L3130 Weight vs. Power

AB4D · Jan 5, 2006

[An L3430 would have cost $2000 more]

Just my 2 cents, when I was pricing between an L3130HST and a L3430HST, my dealer had a 1k price difference between the two. At the time, I was opting for a L3430 over the L3130, my main reason for purchasing the tractor was to run a brush hog, and I felt that the three extra horses couldn't hurt. Would I have noticed a difference? I'm not sure, but I would of hated to have purchase the L3130 and then ended up regreting that I didn't get the L3430. IMO I believe that the L3130 is a great tractor. I think one of the issues with individuals feeling that a tractor is underpowered may be related to operator technique. If you are constantly trying to force a tractor to work beyond it's capabilities, and to go faster than is appropriate for the tractor/task, you may feel that a tractor is underpowered because you are always pushing it to its limits and beyond. IMO tractors work better and safer at slower speeds and I believe they are designed to perform their best at a reasonable pace.

Jim

KubotaSteve · Jan 5, 2006

I actually wanted the L3130 when I bought my B7800 but 2 factors stopped me from getting one. First the price /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif and 2ndly the weight. One of my main uses was going to be to mow. I was afraid the L3130 would have been too much weight. With the way the 7800 breaks traction, I would think the L3130 would be the perfect combination of weight and power. I think some people buy a compact tractor and expect it to have the power of a D-9.
If anyone is unhappy with the performance of their L3130 I would be happy to come take it off your hands free of charge /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

CTyler · Jan 5, 2006

When I was looking to buy a tractor the L3130 concerned me a little since it was so much heavier than other tractors with the same HP. Everyone commented that everyone adds wheel weights, fills the tires etc, etc to get more weight for better traction.

So here we are 800 hours later with the L3130HST. The tractor has done pretty much everything asked of it and its been a good tractor. However the tractor is not a powerhouse, a little finese goes a long way. Tasks that used to tax the tractor in low when learning are down in med range. High gear leaves a little to be desired but its still faster than med.

I'm not complianing about the L3130 but would welcome a few extra HP. I'm not sure why Kubota has the L3130 when they have the L3430. The weight of the L3130 has become a real concern now that I want a hard cab w/heat and A/C. Mowing the hills with A/C running will be abit much.

Kubota offers the L3430 with a cab and the extra few HP will offset the A/C requirements when compared to the L3130. Its really odd that they don't offer the cab in the L3830 which is what I'd like to have now to do things a little quicker.

There was a person talking about how under powered the L3130 was and how bad it was etc, etc... Well thats just non-sense and I'll leave it at that.

smittyd3 · Jan 5, 2006

Hi,
The L3130 we have has the pulling power to do all we need. It has always turned a tire and not stalled. I would like a LA723 FEL instead of the LA513, but that's another story.

Smittyd
/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Jibber · Jan 6, 2006

I have about as heavy an L3130 as you can get.. loaded tires.. 723 loader and BH.. I got the tires loaded because I didn't buy the Backhoe with the original package and needed more ballast than a box blade could provide.

anyway.. If I were back at the dealer starting over I'd probably get an L3830. That being said.. the only time I've really felt "underpowered" is on the road.. and going uphill.

Dropping the backhoe helps a lot on travel speed. But, I don't spend much time on the road. Most of the time I'm in low range on the HST and that's fine.

as for implement strength.. well, for me that's mostly a matter of hydraulics and I've never experienced any real problems. And, I'm moving lots of rocks around here.