Kubota l3400 FEL Seems Lacking

[Mahana79]

Mahana:

After seeing your pictures I ordered a 3PT spear and had zero problems as you said I would lifting 5x5 bales with my 3PT.

The L3400 has been able to handle everything I have thrown at it effortlessly.

I've pondered getting a skidsteer QA so that I can get a front spear and front forks but I don't have any real serious need for either so I haven't done it yet.

glad i could help. I would like a skidsteer QA for mine but havent had much luck finding one for the LA463 loader. have you had any luck??

 

[Racer71]

sbailey,

You should be able to pick that thing up without any problems. It's time to dig deeper.

 

[TalonDancer]

Thanks for the pics. Now for another question related to the first. How much does this plow weigh approx? The reason I ask is that I had to pick it up with the forks this morning and I could not lift it over 4ft high and that was going about 1 inch per minute at about 2500 rpms. It would curl easily but upward motion barely would do it.

We're only able to give you general answers until you tell us WHICH FEL / bucket you have and How big that plow is.

FWIW The first two digits in a Kubota FEL model number tells you its basic lift capacity in 100kg. So my LA724 will lift a little over 1,500 lbs (i.e. 3/4 ton). Obviously steel is much denser than raw earth materials. So no Kubota FEL can lift a full FEL bucket of steel.

And what do you mean by "I had to pick it up with the forks..."? Are you using a QA with a skid steer style pallet fork? Or are you using bolt on forks?

Talon Dancer

 

[rtdiggr]

Thanks for the pics. Now for another question related to the first. How much does this plow weigh approx? The reason I ask is that I had to pick it up with the forks this morning and I could not lift it over 4ft high and that was going about 1 inch per minute at about 2500 rpms. It would curl easily but upward motion barely would do it.

should pick that up no problem.

Shane

 

[sbailey]

Sorry, I have the LA463 and the forks where the QA skid steer forks. As for the plow it was an old Dearborn Model 10-204. I estimated it would weigh about 400lbs and the front end loader could not pick it up more than half of the distance the loader could go.

 

[davitk]

well, guess you should've bought a Deere.

 

[davitk]

Just kidding!! The L3400 is a nice machine, better have it looked at. Sounds like angioplasty time.

 

[canoetrpr]

glad i could help. I would like a skidsteer QA for mine but havent had much luck finding one for the LA463 loader. have you had any luck??

I skidsteer QA is available for the LA463 loader from multiple sources:
- Kubota
- Horst Welding
- ATI
- www.tractor-canopies.com - This is the cheapest one I have seen $299. Looks decent but shipping to Canada would kill any price advantage for me.

Check out this thread that westbrooklawn started on converting his L3400 bucket to QA with the Kubota setup.

The Horst seems the heaviest duty - capacity upto 3500lb! It is also probably the heaviest at 150 or so lb.

I would prefer a lighter one so as to take as little as possible from the LA463 lift capacity. The Kubota's is about half the weight.

ATI is about $599 + freight.

I think westbrooklawn paid under $500 for the Kubota one - including shipping.

You will have to add about $120 or so to get a weld on plate for your bucket to convert it to QA.

If I go ahead and do this it will probably be Horst despite the extra weight because I can source it locally from the guy I purchase implements regularly from. I have a Horst toothbar and a Horst 3pt bale spear and they make really good quality stuff.

If I were in the USA, I would probably get the Kubota OEM one shipped as westbrooklawn did. It is a hassle over here to get the Kubota stuff. I haven't priced it out yet but I'm guessing it will be quite a bit more than you guys are paying in the USA and it has to be ordered through whole goods so who knows when it will show up. The tractor canopies one also looks decent. In the USA he ships for under 100 bucks!

 

[canoetrpr]

FWIW The first two digits in a Kubota FEL model number tells you its basic lift capacity in 100kg. So my LA724 will lift a little over 1,500 lbs (i.e. 3/4 ton).

TalonDancer - thats great info! Never heard that before and it does seem to work out.

 

[TalonDancer]

Sorry, I have the LA463 and the forks where the QA skid steer forks. As for the plow it was an old Dearborn Model 10-204. I estimated it would weigh about 400lbs and the front end loader could not pick it up more than half of the distance the loader could go.

Thanks for the info.

FWIW the lift capacity of a FEL drops off significantly with distance in front of the pivot "pin". This shows up in spades with pallet forks when you try to lift something near the tips of the forks (i.e. in my case as much as 48 inches in front of the loader's "pin"). The way I lift 3/4+ ton of rocks using my forks is by loading them on pallets that have 3 wooden sides (e.g. like a wooden bucket). This allows me to curl the pallet, shifting the center of gravity back closer to the "pin" where the max lift is available, BEFORE I try to lift the pallet more than a few inches. Once I get the load shifted, my LA724 can do it's thing and raise a 3/4 ton pallet to any height

Talon Dancer