Kubota Transmission Failures

[kcoburn]

15 mos. ago I bought a new GL5240 HSTC. I sold my 1996 L3600GST locally. I'd bought it new and did all the service. It had 714 hours. It was due for Trans fluid and filter change (the second change). I had the SUDT and filter and sent it along with the tractor. Recommended that the buyer change it right away.
About a month ago the buyer called me. The transmission was mis-behaving.
He had put another 150 hrs on it and hadn't changed the SUDT. Recommended that he change it and see if that would fix it. He found lots of small pieces in the oil. It cost him $3800 to replace it. I didn't volunteer to help! I felt bad that I'd sold him him a problem, but not that bad.
The dealer's mechanics told him Kubota had 2 transmissions with high failure rates and this one one of them. Does anyone know if this transmission indeed has a high failure rate? And it there's another Kubota transmission that doesn't hold up, which is it?
I'm considering buying another, smaller tractor wih a loader, and would want to avoid a high risk unit.

 

[Kubota 2007]

I have an L4200 GST and use it for pulling timber and I also use it for plowing snow, it has 1588 hrs and trans seems like the day I received it, New. I changed the fluids and filters as per Kubota's recomenditions. Tractor has been bullet proof. As of today the onlt thing I have replaced or repaired is: battery, seat and both front axle seals. I have heard rumors that Kubota had problems with the BX trans. Not sure how true it is. If you sell that many tractors there has to be a failure on a few. Some people are just naturally hard on tractors.

 

[KennyV]

I also have an L4200... it's a GSTC 1998 year... I have 1300 hours of some hard use & mild mowing use... I have never used SUDT in my L4200... Have never had even an indication that anything is amiss with the transmission... I know of other L4200's with over 5,000 hours and no trouble, so I do not think the GST has ever been a problem... The L3300, L3600 & L4200 use the same GST transmission... I am not sure that all the year models had the exact trans or if there were changes made over the years...KennyV