L3301 PTO whine

[Citydude]

FullSizeRender - YouTube
Here is a link to a video of the noise.

Definitely not normal. Odd that the Kubota rep basically shrugged this off.

 

[lennyzx11]

I’ve got and L3301 hydro and the pto is not loud. The hydro on the other hand whines like they all do.

Same here. Bought at end of 2015 and approaching 300 hrs. Use PTO near weekly for rotary cutter or flail mower.

 

[gimmodog]

you call it a whine but is it possible it's more of a squeal--like metal on metal, possibly a bad bearing

 

[Fallon]

Ya, that video helps a lot. You can hear the standard HST whine in there, then that other odd noise. Bearings or something would be my guess.

Kubota & thr dealers are usually good about following through resolving this kind of stuff. Hope they end up comming through for you at some point, or this just turns out to be an irrelevant sound due to an odd harmonic or something.

 

[gshamilton]

Ya, that video helps a lot. You can hear the standard HST whine in there, then that other odd noise. Bearings or something would be my guess.

Kubota & thr dealers are usually good about following through resolving this kind of stuff. Hope they end up comming through for you at some point, or this just turns out to be an irrelevant sound due to an odd harmonic or something.

If it was an odd harmonic, would you expect to hear it in other units of the same model? Seems no one else here or others I have talked to have had this issue which leads me to share your opinion about a bearing.

 

[gshamilton]

Definitely not normal. Odd that the Kubota rep basically shrugged this off.

That is what the dealer is telling me. I assume he is telling me the truth. I may take to another dealer for a second opinion.

 

[Fallon]

If it was an odd harmonic, would you expect to hear it in other units of the same model? Seems no one else here or others I have talked to have had this issue which leads me to share your opinion about a bearing.

Resonance frequencies of materials change with mass & density. So if a casting had a hollow spot or was slightly different than others it could still be perfectly fine, but resonate at a different frequency.

I dont really think that's the case here, but who knows. All things considered hopefully the bearing or whatever fails as it sounds like it's under warranty. And the problem would be solved. A 2nd dealer opinion might be a good idea to get is solved before something fails (always at a bad time if course).

 

[gshamilton]

Update on issue. I took the tractor to another dealer to check out the noise and have the 50 hour service done. When I dropped it off, they hooked up another 3301 up to a cutter and no PTO noise. At that time they agreed that they could change the PTO gear assembly on mine thinking it would help. Several days later, got a call from service manager who stated he had mistakenly grabbed a geared model for our test and not an HST model and they are set up differently. He had since tried HST models and they too made the whine. He had also called the regional Kubota rep who remembered my tractor from the other dealer and stated again that it was somewhat normal. The new dealer entered another service note on my file and stated he thought that was just the nature of the HST models which have square cut gears in the PTO that can make noise as they don't fit together exactly as they mesh and can make noise. He hooked up an HST model to a cutter fro me and it had a noise like mine if not louder! He reiterated that two notes have been put in my file and that I have a 6 year powertrain warranty and any issue would be covered. He thought as the square cut gears wore in that the whine may lessen. Long story short is I guess I just have to live with this whining noise when using the PTO and hope it lessens with wear of the gears. I am just really surprised with as many of these compact tractors that sell these days, that neither dealer had dealt with this before if it is common on these popular models. Maybe everyone uses headphones while mowing and they don't hear it? My only negative so far with my new Kubota.

 

[Dave M7040]

Update on issue. I took the tractor to another dealer to check out the noise and have the 50 hour service done. When I dropped it off, they hooked up another 3301 up to a cutter and no PTO noise. At that time they agreed that they could change the PTO gear assembly on mine thinking it would help. Several days later, got a call from service manager who stated he had mistakenly grabbed a geared model for our test and not an HST model and they are set up differently. He had since tried HST models and they too made the whine. He had also called the regional Kubota rep who remembered my tractor from the other dealer and stated again that it was somewhat normal. The new dealer entered another service note on my file and stated he thought that was just the nature of the HST models which have square cut gears in the PTO that can make noise as they don't fit together exactly as they mesh and can make noise. He hooked up an HST model to a cutter fro me and it had a noise like mine if not louder! He reiterated that two notes have been put in my file and that I have a 6 year powertrain warranty and any issue would be covered. He thought as the square cut gears wore in that the whine may lessen. Long story short is I guess I just have to live with this whining noise when using the PTO and hope it lessens with wear of the gears. I am just really surprised with as many of these compact tractors that sell these days, that neither dealer had dealt with this before if it is common on these popular models. Maybe everyone uses headphones while mowing and they don't hear it? My only negative so far with my new Kubota.

Perhaps you are well aware of this need but I will mention it out of an abundance of caution. Very recently the owner of a new machine was very upset when his pto assembly failed. He told of using different implements belonging to his Dad all day long. Never once did he mention making certain the pto shaft of each different implement as not too long for his machine. On one implement, the pto was too long and it bottomed out as he raised the implement. The pto could not telescope enough and forced the tractor bits too much breaking the internal parts of the pto

Dave M7040.

 

[Topesrule]

I had issues with a noise in my L3301. When talking to the service manager he told me that there's a bearing associated with the PTO (I can't remember the exact bearing, he showed me when the tractor was apart) that he has had to replace on a few L3301's and L3901's. I don't think it was common exactly, but he was aware of that being a point of failure. It didn't turn out to be the problem with mine.