L3130 upgrade to LA723

[Ben3130]

Hey all,

I was wondering if any of you L3130/L3430 owners have upgraded their loader from LA513 to LA723? This is mostly a hypothetical question, because I have no pressing need to upgrade the loader, but I was wondering what it would cost to do so. I'd hope that I could trade in my LA513 on a LA723 at the dealer, and I don't care if it's a new one or not (as long as it's sound).

I'm mostly interested in hearing if anyone else has done this before, and if so, what issues come up when "swapping" loaders? I plan on calling the dealer to see what he tells me, but I'd love to hear what you all have to say about it in the meantime.

Thanks in advance.

 

[texbaylea]

I ordered mine with the LA723 from the start. I suspect you will be on the short end of the stick doing this. Good Luck

Vernon

 

[_RaT_]

Unless you can get your used loader on Craigslist and find some who really wants a loader for their loaderless tractor, I think your going to find it difficult to make much economic sense out of it. I am not sure why Kubota makes the two loaders since their initial cost is not that different. I think the biggest reason to have the LA 723 is not even the weight lifting as much as the bucket dump/rollback angle. The LA 723 uses a compound setup versus the LA 513's single pivot. Good luck should you decide to upgrade.

 

[Ben3130]

Thanks for the input guys. I totally agree that unless I get REALLY lucky, it will probably not be financially smart. And really, I have no complaints about the 513. It's a great loader and so far has handled everything I've needed it to do. But in the near future, I'll be moving to some larger land where I can finally have my horses, and I'm thinking the extra oomph from the 723 would come in really handy.

Like I said, I'm just speculating. I'm thinking I'll be just fine with the LA513, but it never hurts to check into your options. I'm wishing I'd paid more attention to this option when I was shopping! (Insert dumb**s comments here).

 

[_RaT_]

Thanks for the input guys. I totally agree that unless I get REALLY lucky, it will probably not be financially smart. And really, I have no complaints about the 513. It's a great loader and so far has handled everything I've needed it to do. But in the near future, I'll be moving to some larger land where I can finally have my horses, and I'm thinking the extra oomph from the 723 would come in really handy.

Like I said, I'm just speculating. I'm thinking I'll be just fine with the LA513, but it never hurts to check into your options. I'm wishing I'd paid more attention to this option when I was shopping! (Insert dumb**s comments here).

Ben, I don't think the weight lift differences are monumental. I find that there always seems to be a work around. I look at loader lift height and bucket curl as two important factors. Having a bucket that curls (retracts) 45 deg. or more is handy for loading the bucket full with it on the ground. Loader height is obvious.

 

[Ben3130]

Yeah Rat, I agree with you. I really do wish the LA513 had the four point linkage. I've been seeing those on just about every other loader from all the major makers. I don't know if Kubota has added this to the LA514 loader. The extra range of motion would be nice.

To be honest, I have no idea if I'd need the extra weight lifting of the LA723 or not. I guess I'd have to go to a dealer and try one out to see if I notice that much of a difference (for the types of things I use a loader for). I've done a LOT of work so far with my LA513 and like Rat said, sometimes you have to be a little "creative" to get the job done, but I have yet to encounter anything I needed to do that I could not do.

If I remember correctly, there's about a 500 pound increase in lift capacity from the LA513 to the LA723. I don't know what that translates to in real world applications, but it seems like that extra strength would be something to consider.

I'm just having some fun walking the fence here, wanting the bigger loader but not being able to justify pursuing it. It's the same thing I do all the time with getting a backhoe. I'd LOVE to have one of those new Woods GroundBreakerX hoes, but man, that's a s**tload of money! And I'd have to start selling it's services to justify the cost (and to recoup it).

Thanks again for all your input. It's nice to get the perspective of others (especially those of you who have a L3130 with a LA723).

 

[ksmmoto]

I would be interested when you get a LA723 what you think of the difference between the two. I have a L3430 with the LA513 and I am happy with it. But still I wish I had gotten the LA723 if just to say I got the best. My thoughts when I bought my tractor was that the lighter loader would overload the tractor less.

ksmmoto

 

[Ben3130]

ksmmoto, I was thinking the exact same thing when I got mine. The dealer had it on the lot with the LA513, and I remember thinking to myself it made sense that the smallest Grand L would have the smallest loader. How dumb I can be After finding this forum and reading the posts from L3130 owners with the LA723, I realized that I had seriously underestimated this "little" tractor.

I plan on calling the dealer this week to see what the chances are of a loader trade-in. I'm hoping it's better than one in a million, since there's a lot of trading and changing/exchanging going on this time of year. If anything comes of it I'll be sure to let you all know.

I'm guessing from the responses so far no one has tried to do this yet... I've never been the first at something before

 

[weiser]

Ben, I don't think the weight lift differences are monumental. I find that there always seems to be a work around. I look at loader lift height and bucket curl as two important factors. Having a bucket that curls (retracts) 45 deg. or more is handy for loading the bucket full with it on the ground. Loader height is obvious.

Rat (or anyone else...)
I have seen degrees published for loaders, and am unfamiliar with how they are defined. I realize the concept of curl related to bucket level at ground height, but don't know HOW the 45 degrees is measured.

Also, has anyone here experienced this limitation, and been significantly annoyed by it? I want to make sure that I know what I'm getting into, and buy the right loader at the start.

 

[_RaT_]

Rat (or anyone else...)
I have seen degrees published for loaders, and am unfamiliar with how they are defined. I realize the concept of curl related to bucket level at ground height, but don't know HOW the 45 degrees is measured.

Also, has anyone here experienced this limitation, and been significantly annoyed by it? I want to make sure that I know what I'm getting into, and buy the right loader at the start.

Good question. I suspect the meausrement is taken from the flat or level position. That is, the loader at the same height as the tires on the ground and of course, the bucket bottom flat or parallel to the gorund. From there, the dump angle goes to say 45 degrees. The dump angle is less of a concern then the curl. Having a curl of only 30 deg. for example often has a guy shoveling material into the bucket to ask you to curl it more because the bucket is not close to full and material is falling out. The only way to remedy it is to raise the bucket higher off the ground.