Buying Advice L35 "2001"

[Raider43]

I am taking a second look at the L35 loader, backhoe. The backhoe is a bradco 600 and the controls are a little sloppy to say the least. Is this a quick fix with the linkage and is it a costly deal? Also, what should I be looking at specifically as wearing points. the loader blade looks good, the backhoe teeth look good, tires at about 75%.

Paul

 

[cannonfodder999]

I am taking a second look at the L35 loader, backhoe. The backhoe is a bradco 600 and the controls are a little sloppy to say the least. Is this a quick fix with the linkage and is it a costly deal? Also, what should I be looking at specifically as wearing points. the loader blade looks good, the backhoe teeth look good, tires at about 75%.

Paul

Just bought an L35 with almost 4000 hrs on it. The steering is a little loose at the column and around the front between the 2 tierods. Not a lot but noticable.

 

[art]

The backhoe is a three point?

 

[MarkV]

Raider a Kubota L35 with a Bradco 600 backhoe is a bit of an odd configuration. The L35 was one of Kubota's commercial units with a dedicated backhoe designed exclusively for that machine. I am sure that is why Art is asking if it is a backhoe that mounts to the 3 point hitch rather than the L35's built in mounting points. At least to me it sounds like I would approach with caution.

MarkV

 

[Raider43]

I believe it was frame mounted somehow. Don't bradco's fit any machine? It was not on the 3 point.

Paul

 

[cannonfodder999]

Mine is the Kubota frame mounted. Rugged and gets used to its limits.Dug out a couple of 6 and 8 Inch trees today.

 

[Grandad4]

I believe it was frame mounted somehow. Don't bradco's fit any machine? It was not on the 3 point.

Paul

Bradco makes a generic backhoe (very good ones, by the way) and then offers various subframes to be installed on different tractors for attaching the BH. But the L35 came from the factory with an integral subframe for the Kubota BH that matched the L35. You wouldn't normally be able to attach a Bradco backhoe to a Kubota subframe (backhoes don't have standard attachment dimensions the way 3pt implements do), and it's unlikely Bradco made its own subframe for L35's, so there had to be some kind of homebrew engineering involved to make it fit.

 

[Raider43]

Well that was good information, thanks grandad! I learn more everyday. Found another machine to look at in Pennsylvania. What do you think about buying something without actually test driving or in person go around?

 

[art]

Raider, I'd stay clear of a machine that has been altered as the one you have described unless the price was really right.

Depending on who you are buying from would make a big difference as to the price I'd pay with out looking and testing the machine. I've seen people that just didn't know how things were supposed to work even though they owned it or should have known better just didn't look deep enough. I know it has happened to me on trades when the machine had mechanical problems I didn't expect to see.

The L-35 is a good machine and there are some out there that are in nearly new as well as quite well worn!

 

[Grandad4]

Well that was good information, thanks grandad! I learn more everyday. Found another machine to look at in Pennsylvania. What do you think about buying something without actually test driving or in person go around?

Consider the possibilities. a) It was always owned by someone who took good care of his equipment, and now has to sell it for some reason. b) It was owned by a rental yard who let any goober rent the thing. c) It was owned by a construction or landscape outfit whose workers didn't care how they abused it. c) It has been through 4 owners during its lifetime. Some were careful, some not so much.

Would you buy a car without seeing it? If you went to see it, you'd probably be able to figure out if it's a good unit or not. An L35 is a great little construction machine. As Art says, you can find nice ones these days as well as ones that have been worked hard, but you need to check them out to know what you're getting into.