Back in November of 2005 my new Kubota L3830 had less than ten hours total running time. I used the tractor with a 5 ft Bush Hog Squealer 600 to clip a field that had not been cut in about two years. The field had large patches of Johnson grass that were higher than the tractor's ROPS. The weather was cool. We had already had our first frost, but the dead weeds were standing tall. There was an unbelievable amount of airborne crud. I always wear a dust mask while bush hogging. The bush hog cut through the weeds like a hot knife through butter until it overheated. After I shut down, I discovered that every air inlet into the tractor's hood was clogged with a couple of inches of airborne crud. When I opened the hood, I discovered that the radiator prefilter was clogged to the extent that there was no room for any additional crud. I let the tractor cool down and I cleaned off as much of the crud as possible. The tractor ran great and has continued to run great. It now has over 300 trouble free hours.
Since then I have put in many days bush hogging in 95 degree weather with no problem. I am ready to quit before the tractor is ready to quit. The L3830 has a digital temperature meter. normal operating temperature shows four bars. When that fifth bar appears I stop and clean out the radiator prefilter and all the hood air intakes.
My dealer warned me about airborne crud during my purchase instuction, but on that first day the tractor was unstoppable until it overheated.
