comftorably, the L3830 is quite nice!
art
Super Member
The 3130 like all the grand L-s is a premium tractor with a newer design transmission then the 3400 carries. I'm not going to say that the 3400 doesn't have as good of a transmission as other new tractors do but it is not the same as the Grand L units built. The Grand L units also will take a mid PTO shaft for mid and front mounted drive systems.
hunterridgefarm
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2005
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- Location
- Western NC
- Tractor
- Kubota L3130DT, Kubota L185DT, JD LX277
I may be wrong but I don't think the trans in the 3400 is a shift-on-the-go. I think you have to come to a complete stop to shift from 1st to 2nd,3rd,or4th.
As someone said the GST is a clutchless shift and even the 3130DT is a shift-on-the-go meaning you don't have to stop to shift up or down in gears.
As someone said the GST is a clutchless shift and even the 3130DT is a shift-on-the-go meaning you don't have to stop to shift up or down in gears.
I just got back from driving them both and the L3130 is going to be a lot versatile than the L3400, due to the shuttle shift (GST). The L3130 has a lot more advantages, for almost no cost increase over the L3400, due to the higher rebates. I think I have made my choice............L3130. Now I just have to figure out which dealer will give me the best deal and the best service after the sale.
My quotes so far:
Dealer #1: $10,250 plus tax. ( just tractor, no implements)
Dealer #2: $10750 plus tax ( just tractor, no implements)
Dealer #1 will deliver for free, but Dealer #2 will allow me to sell my Kubota L-175 on his lot for a 10% consignment fee ( will save me a lot of headaches of selling myself).
My quotes so far:
Dealer #1: $10,250 plus tax. ( just tractor, no implements)
Dealer #2: $10750 plus tax ( just tractor, no implements)
Dealer #1 will deliver for free, but Dealer #2 will allow me to sell my Kubota L-175 on his lot for a 10% consignment fee ( will save me a lot of headaches of selling myself).
gone2dawgs
New member
The best deal I can get on a new L3130, with 66 inch FEL is $16,400 in central VA. Why the big difference from LSUalum? WOW