L3400 3pt lift jerkiness or am I overloading.

[ccsial]

When I got my L3400HST last June the hitch jumped about an inch at a time going up. My dealer found a fix and put a new valve in. It now jumps just over 1/4" going up. It is not infinitly smooth like my Ford 1910 is but it is much better than it was.

With a 60" bush hog the 1" jump would shake the tractor, the 1/4" jump is not near as bad. It jumps about the same whether the lift is loaded or unloaded.

I suspect your tractor slipped through the cracks or has a problem of some type. There are many posts about this issue you can search for.

 

[canoetrpr]

An update on my situation.

I chatted with my dealer this morning. They seem to be working on my problem in earnest.

The serial number on my tractor is definately below the serial number breaks that were posted on TBN for when the problem had been fixed at the factory, however my dealer say they had called Kubota before delivery of my tractor and Kubota had assured them that my serial # did not suffer from this problem. I assumed that this may be related to tractors for the Canadian market having different serial number ranges.

The dealer has placed a call in to their Kubota technical rep. The dealer needs to come to my place anyway to pick up the wrong bush hog and replace it with the right one. They are trying to arrange with the Kubota rep so that he can come down with them to see the problem with my 3PT lift.

Personally I am going to be surprised if he does not know enough to tell them to just bring the tractor in and replace the valve - instead of dragging him out here - if the problem is as well known as it sounds. But you never know - in Canada - given our volumes are so much lower, it may not be a well known problem after all.

I can't see him looking at it and telling me that it is normal with a straight face. But then again I have been involved in these types of situations before where the manufacturer claims "working as normal". I can only hope for minimum hassle.

 

[canoetrpr]

Got word from my dealer that the Kubota rep will be at my place tomorrow morning to take a look at the valve.

Wish me luck!

 

[ccsial]

If the dealer or rep. try to say it's normal tell him there are dozens of posts by people who had it fixed. I would think at least the rep is well aware of this issue.

My dealer found the fix posted on his Kubota dealers area site back in June but said he had to dig for it. I hope your dealer is a good as mine.

Best of luck.

 

[canoetrpr]

Yeah - surprised me that they are actually willing to send a Kubota guy to come and check out my tractor.

Its possible that the Canadian dealers don't have the same information as the American dealers do.

I sure hope the Canadian Kubota rep will eventually have access to the same information that Kubota USA has about this.

 

[Shimon]

Well, I tried my 3pt lift today with a load and it is much better. Not silky smooth but much smoother than it was before. I hope Kubota does right by you.

The first thing I learned from TBN when I was in the market for a tractor is that all the big name brands are about equal. The most important decision is choosing the right dealer who will give you quality customer service. The cheapest price isn't everything.

 

[wushaw]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Its possible that the Canadian dealers don't have the same information as the American dealers do.

I sure hope the Canadian Kubota rep will eventually have access to the same information that Kubota USA has about this. )</font>

I don't see why Canadian dealers wouldn't have the same info...it's all on their computer.

The L3010 valve that is used to "fix" our 3pt problem is better than what was origionally installed but it is nothing like what is on the Grand L series tractors and probably not as smooth as an old 8N.
I suspect your tractor was spect with the origional valve and not the improved L3010 valve.

Hopefully your dealer/Kubota rep will see this and fix it accordingly.

 

[JerryG]

If someone has the TSB number for it or what ever Kubota calls it, it would help everyone that has the problem. Does anyone know what it is?

 

[ccsial]

If I remember correctly that number was posted some time ago. A search might find it.

 

[canoetrpr]

The Kubota technical rep and the service manager from my dealer were just here and left.

Here is the summary:

- The Kubota rep tried the 3pt lift out and agreed that it was too jerky.

- He already had the service bulletin for this problem in hand - printed out - and showed me the serial number breaks for HST and pointed out that my serial number was higher than the break. Him and the service manager had checked ino this before they delivered the tractor.

- He was surprised and asked the service manager to take the tractor in to see if I actually got the new valve or not. It seemed to him that somehow maybe they got the wrong serial number breaks on the bulletin.

- Now he did point out that any valve replacements they have done for this issue for serial numbers that were lower than the break would have been considered 'goodwill' and were not strictly required under warranty as the 3400 is an economy series tractor,.but in my case the serial number was higher AND I had pointed this out to them before I made my purchase.

- He also pointed out that not everybody who bought the L3400 complained about this issue. I can understand that.

- I was happy that they were going to get this sorted out for me but it left me slightly concerned as to whether they would pull the economy vs. Grand L argument on something else, or had I not been aware of this from TBN when I made the purchase. Made me wonder for the first time - hmm... should I have bought the grand L? He assured me that the L3400 was a great tractor and other than this one issue they have had no complaints and they would definately get my 3pt working smoother than it is - not as smooth as the Grand L but definately smoother.

- He asked the service manager to order the 3010 valve and then bring the tractor in to swap the valve. They are both interested in seeing if I did get the new valve and if there was a problem with it or if my tractor had been missed.

- All in all - a VERY positive experience with both my dealer and Kubota. They took my concers seriously and where here prompty. The Kubota rep thanked me for my business.

- I was very happy that I did not go down the route of getting a new machine imported from the U.S. given the difference in prices after the exchange rate - as I had considered before I bought this machine. I would not be getting this type of warranty service if I had. The piece of mind of having a local dealer back you up and have a Kubota rep show up the day after you complain about a problem is priceless.

- I also finally got my 5ft bushhog.

- Thanks to everyone at TBN for your help and for talking me into sticking to a local dealer an emphasising how important the dealer was in the purchase decision.