The Little Tractor that Could

   / The Little Tractor that Could #1  

sneaky_pete

Platinum Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2004
Messages
677
Location
Parker County, Texas and Santa Fe County, New Mexi
Tractor
Kubota B7400HSD, G1800
15 hours on the B7400HSD as of yesterday, and I must say how pleased I am with this machine. Has done everything I've asked of it so far without hesitation or complaint. For a 16 hp tractor, it sure does a lot of work!

So far, I've mowed several acres of rough pasture with the Bush Hog, moved quit a bit of gravel and dirt to fill holes near buildings and dress the driveway, moved a bunch of dead wood to the burn pile, cleared some heavy undergrowth down by the creek, and done light hauling of leaves and grass clippings to the compost pile. This is my first real tractor, and just like everybody told me, I can't believe how much work can be done with it in a short time, and how useful the FEL is. To think that I was considering not getting the FEL at first - would have been a big mistake.

Speaking of the FEL, I sure don't have any complaints so far - sure the LA272 only has a 48" relatively light bucket and doesn't have the lift capability of a bigger one, but I can fill that puppy to the brim with gravel or heavy clay soil and lift it easily. If you put the tractor in 4WD low range it will dig right in and pick up any load of earth that will fit the bucket. I don't have any contrasting experience on a bigger loader, but it seems that this size loader is very well suited to this tractor, and is very capable of the chores I need it to do.

Lack of power steering: I was warned about this, but can't honestly say I have even noticed so far. Maybe it's because the loader isn't big enough to carry enough weight to notice, but as I mentioned above I've had it brimming full of gravel and had no problem whatsoever maneuvering, even at a snail's pace in tight quarters. I'm not exactly Charles Atlas or Arnold S. either. I'm sure it must require more effort than a power steering model, but it just doesn't seem to be a handicap that I can tell.

Complaints: The handle of the high-low range lever mounted in the rear fender sometimes catches on my jeans when dismounting. The parking "brake" feature is too easy to forget to unset when you get back on, so I rarely use it. The position of the fuel tank filler neck makes it nearly impossible to see when it is full, especially when using Mr. Funnel (another great tip learned from y'all at TBN).

Suffice it to say that I am thrilled with my purchase and tractor experience so far. I'm sure that there might be times when a bigger tractor might be desireable even on my small 5 acres, but for the money I think I have hit on a nearly ideal compromise for my current needs.

Next purchase for it will be a really heavy second-hand Gammon 48" box blade that I found locally. After that, maybe a Pat's Quick Connect set-up or a Speeco Quick Hitch.
Eventually, a PHD and a cement mixer?

Thanks again to TBN posters for your help, to Muhammed for The Book, and to Zimmerer Kubota and Equipment Co. in Fort Worth, TX for steering me towards this tractor, even though I might have spent more money on a newer model.

Pete
 
   / The Little Tractor that Could #2  
Congratulations on your new tractor. I knew it would do a lot of work for you. Can't wait to see the pictures. I am not surprised that you are not finding the lack of power steering to be a problem. I had a B6100 w/o power steering for years. I didn't know it was a problem until I got my new B7610 that had power steering. You don't miss things you never had. I think you made a great choice.
 
   / The Little Tractor that Could #3  
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Complaints: The handle of the high-low range lever mounted in the rear fender sometimes catches on my jeans when dismounting. )</font>

I have the same problem on mine (different model) - I've almost taken a couple of really bad spills when wearing shorts - the pants leg hooks all the way over the lever and with the momentum I end up taking a dive. It's a definite safety hazard.
 
   / The Little Tractor that Could #4  
Power steering: or lack thereoff, I should say, builds character.

My B7100 has no power steering and after a long seat day doing loader work my old body lets me know the next day. Different platform but on mine the pant legs catch on the brake lock or my clumbsy feet hit the throttle as well as the brake pedals.

Enjoy the tractor but be carefull -- it can become addictive.

Egon
 
   / The Little Tractor that Could #5  
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The handle of the high-low range lever mounted in the rear fender sometimes catches on my jeans when dismounting. )</font>

Very common problem, I think. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif I never fell on my face when that happened, but came close a couple of times. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
   / The Little Tractor that Could #6  
What width hog do you have on it?

I won't have the snag-the-pants problem becuz I'll be using it like I do my Gravely: nude.

Ralph
 
   / The Little Tractor that Could
  • Thread Starter
#7  
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Can't wait to see the pictures. )</font>

Unfortunately, my wife's digital camera is down due to a broken spring in the battery compartment, the one that makes contact on the end of the battery - so no photos in the near future. I might have to get a disposable camera and get the prints scanned or digitized.

Thanks for the encouraging words.

Pete
 
   / The Little Tractor that Could
  • Thread Starter
#8  
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( What width hog do you have on it? )</font>

48"; seems to work well as it cuts slightly wider than the wheels and has never bogged down yet in tall grass. The dealer recommended that width so I went with it.

Thanks also to Bird and the other responses to my post - I won't hog space by replying to each one individually.

Late-breaking news: noticed when I parked it in the shop tonight that UDT is leaking in a noticeable drip from under the FEL joystick somewhere - hard to tell exactly where from because it has run down more than one hose and is dripping off of the FEL sub-frame in several places. Nothing catastrophic, but enough to warrant a call to the dealer and doubtless a return to the service dept. for warranty work. I've been extremely happy with the dealer so far, so this will be another test I suppose.

Pete
 
   / The Little Tractor that Could
  • Thread Starter
#9  
</font><font color="blue" class="small">(

Late-breaking news: noticed when I parked it in the shop tonight that UDT is leaking in a noticeable drip from under the FEL joystick somewhere - hard to tell exactly where from because it has run down more than one hose and is dripping off of the FEL sub-frame in several places. Nothing catastrophic, but enough to warrant a call to the dealer and doubtless a return to the service dept. for warranty work. I've been extremely happy with the dealer so far, so this will be another test I suppose.
)</font>

Follow-up to my own post (above): Called the dealer and they said I would have to bring it back but they couldn't look at it for at least a week, but they would put me in the queue so I wouldn't have to leave it there the whole time and in fact they would call when it was a day or two before they were ready for it.

Tonight I had time to look at it myself. First, I checked both front and rear UDT reservoirs and found the rear one down to the bottom mark. About a quart of UDT brought it back up. Cleaned off all of the leaked UDT with Brake Cleaner, started her up, and quickly found the leak on the front hydraulic block where the FEL hydro lines attach. Check the tightness, and one hose is not tight, actually the female end of the hose fitting that goes directly in the hydro block. While tightening that (tight squeeze for 16 & 17.5mm wrenches), I noticed that the throttle rod was bent funny, rubbing on an FEL hydro hose fitting, and in fact couldn't return to the idle position - I guess that's why my tractor was idling at 1500 rpm, which seemed fast to me but I couldn't find an idle rpm spec in the owner's manual.

This lead me to examine the installation procedure for the LA272 in it's owner's manual, which confirmed my suspicion that one of the two FEL hydro hoses from the hydro block was installed at the wrong angle, and probably the throttle rod was bent to get around the improper installation.

So I completely disconnected both hoses, tightened both female hose fittings in the block (neither was very tight at all), removed the throttle rod and bent it back straight as best I could, re-installed the hydro hoses in their correct angle and routing, and re-installed the throttle rod.

Cranked her back up and let her warm up, moved FEL and rear implement up and down several times to bleed air from the system, and Voila! No more leak, no more slow leak-down at either end, and a nice new idle of 1000 rpm. I'm pleased with my tractor again, and happy that I didn't have to haul it 30 miles back to the dealer to get it fixed - plus, I now know much more about my hydraulic system and throttle linkage. Guess I'll call the dealer tomorrow and cancel my warranty service appointment.

Pete
 
   / The Little Tractor that Could #10  
Don't forget to tell they what was wrong. They can get after the person that did the set up and "suggest" that he/she learns to read the manual before starting a installation. If not, others will also have the same problem.
 

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