First Day with L3130DT power question answered

[Peaks]

After much consideration Blah! Blah! Blah!....

My L3130DT, LA513 FEL and Woods BB72 arrived today and I got a couple of hours on it and was truly impressed with its stature and power. Bush hogged about 2 acres of 3'-4' tall thick fescue and weeds in high 2nd gear and low 4th gear. The tractor did not bog down once and easily did all I asked of it. Went down in ditches, around the creek, started to spin a couple of times, hit the 4wd lever and pulled out like a champ. You dont appreciate 4wd until you have it. I have operated quite a few machines without 4wd and did not really see the reason to get it. But now I am telling all the doubters of 4wd, get it. I could have probably mowed faster, but the ground was quit rough. If you are considering purchasing the 3130 to bushog and have doubts about the power capabilities with a 6' bush hog, clear them from your head. The 3130, despite being the smallest engine in its class is in my opinion a workhorse.

I used the 513 fel while clearing about 1000' of fence of brush and small trees. I thought the loader was a little weak at first, but soon got the hang of it and was pulling up 4-6" diameter trees along the overgrown fence with ease. The skill of the operator seemed to mean as much as ( and probably more) than the power of the machine. The 513 loader seemed to be quite adequate in power and matched the 3130 quite well. If I needed to moved anything bigger I would probably go ahead and rent something like a Case 580. I know a lot of Kubotaheads opt for the larger 723 for the larger lift capacity. The extra 400 or so pounds may seem like a lot, but I pick that up about a half a dozen times in the gym weekly and its not really that big of a difference. I also moved about 10 bucket loads of crush & run from the back of the barn that had been sitting out in the weather for about 8 years. No problems whatsoever.

If you are considering the L3130DT and 513fel and think it may not be enough tractor, you may just be surprised. Oh, and yes it will pull a 6' bush hog without any problems.

Thanks to everyone on this board.

and the fun begins................ /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Hebbster]

Peaks,

I have the same configuration, L3130DT with LA513 loader. Took delivery on May 7. So far, it's done everything I've asked of it. Lots of power. I looked at the JD4310 and I thought the extra weight of the 3130 would be more beneficial. I think, with the tires loaded, it's over 5000lbs.

Intitially, I'm clearing about 20 acres and skidding out the logs. The largest of the trees are 24" at the butt and about 40 - 50' tall. Most are 12 - 16" and 20 - 30' tall. I've been dragging out 5 and 6 of the smaller trees at a time with no problem. It could handle more but I didn't want to push it during break in. I've skidded out about 16 chord so far just using a drawbar and some grab hooks.

The other major task will be snow removal, and I don't expect any problems there either. I don't think power will be an issue but traction may be with the R4's. I may invest in a set of chains just to be sure. I've also got a 7' rear blade that the tractor doesn't even know is there, when grading the driveway.

I just did my 50hr service this weekend with no problems.

 

[Peaks]

Hi Hebbster,

Just put in another day on the L3130. Funny you should mention pulling trees. I had that test today. I pulled a tree about 20" in diameter that fell during a storm yesterday. Tree was about 40' long. No problem. I don't think the front end squatted when I picked it up with the endloader.
Mowed some wet grass with the 6' hog and weeds about 5' tall just to see what would happen. It never whined a bit. It sure seems like a lot more than 32hp.
Moved a couple of piles of topsoil that had been mounded for a year. My skills with the endloader were the only thing that held it back. It pushed on through without any problems.

I have a pole barn to put up and was kind of dreading it until I got the tractor. :

How much dirt do you think a guy could move with a box scraper and one of these? I need to cut in a driveway. Can't wait.


Good luck /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[DCRC]

Good to hear of the success with youur L series. I shoud be picking my L3830HST during the middle of the week. Just waiting on the HD bucket.

Which tires are you both running Ag's , or Industrials?

 

[Peaks]

Running filled industrials on mine.

Peaks

 

[Hebbster]

Filled R4's on mine, as well. Initially, the dealer made a mistake and delivered it with AG's, so I had a couple of days to play with it until they came back to change them. I can say that the AG's certainly have more traction but the industrials are a lot heavier ply tire and also hold more ballast. I think they are better with the loader with not as much latteral movement from the sidewalls. Industrials won't tear up the lawn as badly either.

 

[_RaT_]

Only thing about filling the tires, at least on my tractor (L3830 HST) is that the extra hundreds of pounds while great for traction, is hindering on my hills on eating up the power when mowing uphill. If my land was flat, or I did not mow, I would fill the tires as I did on my Kubota L48. I must also admit, I typically run out of power well before I run out of traction. Combined with a 1000lb boxblade and a loader often filled with material to add more traction over the front wheels, my R4's very rarely slip in my primarily decomposed granite soil.

 

[Peaks]

Dug a hole today with my LA513 so big that you could not see the tractor when I drove down in it. I did not realize how big it was until I looked sideways and noticed my head was just above the ground. Kind of spooked me a little. Then laughed kicked it in 4wd, and pulled out without a problem. %$##$@ groundhogs. It did bog down a couple of times, but I found that if you back off on the bite you are trying to take it does just fine. It just takes you a little longer. THis hole took me about 20 minutes to dig. Then I got the pleasure of filling it back in.

kubotahead