L3400 3-point hitch adjustment
- Thread starter Chilly807
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Chilly807
Elite Member
I guess it's my turn to try it again.. I'm going to do the same thing LD1 tried, only with the newer style valve. I too think it needs a very slight delay between the time the "in" side closes and the "out" side opens. I had a slight oscillation, just as he did about 0.015" before I get to the factory setting. I'm hoping I can bridge that gap and still get reliable operation with less roughness in the up direction.
Sean
Sean
LD1
Epic Contributor
Good luck
DennisFolsom
Gold Member
Good Luck Sean! (and LD1 too!)
While shopping tractors, I considered the L3400. I also have a neighbor with an L4400. I don't know whether his hitch is jerky. During my shopping, I read a lot of the posts about the jerky hitch situation. It's good to see that you are getting to the bottom of the issue and sharing your findings so well.:thumbsup: These L series Kubotas are fine tractors. It's sad that they have this particular problem. It's sadder that Kubota hasn't supported their customers better with respect to this situation.
I have found this thread to be interesting reading, even though my search led me to a used "horse of a different color." I'll not brand-bash here. I could as well have ended up with an orange tractor, if I had come across the right deal on one.
Keep up the good work!
LD1
Epic Contributor
Is the jerky hitch what turned you off?
Cause the funny thing, I went ahead and called my dealer trying to see if he could look up "what" valve I have by SN and possibly locate some specs for me. (This was before I found the specs teg posted).
Anyway, just talking with him was like sooo many other experiences I have herd on here....."We haven heard anything about a jerky hitch":laughing::laughing:
And then he says....."I take that back....I had ONE guy complain about one being Jerky. But this is kubotas most popular selling tractor, there are going to be a few that might have issues."
I encouraged him to simply google L3400 jerky 3PH. He said "ya cant believe everything on the net. and like I said, Kubota has sold a TON of these tractors, there are bound to be a few with issues"
Complete deniability:laughing: I got a good laugh at him. But about all he offered me was if I wanted to stop in, he would xerox some pages out of the manual if I wanted. But I didnt expect much. I bought 6 years ago, and have only been back once to buy a hydraulic filter
k0ua
Epic Contributor
Sounds like the dealer I bought mine off of... "jerky hitch? What? we never heard of that! ... denial is not just a river in Egypt.
James K0UA
LD1
Epic Contributor
Yep....I think the denial is the thing that ticks me off even more than the jerky hitch itself.
If kubota would just come out and fess up and say "This is an economy tractor, and in the interest in keeping cost down (or whatever BS reason) the 3PH on this tractor isnt the smoothest. We know this, we acknowledge this, and for most, it isnt a huge deal. Here....try one out. If you cant live with it, I'd be happy to show you some models with a smooth hitch. If you can live with it, you will get a helluva machine for a helluva good price."
or something like that.
Fact is though, I didnt even know mine had a jerky hitch until I had it for probabally three years or so. I bought it for the FEL and as my mowing machine. And with a mower, it is either up....or down. It wasnt until later when I got a dedicated mower, and started getting other things like blades and PHD's etc that I noticed it. But even then, I didnt feel "compelled" to call the dealer and complain.
I bought an economy tractor on a budget. I didnt expect nor want it to be a cadallic.
On a side note, I noticed with the many times I had it appart and back together, the machine work is TOP NOTCH. Just a dab of RTV does the WHOLE cover. Any more just squishes out. ANd when taken back appart, it is almost metal to metal with almost NO rtv in between the fit is soo good:thumbsup: I expected the typical high and low spots. But not the case. Machined to a tight tolerance for sure:thumbsup:
ddb123
Platinum Member
Well at least that part is reassuring. I don't have a jerky hitch model, but I do have an L and it makes you wonder if they cut any corners anywhere else. Your discovery gives the "other L" owners peace of mind in that regard, at least.
DennisFolsom
Gold Member
It was one of the factors in the equation, but not the deciding one. I found a deal on a 2001 model JD 4600 HST with loader and backhoe and only 435 hours on it when I got it. I really wanted a backhoe because I have a lot of stumps and rocks to deal with. If I had gotten a new L3400 or L4400 with loader and hoe, it would have cost quite a bit more. Going used allowed me to afford the hoe.
Overall, I'm very satisfied with my tractor. I think I made a good choice for me. However, I would have bought any of the major brands if I found what I thought was the right deal.
Happy Tractoring!
timberland
Member
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2012
- Messages
- 48
- Tractor
- kubota L3400
okay heres my opinion. Kubota knows it a crappy valve/design. I bet quite a few of their service techs have tried to do the Chilly adjustments and they came to the conclusion that it was a no win situation. Valve could not be adjusted saisfactorily in order to eliminate the jerk. Probably a lot of frustrated sevice guys and unhappy cutomers.
So, instead of trying to adjust valve , they came out with a new valve to sell. Which seems to be somewhat better now.
This is really frustrating.
So, instead of trying to adjust valve , they came out with a new valve to sell. Which seems to be somewhat better now.
This is really frustrating.
