L3600 PROBLEMS

[Anonymous Poster]

I BOUGHT THE TRACTOR USED W/1100 HRS. IT'S A 96 MODEL. SO FAR I HAVE HAD TO REPLACE THE FRONT AXLE TUBE DUE TO EXCESS WEAR ON PIVOT, ALONG WITH THE RING AND PINION. THEN THE CLUTCH. THE SEAL IN THE FRONT DRIVE SHAFT PUKED DURING SNOW SEASON.NOW THE SEALS IN THE OUTER AXLES ARE LEAKING. SO IS THE TUBE TO THE HYDRAULIC HOOKUPS UNDER THE PLATFORM.THE REAR AXLE LEAKS FLUID SOMEWHERE BY THE OIL LEVEL WINDOW. HAS ANYBODY ELSE HAD THIS MANY PROBLEMS OR DID I JUST GET A LEMON.

 

[scruffy]

MicroFarms, I haven't heard of anybody having that much trouble with their Kubota! Sounds like you may have gotten a well abused rental tractor that wasn't maintained very well, or faithfully! Any brand will 'protest' after time if the maintenance is not kept up, and or is abused over time.
Best luck with it. Sounds like you are getting close to having a reconditioned tractor!

 

[Bird]

MICROFARMS, I agree with Scruffy. It's possible that you got a lemon, but more likely you got one that was abused and not properly maintained. That sounds really unusual for a late model tractor with only 1100 hours. (And please don't use all caps; it's easier to read if you don't/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif).

Bird

 

[Harv]

I GUESS I GOTTA GO ALONG WITH BIRD AND SCRUFFY, MICROFARMS.

Oops! Didn't mean to shout. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

I'm a newbie in the seat, but I spent months shopping for used Kubotas. These things are pretty straightforward to take care of, but I was astonished to see what happens in a short period of time when you don't.

From the ones I looked at in person, I could see that the number of hours on the meter had less to do with their overall condition than how they were treated during that time. I saw one with over 1,700 hours on it that looked like new and came with a nicely kept log of all maintenance. I saw another with less than 300 hours that looked like it wouldn't make it up the ramp to the trailer ("watch your step -- that hydraulic fluid is slippery"). That one clearly had been stored outdoors, uncovered and was worked hard (too hard), as evidenced by the misshapen bucket and matching boxblade on the back. The color of the fluid on the ground also indicated that it may have been the original stuff. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif

Many times you can't tell just tell by looking, or at least a complete novice like myself couldn't. I did my shopping with the aid of guy who knew tractors inside and out. Since he was acting as a broker, it was also in his best interest to make sure his customers didn't get lemons 'cuz he knew that would hurt his own reputation and therefore his business.

I still don't know enough about these things to say for sure that the particular problems you have experienced could result from abuse or neglect, but 1100 hours is plenty of time for the wrong kind treatment to have its effect. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

 

[gordon]

Microfarms, I've got a Kubota with about 8000 hours on it. So after a few thousand hours I could buy into the seals I've had to replace mine. The hydraulic hookup may just be a loose connection. It can happen at any time. The clutch on mine I had to replace at about 5000-6000 hours. But if you have a shuttle shift and are mowing at pto speed in high range it really abuses a clutch when going from forward to reverse. The front axle pivot point I've never heard any problems with that. Another thing that comes to mind is if your up north and the tractor was used pushing snow. Always in fourwheel drive even on hard surfaces.

What more than likely stemmed alot of the problems was leaks, then the axle was run out of fluid and took out the ring and pinion. Bearings might have seized from lack of lubracation. Spun the bearing, ruining the axle tube.

Your tractor is about 5 years old, so about 220 hours a year was put on the tractor. Thats about 6 weeks a year at 40 hours a week running at pto speed.

Your tractor was more than likely used commerically and depreciated over five years then traded on a new one.

Lemon---unlikey
Used hard and put away wet--likely

Thats the sad thing about alot of landscape companies. They have people running the equipment who just don't care. Needless to say what kind of up keep was done to the machine. So either you have the problems worked out of it or you'll have a bunch more coming. It the latter is the case, trade it in or sell it and get another.

Did you buy this tractor from a dealer?
Try to find out it's past history if possible.

Sorry to hear about your bad luck
Gordon

 

[Anonymous Poster]

MICROFARMS,
Believe it or not your tactor does'nt sound like a lemon, but it does sound like it's been worked, most likely commercially. The GST system tends to contribute to early dry clutch failure do to the way you naturally slip the clutch when going into a pile with the FEL. If the machine is used for a lot of loader work you can expect to get about 900 hours per clutch (seen quite a few in this range of hours). The front drive shaft seal was designed poorly from the get-go, and it usually blows out during snow removal work mostly do to the repeated forward and reverse movement. The good news is Kubota came out with a spacer kit that hopefully your dealer installed when the last seal blew out. As far as the front axle, most likely that was a victim of the early problems with the front axle holder breaking or bolts loosening up, if the holder loosened up at one time it probably stressed the pinion shaft and damaged the tube at that time causing the failures you mentioned with the front axle. Get used to the outer axle seals
(king pin seals) leaking, Kubota has been working on that one for a long time, after updating seals, changing installation procedures etc. they still tend to be a problem. Best I came up with for them is to use 90wt in the front axle it tends to extend the time between seal changes, mostly because it's thicker and takes longer to leak out. the leak in the rear is most likely the window itself is leaking. the leak under the right step is probably your hydraulic block, there's three hoses coming out of there that go to the loader valve, there's also a tube that goes from the valve to the trans housing that may have been hit by something, if it's bent the o-rings wont seal correctly. Believe me you're not the only one who has seen these problems.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

ATTENTION:Scruffy,Bird,Harv,gordon,and kubmech.

Thanks for the replies. (MICROFARMS) You guys told me pretty much what dad and I had figured. Bought the tractor used form a tractor trader. The tractor was bought new in tenn. It was traded back in when the warranty was up. The dealer and this trader swaped some tractors.
As far as the clutch goes it had alot to do with the fact that the arm for the t/o/b was darn near locked up with that wonderful red clay that state is famous for, not to mention it is FEL equiped and shuttle shift. FEL even had new bucket.Makes you wonder.
The front end problem came from the fact that the loader was abused and had wore the bearing plum through and was well into the pivot bracket. This allowed the pinion to ride up on the gear and chew it up.
The drive shaft seal made a nice mess of my driveway. it has been upgraded. Makes one heck of a drain hole for very expensive UDT fluid.
I am waiting fora tierod to come in from Carver's. mine is not broken yet but is really loose. bent to. not sure where that happened.
How hard is it to change the orings on the hyd. block under platform? can i do or does it need to see my dealer?
Had the sight glass replaced. still has leak. not sure where it is coming from.
Sorry about the caps lock. wasn't thinking. I am registered now. email if you wish. thanks a bunch guys.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

For some reason i didn't register. probably me. Any way my email is Microfarms@onemain.com

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>How hard is it to change the orings on the hyd. block under platform?</font color=blue>

Shane, I can't remember just where they hydraulic block is or how hard it is to get to on that model, but if you can get a wrench on the bolts, it ought to be a real simple job.

Bird

 

[Anderson]

I've got an L3600 - the 1998 version, with 200 hours (130 of them are by me).

I've got no leaks, no problems.

Nate