DavesTractor
Elite Member
Gary, I believe the hour meter on the newer Kubotas are electronic. I'm not sure about the L3800, but certainly on the Grand series they are. On my old L4400, it was like you described. If you did idling work, you could go all day without putting on more than a couple hours. Mechanical driven tach/hour meter. On the newer stuff, being electronic, it's just a simple clock that starts ticking when you turn on the key. Makes buying a used tractor with mechanical tach truly a guessing game as verified with your comments.
Interesting thought, but just because the tach is digital/electronic does not necessarily mean that it does not read RPM and calculate the amount of work done like a mechanical tach. I think most ag tractors still calculate as they did in the past, even though there is no mechanical cable. Most construction equipment seems to use (whether digital or analog) a simple Hobbs type meter that is basically a clock that runs when the equipment is running, regardless of rpm.
I'm not sure about the Grand L series, I'd be curious to know if an hour at idle really puts on an hour. Over the life of a tractor, this could make quite a bit of difference in an hour meter reading.