Grand L4330 on order

mwaynesmith · May 11, 2003

Ordered an L4330 yesterday(Sat) morning; expected delivery is tomorrow (Mon). Bushhogged in my sleep all last night......

Been looking at various models over the past month, mostly K's and JD's. Have some experience with an 18yr old 55HP K of my fathers and really lke the quaility of the K. My wife wants it for mowing; me for bush hog and general clearing and to help out on my parents' place.

So yesterday carried the wife to see both the K's and the JD's. She winced at the JD's, wouldn't even test drive one. Her opinion was for the money the K's quality was way superior. She signed off really fast on the L4330.

We live on 5 flat acres half pasture, half old-stand really grown up. Parents farm is 150 acres surrounding our 5 where we have cattle, hay, etc.

I know that the 3130 would handle everything we need for our 5 acres but opted for the 4330 so that we can help my father when needed, i.e. hay, clearing, etc.

L4330 GST 4wd
Industrial tires (not filled)
LA853 FEL with quick disc.
6' Bush Hog
6' Land Pride FM

Any thoughts, concerns, or suggestions on this setup? This is our first tractor (and probably our last). So hoping I got this right.

Thanks and looking forward to spending time on this site over the next several years.

Wayne

Anonymous Poster · May 11, 2003

Wayne, Sound like a good choice. Just got my L3830 with La723fel and a 509 bradco backhoe (Fri 3:30 p.m.) and love it. (other than a bad disconnect). Not sure about the Gst (cant give any advice there) but the hst is great. Could'nt believe at the work that tractor could do. Congrats on your new purchase I think you will be satisfied. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

rbargeron · May 11, 2003

The package sounds great. Did you consider the Woods 90" finish mower (RM-990 with 4 castors). Just a thought. With that much tractor you could be covering more ground at a time. I really like my 990.

JATO_RaT · May 11, 2003

The L4430 really is one of my favorite tractors. I purchased a L3830 and had to really fight back not to get the L4330. Actually I was very close to getting a L3130 after looking at Deeres, NH and even dabbling with Kioti. The L3130 looked like it would be the one. Well, several dealers knowing I had just sold my Kubota L48 said that I would probably prefer the L3830's power after using the L48. I took their advice but also knowing I was just one step below a L4330 with its LA 853 loader. I want a loader with power and the LA 853 really shines in the breakout force. So anyway, I resisted, have a very nice L3830 HST, but I also now you have one very nice tractor. I have never driven the new electronic solenoid GST. I'll bet you really like it. Rat...

rbargeron · May 11, 2003

Hey RaT - say some more about the new solenoid gst - is it claimed to be quicker shifting? That little "freewheel" the older ones did between gears on a hill could be unwelcome. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

knucklehead · May 12, 2003

I second the motion on the GST info - I have been interested in that tranny type since trying one out on an older model a year ago. My neighbor just got his new L4330 HST a couple weeks ago. I've been keeping it quiet until I get pictures developed of the delivery......ain't we sick?

One other thing I noticed while going along for the ride with him was the L3830's have the longer stroke (4.0" vs 3.6") of the L5030. That makes me wonder about torque - something the saleman didn't immediately show knowledge about. I let it drop since we were looking at the L4330 but I'd be interested in any info that could be provided about this. Has anyone gotten torque curves out of their dealer's info book or from Kubota? The brochure has a teeny curve for the L5030 - I think they reversed the values on the torque and fuel consumption scales. It'd be nice to compare the L3830 specs with the L3430 and L4330 to see if the 0.5" stroke was taken advantage of. I suppose it's all in the tuning in the end, and they couldn't have the L3830 cranking out more power than the L4330, could they....or??

icat · May 12, 2003

Looks like Saturday was a good day for Kubota. I ordered my L3130 HST on the same day! I think I heard someone refer to it as a "baby grand". Kinda like that. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I think the L4330 is perfect for what you have in mind. Congrats!

BillG_in_TX · May 12, 2003

"L3130 ... a 'baby grand' "

I guess that would make the L5030 a Concert Grand! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

JATO_RaT · May 12, 2003

I wish I knew more about the GST. It does look as though it has improved on the lag time between gears, but my understanding is that it is still there. I think it would be something that you simply familiarized yourself with and deciding to brake between shifts on steep terrain may be what is needed. I have only dabbled with the older GST. It was very nice, at least until I got a hold of HST. That doesn't mean though that GST doesn't have situation where it would be more advantageous however.

I posted the torque values in another post under this same heading. The L3830 is about 89 ft lbs and the L4330 and L4630 are 108 ft lbs. That extra cylinder makes a difference in power. The L3830 is very smooth and quiet and I think just a little less thirsty. Both great setups! Rat...

mwaynesmith · May 12, 2003

I hope this is the right protocol for doing an update....

Well, today is Monday and my L4330 was delivered as promised. Later in the day than I had hoped but got about three hours in before too dark to see.

WHAT AN AWESOME TRACTOR! Left the FEL on to try out tomorrow and with the rotary mowed about 3 acres of very thick and tall fescue. Only problem was trying to keep it under 2000 rpm (per the manual) for the first 50 or so hours for break-in. With the thickest grass the mower seemed to 'bog down'. Left some of the grass bent not cut. Had to go over twice.

On another post someone spoke of the lack of noise on the L series. The turning blades on the Bush Hog was louder than the engine itself.

I like the GST. Lots of trees to mow around so forward to reverse a lot especially with the rotary. Just the left hand to move from forward to reverse and back. Also used to a clutch so used it some as well. There is some 'lag' when moving up/down ranges and sometimes would miss the next range (somewhere between two of them) and would wait for it to kick in. Practice I think will prevail.

Had a little bit of trouble taking the Bush Hog off but think I can get a handle on that too.

Dropped the ROPS and stowed it in the garage for the night. One of these days will get around to building it one of its own.

As far as wider implements, with the trees and all needed to keep the width down. The 6' rotary was easy to use around the trees as it's just about the same width as the tractor. Real easy to side up to the trees.

I will have to spend some time adjusting the rotary mower. When I had the height like I wanted I left some drag marks on one side or the other. Will need to correct before mowing again. In the high growth it won't matter so much but first cutting a pasture getting it ready for the finishing mower left some marks I'd rather not have left (the wife noticed my mistakes first off).

For what its worth, I really liked the K dealer. He is about 1 mile from the house, has three middle TN locations, and really helped me get the model I wanted. He didn't try to sell me one off of the lot (he did have one on one of his other locations), and didn't try to move me to a larger model. He told me that the 3130 would probably work just as well but I wanted the add'l HP and sturdier attachments for future use. Could have gone with the 4630 but the HP that I wanted was already there with the 4330. The dealer is Lebanon Kubota on HW 109 between Lebanon and Mt. Juliet TN.

Thanks,

Wayne