Hi, I'm brand new to TBN & pretty much a brand new tractor owner. My wife & I have a small acreage in NW FL nr. Pensacola To maintain trails, thin the pines, etc. we purchased a new compact Kubota, took delivery in April '22 and bought some attachments for it. It's a good tractor for our needs but the other day I took it on the private road in our devlpmnt and noticed a regular lurch seeming to come from the left rear tire. It was such a regular movement it had to come from something turning as it sped up going faster, & slowed when going slower. At first I thought the tire had perhaps lodged a lump of something between the blocks or it had ballooned. Got out, rolled forward, inspected tire and wheel & found nothing abnormal. Wheel is brand new (20/hrs) and as round and true to my eye as perfect. I tried driving the other side of the road & problem persisted, a definite lurch. Though not major enough to jolt me out of my seat it's not minor enough to be nothing or dismissed as nothing. I inspected the axle, or whatever looked like an axle - no paint chipped, no visible damage. Of course I cannot watch it while driving. I cannot believe that the few dips/potholes (if you can call them that) on our prpty. could be vicious enough to damage all that metal and the tractor is only about 4500/lbs itself. Our soil is sandy and v. soft. You can see these tractors are solid and built to take some abuse (which I don't dole out at all.) I was wondering if anyone out there has a clue as to what this could be? I'm definitely calling the dealer on Tues while it's still under warranty. I'm leaning towards something being assembled incorrectly. Tractor came originally with construction/industrial tires (I had ordered ag) so it could be something got dislodged in the tire swap.
Noticeable, regular "lurch" felt on smooth roads.
- Thread starter kohog
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K5lwq
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Did you have it in 4WD? That can happen if on hard surface using 4WD.
sandman2234
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Did you leave it in 4x4 while on the road? I would think that "might" make it lurch as the tension between the front and rears built up and then relieved itself.
Can you jack it up and spin each wheel by itself to see if something is dragging?
David from jax
Can you jack it up and spin each wheel by itself to see if something is dragging?
David from jax
sandman2234
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You type faster than I do, lol!
David from jax
SDT
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Good point about sitting a while. It actually had been sitting for 30 days, but they're brand new wheels & tires & surface is soft. I thought flatspots only occurred if a vehicle's been sitting for decades, or years at least, and has lost air. Bounce only appears to be from LH wheel. I checked tire and blocks, I think an anomaly big enough to cause a lurch as solid as it is would be visible. Plus we have liquid ballast in the tires which should help prevent that. We were away in NY and temps dipped in the Panhandle but not enough, I believe, to form ice (& don't they put anti-freeze in the tires, too?) To my knowledge, not in 4WD but nxt time up there I'll check - tnks.
Not that I know, but will check nxt time I'm there - tnks. Also, there's no noise, just a lurch.
I don't have ability to jack it up (now.) As far as I know, it wasn't in 4wd. Tnks for the ideas.
JWR
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That is my first thought too. Pretty well every tractor I've used has at times developed a "flat spot" feel from having sat in one spot for long time. These large lubberly tires tend to do that way more noticeably than say an automotive tire. Since you had the tires swapped when the tractor was new, one wonders what the history of the AG tires was that your dealer put on for you.
This becomes a subjective thing BUT the dealer owes you a set of reasonably round tires that do not flop or thud on the road. He should ride it himself and give you an explanation OR a different set of tires. [I assume by now you are past the possibility that you had left it in 4WD while on dry road?]