Tires L35 Tires

[Kubota-monkey]

The tires on my L35 seem to be wearing down quite quickly. The rubber on them seems very soft and large chunks are missing mostly from the front tires. I was also considering changing the front tires to tires with a little more grip. The tires on the front now are specially for a TLB. Can I place other tires on the front and is the quick wearing of the tires normal?

Thanks for the info-
Ben

 

[MChalkley]

What brand are the tires you have now? It's quite normal for the front tires to wear faster than the rears, but it's hard to say how fast is "normal". You can certainly replace them with different tires, but it's very important to get the resulting lead/lag ratio correct. Rather than assume the original tires were correct and trying to get close to the rolling circumference of them, I'd find out what the mechanical ratio between the front and rear drive (in 4wd) is, then get a tire that matches up with the existing rears.

Rather than reinvent the wheel here (pardon the pun), I'm going to suggest you do a search on "lead" and "lag" for the details of how to do that, if you don't know already.

Mark

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I also have an L-35 that has tires wear out very quickly & have flats; I have 200hr on the tractor & have my 2nd set of front tires. I have been thinking of changing all of the tires & wheels to Ag tires but they say it could cost around $1000. The front tires are to soft and get cuts and flats too easy. They need to change to a tougher tire at the factory because they do not wear well & last.

 

[gerard]

200 hours and on second set??? Just doesn;t seem like they should be wearing THAT quickly. (I have R1's with 120 hours that don't even have noticable wear) I would definitely check the tires ratios and make sure these are the right tires. If the ratio is wrong and you're in 4wd you'll get excessive wear on both the tire AND your gears/transmission. (Means the tires are turning at different ground speeds relative to each other. Think of the front tire at the ground turning faster than the tractor is going. Constant slippage and constant wear) L35's I think come with R4's which are supposed to be pretty tough. I'd make sure the sizes are right as Mark C said.

 

[art]

With the L-35's we have out we have not seen that much wear on them yet. We have had some trouble with flats on a tractor or two but it was what they were doing that was the cause of them. There are some tougher design's coming out that we use on the skid loaders that will also fit on the front of a L-35 tractor.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I feel the front versus rear tires on the L35 are wrong from the git-go.

If I drive my L35 in 4wd for any distance in 4WD I cannot get it out of four wheel drive unless I put the bucket down, and at that point the front tires noticeably rotate. My Ford NH has never had any trouble moving in/out of 4WD and does not exhibit any tire movement if you put the bucket down in 4WD. It has about 1300 hours on R1's and they have chunks gone, 17 years of cracks and age, but certainly don't need replacing as traction is great. I'll have to look at the L35 wheels, I've got a pretty good extra pair of 150mph rated tires that would look nice on the front! Might not be rated weight wise quite enough tho! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Bird]

del, it really does sound like you've got some tires and/or wheels of the wrong size, and need to follow Mark Chalkley's advice above.

Bird

 

[Pks]

Here here... I too think Mark's advice is good. In a 4x4 system, there is nothing good happening if you must lift the front wheels to disengage the 4x4.

4x4 systems have two differentials: one for each axle
AWD (all wheel drive) systems have three differentials: one for each axle and a third differential which couples the axles together.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Ben,
Any conclusions to the L35 tire situation? I'm interested because I'm considering buying this beast in the near future.
Dave

 

[Kubota-monkey]

Dave,
Well I havent bought any new tires yet however I have asked a long time farmer about this problem and he told me with the amount of hours I have on those tires (415) I wont need new ones for a while. I suppose when I drive my tractor to the dealer to have them replace a few filters and clean the air element, etc. I will suggest to put new tires on but for now Im not having to much trouble with the tire problem.


Good luck on your purchase of this tractor as I highly suggest you pulll through with your intention. It is a truly great tractor for 35 horsepower. I have impressed countless people with it's power. I also suggest you buy the unit as a whole (tractor-loader-backhoe) as this unit is built to work in tandom with these implements.
Good Luck!





The Ben from MA /w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I do'nt build em just work on em. The L-35 does eat front tires if you bought it new it should have the correct tire match. If you're using it in 4x4 alot when you really do'nt nead to, that will contribute to the wear. check your pressures they do make a big difference. The problem described in being hard to shift in and out of 4x4 is normal. Kubota put the hi-tech gst (with all synchronized gears) in this tractor but the 4x4 is engaged with two straight cut gears and a shifter that has alot of flex to it. Be patient use 1st gear and rock the tractor a little to engage and disengage usually works good if your on level ground (trans not bound up from tractor weight on an incline or decline) Save your money for a dry clutch job due at approx 900 hours, check your rear wheel torque often as they tend to loosen up quite frequently and subsequently ruin the rear rims, do'nt forget the grease fitting in the front steering pivot above the center section of the front axle, do'nt rest your foot on the 4x4 shifter when it's disengaged, When your front axle king pin seals start to leak (they will) get them repaired right away. When your loader control lever starts to stick, free up the self levelling pivot directly in front of the fel control valve and have a grease fitting installed. Ask your dealer about the updated gst clutch case upgrade and the front drive shaft spacer kit (depends on ser #) And good luck with your L-35.....

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Thanks for posting the info.

That 900 hour clutch job seems awfully early, are all Kubota's so weak in such a critical area? I have seen many many tractors that others have owned and have not done any clutch work at up to 1800 hours or more, but these were mostly JD's and NH's.

And speaking of rear wheel torque, I had another mech tell me not to bother the retorque procedure unless you take the weight off of them with the outriggers. Makes sense to me. Any comments?

I guess for the heavy work where I don't want to stress the L35's clutch I'll have to get the wife off the BX and use that, or my JD GT! /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Most of the L35's weve seen come through the shop needing clutch work is at approx 900hrs. one cust just got his second clutch at 1845hrs.Also have seen alot of wiped out rear rims from nor keeping up with the torques/mostly L35's.

 

[DarinRay]

Re: Front axle seals

When your front axle king pin seals start to leak (they will) get them repaired right away.

This may sound like a stupid question for allot of you but when I don't know something I have to ask. Anyway please help me here for I'm not sure what the front axles king pins are or what seals are going to start leaking. I just purchased this L35 a couple weeks ago and am basically going through the unit right now. I've changed all filters and oils and etc and am in teh middle of troubleshooting the hazards because they aren't working I changed the light switch that corrected my lights problem but didn't fix the hazards. I've noticed that there is a wet spot on both sides of the front axles where the tires pivot in the axles housing (maybe the king pins??) I was told to check the axles vent from a dealer that's been helping me and did but wasn't blocked just hard to get to so now I'm not sure if I need to changed these seals or not. Is this common in all 4wd models?? Another thing that I was wondering is I changed the engine oil and got all the kubota parts and noticed that the wix filter that was on there is bigger than the kubota filter. Is bigger better in the case?

Darin

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Front axle seals

DarinRay,
That,s the king pin seals leaking. the major concerns when they leak is of course fluid loss but you also have to worry about dirt getting in and tearing up the bearings,which if let go long enough leads to major parts failure and big $$.
Noticed you have 900 hrs on the tractor check the clutch pedal free play, should be about 3/4 ".
Don't sweat the filter size, alot of times after market filters are different sizes, The kubota filters are more than adequate for your machine.
Good luck with the flasher problem a few thoughts :
Wiggle the fuse, the fuse box location is prone to dirt and corrosion. The flasher unit is buried under the dash.

 

[DarinRay]

Re: Front axle seals

Kubmech,

I am sorry for the loooooong wait for this reply and would like to say first thanks for your help in dealing with my L35 and all the insight that you are sharing on this board and this goes to everyone else that shares with posts. I have been reading posts here all the time but unless I check them allot I seem to get way backed up and just end up starting over. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Also I forget which threads I've replied to and then these kind of late messages happen. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif

Anyway I have been watching the level and leaking habit of the king pins (after finding out what the heck they were). I have purchased the owner's manual and service manual's but sometimes that can get a beginner like me into trouble by thinking that I can do that /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif and then oops now what /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif. Kubmech would you think that a person with a general understanding attemp to change these king pin seal or should I fork over the bucks and let the pros do it?

Another thing that I will do is check the play in the clutch too.

Here's one more for you- do I need to use the clutch changing from forward to reverse on my L35 GST? I use it on slopes when dumping the loader but when there is no slope I just slip it to N then to forward or reverse.

Boy I'm full of questions tonight (morning). I haven't replaced the hazard unit because I don't use them right now because the only work I do is at teh house. And for a neighbor or two. Latest free work cost me about $100-blew a hydraulic hose on BH trying to get out of area I had to pull myself into to make a trench. After hose blew it was all over and had to have wrecker come get me out. Darn it! So new hose and pull out job was on the house even though the neighbor offered to help. That was one of those jobs that I really didn't have fun doing./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Darin

 

[kubmech]

Re: Front axle seals

Darin, You do'nt need the clutch to shuttle from forward to reverse, just let the tractor stop between (easier on the syncros). The dealer should have the necessary tools to do the kingpin seals, that's probably the biggest issue in that job.
Some guys remove the outer housing assy (bevel gear case) and bring them in and we take it from there (saves a little on labor).

 

[Joesgoats]

Re: Front axle seals

DarinRay, what was the problem with your hazards? On my L3710HST when I use the turn signals both lights come on--one blinks the other is solid--just as if I had the hazard lights on. I wonder if this could be due to the flasher?

Joe

 

[DarinRay]

Re: Front axle seals

Joesgoats,

On my L35 when I try using the hazards actually nothing works at all,,,not the dash display or the flashers or nothing. I was on this at first then just thought what the heck do I care but still does bother me sometimes when I make my things to do list updates and most aren't looked at...../w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif. Shoot I cant' even remember if I have voltage back to the bulb or not...ended up replacing one flasher because I ended up breaking it trying to get it off the fender for some spot painting. WOW you would of thought they were made of gold or something. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

Darin

 

[Rowski]

Re: Front axle seals

On my NH2120 the headlights must be on for the flashers to work. Don't know if your Kubota is the same.

Derek