L3301 or similar

   / L3301 or similar #11  
I wouldn't own an HST machine that size. What a waste of HP.

What do you do with that machine that needs the HP? Pulling a plow is the only job you’d win at and nobody buys a 2700 pound tractor to plow with. A HST only robs power at peak pulling effort. It looses very little power driving across a field pulling a bushhog. And I guarantee the HST tractor would outperform your 4x2 transmission mowing. You don’t have the gears to match the conditions and have to compromise on the slower speed when realistically you could go a little bit faster. And you’re wasting time reversing around obstacles. Also the HST can briefly slow down when you’re about to hit a bump while still maintaining PTO speed. An ability the gear tractor can’t easily do.
 
   / L3301 or similar #13  
I wonder if people still think that the gear tractors from the past 40+ years are still like the Ford 8N...

My tractor will go at 0.7 MPH at the 2600 rated RPM in the slowest gear which is plenty slow for a tiller. And if I really wanted, I could drop the RPMs down 1800 RPM and use the 540E and could cut that speed down to 0.4 MPH. I do run in 540E like 90% of the time but in 3rd or 4rd gear in Low range, still plenty good.
Yes.
I ran a 5' tiller on my last tractor (JD 850 with 22 PTO HP) that was gear and it ran it fine.
I run a 6' tiller on my current gear drive Kioti DK 35 (28.3 PTO HP) and it runs it no problem at all.
Does a great job with the tiller.
 
   / L3301 or similar #14  
Dealer clutch rebuilds are $1,200 between 1,500 and 2,000 engine hours of use.
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Where do you come up with this stuff ?
I have nearly 2400 hours on my clutch with many, many thousands of forward/reverses and many hundreds of tons loader work and haven't needed the first clutch adjustment yet
 
   / L3301 or similar #15  
I wonder if people still think that the gear tractors from the past 40+ years are still like the Ford 8N...

My tractor will go at 0.7 MPH at the 2600 rated RPM in the slowest gear which is plenty slow for a tiller. And if I really wanted, I could drop the RPMs down 1800 RPM and use the 540E and could cut that speed down to 0.4 MPH. I do run in 540E like 90% of the time but in 3rd or 4rd gear in Low range, still plenty good.

I couldn’t find the bottom end gear range for that tractor but it’s definitely not .7 mph. But the bottom end speed isn’t as much of a problem as a 4x2 isn’t enough gears. A dry clutch is at the bottom end of the spectrum too. There’s good gear transmissions and there’s gear transmissions that leave you wishing you had a HST. This one is in the latter.
 
   / L3301 or similar #16  
From the T-B-N ARCHIVE:

 
   / L3301 or similar #17  
I couldn’t find the bottom end gear range for that tractor but it’s definitely not .7 mph. But the bottom end speed isn’t as much of a problem as a 4x2 isn’t enough gears. A dry clutch is at the bottom end of the spectrum too. There’s good gear transmissions and there’s gear transmissions that leave you wishing you had a HST. This one is in the latter.
Here is the speed chart for my tractor and for the L3301. L3301 has a 1.1 mph lowest speed which is still plenty good for a tiller. I've tilled ground with a Kubota B7000 with a 6x2 trans for 18 years and it was still plenty slow. Matter of fact, I used to ran it in 3rd gear.

Maybe you need to check some speed charts and get up to date. As I said, gear tractors have not been like a Ford 8N for a loooong time.


branson speeds.jpg
L3301 speeds.jpg
 
   / L3301 or similar #18  
Is your lot 2 acre total? If so think the L3301 is pretty much more then you need. The tiller is not a good fit with a gear tractor. I have used a 5 foot tiller with a L2501 HST. It had plenty of power. It worked very well.

I would buy the 2501 HST vs the 3301 DT.
I have used a tiller for 20 years with a gear tractor. But buying a new tractor, I am getting HST. Not because of any tiller issues, more for loader work.
 
   / L3301 or similar #19  
Hello, I'm new to this forum.
Will be putting in about 2 acres of lawn on a sloped lot, after our house is built. Builder will brush hog the tall grass before building. And rough grade after building. I've never owned anything bigger than a riding mower before, and have always done all of our yard work.

I was originally thinking about a Kubota BX series, but after doing lots of reading, am concerned about stability and width of the tractor with a bucket load, etc. etc.
Plus I need plenty of power for a tiller and/or a soil pulverizer.
Other tasks I will have mowing, bucket work, and plowing the long driveway.
Attachement list would be pulverizer, grooming mower (rear PTO) and FEL/bucket for soil, gravel, mulch (maybe a combo bucket), plus a 3rd valve for left/right movement of a snow blade. Or maybe just a snow push.

Does anyone have a Kubota L3301 4WD with gear/clutch? I'm not scared of the regeneration and need more than 25 HP for the pulverizer. I'd love a hydrostatic drive, but not sure I want to spend the extra $2000 for it.

Am I on the right track? Any thoughts, feedback, comments y'all want to give? Thanks in advance.

David
near Cleveland OH



Weight defines what a tractor will do, HP just defines how fast it will do it.

A 100hp BX will lift half what a 25hp L would. Weight to a large degree is the only thing that matters for lift capacity.

You say you need HP for the pulverizer. Ground engaging impliments need traction as much or than HP. Weight is traction. A L2501 will have exactly the same traction as a L3901. You need HP for PTO impliments or high speed (over 8-10mph, it's a tractor not a car) roading.

I had a L3200, which got defined to become a L2501 (under the 25hp emissions gear limit). Great machine for my 5 acres. Possibly overkill for 2 acres depending on your exact needs, but not inappropriate by any means. Personally I'd rather have a L2501hst than a L3301 geared machine. The ease of use & precision is worth it. I use pallet forks more than a bucket & will stick forks inches from a window on my truck with a HST. No way I'd do that with a geared machine. Same with running a mower, tiller or whatever inches from a fence.

Geared machines are more efficient. But on a SCUT or CUT control & usability is more relevant for homeowners. Different story if you are farming in huge open fields.
 
   / L3301 or similar #20  
Gear drive 3301 doesn't have a live PTO. That's the only reason that I bought a hydro.

3 years later I STILL stall it more often doing loader work than I ever did with my geared L275.
 
 
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