npaden
Platinum Member
I was out brush hogging some tall weeds today with my Kubota L4200 (45hp diesel - 1996 with 1,050 hours) and was giving the old girl a pretty good workout. Nothing she hasn't done before but a workout all the same. Going through some Russian Thistle and Careless Weeds 5 to 6 foot tall. Mowing with a medium duty 6' rotary cutter.
I mowed around the house this morning and didn't notice anything unusual. Went after the weed patch (about 4 acres) and she knew it was going to be work but nothing really rings a bell about her performance at first. I had to drop her down into 3rd Gear on some really thick Russian Thistle but that didn't seem completely abnormal. She was running a little warm but I figured that was due to the weed seeds and I needed to watch the radiator screen and keep an eye on the air filter. I did run her low on fuel, not completely out, but she acted like she was going to stall so I idled her down and turned her off. Went and got some diesel and got back to work but she was running warm again so I turn her back to the house and cleaned up the radiator screen and checked the air filter. It wasn't really bad, but had some seeds in it. I got back out there and she was still running warm - generally she runs at about 1/3rd on the temp gauge and she was running 2/3rds - not up to the hot but still above normal. I was now having to downshift on some fairly light stuff, and I couldn't keep the cutter spinning in 5th gear at all which is my normal gear that I use for mowing.
I thought it could be the mower, so I double checked the gear box on the cutter and it had oil in it but I topped it off just for good measure. I could turn the cutter by hand fairly easy so it seemed to be okay. The gear box was warm, but not excessively hot. I cleaned the radiator screen and hosed off the radiator and double checked the engine oil and coolant and everything seemed okay. I figured I'd go ahead and finish the last bit. It seemed to do better but still didn't have the guts that I would normally expect her to have. I had to downshift in some light stuff a few more times and at the very end I ended up all the way down into 2nd gear which is absolutely crawling. I noticed more smoke that usually from the exhaust when she was really giving it her all. Kind of a blue tint to it but not much. The color you would expect from a tractor really giving it's all, but I was mowing light grass and was in 2nd gear. I figured it had to be the gear box on the mower. I finished up and took her back to the barn.
I checked her over and let her idle awhile and when I went to shut her down the key wouldn't turn her off. That means that I blew a fuse but that's an easy fix.
To help me decide if it was the mower or not I took it off and hooked up my tandem disc. I normally pull it in 5th gear as well. The tractor had cooled off and I took it out and started discing. Pulled it pretty well in 5th gear for about 5 minutes and then the temp started climbing again. It wasn't hot out today so that couldn't be the issue and I've run the tractor hard for hours and hours when it was hot outside without any issues. After 5 minutes she started to act gutless again and wanting to bog down so I had to shift into 4th gear to pull the disc engaged. About 10 minutes into it she was all the way back up to 2/3rd on the temperature gauge and working hard to pull the disc in 4th gear. It seems that the problem is with the tractor, not the mower. I went ahead and picked up the disc and ran the tractor back to the barn. I let her idle down again and checked her over again and nothing seemed obviously wrong. She's not really smoking on the exhaust except when she seems to think she is under heavy load. No unusual knocking noises or anything like that. I'm at a loss to what could be wrong and am not excited about taking her to the dealership for them to poke around because I really don't like the local dealer.
Based on my description is there anyway to figure it out?
Thanks in advance. Nathan
I mowed around the house this morning and didn't notice anything unusual. Went after the weed patch (about 4 acres) and she knew it was going to be work but nothing really rings a bell about her performance at first. I had to drop her down into 3rd Gear on some really thick Russian Thistle but that didn't seem completely abnormal. She was running a little warm but I figured that was due to the weed seeds and I needed to watch the radiator screen and keep an eye on the air filter. I did run her low on fuel, not completely out, but she acted like she was going to stall so I idled her down and turned her off. Went and got some diesel and got back to work but she was running warm again so I turn her back to the house and cleaned up the radiator screen and checked the air filter. It wasn't really bad, but had some seeds in it. I got back out there and she was still running warm - generally she runs at about 1/3rd on the temp gauge and she was running 2/3rds - not up to the hot but still above normal. I was now having to downshift on some fairly light stuff, and I couldn't keep the cutter spinning in 5th gear at all which is my normal gear that I use for mowing.
I thought it could be the mower, so I double checked the gear box on the cutter and it had oil in it but I topped it off just for good measure. I could turn the cutter by hand fairly easy so it seemed to be okay. The gear box was warm, but not excessively hot. I cleaned the radiator screen and hosed off the radiator and double checked the engine oil and coolant and everything seemed okay. I figured I'd go ahead and finish the last bit. It seemed to do better but still didn't have the guts that I would normally expect her to have. I had to downshift in some light stuff a few more times and at the very end I ended up all the way down into 2nd gear which is absolutely crawling. I noticed more smoke that usually from the exhaust when she was really giving it her all. Kind of a blue tint to it but not much. The color you would expect from a tractor really giving it's all, but I was mowing light grass and was in 2nd gear. I figured it had to be the gear box on the mower. I finished up and took her back to the barn.
I checked her over and let her idle awhile and when I went to shut her down the key wouldn't turn her off. That means that I blew a fuse but that's an easy fix.
To help me decide if it was the mower or not I took it off and hooked up my tandem disc. I normally pull it in 5th gear as well. The tractor had cooled off and I took it out and started discing. Pulled it pretty well in 5th gear for about 5 minutes and then the temp started climbing again. It wasn't hot out today so that couldn't be the issue and I've run the tractor hard for hours and hours when it was hot outside without any issues. After 5 minutes she started to act gutless again and wanting to bog down so I had to shift into 4th gear to pull the disc engaged. About 10 minutes into it she was all the way back up to 2/3rd on the temperature gauge and working hard to pull the disc in 4th gear. It seems that the problem is with the tractor, not the mower. I went ahead and picked up the disc and ran the tractor back to the barn. I let her idle down again and checked her over again and nothing seemed obviously wrong. She's not really smoking on the exhaust except when she seems to think she is under heavy load. No unusual knocking noises or anything like that. I'm at a loss to what could be wrong and am not excited about taking her to the dealership for them to poke around because I really don't like the local dealer.
Based on my description is there anyway to figure it out?
Thanks in advance. Nathan
