FOXTAIL 10/08/2016
A warning for those considering a Gear Drive Kubota L2501
I want to tell my experience with a kubota
L2501 in case it's useful to anyone considering this tractor, or a
L3301. They are wonderful tractors but the buyer should be aware of the following if you're not planning to get a hydrostatic....
First some background: I cut 10 acres of rough land 1-2 times per year. I did this successfully with a John Deere 1023E tractor and 4 foot Frontier RC2048 cutter. The 1023E's ground clearance around the transmission was fairly low, however, and the ride was a bit rough. So I wanted to upgrade this summer. I wanted a Deere 3032E with 5 foot cutter but it ended up being more than I wanted to pay, especially since I am unlikely to ever put that many hours on the tractor. The new Deere 3025E seemed better for my budget, but is not out as of this writing, and in any case my John Deere dealer said it has only 17.4 PTO horsepower and thought that is too little for a 5 foot cutter.
So I talked to Kubota dealers, and they were quite supportive of putting a 5 foot cutter behind a
L2501, which has better PTO horsepower than the Deere (and up to 70.2 lb-ft of torque, incidentally, compared to 51.3 for the 3025E and 64.2 for the 3032E; although torque is not probably as important as PTO HP).
I ended up with a Gear Drive Kubota
L2501 with 5 foot Land Pride RCR1260 cutter. The gear drive saved maybe $1000 and offered more PTO horsepower (20.5 PTO HP vs 19.0 for the L2501HST). HOWEVER, the gear drive was a big MISTAKE for my situation:
Problem 1: Nonlive PTO. When mowing if you ever need to change a gear or reverse, you must fully depress the clutch pedal, which also shuts off the transmission-driven PTO (and rear cutter). If you are in heavy material and want to slow down or back up, your only choice is to raise the mower and keep going (but not getting the grass cut) or to put the clutch in, bringing the tractor and PTO to a complete stop. (Note that the gear drive
L3301 also has nonlive transmission-driven PTO. The
L3901 gear drive might have the advantage of a two stage clutch pedal, which can let the PTO keep going as you change gears. However, buyers should check this carefully).
Problem 2: There are only 8 forward gears on the
L2501 and they are spaced somewhat widely for mowing. It's hard to find the specs, which are only in the Kubota owner's manual and not online. Here are the details:
Low2 is 1.1 mph (much too slow for mowing except for very heavy conditions)
Low3 is 1.6 mph (very slow for mowing -- much slower than I generally did in my 1023e with a much smaller engine -- but this is the most realistic option for most conditions)
Low4 is 2.8 mph (substantially faster than L3, and generally too fast for mowing for all but the lightest material -- but still may not get a good cut because you're going so fast)
Also: on the
L2501 (unlike
L3301 as I understand it) there is no shuttle shift, which means that if you want to go from forward to reverse, you have to fully depress the clutch, come to a complete stop, which shuts down the PTO as well, and slowly shift and let your clutch out again. To save the clutch, the PTO and the implement, you really should do all this at fairly low RPM. However, since this action is also how you get the tractor to start moving again, you need some power -- maybe 2000 RPM to get the whole thing to go. Your left leg will really get some strength training!
Anyway, a gear drive
L2501, with its transmission-driven PTO and somewhat widely spaced gears, is a little bit like a 1950s type tractor, and is not for everyone! I am sure there is someone out there who loves it, and will promptly tell me I'm just inexperienced. If someone has had a good experience with this tractor, please share.
After nearly 5 hours of frustration, my dealer let me trade up to a L2501HST, which essentially solves the problem. I would not hesitate to recommend the L2501HST to anyone wanting to run 5 foot implements.
