Thank you for serving our country! Sounds like you have an exciting job!
The
L3301 and the
L2501 are very similar. The
L3301 is assembled in USA.
L2501 is made in Japan. The
L3301 of course has a bunch of emissions gadgetry. And at first that was a big turn off to me. However after having the
L2501 I could not stand the noise level. Installing a new muffler may have fixed it but I didn't want to mess around with it even though I could have done it fairly easy.
The noise level is a bigger issue with HST tractors. They have to run around 1700 to 2000 rpm when working. The
L2501 exhaust produced a very sharp or harsh sound that just really ticked me off. I have a
L3830 as well. It is not near as loud and has a smooth exhaust sound. Interesting it and the
L2501 share the same manifold. But the
L3830 muffler would require modifications to fit under the
L2501 hood.
I have not measure dB level on the
L3301 yet but it's quieter than my
L3830 by a lot.
The other issue I had with the
L2501 was the exhaust smell. It was like an old Ford power stroke Diesel. Very oily smelling exhaust. Never smelled another Kubota engine like it. Made me sick within a few minutes. Honestly I hated the tractor! Hah!
I have well over 1300 hours running Kubota machinery. TLB's, skid steers, excavators, tractors, etc. So I maybe more picky than others. I love my
L3830. And my ZD is a fantastic machine as well. Zero complaints. I'll never sell the
L3830. So far in the .5 hours I have run it I really like the
L3301. But it too early for me to recommend it. I'm very impressed with the front loader which was on my
L2501. Also the HST seems nice and is not very loud... for HST!
