art
Super Member
to me the tires are over inflated and you said nothing about tires being loaded or rear axle weights.
Ballast L series doesn't feel safe with bucket on
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LD1
Epic Contributor
Load the rear tires for starters. That will help.
Other than that, its just getting to know your tractor.
Without loaded tires, and nothing on the back, Yea, compact tractors feel light in the back. They all do. You have a cab, that adds some weight, but load the tires, and with 1000# on the 3PH, you should be golden. Just take your time, and learn your machine.
Other than that, its just getting to know your tractor.
Without loaded tires, and nothing on the back, Yea, compact tractors feel light in the back. They all do. You have a cab, that adds some weight, but load the tires, and with 1000# on the 3PH, you should be golden. Just take your time, and learn your machine.
Gary Fowler
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After reading all the comments, most of them are accurate (a few inaccurate statements). First thing you need to do is widen the stance of the wheels to the widest setting possible for loader work especially if working on hills. Try to make the fronts the same as the rears (outside tire measurement on each wheel). After the tires are widened, have liquid ballast installed in the rear tires. Most CUT mfg. don't recommend loading the fronts. Front tire spacing WILL help in stability and those saying that it doesn't because they swivel are making an untrue assumption. Yes they swivel on a center frame pin, BUT, they only a few inches in either direction till they bump the frame and then it becomes a solid unmovable axle. Raise the front off the ground with the FEL (dump the bucket fully so the bucket bottom is vertical, this gives you max lift height) and you can see how much they swivel and then hit the stop. This stop is a long way from maximum tip angle so front does provide stability.
As for loading the tires, pick your material, Rimguard, water with methanol, water with antifreeze or if in mild climate like I am just plain water. Having liquid ballast in the rear tires makes the tractor much more stable. Remember move the tires out to max width prior to filling because on most tractors to do this you have to swap tires side to side ( left to the right side and vice versa).
You said you have rear counterweight of more than 1000# so I don't think you need any more. I think your biggest problem is lack of experience with the loader as there is no way a FEL bucket should make the tractor feel unstable. You just need to get the feel of the tractor. ONE way to check out the stability is to raise the bucket about a foot off the ground and while on level ground run the ground speed up to lets say about 5 MPH and then jam on both brakes so the rear tires are skidding. If the bucket doesn't tip to the ground, you are not unstable. You can do the same thing with a full bucket but not travel but like a slow walking speed and hit the brakes, if the rear wheels don't come off the ground, you aren't overloaded. Much or bad experience comes from operations that exceed the capacity. When you are near capacity for tipping forward as described above, you have to be really careful and go very slow especially on any slope. IT doesn't take much to tip your tractor when traveling side to side on a slope and even less if attempting a turn on a slope at high speed with a loaded bucket. Always travel with a loaded bucket just high enough to clear obstacles and with one hand always on the FEL joystick and if you feel you are toppling, drop the load quickly. This is not meant to scare you but advise you on how to adjust to a sometimes unpleasant situation.
Summary or my long winded post:
1. Widen wheels (if you don't know how, get the dealer to do it for you and then liquid ballast them for you)
2. Ballast the tires
3. Put a heavy counter weight on the 3 point hitch. I use my 1500# bush hog which sticks WAY back behind me so I get maximum counter weight for my 3500# lift capacity but it is long and takes lots of room to maneuver.
4. Finally get the feel of your tractors capacity by operating it. The more you operate it the better you will feel on it.
I went from having a small 45HP open station tractor that I basically straddled the frame so I sat close to the ground to my 70HP Utility tractor with cab that the operators platform is over chest high so I am really up in the air. It takes some getting used to, but once you run the tractor for a few days, it gets smaller and smaller.
As for loading the tires, pick your material, Rimguard, water with methanol, water with antifreeze or if in mild climate like I am just plain water. Having liquid ballast in the rear tires makes the tractor much more stable. Remember move the tires out to max width prior to filling because on most tractors to do this you have to swap tires side to side ( left to the right side and vice versa).
You said you have rear counterweight of more than 1000# so I don't think you need any more. I think your biggest problem is lack of experience with the loader as there is no way a FEL bucket should make the tractor feel unstable. You just need to get the feel of the tractor. ONE way to check out the stability is to raise the bucket about a foot off the ground and while on level ground run the ground speed up to lets say about 5 MPH and then jam on both brakes so the rear tires are skidding. If the bucket doesn't tip to the ground, you are not unstable. You can do the same thing with a full bucket but not travel but like a slow walking speed and hit the brakes, if the rear wheels don't come off the ground, you aren't overloaded. Much or bad experience comes from operations that exceed the capacity. When you are near capacity for tipping forward as described above, you have to be really careful and go very slow especially on any slope. IT doesn't take much to tip your tractor when traveling side to side on a slope and even less if attempting a turn on a slope at high speed with a loaded bucket. Always travel with a loaded bucket just high enough to clear obstacles and with one hand always on the FEL joystick and if you feel you are toppling, drop the load quickly. This is not meant to scare you but advise you on how to adjust to a sometimes unpleasant situation.
Summary or my long winded post:
1. Widen wheels (if you don't know how, get the dealer to do it for you and then liquid ballast them for you)
2. Ballast the tires
3. Put a heavy counter weight on the 3 point hitch. I use my 1500# bush hog which sticks WAY back behind me so I get maximum counter weight for my 3500# lift capacity but it is long and takes lots of room to maneuver.
4. Finally get the feel of your tractors capacity by operating it. The more you operate it the better you will feel on it.
I went from having a small 45HP open station tractor that I basically straddled the frame so I sat close to the ground to my 70HP Utility tractor with cab that the operators platform is over chest high so I am really up in the air. It takes some getting used to, but once you run the tractor for a few days, it gets smaller and smaller.
RoyJackson
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Depending on the size of your bucket, you're looking at at least 200 lbs or considerably more. Also, your front axle pivots side to side which (to me) always feels unstable, even if it's not.
Always keep your bucket as low as possible...loaded or unloaded. That helps
If your rear tire aren't filled, it would help to have them filled.
And, since you're not a "veteran", as you wrote...it's also a matter of adjusting to to the tractor....they all feel tippy or unstable initially.
Gary Fowler
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One more thing, lower the pressure in your back tires to about 12 PSI and check the fronts. 42 PSI sound a bit high even for loader. Max tire pressure should be listed on the tire and 35 PSI should be sufficient. Smaller tires carry more pressure but I don't think you would have smaller than my little B26 and I think they are around 35 max. Tires are always over inflated when they are shipped. I think this is because the are a bit more stable AND they want the beads to settle in so the tires don't leak air when first installed. Dealers should adjust them to correct pressure when they sell them. Mine had 18PSI in the back, but I adjusted it to 10 and they get much better traction now and the ride is a bit smoother.
TripleR
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"I'm not sure what to do here. I'm not a tractor veteran.
I have a 3540 cab 724 QA FEL HD bucket R4's and 1000lb ballast box filled w/ sand. Front/back tires 42psi/16psi
Driving this around with just the loader on and no bucket, it feels solid. Anything added onto 3point and it feels perfectly solid.
But with the bucket on it feels like too much weight is forward, even with no material. I hate the feeling of having it on 3 wheels."
I hope none of this is taken wrong, first being unfamiliar with tractors in general is going to exacerbate the feelings you have with a new tractor in the hills particularly side slopes, I have been driving them for over fifty years and realize based on past experience that it takes me and many people a while to acclimate to a new tractor and learn its handling characteristics and determine where feel is just that and not a true indication of a tractor's strengths and weaknesses or capabilities. I go through this with about every new tractor I buy and I would prefer to be overly cautious than wind up upside down somewhere. You just have to accept that "feel" and "reality" are not always the same. I realize this goes against the often used phrase "go with your gut", but at least for me "gut feelings" are more accurate the more experience you have.
I operated a L5030 for a couple of years and now L5740 HSTC which is very similar to yours and it took me quite some time to get use to them on slopes and feel semi comfortable. I put fluid in the rears and had them mounted as wide as they will go without spacers (nothing against spacers) and use 1000 pound box scraper or cutter on the three point hitch to maximize stability. I accept spacers on the back will help stability, but I just don't use them. I started out using it on gradually steeper terrain, walked slopes before mowing and paid close attention to how the tractor reacted. My 34 year old son also operates this tractor and I value his input. Based on our collective experiences, I am now relatively comfortable in most situations on our hill farms, though I will never be as comfortable as him. I have no problem admitting my sons are better operators than I and there are times I just turn a machine over to them and tell them something is just simply beyond my comfort/skill zone.
I believe you have too much air in the front and need to add fluid or weights to your rear tires to increase stability, maybe even spacers then spend the time to slowly acclimate to the machine.
I realize this was long and only hope it made some sense. Oh and I still get a bit twitchy on some slopes I have been on time and again, maybe not a bad thing.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/279095-mowing-slopes-tractor.html
EDIT: While typing this I see Gary and others have addressed these issues better than I.
I have a 3540 cab 724 QA FEL HD bucket R4's and 1000lb ballast box filled w/ sand. Front/back tires 42psi/16psi
Driving this around with just the loader on and no bucket, it feels solid. Anything added onto 3point and it feels perfectly solid.
But with the bucket on it feels like too much weight is forward, even with no material. I hate the feeling of having it on 3 wheels."
I hope none of this is taken wrong, first being unfamiliar with tractors in general is going to exacerbate the feelings you have with a new tractor in the hills particularly side slopes, I have been driving them for over fifty years and realize based on past experience that it takes me and many people a while to acclimate to a new tractor and learn its handling characteristics and determine where feel is just that and not a true indication of a tractor's strengths and weaknesses or capabilities. I go through this with about every new tractor I buy and I would prefer to be overly cautious than wind up upside down somewhere. You just have to accept that "feel" and "reality" are not always the same. I realize this goes against the often used phrase "go with your gut", but at least for me "gut feelings" are more accurate the more experience you have.
I operated a L5030 for a couple of years and now L5740 HSTC which is very similar to yours and it took me quite some time to get use to them on slopes and feel semi comfortable. I put fluid in the rears and had them mounted as wide as they will go without spacers (nothing against spacers) and use 1000 pound box scraper or cutter on the three point hitch to maximize stability. I accept spacers on the back will help stability, but I just don't use them. I started out using it on gradually steeper terrain, walked slopes before mowing and paid close attention to how the tractor reacted. My 34 year old son also operates this tractor and I value his input. Based on our collective experiences, I am now relatively comfortable in most situations on our hill farms, though I will never be as comfortable as him. I have no problem admitting my sons are better operators than I and there are times I just turn a machine over to them and tell them something is just simply beyond my comfort/skill zone.
I believe you have too much air in the front and need to add fluid or weights to your rear tires to increase stability, maybe even spacers then spend the time to slowly acclimate to the machine.
I realize this was long and only hope it made some sense. Oh and I still get a bit twitchy on some slopes I have been on time and again, maybe not a bad thing.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/279095-mowing-slopes-tractor.html
EDIT: While typing this I see Gary and others have addressed these issues better than I.
Bluegill2
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Not much I can add that's not already been said. But will repeat a few key things others have said;
Set your rear tires out all the way, if you have adjustable wheels and or add wheel spacers.
Have your rear tires filled with fluid. Add wheel weights if you still want more stability.
Do not widen the front wheel stance. This puts too much strain on 4wd axle components.
Get some seat time, there should be no difference in how the tractor feels with bucket on, or off.
Big plus for your 1000lb ballast on the 3 pt hitch!!! Some veterans do even get this.
rmorey
Platinum Member
I know how you feel. This spring I traded up to the DK40 cab and it feels "top heavy" relative to the open station model. Also, I find that the tractor seems to "bounce" a bit when driving with the front bucket.
All that being said, I find that by using the tractor for the last few months, I've become more accustomed to it and no longer notice those things now. Lots of good advice here regarding equiping the tractor, loaded tires, etc. Enjoy.
Bluegill2
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You also might want to remove the FEL (not just the bucket) for mowing. I absolutely will not mow with FEL on!!! Tractor handles much better!!! It only takes 5 minutes to remove/install...
