Kubota 1100C RTV versus RTVX

[texasjohn]

Steve...I gotta tell you, that's the way a hydraulic transmission works...for tractors or the RTV. Start off slow on the gas pedal...gives you the lowest and best gearing for the vehicle...kinda like low in a car...then as speed picks up, you can press the pedal further and continue to gain speed. When in HIGH range, it's kinda like starting out in a top gear in a manual transmission car....floor the gas and it'll buck a few times and engine will die. But, if you feather the manual clutch just right, you can get the thing going and finally let the clutch out all the way and drive just fine in high gear.

Again, the HST on the RTV (and all HST's) have the characteristic of essentially shifting into a lower gear range when letting off the gas pedal...which also affects the transmission...and if you let off such that the engine is no longer bogged down, then it will get the job done of getting the vehicle moving and ultimately, and rather quickly, you will be able to achieve max speed.

fundamentally, the HST transmission is built to PULL and it certainly does that, with high transmission reliability...no belts to burn up, etc. as some other similar vehicles have.

Net, your description is of a properly operating HST for the RTV... however, it is possible that words are insufficient to fully describe what you are experiencing or what I am trying to say...thus, I agree that the right thing is to have the dealer look at it. If the dealer does say this is "normal", then I think you should convince yourself this is true by driving several other RTV's on the lot and see if they exhibit the same performance. If they do, then you will need to determine if you simply must have "peal out" characteristics for your RTV in HIGH range. From my experience, I only use high when on pavement. Medium is for general traveling off road and on the ranch gravel roads. Low is for pulling and precise speed control.

I hope you ultimately get happy with how the RTV drives. For me, it is an awesome vehicle. However, the HST does, in fact, behave somewhat counter intuitive until it is understood....if the engine bogs down, let off the gas to get a better gear ratio. If It cannot pull in the gear you have selected, move down a gear. In first and 4 wheel drive, I have pulled a water tank filled with 1000 gallons of water...I'll let you do the math on the total weight. The RTV is a complete beast as a ranch vehicle, but it is not a drag racer. And, a drag racer is poor as a farm vehicle.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Steve...I gotta tell you, that's the way a hydraulic transmission works...for tractors or the RTV. Start off slow on the gas pedal...gives you the lowest and best gearing for the vehicle...kinda like low in a car...then as speed picks up, you can press the pedal further and continue to gain speed. When in HIGH range, it's kinda like starting out in a top gear in a manual transmission car....floor the gas and it'll buck a few times and engine will die. But, if you feather the manual clutch just right, you can get the thing going and finally let the clutch out all the way and drive just fine in high gear.

Again, the HST on the RTV (and all HST's) have the characteristic of essentially shifting into a lower gear range when letting off the gas pedal...which also affects the transmission...and if you let off such that the engine is no longer bogged down, then it will get the job done of getting the vehicle moving and ultimately, and rather quickly, you will be able to achieve max speed.

fundamentally, the HST transmission is built to PULL and it certainly does that, with high transmission reliability...no belts to burn up, etc. as some other similar vehicles have.

Net, your description is of a properly operating HST for the RTV... however, it is possible that words are insufficient to fully describe what you are experiencing or what I am trying to say...thus, I agree that the right thing is to have the dealer look at it. If the dealer does say this is "normal", then I think you should convince yourself this is true by driving several other RTV's on the lot and see if they exhibit the same performance. If they do, then you will need to determine if you simply must have "peal out" characteristics for your RTV in HIGH range. From my experience, I only use high when on pavement. Medium is for general traveling off road and on the ranch gravel roads. Low is for pulling and precise speed control.

I hope you ultimately get happy with how the RTV drives. For me, it is an awesome vehicle. However, the HST does, in fact, behave somewhat counter intuitive until it is understood....if the engine bogs down, let off the gas to get a better gear ratio. If It cannot pull in the gear you have selected, move down a gear. In first and 4 wheel drive, I have pulled a water tank filled with 1000 gallons of water...I'll let you do the math on the total weight. The RTV is a complete beast as a ranch vehicle, but it is not a drag racer. And, a drag racer is poor as a farm vehicle.

I've owned 16 different Kubotas over the past 11 years all but one diesel powered and all but one HST. Currently own 4 and one is a RTV1140 which I've owned 3 and a half years. This is basically the way mine have ran. I've tried the let off foot pedal thing in M going up a hill and mine just slows down but other that that I agree. I use L for slow pulling and mostly when my Grandson, now 9 1/2 who has been driving it every since I bought it, drives it except on the paved street. Let him use M and I mostly use M only using H when driving over to get fuel at the station over on the hwy and totally satisfied with it's performance in each different gear and not expecting each gear to perform differently than they do.:2cents:

 

[sunnyside360]

Thx texas john for the input. When in high range and i accelerate it just almost stops going forward, when i reduce the acceleration it picks back up again. For the oney you pay, this thing should be bullet proof. I love the unit and the cab, im taking it back to the dealer monday , and tell him to fix it or take it back.

Got a new 2014 RTV-X1100C today and have the same issue. Motor actually stalled 2 or 3 times when going up steep incline in low range. Tried it again in high range and did the same. I noticed it only does this with the A/C turned ON. It runs fine with A/C turned OFF. Kubota tech is coming over tomorrow to look at it.

 

[flybikedave]

Did you try going up the steep incline in low with 1/2 foot throttle? With my '07 1100, for ultimate performance on really steep inclines, I use the manual engine throttle control which, is located near the differential lock. While in low, I pull the throttle to full RPM with my left hand and then engage the transmission with the foot control to 1/2 of full travel. As such, the machine will easily climb a 45 degree incline. That is how we operate our HST tractors for full pulling power, but the RTV combines throttle and transmission into the single foot control and there lies the problem. My method of using the hand throttle works, but would be much nicer if the hand throttle were located on the dash panel. Maybe your 2014 model is? As others have mentioned, the RTV is a difficult transition from all others, even HST tractors which have a separate throttle control. And its nothing like the CVT transmission in other side by sides/4 wheelers. But once you learn the do's and don't's, so long as you're not in a hurry, its a great machine. I own 4 other CVT type side by sides, and personally prefer those for most everything I do, but none of those have a cab with A/C and heat, or a hydraulic dump bed, which is why I also own an RTV.

 

[cre10]

I run mine with a 60 gallon sprayer and have zero issues.

 

[sunnyside360]

My new RTV X1100C has no issues on the flats and small inclines. However, I have several hundred acres, a lot of which have steep inclines/trails, and there is where the machine bogs down and sometimes even stalls out. I'm hoping this is something that can easily be fixed as opposed to a design thing as I live in a mountainous area and cannot live with it the way it is. We'll see what the Kubota tech has to say this afternoon when he comes over.

 

[cre10]

Did you test drive it before you bought it?

 

[texasjohn]

On the inclines you need to traverse, can you stop, put vehicle in 4wd lo range, then slowly increase forward motion and climb out....or does engine stall under these conditions, causing you to have to back down the incline.

It should be able to climb out, IMHO.

 

[sunnyside360]

Did you test drive it before you bought it?

Did a test drive and it ran fine on level ground at the Kubota dealership. However, no steep inclines at the dealership like I have here on my property. Thought it was anemic but the dealer said power increases as engine gets broken in.

 

[sunnyside360]

On the inclines you need to traverse, can you stop, put vehicle in 4wd lo range, then slowly increase forward motion and climb out....or does engine stall under these conditions, causing you to have to back down the incline.

It should be able to climb out, IMHO.

I tested it in LO range / 4WD. If I turn the A/C OFF the machine will go up the hill with no problem. I also learned this morning that if I let up on the accelerator when the engine starts to die then it will go better without stalling. Yesterday, I had a tendency to jam the accelerator to the floor when the engine started to die and possibly making the situation worse if the tranny is interconnected with accelerator as poster mentioned above in prior reply.