Kubota F series

[Longbeard]

Hi guys,

New owner of a use 3060. Its a 2002 and has 3400 hours. I bought it at an online auction. Its a little banged up but seems ok mechanically...i think. I've mowed 3 times with it. First two times were fine. Today after about an hour i noticed the engine seemed to have a faint rattle to it. It didn't sound like an injector or piston slap. I'm thinking it might need a valve adjustment. Has anyone needed to do this adjustment around 3000 hours? Other then that its growing on me. I'm learning to mind the swing radius of the rear. I am used to my Scag zero turn so there is a bit of a learning curve. I'm also trying to figure out the best way to mow steep ditches. I've got one I've never mowed because it was too steep for anything I've ever owned. I managed to do it but it wasnt very gracefull nor does I look very good. If I cant improve ill just be leaving it as usual. I was also wondering about 4wd lock lever. The manual says only lock it in on steep slopes. When I went to pick it up the guys said they leave it in 4wd lock all the time. I'm wondering if that causes some kind of damage and if so what do I need to look at repairing. I'm a little long winded here so ill end for now. Thanks for reading this far...lol.

 

[jcummins]

I use 4wd lock on steep slopes. Rest of the time I have it in the 4wd on demand position.

There are several areas I mow now, that my previous zero turn could not handle. There are a few places I have to mow up/down hill, just too steep otherwise.

 

[johncar]

Congratulations Longbeard,
You have purchased a good and very capable mower. Like all things second hand and even new sometimes there may be things to attend to but one always hopes it is nothing major. So expect to have a few little things to fix up as like any machine and in particular mowers work pretty hard and at times in dirty dusty conditions. I hope though that for you yours serves you well with no big fixes required. Mine was a second handy as well and I have probably spent at least another $1500 on it getting it back up to scratch, but well worth it I think, still a lot cheaper than new. Mine is not anywhere near up to 3000 hours yet so I can't comment on your rattle but I have heard many times that these are good little engines so Hoping that it is just some adjustments as you say.

I mow around fairly steep hilly ground with some gullies etc and have found my F series very capable, surprisingly actually, but I only engage full 4WD in the extremes leaving it in the on demand position 90% of the time. I think that it would be fair to say that in leaving it in 4WD full time would cause extra unnecessary wear and tear on the drive system, steering and tires. But I have heard it said before and in fact a local dealer told my neighbour to put his in 4WD and leave it there which to me was silly advice and would only serve the dealers workshop IMHO.

So on moderate slopes I will mow across but when I start to get too much crabbing or sliding sideways, I will mow up and down, so into the bottom of a steep gully I will mow down forwards and reverse back up, I don't try and mow through the bottom unless it is well rounded and not too severe as to put stress on the cutter deck and drives. I did put new main drive tires on recently and that improved things even though the old tyres were only perhaps half worn and would be fine on flatter ground, I need every bit of grip I can get. I haven't measured the angle of the slopes I mow up and down but I would guess at up to 30 degrees. And it should be obvious but stay off it if it is wet.

You can sometimes get away with mowing across a bit steeper slope by carefully travelling in reverse because the machine will not crab or slide anywhere as near as much in reverse, but it is not the ideal way to use the mower except when it may suit..
All the best with it.

 

[jcummins]

johncar...I did put new main drive tires on recently and that improved things even though the old tyres were only perhaps half worn and would be fine on flatter ground, I need every bit of grip I can get.

Did you go with the same turf tire?

 

[johncar]

johncar...I did put new main drive tires on recently and that improved things even though the old tyres were only perhaps half worn and would be fine on flatter ground, I need every bit of grip I can get.

Did you go with the same turf tire?

Yes I did stick with the same OTR Grassmaster. I figured that in dry conditions there would be little advantage trying to adapt a type of tractor lug style tyre. Not much available over here anyway as far as I could see. I believe though that a more aggressive tyre would help in wet or muddy conditions but I tend to just wait for things to dry up and the turf tyre seems fine. Our climate here is also pretty dry.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

I never leave mine in 4wd. I rarely put it in 4wd and only do it if tires start spinning and then immediately put it back in the other drive. Mostly I engage the diff lock pedal if it starts slipping/spinning which usually always makes it start moving again and then I let off the dif lock. Congratulations on the best mower made and good luck.

 

[johncar]

I never leave mine in 4wd. I rarely put it in 4wd and only do it if tires start spinning and then immediately put it back in the other drive. Mostly I engage the diff lock pedal if it starts slipping/spinning which usually always makes it start moving again and then I let off the dif lock. Congratulations on the best mower made and good luck.

Yes JT, good point, I forgot about that but I too use the diff lock often running back up hill. Quick and easy..

 

[cold1313]

To use the diff lock, is it recommended to stop moving. press and hold diff lock, drive out of condition. stop, release diff lock?

 

[johncar]

To use the diff lock, is it recommended to stop moving. press and hold diff lock, drive out of condition. stop, release diff lock?

Yeah sorry, another good point, I didn't mean that I would try and jam the diff lock on while travelling. I would normally either wait till I lost traction, stop and engage or if I thought I was likely to lose traction, engage before moving back uphill.

 

[Dan W]

Hello Gents, and congratulations to you Longbeard for buying on of the best mowers on the market.
Regarding use of 4x4 locked in full time, I hardly never need 4x4 lock in the summer time, but it stays locked in full time for snow blowing season. The point that was made regarding accelerated wear or potential damage due to running in 4x4 lock mode, keep in mind that we're on grass 98% of the time, so we might damage the grass on hard turns while in locked 4x4 otherwise, these machines are built for it...
Would never recommend 4x4 lock-in at high speed on pavement, that's where wear & tear will take place.
Dan