3130 - First day fun

DaNag · Feb 13, 2005

Picked up the 3130 from the dealer today. Let's just say, 6 hours in the seat does not an expert make.

At about 2 hours, I buried her in the mud. Fortunately, it was close enough to the road, and the winch on the truck was my friend...

At about 4 hours, I blew a hydraulic line. The dealer's only 15 minutes away, and he replaced the line under warranty, even though there's the distinct possibility it was was...ahem, operator error. He even threw in a gallon of hydraulic fluid, no charge. While this only set us back an hour or so, it really drove home how valuable a good local dealer can be.

Hey..at least I stayed upright all day. Can't wait to get back out there again tomorrow...this really shouldn't be described as "work".

Pics will be coming...none of them clean. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Swampthing · Feb 13, 2005

Glad you had fun! /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif I pick mine up next week. I can't wait, but with all the rain here, I'm afraid I'll have the same problem. How did you blow the line? Just trying to learn by reading all these posts. This will be my first tractor.

Keep the "shiny" side up. Can't wait to see the pics, and sounds like you have a great dealer! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

DaNag · Feb 13, 2005

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( How did you blow the line? Just trying to learn by reading all these posts. This will be my first tractor.
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Same here...reading all the valuable info here made for great preparation, but it became clear after about 2 minutes in the seat how much I had to learn...

RE the line...I've got a landscaper tooth bar, and let's just say there was a little, er, confusion at the helm. I had just dumped a load, and the teeth were pretty much vertical. While moving forward, I dropped the bucket, the teeth grabbed, and the line popped.

Speaking of which, the toothbar has been great for brush clearing - it's great at grabbing the material. I also ordered up the grapple attachment from the guy on eBay that's been discussed here - this combo has made it pretty easy for this rookie to make some good progress.

Also, I was following Ramon's posts closely, and prior to the fuel blockage issue on his 3130 being discovered, I was concerned about power. While I've not had the rotary cutter on yet (won't be in for another week or so), I'm fairly certain I'll fall into the "happy with the power" camp. While I've got nothing to compare it to, so far, it seems to be doing all I'm asking of it, even with the tires filled and working the box blade up a slight incline.

_RaT_ · Feb 13, 2005

Congratulations on your L3130. They are incredible for clearing brush, the tooth bar makes the job much easier. A grapple would be ideal I should think.

smittyd3 · Feb 13, 2005

Hey _RaT_ ,

When I got my toothbar a couple of weeks I had a friend of mine tack weld it in as well as bolt it on the sides. Well yesterday I used a hand grinder to remove the tack welds so I could use it to back drag some leaf piles the wife raked up without leaving tooth marks. I had it tack welded to make sure it wouldn't move any, and I thought I would never take it out, but I found out never say never.

_RaT_ · Feb 13, 2005

I put my mine and take it off repeatedly. My 1/2" air impact, a small sledge and it's on/off fast. If I have a lot of dirt to move, I will leave it on to help get larger loads. For cleaning out the rocks and roots, it works well.

Theowegian · Feb 13, 2005

Howdy!

Glad to hear you are enjoying your L3130. Its a tough machine and Im sure you'll be happy with it.

And Im especially glad to hear about another happy L3130 owner who understands that his tractor is NOT underpowered. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

dwight

curt1 · Feb 13, 2005

I bought my L3130 in November 2004 and have been very happy with it. Plenty of power for a 31 HP machine. Very strong loader for a machine its size.
I think you will be very happy with your 3130. Only negative about mine is not being able to put more hours on it due to weather. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Hope you get plenty of seat time and enjoy!

Curt

Swampthing · Feb 13, 2005

Thanks DaNag. I'm sure I will have plenty of "man I can't believe I did that" stories when I get started. And I will have to look into getting teeth for the FEL. I can't wait, and it's raining again.