l245dt

[Anonymous Poster]

hello all great board.
i have a l245dt and i very seldom see any post about that tractor i see a lot of the post deal with the bx
does the l245dt not have as many probs or are they to old to be talked about?

 

[rbargeron]

The L245DT is a great tractor - made well and built to last a long time.

Back when the L245DT was current (early '80's) Kubota was just starting to really penetrate the Amercan market. Many customers who were interested in 20 pto horsepower tractors back then bought little John Deeres or Fords or Masseys, all made in Japan by Yanmar and others. Kubota gained some market share by selling a better-built product for slightly less money than the competition. To be fair, Yanmar quality was also very high - they sold many tractors under their own name until JD "discouraged" continuing the Yanmar line in the US. Yanmars sold here are Green now.

Over time, Kubota became known for very high quality - the word got out, and their prices edged up taking advantage of the pump-priming they had done.

Although an L245DT may be a less-bright shade of orange, it is a fine example of a product made right. Take decent care of it and it will last forever.

Your observation that many here are BX owners is right. The internet-as-household-appliance didn't exist when the L245DT was built, hence Muhammad's fine board didn't either.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I used to own an L245DT before consolidating my equiptment and downsizing to my BX. It was a great machine and had 1100 hours on it when I sold it, still looking near new, yes I even kept it waxed so the paint still had a shine. The only weakness I experienced was with the steering and front axle. The front end was just a little light for serious FEL use. The upper steering pin bushings wore out quick so keep those greased almost every day. The seals on the steering pivots were prone to dirt intrusion and leaked often(I replaced mine three times). The drag link arm on the left side wheel broke from stress fatigue. The loader itself was a little on the light side until I did some serious re-enforcement to the arms and the bucket. On the positive side the clutch and brake durability was awsome, never had to adjust either one. Wish my new BX had brakes as strong as the old 245. Great TPH with good position control. The three speed PTO was a real asset to keep engine revs down on light PTO work. One note; don't even think of reversing the front wheels to try and gain front axle width. I have a repair shop and work on a few kubotas and have seen a few come in with bearing problems in the front axle due to reversed wheels, the offset dramaticly changes the load center on the steering pivot points and puts tremendous strain on the bearings. Well thats my L245 experience in a nutshell hope some of this helps fell free to ask any questions.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

thanks for the info its good to know the history on tractors

 

[ric]

I have an L245DT and a L175F. Both are high quality units and we use the heck out of them. Bought both used. Regular maintenance goes along way. Don't be surprised if your local Kubota dealer does not want to talk with you about working on them (you need to buy a new tractor). All the manuals are still available, be sure to get the parts manual. The biggest problem with these tractors seem to be the rust or operator errors on the part of previous owners. ric

 

[Anonymous Poster]

What size rear tires do you have on those L245s?

 

[ric]

My L245DT has 11.2/10-24 R1 tires.

 

[Jimbo16720]

Great tractors.