I Still Hate My Tractor

[The Fred]

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...6348-turbocharging-new-l3940-gutless-pig.html

Had it 5 months now. Some good things to note: Cab heater and A/C works excellent. Bad things: Little to no power. If going up an incline and the Revs are at 2600 and I use ANY of the hydraulics the revs drop to 1500 or so and the whole machine is thrown into a tizzy, if in Auto-HDS the tractor will shift down to low JUST by hitting the FEL lever. Keep in mind this is with NO load on the 3PH. I measured the fuel screw and turned it out 1/2 turn as a baseline, the engine just smokes like crazy and I could see NO difference in power so I cut it back even lower than the factory setting until the engine stopped smoking. I feel this engine is over fueled even from the factory. The engine needs more air and I will try this next.

Parts are priced CRAZY high, paint is fading horribly for a 2012 model. I don't dare leave it in the sunshine because of this. R4s SUCK in the snow/ice. With chains it works fine. Engine won't start very well in the cold compared to other Diesel equipment I have. Saturday I ran the snowblower 3 hours (15 degrees outside and blowing wind) and parked the machine outside. I forgot to run the glowplugs because on my other machines they don't need cycling after the engine has been run long. The machine floods itself and you must run the plugs 2 or three times to get the machine to fire. I now realize one must always cycle the plugs if the ambient is below 45 degrees, even in the shop.

This week the new turbo came in and I will be installing slowly, I took some time to research the Bobcat S-160 with the same but turboed engine. The only differences I see in parts breakdowns are extra oil cooler. and turbo related things.

I have bought a lot of new equipment over the years, this one has been one of the biggest letdowns ever, If this doesn't do the trick I will sell this in the Spring, Fred

 

[buickanddeere]

Should have bought a 4005 Deere

 

[murphy1244]

Or a DK-40

 

[kuboman]

Well all you needed to do was check weight of tractor and the engine hp. You will see yours with the cab has a high weight to hp. In my opinion the L5740 would be minimum for a cabbed tractor.
Unless your engine has the necessary piston cooling jets your engine will not standup to the hp you will need to make the tractor what you expect it to do. Just buy the bigger tractor.

 

[xring100]

Are you sure there's not something wrong with the tractor before you put the turbo on it. Maybee have it run on a dyno. I've used smaller kubota l series than yours and not experienced your problems. As far as cold starting kubota usually has exceptional performance . My m series glow plugs are computer controlled and physically won't cycle unless engine coolant is below 32 or 33. It starts just fine at these lower temperatures even when the plugs don't cycle. Sounds like something is wrong with your engine. Is it possible that the injection pump or something is timmed wrong.

As far as parts are concerned it doesn't matter what color the parts are they are all expensive.

snow traction R4s and R1s suck especially in hard pack or ice. Turfs might be slightly better

 

[the old grind]

None of my HSTs would climb much of a grade, even unloaded, in high range. Since HST is a variable ratio system, stomping the HST pedal into the 'highest gear' won't offset using the wrong 'range' for the job. I wonder who among us tows in high gear by just jamming the accelerator pedal down vs downshifting for hills, or heavy loads, or driving around at city speeds in 4th or 5th

Adding a turbo won't increase HST's pressure to the torque-motor side of the system. Hydraulics are limited by pump capacity more than by HP driving them, and full pressure rarely requires full rpm. I expect the OP to be disappointed with the turbo add-on if he doesn't understand how to operate a HST machine in the first place. Others here seem to struggle with how much they are NOT like a car or truck in use.

HST can't be compared to an automatic transmission in any direct way, so it can't be driven exactly the same way. 'Range' is the gear we're actually operating in. 'High' range is just that, and the reason for more than one choice. Think of the HST pedal as a clutch that slips less as you push down harder. In a car or truck it would be the opposite, and you would ease off the clutch to reduce slippage. In either case, I wouldn't drive around in 'High' range all the time with any vehicle unless unloaded and on level ground. For the most part that's all 'H' is good for. :2cents:

 

[The Fred]

Points all well taken. I have never tried high range my property won't allow it. Have not had the machine on the road yet. I should have bought bigger yes.

Bobcat S-160 engine V-2003T doesn't have cooling jets as far as I can see in the parts pix. I will monitor oil temps and intake/exhaust temps until I know it is safe.

Fred

 

[rsallen]

As a general principle turbo's will not and can not deliver any boost below a set minimum of rpms.
If you're dragging the engine rpms down below the base line set no turbo, rebuild or new is going to help.

Do not invest in another turbo until you check that the turbo isn't meeting those base lines.

 

[Midniteoyl]

He's been told before...


I'm still wondering just why this tractor hasnt been back to the dealers to check it out? Seems the very first thing he did was mess with it. Even before the first payment..

Trying to save money by buying a smaller tractor then 'upgrading' the power and 'shimming' the hydraulics to what you really need doesnt usually pan out.

 

[The Fred]

Shop manual for the 5740 (turbocharged) shows NO piston cooling jets either. So where are they? Nobody has been able to show me that any Kubota has them. None of the parts pix show piston cooling jets on any of their engines.

Dealer dyno proved this machine and showed me it was within 5% of advertised. I have not checked timing, another good point. The dealer simply gave me all the hoopla that this machine is what it is, an unbroken, working properly unit. It's mine now, I'll deal with it.

Fred