M Series Kubotas

[MChalkley]

It depends on what I'm doing. For most loader work, I leave the throttle at 2100 rpm give or take a hundred; if I'm doing very heavy loader work, I'll run it at 2500 rpm or even more, but this is pretty rare.

For most everything else, excluding PTO powered implements, of course, I almost always run it at 1600-1800 rpm depending on the conditions.

I've never noticed any tendency for the HST to be "jumpy" at high rpms, nor have I had any problem from soreness. I may not use it the way most people do, though: I don't rest my foot on the pedal. When going forward, I rest my heel on the floor and my toe on the pedal; when going backward, I raise my heel, slide it back to the HST pedal, and rest my toe on the floor. This is a much more natural position for me and I never get confused about which direction is which. I like this pedal arrangement better than the dual pedals you push with your toe to go forward and backward because I can alternately rest and use different muscles when changing directions.

Thanks - I was pretty pleased with the results, and most importantly, so was the guy that pays for the work.

Mark

 

[Anonymous Poster]

If I was considering a bigger ag-type tractor (4610) and I was considering the HST (which I did for a few months) I'd sure spend some time again on a JD. With my 17 years of a clutch and shuttle trans I found it far easier after a little while to get accustomed to. I find the rocker pedal on my BX still weird. I don't think it was the HST that I didn't like as much as the rocker pedal. The two pedals, where I could do a more natural movement (like I use my feet for in a truck) seemed much better. And then there's that issue of the brakes which are useable on the JD. If JD was building the same unit as my L35 with the hydro I think I would have gone to it and could have adapted to it easier. Now watch...either JD's going to come out with one or Kubota's going to redo their pedals!

 

[Billc]

Gordo, spent a good bit of yesterday brushcutting the pasture, moving some humps to some dips (to level out the pasture, and moving some downed trees to a burn pile. I thought alot about whether I made the right choice in buying the 5700 or whether I should have bought the 4310 hst. Currently, as I am doing mainly clearing, grading, and a lot of cleaning up, I wish I had the 4310. It would make my job a lot easier. But as I finish a section of pasture (where it is leveled, trees are pruned up, etc.) I am sort of happy with my 5400 decision. Still, deep in my head I know that the 4310 would have done about what the 5400 could do. The 5400 is a true ag tractor where the 4310 is not. So if I were a farmer with big fields to plant and lots of big impliments to pull then the 5400 is the only choice. But I am not a farmer, I am a rancher. The only time I do farming work is when I do brush cutting here or when someone hires me out for their pasture.

I thought alot about how I would use a tractor before I bought one. I had spent a lot of time on a Massey 135 and 245. I saw the 4310 as the Massey 135 and the 5400 as the Massey 245. The 245 would work circles around the 135...but they were both geared and both had had a lot of use. The comparison wasn't a fair one. The 4310 hst is NOTHING like a Massey 135.

When I bought my 5400 I got a deal, a 5400 4x4 with 60 hours, a 1001 loader, quick release bucket, tooth bar, canopy, 2 remotes, tire ballast, and a work lite for $22,850. The 4310 similarly equiped was a good bit more, but was brand new. For me the deal was too good to pass up.

I was going through the choice you are having to make. I knew the 4310 would be a lot easier to operate. I spent a lot of time at the dealer playing on a 4310 hst. Then my Brother bought a 3710 hst and I used it at his place a good bit. But when it came down to the decision I thought I bought a lot more tractor for the same money. The 5400 has 20 more hp, bigger and stonger in every way, a lot better and stonger loader, etc. Now, after using the heck out of it since December I am not so sure I made the right decision. When I am clearing my land, or regrading, or backing up to cut under a tree, or even doing straight line Bush Hogging and need to slow down as I go over a hump or a did, I wonder a little more each time is my decision was wrong.

Again, Gordo, think real hard about how you will be using your new Kubota.

 

[MChalkley]

Del, you're not trying to rest your whole foot on the rocker pedal, are you? I found that very tiring to try to do. Maybe the BX pedal is different from the L-series pedal, too.

Mark

 

[MChalkley]

Thanks for the message Bill - I'll mail you the $50 like I promised. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

P.S. If it's any consolation, the trade-in value on your M-series should be very good, especially with the deal you got on it originally.

Mark

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I have tried it both ways, entire foot on and just using heel for reverse like you mentioned. I'm sure I could eventually adapt to either. Must be gettin' old. When I buy a VCR or TV or anything if I can just use it out without looking at the manual I know I'm half the way there. The JD just felt "natural" after a short time. So I think I've figured this out, and why you like your HST so much over your older GST. You used your GST for a long enough to take your feet out of their old gearstyle habit which made going to the HST only "half a jump" from going from a gear tractor! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif


[email]oldcarparts@mygarage.com [/email]

 

[MChalkley]

Del, there may be some truth to your theory. I'd put about 600-700 hours on three different GST tractors before switching to the HST, so I was very used to using the left hand for forward and reverse, and spent a lot of time on the throttle with my right foot, and of course the usual usage of the left foot for the clutch. One thing that took some getting used to with the HST, though, and I think turns a lot of people off when they first try it, is the tendency to consider the HST pedal a throttle instead of a gear shift. It takes a few hours of steady use to get past the "I need more power, so I'll push the pedal down farther" habit, which, of course, is the way everything else we drive works. And until you do, HST is more trouble than it's worth. After the adjustment period is over, and you get used to the way it really works, you start seeing some real productivity gains. Though I guess that's not always true - I remember seeing a guy not long after I'd gotten my HST who kept stalling his mid-size JD mower out. I was working on a lot next to his and after he kept cussing the machine I finally went over and talked to him. Turned out that he'd had the thing and used it regularly for a couple years and hadn't learned how the hydrostatic drive worked yet. The funny part was that he wasn't stupid - after 5 minutes or so of explanation and demonstration, which he made clear he appreciated, I didn't hear him stall it out another time. He just wasn't able to figure it out on his own, I guess. Why in the world he tolerated it that long I'll never know.

Mark

 

[W5FL]

Bill C

I also had a Massey 245. I always considered it a pretty good tractor for it's intended uses (it was not designed to use a loader) but very limited for several of the uses that I had for a tractor. Everything that Kubota has done on the M Series is a tremendous improvement on the Massey.

Guess you bought a M5400 and then they came out with the M5700. The all synchronized gearbox and the shuttle shift lever on the dash is really nice in the 2000 year models.

I usually mow in 4th gear and with the all synchronized gearbox, it is easy to shift on the fly if you need to change speed (I believe you can do that between third and fourth).

The hydro is easy to change speed and direction on, but not easy to maintain a constant ground speed. It just depends on which is important to you and the work you do the most.

I always hated to do a lot of gear changing on the Massey as you had to stop completely for several seconds to change directions or gears (and all that gear grinding hurt your ears) and it was really slow plus it had the double clutch for the transmission and pto. The pto engage lever with clutch and brake on the Kubota is absolutely wonderful. Night and day to the Massey.

Noticed on the Kubota Page that for the L4610 with GST is not available in Nebraska. Mark must have talked to them already! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Mark, it's funny you mention that about the throttle pedal/gearshift pedal business. The dealer where I initially looked at Kubotas didn't mention that at all during the demo and in my attempts to use the loader couldn't do anything right. It wasn't till I went to the JD dealer that someone explained that to me. When I went back to the Kubota dealer I was able to actually use the thing but again the same salesman didn't mention that. It's probably a common misconception,after all it's on the right and it's a pedal not a lever.

Unless you accidentally stumble on to the fact that as you ease your foot off the pedal the tractor actually is able to dig FARTHER into a pile you're in for some slow loader days!

If someone at Kubota was monitoring a list like this a light might go on and they'd send out a bulk email to all of their dealers to make sure that this is explained to people, or would that make too much sense?

It's amazing that you can adapt to the unusual if you have to. I am so dorked off that there was not a universal 2-lever backhoe operation pattern. Can anyone say Beta-VHS? Everytime I rent an excavator I go nuts for awhile trying to operate the thing as the 2 levers don't do the same thing as my Ford and Kubota do. For awhile I am Joe goofball and there better not be anyone watching!

I have to say to myself everytime I want to do something, "pull-out" or whatever to get the thing working. After awhile though my body somehow just does it. I wouldn't want to be a safety situation where I had to rely on instinct though! And then when I get on my backhoe I have to start all over but that comes back quicker. Some of the newer japanese excavators have a simple switch to change the pattern!

I had a brilliant thought once and decided to move the hoses on my hoe around so the pattern was the same as the excavator, so I could practice for a few days before renting one. DUH! The valving has to be moved to! My Ford is setup so when you lift the boom you have FULL FLOW and when you lower the hoe it is is restricted. I changed all the hoses and then went to use it. It lifted up at grandma slow speed and then when I went to dump the dirt the boom dropped like a rock! Well that was a couple of hours of hose switching for nothing! Somebody knock me out before I do some real damage! I could have changed the valves but that would have been a real hassle.

 

[Billc]

Wen, I did buy the 5400 and not the 5700. I bought it at the end of December 1999. I would like to have had the choice of the 5700, but time was a factor. I had to buy a tractor before the end of the year for tax reasons. Also I was told I wouldn't have been able to get a 5700 until about March '00 (at the earliest). I had lots of tractor work that needed to be done. And the 5400 was as good a deal as I found at the time.

I like the 5400. When I brush cut a thicket with 3 and 4" trees with my Bush Hog, the tractor doesn't strain at all. I took the 5400 over to my Brother's, he was having a tough time getting some pines knocked down. His 3710 couldn't budge them. The 5400 had no problem with them...up they came.

I wanted a bigger, stronger, tractor than the L series. I got what I wanted. My only complaint is that it's not a hydro. I would liked to have tried the 5700 before my decision, but I wasn't able to wait.

I know I whine when I spend a day doing a lot of gear changing, but I am happy with what I bought. But, as I've said, the day Kubota has an M series hst, look out, there had better be a clear path over at Goss Tractor to the order desk!