L3400 3-point hitch adjustment

[unfinished]

Yep, although I don't feel dealers are really the problem. At first, dealer said nothing they can do. It took an email to Kubotas HQ website for something to happen. After the email, later the same day what do you know the dealer calls and says bring the tractor in for them to look at. However, I never heard anything back from HQ (what's the point of that email on the website). But the dealer got stuck with this, I recieved no papers, bills or anything for the work done on the 3pt.

 

[sadie72]

Likewise, I didn't get any paperwork on my 3pt adjustment and no significant effort from the dealer until after I called Kubota HQ and had them start a file for me and my dissatisfaction. After that, I got a call from Kubota's local service rep. He told me to have my dealer look at it and if the dealer thought it was a problem, then HQ will authorize the work necessary to verify/adjust the factory valve settings. I still can't get the specifics on what the setting were or what they are set to now. I did report to HQ that changes were made by dealer, in case the valve fails prematurely.

Keep in mind, I have a new L3800 which I think can be adjusted to a reasonable degree. It doesn't sound like the older L3400s can be adjusted to a tolerable condition.

 

[teg]

...I have a new L3800 which I think can be adjusted to a reasonable degree...

There was a "batch" of L3800's that were out of "adjustment" from the factory, this is why they fixed it.

 

[Caseyb1]

My experience on this subject.

I called the dealer who sold my tractor to the guy I bought it from, to see what my options were on my 2006 L2800. I was concerned with the 3ph and the PTO cam issue, having recently bought an older Howard rotavator.

The guy I spoke with was new to Kubota and said he hadn't heard of the problems before, so I referred him to this web site for a little light reading on the topics.

He called me back the next day with a proposal for repairs to the issues.

"Three point jerky issue-
Replace original 3-pt value with the latest version- Part#YR908-00102. Approx. $500
Labor about $300

Depending on the serial number break some of these part numbers and prices could vary.

Ratcheting Issue-
2-new upgraded clutch cams
Part#TC220-99990, approx. $90 each.
Labor about $1000"

My L2800 serial is 57295, so that part number should correspond to this series.

I didn't have to try to convince him of the issue, he said he talked with his service department and possibly the regional Kubota rep, I'm not sure about that.

So for around 2k he would have resolved my concerns with my tractor. The correlation was made in our discussions between this "upgrade" and adding intermittent wipers to a car that didn't come with them from the factory. The grand L valve would be the "upgrade".

I can't say for sure, that it would have fixed it, as I didn't have the "repairs" made, but I'd like to believe that they would not have proposed a "fix" that would have been a waste of their time & my money.

It was VERY nice to contact a dealer & have a positive experience. The man I dealt with was extremely helpful & I believe if I had gone ahead with the repairs the tractor would have served me well for many years to come.

In the end I traded the tractor in on a used 2010 McCormick CT41 HST aka LS R4041H, it's a lot more tractor than the L2800. It runs my new 3pt BH like a champ. The trade was also easier on my wallet

Casey

 

[smweatherman]

Well, I will add some to this thread for the little it is probably worth.

My tractor is 2010 MX4700 HST. The position control valve is the 'type 3', part number YR908-00104. The 3pt hitch is jerky if I try to go from full down to full up in anything less than about 6 seconds. It is very difficult to get any movement less than an inch measured at the end of the arms.

Dealer got 'permission' from Kubota to take the top off the tranny and inspect the valve and adjust if necessary. In the dealers words, they found the poppet valve/set screw clearance way too wide and had to turn the set screw about 4.5 turns to get it into WSM specs. They then told me the hitch was smooth, but they were waiting on a gasket to be able to finish putting it all together. Since I had viewed this thread, I told them the first thing I would check would be for 'settling' when the engine was turned off or loader used when the 3pt was elevated. That was last week before I went on a short trip.

Today, I spoke to them again. They had checked for settling after my urging and found that to be the case as described by others earlier in this thread. They then tried backing off the set screw in 0.5 turn increments to get rid of the settling. The jerkiness returned by the time the settling stopped.

I was told the regional rep was in and had seen the tractor and was aware of my complaint. This rep had no immediate further suggestion for the dealer. Apparently, there is some 'big meeting' this week of regional service managers and he was going to ask around at this meeting for suggestions, fixes, etc....

The mechanic at the dealer told me the managers discussed putting in a valve from a 3010, but wanted to wait and see if anything materialized at the meeting mentioned above. I have looked at the parts blow ups of the latest L3010 valve and the valve on my tractor. Although, they have different part numbers, they look identical to me. Unless there is actually a defect in my valve I don't think this valve change is an answer either.

So the tractor has been in the dealer's shop 13 days. When adjusted to WSM specs it is unusable due to the settling. (They agree I can't do serious loader work with 1200 lbs of ballast on the 3pt and have the 3pt jumping every time I move the loader.) They can get rid of the settling and return to jerkiness, but they admit it must be set outside of specs to even get that which doesn't seem right to them or me. Kubota was willing to pay for them to look into this initially, so Kubota didn't write this off as 'normal'. My dealer has three MXs on the lot. They all have jerky hitches to some extent, although I really think mine was/is worse. Of course the lot tractors all have one valve newer than mine (YR908-00105).

Encouraged that the dealer/rep still seem to be looking for a suitable resolution. Discouraged that I don't have a tractor that does what I need/think it should do.

Fortunately, we have not had and have no big snow in the forecast. It is too wet to do anything else, so, except the barn looking empty, I have not missed the tractor as of yet.

Wxman

Above is where tractor was when I last posted. I just got the tractor back from the dealer this afternoon, and as they put it, "it is back to the way it was".

Apparently mama Kubota had no other suggestions. Two different Kubota reps supposedly saw the tractor and couldn't provide an answer. Dealer adjustments results continued as stated above. Dealer didn't know anythng else to try.

Dealer apparently 'got permission' to try a valve from a "10" series, part 31351-39604 to the best of my knowledge. Service tech thought this valve made the jerkiness worse. I am not aware of how many different 'adjustments' he tried with the 10 valve. They went back to the original valve and set it the best they could.

Tractor might be a little bit better, but not much. Dealer said they hadn't given up, but also admitted any fix from Kubota would probably be slow coming.

The 'Dad' of the dealer dropped the tractor off. He said he thought the 'son', who I worked with the most, was seeing if Kubota would give me any credit if I wanted to upgrade to a Grand L. I am not looking for a new tractor. I specifically didn't want all the fancy electronics because the tractor will do too much sitting and sporadic use. When I was flying it was always the airplanes that sat that caused the most problems. I can't justify any more money for a new tractor for my purposes.

I am interested in learning any more about 'Jeff's homebrew solution" and how it has worked out over time.

Good luck to all

 

[k0ua]

I believe I have got my jerky 3pt fixed today..
The part number for the fix is DK35se.
It is an expensive fix, and wont be here for a week or so, but I believe it will solve this problem completely.

James (joined the pack) K0UA

 

[RJD2516]

Nice purchase !! I have never driven the kioti, but I did look up the spec sheet on it. The push button this, and push button that on those tractors looks very cool. I will be interested to see how it compares to your L3400, jerky 3pt and all. Nothing like getting info from someone who has a lot of seat time on both. My knowledge on the Kioti's is about nothin. Around here, it is all Deere and Kubota. A few blues, but not many.

I noticed one thing in the spec sheet that was interesting. The Engine HP is rated at 38. The PTO HP is rated at 28. I don't usually see that big a difference between the two. I am guessing in real life situations, a couple of hp won't make a lick of difference. But I was wondering why? Something to do with the Trans? Also, that may have been on the HST model. I think. I looked at it kind a quick. I many have those numbers wrong.

The specs also made me wish I had a dealer around here so I could have looked at one before I bought my latest money hole (I mean tractor).

I hope you love the heck out of your new ride. Look forward to the action shots.

 

[k0ua]

Nice purchase !! I have never driven the kioti, but I did look up the spec sheet on it. The push button this, and push button that on those tractors looks very cool. I will be interested to see how it compares to your L3400, jerky 3pt and all. Nothing like getting info from someone who has a lot of seat time on both. My knowledge on the Kioti's is about nothin. Around here, it is all Deere and Kubota. A few blues, but not many.

I noticed one thing in the spec sheet that was interesting. The Engine HP is rated at 38. The PTO HP is rated at 28. I don't usually see that big a difference between the two. I am guessing in real life situations, a couple of hp won't make a lick of difference. But I was wondering why? Something to do with the Trans? Also, that may have been on the HST model. I think. I looked at it kind a quick. I many have those numbers wrong.

The specs also made me wish I had a dealer around here so I could have looked at one before I bought my latest money hole (I mean tractor).

I hope you love the heck out of your new ride. Look forward to the action shots.

yep we will probably have a write up after I put some hours on the DK, It has a bunch of features I did not have. The dealership was very busy, and they had a bunch of Kioti's in stock. I drove several, the 2 pedal hst will take a bit to get used to, gotta educate that right foot all over again. The DK specs are a bit more than the L3400HST. The CK35 is roughly equivalent to the L3400HST but the DK35se is a heavier slightly larger tractor with a little more powerful loader and a lot of luxury features. Of course you can not tell much about a tractor by driving them around on the lot..other than how it turns. (seemed sharper than the Kubota), and how it sits.. (nice:thumbsup.. The loader hydraulics seemed to be ever so slightly faster than the Kubota, but did not get to "play" even in a gravel pile. There was no clutch, PTO is electric/hydraulic and brakes on the left side, so brake steering would be easier. All the Iron seemed to be heavier (axles etc).. the tie rods were straight and protected by a guard. The rear little control to raise/lower the 3pt. looked handy when you are back there hooking up, and the telescoping lower links and sway bars looked good. Comes standard with 1 rear remote, and bracket has room for another, about 450 installed for the second one. Less hydro whine than the Kubota for some reason. It has draft control, but I don't have much use for that right now. I drove the DK35se Cab model.. and that was SWEET!, but could not justify it. We will know a lot more in a few months..

James K0UA

 

[ddb123]

This thread is too long for me to want to read all the way through it again, but I seem to recall members asking if the L4300/4400 ever had a jerky 3pt. This is my first tractor (L4300) but after reading this thread I have determined that I do have a slightly jerky 3pt. When raising the 3pt very slowly, the lift will not move, then suddenly jump up a bit, then not move, then jump again. I have never been bothered by this, but with my big 6 ft brush hog on the back it can be really noticed. With 5 ft finish mower or middle buster on back it's barely noticeable. It does not bounce tractor around, probably because it's a bigger tractor and has a fairly heavy loader on the front. Anyway, it's not a problem for me (didn't even know it was a little jerky until I got real curious the past couple days) but just FYI if anyone was wondering. Maybe tomorrow I will take a video and y'all can tell me if my hitch is jerky enough to qualify as a true Jerky 3pt hitch

 

[rogerius]

I already posted my results in other post but I said let's post it here too. I've got my 2 weeks old L3800HST (fabricated 2011 series 68xxx) back from dealer in attempt to adjust the jerky 3pth. They folllow the instructions from this tread and the results was a smooth 3pth up and down but the secondary effect of this setup appear when the FEL is in action. So, if you raise/lower the FEL, the 3pth is droping down around 1" and then is raising back in position. I considered this a safety issue so I considered to go back at previous settings with a "jerky 3pth". I'm so fustrated with this, but in special on Kubota which doesn't care about this problem. My dealer which I really appreciate the dedication for customer satisfaction, confirmed that Kubota wasn't interested at all to give support in this work. I think as long is not a safety issue they don't care but is amuzing me about the slogan on the first page on the spring flyer: "WHEN QUALITY COUNTS. THINK KUBOTA FOR REABILITY AND RUGGEDNESS" :laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

Kubota Canada Nova International - When Quality Counts - Spring Flyer