Kubota L6060 HST Creep

[Hilbilly]

My almost 2 year old L6060 starting something strange today. When I run the tractor up a slight incline and release the go pedal the tractor stops and then slowly starts to roll backwards down the incline. Sometimes it will roll 5' and then it will shudder a little and come to a stop. Sometimes it will roll for 10' and then shudder a bit and then stop. Sometimes it will keep rolling until I hit the brake or the go pedal. It seems to be worse when facing uphill than when it is facing downhill.

Anyone else experience this? I'm pretty sure it never did that before today but maybe my memory is not correct,

 

[Fallon]

In High gear a HST will creep a lot. It will still creep a fair bit in Medium, not much on Low even on slopes but it will still creep a bit. I rarely use brakes on my L4060hstc unless i need precision & am on an incline. But it will still roll a foot or 2 on a slope in Low on a slope in a minute or so.

No groaning from the HST I've noticed. But I do get a lot of groaning from the 3pt due to crappy Kubota rear remotes & TnT as things leak down.

 

[rbargeron]

First check the fluid level - how many hours on the HST filter? (replaced at 50?)

With go pedal at midpoint does it tend to creep backward on level ground? If so it would point to adjustment of the HST's servo piston - neutral has a very narrow sweet spot. If the creeping is on slopes in both directions, adjusting the piston won't help - it will just shift the balance point.

My experience is with the earlier HST version in my L48, which has very little creep and only in high range. Is your L6060 still covered by warranty or insurance? If so, it might be good to notify the dealer a problem could be brewing. A new Lxx60 HST is over $9k these days. Take care, Dick B

 

[Hilbilly]

First check the fluid level - how many hours on the HST filter? (replaced at 50?)

With go pedal at midpoint does it tend to creep backward on level ground? If so it would point to adjustment of the HST's servo piston - neutral has a very narrow sweet spot. If the creeping is on slopes in both directions, adjusting the piston won't help - it will just shift the balance point.

My experience is with the earlier HST version in my L48, which has very little creep and only in high range. Is your L6060 still covered by warranty or insurance? If so, it might be good to notify the dealer a problem could be brewing. A new Lxx60 HST is over $9k these days. Take care, Dick B

I did check the fluid level and it is fine.

The HST filter was replaced at 50 hrs and then again at 200 hrs. The filter and the fluids were replaced at 200 hrs because I was one of the unlucky ones that got a recall notice to have the tractor split to check a bolt torque. The tractor now has 360 hrs on it.

The tractor only creeps if I let off the go pedal completely and throttle rpms do not affect the creep.

The tractor is still under the basic warranty for a few more months and I sure don't want any issues after the warranty expires. I will email the dealer to inform him of this issue so that it will at least be documented. I did not trust this dealer to split my tractor and hope they did not screw something up in the process. This is the same dealer that took 4 tries to fix a leaking hydraulic fitting and at one point, told me that if they had to send a service tech to my place to fix this and they could not find the leak then I would be charged for the their time. I ended up taking a video of the leak and sent that to them. They finally got it right on the 4th try. Not a great confidence builder in their abilities.

 

[MHarryE]

Creep is a safety issue on the L6060 as it does not have a clutch pedal like the forerunners (L5740 for example). I assume you mean it creeps on flat surfaces - unacceptable. I have problems with my L6060 collecting dirt in the floor mat gap around the pedal so I need to clean that area frequently but it has only restricted speed, not return to neutral. I’d clean that area really well and like you said, report it to your dealer.

 

[buck12]

Did the creep exist before the recall repair?

 

[SDT]

My 6060 does the same thing and always has.

No shudder or stop, just creep.

SDT

 

[Fallon]

Please clarify...

On flat ground does the machine move on its own? That bad & the HST pedal or something needs calibration.

On a slope the HST won't hold the machine completely still. That is normal. HSTs well sold a machine very well. But hydraulic pumps/motors aren't perfect. So some fluid leaks & it will creep when fighting gravity. The higher the gear the more leverage against the HST & the faster it will creep. Use the parking brake (or drop impliments) if you want to stap put.

 

[Hilbilly]

On flat ground it does not creep, only on an incline but I do not recall the tractor doing this before the split. As I stated earlier, the thing that seems weird is that when it is rolling backwards, after several feet, it will sometimes shudder and then stop rolling. Seems that it wants to stop but something isn't engaging all the time, only sometimes. If this is normal, then I must not have noticed it before but I'm pretty sure it never used to do this. I'm going to try it some more today, if I get a chance.

As MHarryE suggested I will clean the dirt from around the go pedal.

SDT, thanks for that info. Maybe I just never noticed it before but it sure seems to be a new thing. Could just be my old brain not working as well as it used to.

 

[Hilbilly]

So today I did the same test in the same place and the creep was minimal. When facing downhill the creep was almost negligible and when facing uphill it was noticeable but slower than yesterday. That was with the tractor in high range (turtle) in mid range the creep was almost zero facing downhill and very little facing uphill. I suspect the way it was working today is normal and will keep an eye on this over the next uses to see if there are any changes.