Kubota B3030 Stability Query

[jakobvh]

Hey guys,

I had a question for anyone with a B3030 regarding ways to improve the stability. My father bought the machine about 6 months ago and it has since fallen to me (Primary operator) to find a solution to its tendency to want to throw itself over on a slope. We live in a VERY hilly area in southern Victoria, Australia and for a long time have used a BX1800 to control the grass/scrub but have since upsized!

Just wondering if and how anyone of you guys have found a solution to the tippyness issue. We have loads of trees and scrub so outriggers are out of the question.

Are axle extensions worth the risk of bearing damage/do they provide much stability?

Is water-weighting the tires a viable solution?

And how difficult/is it worth upgrading the altenator and adding work lights? I already have to add a hazard strobe and have found working at dusk to be difficult to say the least with out working lights.

Its a B3030 with 5'11" Slasher (Scrubhog?) 72" Cutting Deck and Burder FEL

 

[TripleR]

I don't know anything about the B3030, but loading the tires on my tractors made them more stable.

I would not worry about stress on the bearings due to a wider track.

 

[wawajake]

I bought the Brotek 2 inch wheel spacers a week ago for my BX2660 and I have seen a very noticeable difference. I also have very hilly terrain here in Northern Ontario Canada and I use my tractor in the bush fair bit for firewood logging. So taking some of the pucker factor out of tractor use was needed.
Another advantage of the wheel spacers, I did not expect, was that my tractor used to be a pain to line up the rear wheel holes and install the wheel studs . But now that the spacer uses studs in place, it is more like removing a wheel from your car and then sitting wheel back on the studs and just installing wheel nuts.

jake

 

[jakobvh]

Thanks guys, I'll call my dealer and see If I cant organize some spacers and tubes to load the tires

 

[Verticaltrx]

I have a B3200, which is basically the same tractor, and find it to be very stable on slopes(my tires are fluid filled.) The one thing that does help to increase stability a lot is to remove the loader. I do this when bush hogging the steeper ditches and hills and it makes it feel much less top heavy.

 

[lawn_king]

Loading the turf tires on my B3030 with rim guard, made the machine far more stable on slopes & smoothed out the ride a bit as well.

 

[DiezNutz]

I had a question for anyone with a B3030 regarding ways to improve the stability.... find a solution to its tendency to want to throw itself over on a slope. We live in a VERY hilly area in southern Victoria, Australia and for a long time have used a BX1800 to control the grass/scrub but have since upsized!

Just wondering if and how anyone of you guys have found a solution to the tippyness issue....

I'd like you to first consider that probably a significant portion of what you call "tippyness" could be little more than your perception of moving from a small BX to a larger B... being higher up in the air, you're going to go through more gyrations, but it doesn't actually mean the tractor is unstable.

I feel like my B3030 (non-filled tires) is *very* stable, it's surprised me a few times when I thought it should be up on two wheels and wasn't. I think you'd see what I mean if you gave yours more time to get used to it.

Having said all of that, for the terrain you described, I agree with the others that filling your tires is the way to go, and you would probably be quite happy with the result. Since you didn't mention having a BH, you don't have to worry about that issue. :thumbsup:

 

[asmithcars]

I have a B3030 (since 2006) and a somewhat hilly 7 acre lot. It has a Kubota FEL and Backhoe - and I hardly ever remove either of them in the spring-fall time frame. (I keep the FEL hugging the ground, and don't make any quick/radical moves.) I added rear spacers primarily so I could get chains on it for winter snow plowing. I have noticed some increased stability on the hills with the spacers, but that's real subjective on my part - I still occasionally do things that get my 'pucker' factor in high gear, but not as often as I did prior to the spacers being installed. While they are pricey, I consider them worth the money. And I do not have filled tires (R-4).

I also upgraded the alternator - the instructions were a bit vague, so I consulted with the dealer's mechanics and it was no problem after that. (Other than breaking them on tree branches!)

 

[KU Gator]

I don't have a B3030 or filled tires, so definitely not an expert on this. But it would seem that it the primary concern is stability, adding maybe 50-60% volume of fluid to the tires would be best so that the weight added would be as low below the center of gravity as possible.

 

[jakobvh]

Sounds like loading the tires (they're turf tires) is the way to go! I usually leave the loader on especially when I'm brush hogging, due to size and weight of our hog (it's got some... Reinforcing) it tends to make the front end very light which is an issue for cornering. Since I haven't been able to spend enough time with the machine (I'm a student at college in the city) I haven't had a chance to organize proper weights for the front end. Maybe kill two birds and load the front tires too?

I agree that some of the pucker factor comes from the larger size, but I've had two employees roll the BX, both of them very experienced, but both due to operator errors. Needless to say they have other jobs now, but I always considered that machine nigh unrollable, of course with a grain of common sense, so I'm not keen to let anyone near the B until I've done everything in my power to make it as safe as possible.

Also, how does one go about loading the tires? Insert a tube and fill it with water?

Thanks for all your help guys