Kubota history

[Anonymous Poster]

Our dealership is the oldest in PA. We started in 1970 and sold L210 and L260's and it was a hard road for "jap" tractors to be accepted. In 73 or 74 they came out with the B6000Dt and it was a hit, other than the backwards running PTO. I could go on all night about all the old kubota's but I dont type that well. We got our tractors from Marubina trading Co there was not even a Kubota tractor corp. of America yet. I could write a book on both old & new kubotas. Bob Artman Jr. VP. Artman Equipment Inc.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Early Kubotas we not expensive a new L210 with an L59 Woods mower sold for $2150.00. The dollar Yen rate in71,72 was right around 380 yen to 1 dollar. At first they where actually selling against used tractors.

 

[knucklehead]

So, how do we get you to start putting it all down? Do you happen to have saved any old sales brochures, or dealer type books with models, years, etc.?

 

[Anonymous Poster]

We have lots of old lit & and dealer manuals. As far as putting it to paper I have thought about it several times, I just dont know if the intrest would be there for a book like this.

 

[knucklehead]

Yes, I understand that a book such as this would be highly specialized. I wonder how companies such as <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.motorbooks.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/mbi.woa/wa/default>Classic Motorbooks</A> finance their books?

I hope you plan to retain your older material. I'm sure many of us would be interested in your resources for older tractors.

Have you considered, or possibly made some sort of start, such as organizing the material by model, by year, or something? I am only familiar with a few Kubota madels, but the "B" and "L" series seem to have been around for a while.

 

[smthng2do]

I work for a dealer in San Diego County. We have been a Kubota dealer since the beginning. We sold 250 Kubotas at a time to growers. The B6000, and the B7100 being the most popular due to their size. They provided great power, yet they were small enough to manuever through the groves without knocking the fruit off of the trees. The B6000 was a wet sleeve, and is still one of the most reliable little tractors. As mentioned before, the PTO running backwards was a bummer, but there was a reverser kit made available so that other implements besides the Woods implements could be used. Last check though, there were only 75 sleeves available. The only knock I have on Kubota, is that they are obsoleting their parts too quickly. Harnesses and gearing mostly. The majority of the work I do is still on tractors that are 25 years old. I have every spec and bulletin for these tractors dating back to '70. As far as literature & history, there isn't much out there. However, I can provide specs for you if you like.

 

[frank_f15]

was wondering if u or bob 2 could give a hint on how kubota(other manufactures also) designate thei tractor models? i.e. my friends 12 year old b8200 is very similar to the current b7100 or b7500, i beleive. or am i missing something here?

 

[smthng2do]

Well, I would have to go to the books to give you an exact break down. In the early days, there was no horsepower designation related to the model number as they are now. Like the BX2200 being 22 HP, or the BX1800 being 18 HP. The 8200 was a lot bigger than the 7100, 7200, etc.

The engine model designation comes from the first letter of the German word for each number. (Seeing how the diesel was German invented).

E = 1 Cyl.
Z = 2 Cyl.
D = 3 Cyl.
V = 4 Cyl.
F = 5 Cyl.
S = 6 Cyl.

The number after the letter designation is the rough estimate of the CC's of the engine. Like, for instance, the B8200, has an engine model of D950-DT. This would be a four wheel drive 3 cylinder engine with approximately 950 CC's. The 7100 is a D750. An L200 was a Z1100A, so it was a 2 banger with about 1100 CC's.

The B7100 was rated at 13.2 PTO horsepower, while the 8200 was rated at 16.0. Both less with HST trans of course. So, there was no true way of breaking down the model of the tractors early on just by reading the tractor model number.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

<font color=blue>The only knock I have on Kubota, is that they are obsoleting their parts too quickly. Harnesses and gearing mostly.</font color=blue>
How soon do they do this?? I realize it has to happen sooner or later.
Jemi

 

[smthng2do]

Well, I am seeing it on L245's, L295's, all the old B series, including the 6000, 7000, 7100<HST>. These tractors are between 20 and 25 years old. Harnesses are no biggy, although it does take time to make a harness, it is usually easier, and cheaper to buy one rather than make one, but to make a 4-wheel drive shift fork for an L295 is not as easy. I have been able to order a shift fork for an L185, and modify if to work with the L295. Seems the L295 is the hardest one so far, but the 175, 185, 265, 285....they are all going through the gearing thing. I don't know how many of these units they sold nation wide, and it may have something to do with their obsoleteing parts, however, there is still a huge demand for parts in my locale for the smaller B series. Sector shafts for the B6000, before they changes the design. Entire sterring assy's are available, but many of the internal components are not. My only gripe. Wish they had better support for the older models on parts.