Kubota L3400HST

squisher

squisher

THE CALM ONE!!!!
Joined
Sep 25, 2006
Messages
23,897
Location
Vernon, B.C.
I'm thinking I'm gonna buy one of these, early next week. Hydro tranny with a FEL and I'm thinking a boxblade attachment to help with ballast. AG tires. Just wondering if any of youse guys with tractor experience have any advice for 'options' that I may not be aware of that you would consider nescessary. I'm not looking for a bunch of attachment ideas, as I can buy what I need in the future. More looking for things on the tractor itself that I may not be aware of.

http://www.kubota.ca/en/productdetail.aspx?trail=0|30|37|91&prodid=98
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3
Yes you can get a gear, seems like more of a pita for loader work though. Also I've read/heard that the gear is quite a bit rougher on the machine as a whole if you're doing alot of loader work.

It's primary use will be for loading sand into my pick-up mounted sander.
 
Of all the equipment I've used, hydro drive is so much more productive than a gearbox. It has also been around for over 25 years so most of the bugs have been worked out. Most replacement parts are off the shelf and design is pretty much standardized. Could you imagine having a gearbox on a mini? Hydro drive all the way!
 
Get the hydro, they are solid anymore, and doing snow work, hell doing any work, it makes things easier! I hate getting on my dad's Ford 1600 and grinding the damn gears while fighting not having power steering!
Look into some weights for that thing, 4wd does alright in the snow, but weights make a huge difference.
I'm not a big fan of a box blade for snow, the get full fast and can get packed full being a bear to clean out. A regular five foot blade works better imo.
 
I prefer manuals also.
Things I like for a tractor.
Bush Hog. May not be necessary for you on your property with the horses. Comes in real handy with large grass areas. Good way to make money with the tractor too.
Forks. Used them many a times on logs. There are better attachments for this.. But they are pretty reasonable and versatile. Good for moving around pallets of grain and some hay bales.
Can you get an articulating bucket for the loader.. Again.. more applications than a regular loader bucket.
Box scraper as you mentioned.
Back hoe if at all possible.
 
Chains, while being a PIA to put on, are amazing for traction on snow and ice. Box blades, though not being good for snow, are much stronger and less prone to break if you catch something solid. Have the tires loaded. They make some non-corrosive compounds that won't eat your rims. They were a bit pricey last time I checked. Put some chain hooks on your bucket. A front end guard to protect the sheet metal is worth the time to make or money to buy. Loading things (sand) tend to divert your attention to the bucket, not the front end.
 
Loaded rear tires will make a great difference when loading sand, almost no real need for an attacment as ballast. My default rear attachment is the Farmi skidding winch. I have the AG tires w/o any weights or chains and can use the machine in mud or snow without any traction issues. The only pita factor w/ the HST is after driving the tractor all day, you wonder why your truck won't reverse when you rock back on the gas pedal with your heel.:lol: I have forks, bucket, brush grapple and a backhoe. A "real" backhoe is great when you need it but mine sits for many months at a time and cost 10K.

get the greatest GPM that you can afford.
 
They have gone to filling the tires with RV antifreeze instead of calcium now, it's much better! I agree, in normal use the box blade is KING! If you get one get one with the removable teeth inside, you can lower the teeth and cut with the blade all in one pass, also make sure it's at least as wide as the rear tires! It's a common mistake, the blade isn't as wide as the tires and you want to dig out lateral lines, a drainage ditch etc. but the damn blade is a foot of two to narrow!
Look at the quick change option on the FEL, it's like the mini for attachments, a couple of pins pulled and a new one on! As Stephan said the pallet forks and with horses I'd look at a bale spear for moving the round bales, I assume you have those there? That tractor should be heavy enough to move them around.
 
A second to the quick attach feature on the loader. They will fill tires w/ foam around here as well, Weighs more than calcium and eliminates issues with flats. Pretty pricey though. Mine are loaded w/ calcium and have had no issues over 7 years, although I have heard people complain about problems in general w/ calcium as a loading agent.
 
I don't know about the ag Kubotas, but my L48 has guards on the valve stems. I wouldn't be without the quick attach bucket arrangement. I would consider hydraulics to the front of the loader for a grapple, etc., but they can be add later. I have HST on my Kubota L-48 and I love it, wouldn't ever consider anything else, ever! It's got over 1,800 hours of hard use, and it works better than the day it was new (hydros like a little break in). I think you've picked a great model for what you want. You may have to build a loading dock to reach, but I don't know. A buddy of mine has the older L3710HST, and it will just fill a sander in a one ton on level ground.
 
I agree with getting the biggest pump they'll put on there as well as hard lines for the aux on the bucket that are independent of the rear remotes. Is there a list of options somewhere that we can see?
 
I think squishey's sander is in the bed of a pick-up like mine, so loader reach is not a problem. A one-ton flatbed or dump body w/ a sander is close but do-able.
 
Those Kubotas are bulletproof. So many scrapers around here have em and just heap daily abuse on them and they never seem to die.

I've got a 520 and it is the bomb,too.
 
The HST beats the living shit out of rowing gears by a longshot.
 
It's also great for precision tractoring. You can get into some really weird spots without having to worry about loosing traction with a jerky shuttle or manual shift.
 
The only place HST doesn't shine is in operations like plowing a field. Because you need to run the motor wide open to make hydraulic pressure they burn more fuel than a gear box tractor and build a lot more heat.
For loading with and shuttle work that is the way to go.

Quick attach for the bucket and how ever many remotes on the rear you want are about the only options. You can add a front remote but it will not be kubota brand, just after market parts most likely.

If all you plan to do is use it with the FEL, load the rear tires. Windshield washer fluid works great and is cheap. Rv antifreeze has no issues I know of just more cost. Or rim guard is a beet juice produce that works good just check the cost. Calcium chloride is and out dated way now, and if you keep it long enough will rot the rims out.
If you decide to load them your self let us know it is an easy operation to walk you through just time consuming.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #21
Thanks for all the replies.

Carl, no there is no list of options available that I know of.

I was mostly just hunting for info/experience from everyone to make certain I wasn't missing something.

I have the option of a weight/ballast box or having the tires filled as part of the FEL kit. They'll use some kind of bio-fill stuff and that's the route that I'm thinking of going.

Only real 'options' will be the plug in block heater and quick attach on the bucket. Should be picking it up by the weekend. There are other options available, but nothing that can't easily be added after the fact.

Lots of good info from everyone, thanks alot.
 
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