Issues already? New mx5400 steering issue.

[Rdrcr]

Definitely call the dealer and describe your findings and symptoms...even if the steering is ‘normal’ under those conditions, I wouldn’t be pleased with all the items they missed during assembly/inspection. You just spent some good money on that tractor and it should have been delivered in perfect condition.

Mike

 

[deelowe]

Definitely call the dealer and describe your findings and symptoms...even if the steering is ‘normal’ under those conditions, I wouldn’t be pleased with all the items they missed during assembly/inspection. You just spent some good money on that tractor and it should have been delivered in perfect condition.

Mike

Thanks. We've already spoken about the other issues. They know I'm not super pleased with the way the tractor was delivered. There were other things too, unrelated to the tractor itself that I didn't mention, which we also spoke about.

Regarding whether this is "normal" or not, that's really my main concern. I don't want to be overly picky, but now I'm paranoid. So, if there are any other owners out there who could let me know whether this is to be expected, I'd appreciate the help. I have no experience with this sort of tractor. The last one I drove was a ford when I was a kid helping my family out in the pasture. Never driven anything with hydrostat steering.

 

[ning]

First off, the tractors come fully assembled in metal frames, all the selling dealer has to do is put the wheels on and do a once over. so a broken zerk could easily be missed. The onus of your issues are basically on you, you should have done a 'once over' before you ever used the tractor, called a pre use inspection. Something I do every day before I use my tractors even though they are older. I look them over and address anything needed before I go out to the field. Reading and comprehension of your supplied owners manual is a plus.

Far as the steering goes, Kubota uses an orbital steering mechanism that uses the hydraulic oil from the gear pump to actuate the steering rams and typically, a Kubota tractor with a loaded FEL will be hard pressed to move the front tires back and forth when loaded but not moving. It takes some forward or backward movement to move the tires back and forth (steering movement). The hydrostatic steering is just going onto bypass which is perfectly normal and the final resting place of the steering wheel can be anywhere as there is no direct mechanical linkage.

There is no mechanical linkage between the steering rams and the steering wheel. it's all hydrostatic.

Call your dealer and ask him. He will tell you what I just did.

Nothing wrong with your new tractor a little comprehension of the operations manual won't take care of.

The onus of your issues are basically on you,

B S

Lack of grease, barely tightened bolts, straight from the dealer? The dealer messed up.

Yes you should always perform a preflight check but the dealer should not have delivered a tractor that's missing lubricant and hasn't tightened all of the bolts. That's first, *then* the owner is responsible for *maintenance* beyond that.

 

[MHarryE]

Dealer has a lot of setup to do. You might see the tractors in their special racking. They need to install tires, install loader, other detail work, lube all fittings ( should be lubed from factory but also dealer pre-delivery). In the knocked down shipping crate, it’s possible for something to hit a fitting in transit, a reason for dealer to do their thing.

As for your steering, did you say you can turn it easily when the engine is stopped? Should not be. The HMU is also a pump, a required safety feature if the engine dies. Turning the steering wheel by hand should be very difficult and should turn the steering tires. I mean very hard. I watched a video last year where a farmer’s John Deere combine engine failed. He and his brother wanted to get it aligned so when the dealer came with his truck, they could quickly load it. The person needed so much effort to turn the steering tires he broke the steering column off. His brother, who was videoing for his YouTube channel, got a good laugh. Anyway, this is how hard it should be to turn. There will be some leakage in the unit so you will be able to turn without the wheels steering, but it should be high effort. I think you do have a problem the dealer needs to check. And none of my 7 Kubotas with HMU’s have a clicking.

 

[deelowe]

Dealer has a lot of setup to do. You might see the tractors in their special racking. They need to install tires, install loader, other detail work, lube all fittings ( should be lubed from factory but also dealer pre-delivery). In the knocked down shipping crate, it’s possible for something to hit a fitting in transit, a reason for dealer to do their thing.

As for your steering, did you say you can turn it easily when the engine is stopped? Should not be. The HMU is also a pump, a required safety feature if the engine dies. Turning the steering wheel by hand should be very difficult and should turn the steering tires. I mean very hard. I watched a video last year where a farmer’s John Deere combine engine failed. He and his brother wanted to get it aligned so when the dealer came with his truck, they could quickly load it. The person needed so much effort to turn the steering tires he broke the steering column off. His brother, who was videoing for his YouTube channel, got a good laugh. Anyway, this is how hard it should be to turn. There will be some leakage in the unit so you will be able to turn without the wheels steering, but it should be high effort. I think you do have a problem the dealer needs to check. And none of my 7 Kubotas with HMU’s have a clicking.

Correct. With the engine stopped, the steering wheel spins completely freely. There's some slight hesitation or notching almost like that feels sort of like a gear when it's stripped or a spline shaft that isn't engaging, but I mean the hesitation or "notching" feel is slight. I can spin it with just 2 fingers. With the tractor powered on, sitting on gravel, it steers just fine. I can steer stopped no problem. When I get into brush, I notice I can steer and it'll turn most of the time, but if there's some resistance, it's like I can keep spinning the wheel, but the tires won't turn. Some movement will get it sorted.

The tractor has always steered EXTREMELY easily. Like, it's the easiest turning thing I've ever driven, but I assumed that was normal? Again no experience with this stuff.

 

[coobie]

Do you know where in the operations manual it explains how the steering should operate? I looked all over and couldn't find anything explaining what you just stated.

I found the issue which led me to checking out the zerks more closely while doing a test ride. The clicking was observed while the delivery guy was here and he said it was normal. I'm a complete novice when it comes to tractors and Kubota, so I took it over to my neighbor a little later who has a very similar model to mine. He helped point out all the issues I've noted here. All told, none of the 3 point hitch fittings, 3 of the loader fittings, and 2 fittings on the under side of the front axle had grease. And of course, we have the one that was broken. I found the issue with the loader bolts while going over the rest in more detail when I got back home.

I don't know what the dealer does and doesn't do in their shop. The assembly manual I received from the dealer shows a much more intensive set of steps than what you've described.

You have to realize 5030 is the BIGGEST story teller on this site..

 

[Frankenkubota]

I've got a 2020 mx5800 with hst .....probably similar?

If my bucket is full and up and i'm stopped, the steering gets tight or knotchy. i must move a little bit forward, just a touch, and all's well.

 

[rScotty]

Thanks. We've already spoken about the other issues. They know I'm not super pleased with the way the tractor was delivered. There were other things too, unrelated to the tractor itself that I didn't mention, which we also spoke about.

The last one I drove was a ford when I was a kid helping my family out in the pasture. Never driven anything with hydrostat steering.

I've read the different opinions about the steering with interest.
I haven't driven enough Kubotas to know how other models steer, but our 60hp M59 with HST+ and a similar engine to yours is probably similar to other Kubotas that size.

I don't see any way that the steering could be better. Even with a ton or more in the bucket, on hard surfaces moving the steering wheel moves the front tires very precisely and all done without any effort. It doesn't matter if the tractor is moving or not. That is probably as much due to our hard sandy non-compressible soil and the flat-profile industrial tires as to the power steering. I could see it being much harder to turn if it had lugged R1 ag style tires with the loader bucket full and the front tires sunk in soft soil,

If you question the steering, maybe trying some of the other tractors on the dealers lot may set your mind at ease. On a hard packed surface, I'd expect the steering to be effortless regardless of the load in the bucket. But it will be very different in soft soil. In real soft muddy soils I wouldn't expect the steering to work at all unless done carefully while moving. Trying to force it will just break something.

These 60 hp Kubotas are medium size, medium duty tractors, so they do have limits. You can overload them and hurt them if you try. There is a huge difference in strength and capability between our 60 hp Kubota TBL and the 90 hp John Deer 310 - which is basically the industrial version of the same kind of machine. On the JD, even a novice operator would be hard pressed to make the machine hurt itself.
rScotty

 

[deelowe]

I've read the different opinions about the steering with interest.
I haven't driven enough Kubotas to know how other models steer, but our 60hp M59 with HST+ and a similar engine to yours is probably similar to other Kubotas that size.

I don't see any way that the steering could be better. Even with a ton or more in the bucket, on hard surfaces moving the steering wheel moves the front tires very precisely and all done without any effort. It doesn't matter if the tractor is moving or not. That is probably as much due to our hard sandy non-compressible soil and the flat-profile industrial tires as to the power steering. I could see it being much harder to turn if it had lugged R1 ag style tires with the loader bucket full and the front tires sunk in soft soil,

If you question the steering, maybe trying some of the other tractors on the dealers lot may set your mind at ease. On a hard packed surface, I'd expect the steering to be effortless regardless of the load in the bucket. But it will be very different in soft soil. In real soft muddy soils I wouldn't expect the steering to work at all unless done carefully while moving. Trying to force it will just break something.

These 60 hp Kubotas are medium size, medium duty tractors, so they do have limits. You can overload them and hurt them if you try. There is a huge difference in strength and capability between our 60 hp Kubota TBL and the 90 hp John Deer 310 - which is basically the industrial version of the same kind of machine. On the JD, even a novice operator would be hard pressed to make the machine hurt itself.
rScotty

Thanks. I’ll call the dealer today. Sounds like there’s an issue. I have never felt anything resembling any sort of resistance while steering, yet it is very easy for me to find any number of situations where the front wheels don’t move when turning. It is very common and I assumed either the tractor is supposed to do this or something isn’t right. Seems like it’s the latter from what you guys are saying.

 

[Ford850]

Ohh boy... this has been quite the experience thus far. I was quite happy to finally get a tractor and start putting it to use. Tried it out by moving a bit of dirt and notice a clicking noise. Checked and one of the grease fittings wasn’t greased. No problem. I added some. Then I noticed none of the 3 point hitch fittings had been greased. Then I noticed the fitting on the front right knuckle was broken (not me, tractor was brand new at the time). So they sent me a new fitting and I replaced it and topped off the grease. Then I noticed all of my quick attach pin bolts were like hand tight. Literally 1/2” or more of threads showing. Did a thorough check and assume I’m good....

Today I took on one of my first big projects which involves clearing some of my land. There’s a lot of grapevine, privit and small sweet gums that have taken over the property. So I get to work pushing over some small trees and dragging the box blade/bucket around to clean up the area. Most of the work was in 2wd only using 4wd when needed... then something seems odd... It happens when I’m transporting a very heavy load of bricks on a pallet.

I noticed that I can turn the steering wheel when stopped and the wheels won’t turn sometimes. Almost like it’s slipping. It’s definitely noticeable in the brush where there’s thick top soil and brush on the ground. I also begin to notice it seems to do it some when moving slowly. When shut off, the wheel turns and feels like it’s kind of clicking. Wheels turn a little but not much before the steering wheel slips.

Given the issues I’ve had thus far, I’m worried something is wrong. Am I just paranoid? I definitely don’t trust this dealer at this point given my experience so far...

Thanks for all the help.

Looking at the areas I bolded above, I don't think this is unusual. But I'd check to be sure your front tire pressure is high enough to reduce resistance, and be sure your RPMs are high enough to keep your hydro system working at its full capacity. A very heavy load in the air, and trying to turn the wheels while not moving, is pushing your hydro to it's limits.