L4310 Enhancements

[gordon]

Ok let me get this straight then--if its not hst its not for me!!! Not bad for a hard head--me that is./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Its hard to believe those tires have an R-4 rating with a tread like that!
Gordon

 

[MChalkley]

Gordon - I looked at tires a long time trying to find my idea of the "perfect" tire. When I first saw them in the Michelin Data Book, I immediately went out and found a dealer that stocked them just so I could look at them to be sure the picture in the book was right. I couldn't believe it. It was like I'd called a tire company and said "Ok, guys, this is what I want." And they said "Ok, no problem." (Except cash, of course.) But it doesn't often seem to happen that I find exactly what I'm looking for. And tires are very, very hard to re-engineer. At least I suspect so - I've never tried it. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif And I have to say that I've been absolutely 100% thrilled with them.

Mark

 

[Richard]

Mark,

1. After looking at your photos... is the mounting system on your Bradco analagous to Kubota's 4 point system on the L-35/B-21?

2. Am I correctly inferring that Richh is having problems with "your" tires mounted on his L4610 interfearing with his loader?

3. Is there any way that you can add a spacer to widen the stance of the tires? Any known reason why you wouldn't or shouldn't?

Thanks
Richard

 

[MChalkley]

Richard,

1) Roughly. There is a very important difference (to me) between them, though. With the Bradco mount, I don't have to remove anything from the tractor to put the backhoe on. Just swing the side links in toward center, let the top link dangle, rock and roll.

2) Correct. RichH is having trouble mounting "my" tires (specifically, a set identical to mine /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif and more specifically, just the front ones) because the loader subframe on the L4610 doesn't offer the same clearances as the one on my L4310. It's certainly not insurmountable, but it's a pain. I went through a couple different sets of wheels before I found ones that work properly. Too little offset, and the inside of the wheels or tires hit something on hard turns, usually the tie rods or loader hoses; too much, and they hit something else, usually the loader subframe.

3) Yes, you can widen the stance of the wheels. I've seen companies that sell spacer rings, though where sort of escapes me at the moment. You do have to be careful, though. Too much and you'll have trouble with the longer bolts. Also, the hubs take more stress when you widen the stance. It's not likely that you'd widen it enough to hurt anything but the possibility is there, especially with the front tires, when using a loader.

Mark

 

[MChalkley]

It looks like Monday will be a tractor work-day! After almost two weeks of having to deal with important stuff, I'm having withdrawal pains. My plans are to install the oil and coolant temp gauges and all of the lights if possible, but I doubt I'll get that far. We'll see.

The extra dipstick came in, so I can attach the sensor to it without fear of incapacitating the tractor if something goes wrong. But I have this feeling that I've missed something. I hate that...

Mark

 

[MChalkley]

Well, between yesterday and today, everything is done except some of the final touches on the wiring for the combination alarm/fuel shutoff security circuit.

We used JB-Weld (the gauge manufacturer's suggestion) to attach one of the temp sensors to the dipstick, and fiberglass cloth tape to attach the other one to the water outlet on the block. I'll post the temperature results for the three sensors (HST oil, engine oil, and engine water) after a few minutes of idling a little later.

We made 5 sets of brackets up for the 2 front traps, 2 rear traps, and 1 rear flood, then mounted the lights and wired them. We decided to mount them so the bottom of the lights is about level with the lower edge of the canopy. I'll post some pictures of them, too, if anyone is interested. There's nothing too special about lights, but if anyone wants to see details of the brackets, etc. let me know.

Mark

 

[MChalkley]

I went out tonight and played with the lights a little. I noticed a few things. First, I'm very glad I decided to mount the lights on the canopy. The angle you get on the front lights gives you very good lighting in front of the bucket, which is the big problem with the stock lights. Dual 55w lights throw a lot more light, too. The rear flood works as well as I'd hoped, lighting up the implement on the rear and the immediate work area quite well.

As for the temp sensors, after warming the tractor up at about 1200 rpm for 10 minutes at 90 degrees ambient earlier today, the HST oil was 95 degrees, the engine oil was 110 degrees, and the water was 150 degrees. I'll be working it pretty hard for 5 days straight next week, so we'll see what it does then.

Mark

 

[MChalkley]

During some recent heavy duty bushhogging during very hot weather, when the stock water temp gauge got halfway between the high normal mark and the red (because of the air inlets and screen being plugged with chaff), the highest temps I saw on the gauge were: Transmission - 185, Oil - 270, Water - 210.

On another topic, I've found a suspension seat and hope to be installing it tomorrow. I'll let everyone know the details when I have more to report. And hopefully post a pic of it, too. It's made by the same company that makes the ones Northern sells in the box by themselves (page 34 of the Fall Master Catalog, I think), but I got it from a local dealer instead, because he had a little bit better model with a deeper seat, and the shock absorber seemed to work better. It's got almost 5" of travel in the suspension, comparing very favorably with the about 2" I've got with the stock seat. Also, the shock absorber slows the rate of deflection and rebound, keeping it from banging on either end. At least that's the way it works sitting on my garage floor - hopefully, tomorrow, I'll find out how it works on a tractor.

Oh well, these days, it's way past my bedtime. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Mark

 

[MChalkley]

Well, gang, here's an update on the seat project. It turned out to not be too bad a project at all. A hole at the center in the back of the deck fit a hole in the rear center of the seat mounting plate, and a 1/8" spacer provided enough clearance for the two raised ribs on the deck. A piece of flat steel stock 15" x 2" x 1/4" made a front plate/spacer to mimic the one on the original seat. Two bolts up front and the whole thing was fastened securely. A little bending on the seat belt mounts and drilling out the mounting holes a little larger, and they transferred from the top of the old seat suspension to the predrilled holes in the new seat bottom that already had captive nuts welded to the back side of the plate. A local bolt supply store supplied the two 3/8" socket head bolts and the two bolts that hold the seat belt ends on.

Now for the important part - the results. I'd have done the seat swap before I did anything else if I'd only known how much difference it would make! I put the tractor in high range, set the throttle at 1800 rpm, and took off at full speed down my road, making sure I hit every hump and hole - after hitting the first few, I looked down at the differential range selector to be absolutely sure I had it in high range! The ride was so smooth, I thought I had to be going slower. So I rev'ed it up to 2500 rpm and turned off into a field, which has some rough spots that always kept me from going anywhere near full speed before. The only thing that forced me to slow down was the terrible racket from the rear blade slamming up and down and from side to side. The difference in the ride is incredible. It's like going from a farm wagon to a Lincoln. Apparently the extra 2-3" of travel makes a huge difference. Also, the action of the shock absorber is very apparent. All in all, an unqualified success and one of the best investments I've made in the tractor to date.

Mark

 

[gordon]

The best overall investment or should I say upgrade turned out to be one of the least expensive ones go figure. What brand of seat is it and how much higher is it than the stock seat to the floor. I know for alot of people they want a seat thats higher off the floor but for us vertically challanged people the height might leave my feet dangling!

Glad it was an easy installation sure does make life easier when a plan falls right into place like that.
Gordon

 

[MChalkley]

Gordon - I don't know what brand it is. There's nothing on it anywhere that you can read. The guy said it's made in Turkey. Northern sells 5 or 6 models by them. I'll look in the catalog and give you the model number that's closest to it, so you can have an idea of what it looks like. It sits, when adjusted to it's lowest position (it has a height adjustment), about two inches higher than the stock seat and about an inch and a half farther forward when adjusted all the way back. The tool box lid still opens, even though the seat doesn't tilt forward. So, there could be some disadvantages for some folks, but man what a difference in the ride!

Mark

 

[W5FL]

Congrats Mark,

Now that you have M Size tires and an M Suspension Seat, guess you have the closest to an M4900 with a hydro. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[MChalkley]

Wen - Actually, you're probably closer to the truth than you realize - as far as the seat is concerned, anyway. I looked real hard at the seat on an M4900 before I bought the one I did. As it turns out, the one I got looks an awful lot like the M4900 seat. They're so close, they look like they could be made by the same company.

Mark

 

[MChalkley]

Gordon - If you've got a Northern catalog (you can call 800-556-7885 if you don't), the seat that's item #17494 seems to be almost exactly what I've got. I think mine has a little more padding in the seat and the pattern on it is a little different, but otherwise they appear almost identical. The Northern catalog says it has 4" of stroke in the suspension and I measured 4 3/4" inches on mine. There's one in the Northern catalog, Item #17492 that's listed as having 4 3/4" but it doesn't have a height adjustment. Anyway, they're definitely made by the same company as mine and the three models I saw at a local Northern all looked very similar, with just a few differences here and there.

I went out and did a little grading today - I sure wish I'd changed seats a long time ago. I'll tell you one thing: I'm saving the original Kubota seat, because if I ever trade tractors again (no, don't start any rumors - I'm not planning on it), it's going back on - I'm keeping the new one!

Mark

 

[Rch]

I believe the Turkish manufacture of Mark Chalkley's seat has a URL http://www.starseat.com/ http://www.starseat.com On one of the boards 6 months ago someone tried to buy directly from Star but that was impossible. Apparently Northern has picked up some of Star's line to retail.

RCH

 

[W5FL]

Mark, you really need to start a L4310 Enhancements II thread. I haven't figured out how to make it load backwards so have to load the first 100 and then the rest to read the new messages. It is easy to go to the first 100 and just say this looks familiar and miss the actual messages that have been added.

Yes, the M Series seats are first class. Blue owners will say they don't swivel. I am glad they don't. Guess I have a hard time with technology that I don't need or want. Think I will start a thread on that, too.

Glad you got the new seat installed. My Massey had a good seat, too and that makes a world of difference in how you (and your back) feel at the end of the day.

 

[MChalkley]

Wen - Muhammad was working on a way to display flat mode in reverse date order, which would solve our problem. This is getting more and more important as the number of messages proliferates, too. Which, of course, just means that there's more information here for everybody to use.

How 'bout it Muhammad? Anything happening yet?

Mark

 

[MChalkley]

RCH - Great job finding that link! It always amazes me how fast we can find out stuff here. Thanks!

I checked out http://www.starseat.com and this is indeed the company that makes the seat I have. My model is the "Star06" listed on the products page. Strangely, it's the only one that doesn't have a picture shown on the pictures page. That figures. Anyway, if you look at the Star07, and mentally remove the wrap around arms from the seat back, that's the one I've got.

In the "Houston, we have a problem" category: I called Northern and asked them who makes these models of their seats. The customer support rep told me their seats are made in China. So I went back to the store and looked again. They're almost, but not quite, the same design. I think Northern's models are Chinese knock-offs. They may be just as good, or better even, than the Turkish models, I don't know. They're less expensive, I do know that. Anyway, just so everybody is informed and knows what they're getting - I didn't want my previous (apparent) dis-information stating they were the same seats to go uncorrected.

I'll be working on a two-day landscaping project Friday and Saturday, so I'll give the seat a thorough work-out then. Barring any more heat stroke incidents (which doesn't appear likely, since I'll be working in the mountains, it's supposed to be cooler, and I'm supposed to be smarter), I should be back on-line Sunday.

Mark

 

[MChalkley]

Well, after a thorough two-day test, I remain totally ecstatic in my opinion of the seat. The only backache I have now is from kicking myself for not doing it sooner. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I also found out something else today. I went to a different Northern store today and saw a couple of the seats still in the box. Stamped clearly on the side of the box, in big letters, was "Made in Turkey". Go figure.

On another subject, one of the things I did during the two-day landscaping project Friday and Saturday was drag several huge rocks from one place to an plant island we made. When I say huge, I mean HUGE. They ranged in size from about 8' x 4' x 4' to 12' x 6' x 5'. I was dragging them across a wet field, and several times the tractor dug 4 holes deep enough that about a third of the tire was in contact with the ground. When that happened, I found I barely had enough power to keep the wheels turning - if I'd had any less hp, it wouldn't have done it. But the traction those Michelin XM27's develop is incredible!

The maximum transmission temperature during all that dragging was still only 185 degrees.

Mark

 

[gordon]

Mark I believe those are closer to small boulders rather than rocks! When you say a third of the tire in the ground--do you mean the sidewall or the entire rim? Now thats traction at it's best./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
Gordon