Kubota F series

[Baby Grand]

Pms? My Kubota always puts me in a good mood!

So my friends, now there you have it
I said it's the easy simple way
Now if you fail, uh, ta do this
Don't blame her if she looks my way-a

Cause I'm gonna a
A treat her like a lad-ay
(You got-ta, got-ta treat her like)

Apologies to Cornelius & Sister Rose.

 

[Rip]

Been getting a bit of rain so grass greening up after being dormant for over 3 months.....sort of unusual for summer in Tasmania, but got on the F2880 today and all was great. Finally got my extra 115 lbs of rear counter-weight and it does make a difference on my steepest hills.....steers better and actually get some benefit from the 4-wheel drive.

Need to de-thatch (mind you, I have 'mowed paddock', not lawn as such) and was thinking of making an attachment to mount in front of the mower deck using light-gauge hay-rake or similar round spring-steel teeth at 3 to 4" spacing. Just want to lift the dead matted grass up to re-cut and scatter while mowing couple time a year. Anyone done or seen something like this??

Also been thinking of a hitch receiver for the rear.....be nice to see what others may have built.

Cheers from (mostly) Sunny Tasmania! ! Rip

 

[arto98607]

Hi, I am fairly new here.

Nice to hear from Tasmania, sorry I have no experience with F series de-tatching.

I bought a high hours F-3060 (3550 hrs.), with 72 inch rear discharge deck late last summer and have been slowly getting the deck fixed up.
Nothing major, just welding up few cracks and will open up the deck's little gearbox to replace the seals and perhaps bearings. The deck wheels will also need some attention.

The rear axle has a pretty nasty oil leak which also needs to be fixed before I start using this mower.
It's one of those projects that have been on the back burner.

We have been mowing about three acre area with Grasshopper Diesel mower and wanted something with little larger wheels and 4x4.


Cheers
:drink:

 

[sixdogs]

There are lots of threads on light duty dethatchers but just not attached to the front of a mower.

 

[Rip]

Sixdogs....I have seen a number of commercial and DIY de-thacher devices and gotten ideas from many......just went by the local farm equip dealer and picked up a double-spring-tine that I will see what I can design around. Was just wondering if someone had already done something closer to what I am thinking as a front mount? I have designed and built many things from my own head, but am not above taking good ideas where and when I can find them.

Arto.....good to see another Aussie on the forum.....these are really good machines, but the higher hours on yours has taken its toll.....mine only had about 1500 hrs of council use but I still had to do some serious bushing and bearing repairs to the rear axle less than 100 hrs on. The 60" mower deck had taken a lot of abuse but had been hammered, welded, fixed a lot already. (Did get the dealer to put new blades and tyres all around.) I did just have to repair one of the guide wheel spindles as well.

Take a good look at the two rear mower deck adjustable support links as they can wear though in short order and you will not be able to properly level the deck height.

Anyway, get 'er fixed up and she'll be right!

Cheers, Rip

 

[sixdogs]

Rip-- know I have seen front mounted homebuilts but I can't seem to find them. I did find some three point hitch models but none that were up front. maybe start a separate thread looking for ideas and let them find you?

 

[EddieWalker]

I can't speak for the F series, but Kubota has had a lot of problems with people putting hitches on their zero turn mowers and over stressing the hydraulics. I read quite a few reports about this, and then when I was talking to the dealer, asked about the problems with their hydraulic motors that I was reading about. He took me to see their mechanic and he showed me several zero turn mowers with hitches on them that all had failed. He said the motors where great, but they where never designed to pull a load of any kind.

If your's is rated for pulling stuff, go for it. If not, or if you are unsure, talk to your dealer and their mechanic to make sure.

Eddie

 

[aczlan]

IIRC, the F series are essentially a BX that has been flipped around with higher gears (so they can go faster). Pulling things isn't an issue with them.

Aaron Z

 

[Rip]

As Aczlan said, the F are really factory Frankenstein versions of the BX and B units, so completely different than the ZD or other zero-turns. Still not the best for towing as the back end swings around like a crocodile tail, but would still be useful for some things.....just have to work around the counterweight also, so was wondering if someone else had come up with a slick version? I can certainly (re)invent my own wheel though.

Will get to working on my de-thatcher soon as I get couple other little projects out of the way (including taxes).

Cheers, Rip

 

[Barnbuilder]

I think I'm in the market for an F series. My Husqvarna Rider 155 just isn't getting the job done anymore. Everytime I turn around I have to fix it. Need something faster and getting ready to double the size of our yard.
Not having much luck finding anything used locally. Going to call the dealership and check on new ones. Anything to look out for?
I thought about a zero turn but the wife usually mows and she tears up enough with the Husqvarna. She hit both my trucks . A z-turn would be even worse.