L2800-L3400 PTO Making the right choice

acresdozen · May 18, 2007

I have been following 8226's postings from the early days and believe this is a genuine concern by all. We all have spent hard earned dollars for a machine backed by a great reputation. My first Kubota was a finish mower purchased in 1989, and is still doing a great job. And with Kubota's reputation I purchased the L2800HST last year. So far I have no regrets, but my biggest concern right now is that of safety. Being unable to disengage a PTO when problems occur should be the first thing considered in design...and in the US you're "Nuts" if you don't take this issue serious. I have been a business executive for many years and the one thing that will get a company in trouble is not addressing a known safety issue. There a lawyers just waiting for problems like this to occur...just look at the Chevy Corvair as an example of a known problem.
My message to Kubota is do the right thing and correct the problem. It will confirm all of our reasons for purchasing your product over others...and, by the way, most of us have selected Kubota for that reason...8226 is on his third.
I have contacted my dealer, and have expressed my concern.

MDM · May 19, 2007

acres - What did your dealer say? Did he know of the problem?

Scott in IN · May 19, 2007

This is kind of bothersome to me, needless to say I fired off an email with a link to this discussion to Kubota. We'll see what they have to say when/if they reply.

Scott

acresdozen · May 21, 2007

MDM - The Kubota salesman, who I have worked with since the onset of the my L2800HST purchase, told me they have had no reported problems with the PTO such as 8226's, but have done the hydraulic oil level update and replacement of the hydraulic valve as called for in their service bulletin PSB-2005-052 and Control Valve 31351-39604. I'm going to show him the copy of the fax posted earlier about service bulletin PSB-2005-052A regarding fixing the ratcheting noise. By the way I did notice that both the right and left rear axle hubs on my L2800 have a white mark on them. Not sure if this means my tractor was updated as you discussed earlier, but I did try depressing the clutch pedal when my 60" rear mower was at recommended PTO throttle and I did not hear a ratcheting noise. I have tilled 2.5 acres (about 12 hours) and plan on tilling another 2 acres in the fall. After about 8 hours of tilling I did have a problem with disengaging the PTO. The service man came right over, loaded the tractor, and brought it into the shop where it was diagnosed with a PTO cable that was rusted. It was replaced and lubed and no problems since. I will report any future problems encountered.
I now have 70 hours on my tractor, approximations as follows: 20 hrs brush hogging, 18 hrs grass cutting, 12 hours tilling, and 20 hours of FEL, Backhoe, and just messing around.
The main reason I chose the L2800 over a B7800 or B3030 was simply more mass. I use my backhoe regularly: digging, stump removal, lifting, and dragging out weeds from tight places, and I feel very comfortable with the added mass. Maybe an experienced backhoe operator would make a better case for a lighter tractor.

MDM · May 22, 2007

acresdozen said:
By the way I did notice that both the right and left rear axle hubs on my L2800 have a white mark on them. Not sure if this means my tractor was updated as you discussed earlier, but I did try depressing the clutch pedal when my 60" rear mower was at recommended PTO throttle and I did not hear a ratcheting noise.

Mine has the white mark, and it will rachet like there is no tomorrow. I guess that shoots down the "white mark means its fixed" line the dealer gave me. Unless mine has the updated cams, but not the mystery fix that eliminates the racheting. Does anyone know if the cams are running in an oil bath without the "oil level raising" service bulletin? I thought I had read on here that the cams are in an oil bath originally and the service bulletin just submerges them completely. I mentioned that service bulletin to my dealer before I bought the tractor and he said it would make it too hard for me to add the HST fluid when I serviced it. I know...funny.

The size of the 2800 is what attracted me to it as well. I figured if was heavy enough to pull a car out of a ditch but light enough that I could still mow with it. I love the size of the tractor, but knowing what I know now, I would have bought something different. Something in the same weight range. I was looking at a Mahindra 2815 HST - same weight, more bells and whistles and stronger loader. I opted for the Kubota because of the reliability and strong foothold in the market. I love the 2800, just as long as the PTO doesn't go bad. I do hate worrying about babying the PTO though. Still hoping these are isolated incidents, but it must have been a big problem to cause Kubota to eliminate the racheting completely. Just wish they had done it to my tractor, or atleast told me that it didn't have the updated PTO before I bought it.

Marcussen · May 22, 2007

The PTO cable is another problem, mine does not make the ratcheting sound but I did have to get the cable replaced when the tractor had about 30 hours on it, it would not disengage the PTO because the cable was sticking.

MDM · May 22, 2007

Agreed. Having a PTO engaged with a bicycle brake cable is not the best design for longevity. Now I know what "economy" model really means. I wish I weren't such a tight wad.

Goog · May 23, 2007

I have been following this thread with great interest as I have one of the annoying ratcheting pto's. My tractor just passed 24 months old when I saw this thread and heard about the updated cam kit.
Sure wish I had seen this sooner as I had the 3pt. valve replaced and the higher oil level kit installed in 2005. I use a chipper and it really can make that pto sing if not carefull when stopping. Scared the **** out of me the first time.

I sent an email to a contact at Kubota and have not gotten a clear answer on whether the powertrain warranty will cover this. He did not read the PSB very closely because he thought it was just to inform a running change and not an updated kit for earlier models.

I will post what I find out. I have not talked to my dealer as they told me I was the only one who ever complained about the 3 pt. jerking and the pto noise. I know they sold several of these tractors so I would like to have an email in my hand and a copy of the psb before even going in. Brian

Shimon · May 23, 2007

Goog said:
they told me I was the only one who ever complained about the 3 pt. jerking and the pto noise. I know they sold several of these tractors so I would like to have an email in my hand and a copy of the psb before even going in. Brian

Hey Goog-

Where in WA did you get your tractor? Which dealer? Just curious since you mention no one else complained about the 3pt jerkiness. My dealer told me the same thing..."no one else every complained". I guess either most owners don't care or don't want to complain or the dealer is giving me a line (although the dealer has been very fair and up-front with me so far so I don't want to knock him just yet).

8226hamer · May 24, 2007

I'm sorry it has taken me this long to post what I found out from Kubota. My computer crashed and I just now got it back from being repaired.

What I found out was, they said that the powertrain warranty will cover this repair. I told them that was good, but it still didn't fix this problem. I ask about the new L2800-3400's and what was changed in the PTO so it did not ratchet. I was told that they did away with the two way locking cams and now they have a one way locking cam system. My next question was can this system be placed in the older tractors with the two way cams. I really did not get an answer to this, but was told it may be an option, but it would have to be researched to see if it could be done. I got the impression that it would be very expensive to do this. The man I talked to was a representive in the service and repair department and he said since I used the PTO for running the roto tiller as much as I do that it would be best to have a tractor with an independent PTO like my B2910 had.

I said that I may use the PTO and the tiller, but he was wrong about the part where I use it more than normal because this tractor only has 225 hour on it and it has not seen anywhere near the use as the B2910 had and it never was down with PTO problems and this tractor has now been split twice and the cams replaced, so his solution was to talk to the division sales manager and see about getting me a different tractor. He also said he was going to check more into replacing the two way cams with the new one way cams.
I wanted to know when I would find out what was going to happen, he said to call my dealer Monday and they would have some information for me.

I called Monday and talked to the salesman that sold me the tractor and he said that Kubota was maybe willing to trade me a B3030 at a reduced rate. I asked how reduced was it and he said that the sales manager ask what would make me happy, but that they couldn't just trade me even up for it.

I told him I didn't expect them to because the 3030 is a more expensive tractor than he L2800, but I think the price should be no greater than the price between a new L2800 and the B3030.

So if they can't fix my 2800 with the new PTO system this trade is maybe an option. The salesman at my dealer was going to relay what I said about the price difference to the district sales manager and find out what he thought and I would be notified when they had an answer. I have not heard anything as of today.

I put about 2 hours of tilling time on the L2800 today with no problems, but was holding my breath the whole time I was.