Kubota 355

[Anonymous Poster]

I am looking at buying a Kubota 355 4x4 36hp. The owner has offered the tractor to me at a price of $6500. The tractor is early 80's and comes with front loader. He said the tractor is mechanical sound but does not look pretty. My question is. are the early kubota's dependable and has there been any problems with these tractors. Thanks Lonny

 

[Carl_NH]

The early 80's units are good. I suspect that this is a L345DT? Depending on the hours 900-1500 could result in a tough looking but good tractor with lots of years left. If you are handy mechanically then the price is in the right range, but if the tractor is beat, leaks oil from loader cylinders or primary seals then think again about this investment.

Tires and wheels were typically loaded and are rusted (maybe through the wheels) and the cost to replace the wheels is high.

So check it out thoroughly before making the deal, but if these things check out then you have a decent deal.

Carl

 

[rbargeron]

The L355 is a very solid tractor. I had the slightly less powerful L345DT and it was great. The 1720 loader was not a quick-detach model but it was very powerful and had more reach than many of today's loaders on 36 hp tractors. I wrote about these over in Reviews and the tractor I wrote about then just changed hands again for about the same price I had paid for it in 1983.

It is true the paint back then was not fade-resistant and they sometimes won't win a beauty contest, but they are a LOT of tractor. They'll run hard all day on 6 gallons of fuel. They are extremely reliable. Some little problems but it never had to go off the property for repair.

One thing you should check is the 2-stage clutch. The pto clutch and main clutch are activated by the same linkage. If the main clutch gets worn, the linkage needs to be adjusted - but it may get far enough out of range to prevent the pto clutch from disengaging at full pedal. You can check it by engaging the pto lever with the tractor in gear (not running) - have someobne step down on the clutch pedal all the way and see if you can turn the pto shaft by hand. If you can, the pto clutch is disengaging. If you can't the main clutch may need to be replaced. Hope this helps.

Take care, Dick Bargeron