heavier duty Kubota front end question?

[Piston]

I bought an '02 L4610 last fall and have really enjoyed it. I thought I remembered reading somewhere that it had a heavier duty front end than some other similar sized kubota models from it's day. Does anyone know if that is true?
I do a lot of heavy duty lifting and moving things around and sometimes have to use 4wd if i'm in slippery dirt or mud, I worry sometimes about putting too much strain on the front axle.
Not that I'm going to stop using it for what it's meant for but does the front axle or differential have any extra 'meat' to it or are they all the same standard size?

Every since I got my new grapple I have really been loading up the front axle with large logs in the grapple and think about this often.

 

[VA MTN MAN]

Dont worry about the front end. I have an 02 4610 with a couple thousand hrs on it that has lifted and carried everything I could put on the bucket or forks and the only thing I have had to do besides normal maintanance is replace the battery last winter. **** you would think they could make a better battery, only lasted 9 years

 

[slowzuki]

The 4610 had the first of the larger grand L front axles, your steering should be a double ended hydraulic ram/orbital valve vs the old bell crank and steering box setup.

I used my L5030 with a similar axle quite hard, and it has 1300 hours on it. I did lose a front seal that I didn't get too fast enough, then lost some bearings due to not fixing it quickly but it wasn't too hard to fix.

I used to worry about mine too, when I had a big 7 ft snowblower out back, loaded tires, and its still bouncing along balancing on the front tires with a full bucket in 4wd. The only time I'd be worried is on pavement, I wouldn't use 4wd on a hard surface with loads in the bucket and ballast on your 3 point.

 

[Qapla]

We don't have the Kubota, but we do use it for the loader and back-hoe as the main reason for this particular tractor. We seldom take it out of 4WD and have never had a problem with the drive axles, front or rear.

 

[Piston]

Thanks for the info guys...I won't worry as much anymore. So far I'm really happy with the 4610. My intention was to start here and eventually trade up to a newer, bigger tractor, but so far I'm happy with this one.

Slowzuki, are you on advrider.com or is it just a coincidence, I've seen that name quite a bit on there?