L3700 lands on Caribbean Mountain

Recoveryhill · Nov 3, 2010

I resolved issues to clear the tractor and implements off the "dock" and called my friend Benny the roll back wrecker operator to haul the 3700, Bush Hog and Black Blade, from the port to my mountain redoubt.

All arrived a couple of hours ago and was successfully unloaded in various flat spots. Benny, he say, "Tomas every time I haul something to you house I feel like my life over, like the electric chair or something" In his defense, it is a bit high and steep getting here.

I'm good when looking at the tractor's front quarter. Looking at the tractors butt end, it certainly looks high and narrow! I've "slung" various equipment around in flat lands, backhoes, track excavators, etc. I've also operated skidders in mountainous terrain, production wise.

My first chore is to shift the rim/disc combo to the widest configuration, and then fill the rears. After that, I'm going to hunt around my terrain like GrandMa, looking for warnings or confirmations. I don't regret my choice of R1 tires and they allow me to increase the track width, but they sure look tall and narrow from the horses *** end.

Orange looks good on my knob, but I'm anxious to get the rears done and the BB attached before I venture far from home. I need to repair and keep 1/2 mile of mountain road navigable for rental cars, and after that, cutting bush with the Rotary Mower wherever possible is a bonus.

Pictures will follow, hopefully rubber down!

Tomas

manganos · Nov 3, 2010

Sounds nice. I can't wait to see the pics.

Code54 · Nov 3, 2010

I have a 3700 and it was my understanding it can not be widened. I am hoping I'm wrong and someone can explain how to do it because I too would be interested.
Good luck and the 3700 is a great machine!

tungularafishcamp · Nov 3, 2010

You might want to look at putting duals on it, I have had mine on my L2800 since I got it except to load/unload it from the boat and is scares me each time without them, feels like always gonna roll over while with them on I am all over my hills n beach and hardly ever feels unstable even sidehilling.
Have fun with your new Kubota
Rikc

dex3361 · Nov 3, 2010

Code54 said:
I have a 3700 and it was my understanding it can not be widened. I am hoping I'm wrong and someone can explain how to do it because I too would be interested.
Good luck and the 3700 is a great machine!

I think the R1 tires can be set wider by flipping the rim dish and even further by swapping sides.

dex3361 · Nov 3, 2010

Thomas do you have the rear tires fluid filled? This makes the tractor much more stable on the hills.

Recoveryhill · Nov 4, 2010

Thanks all!

Stance can be widened on the L3700 with Ag tires. You move the rim to the outer side of the dish and mount to the outboard lugs. It doesn't give you much, 1.5" per side, I guess, but I'll take all I can get!

I did not have my rears filled by the dealer because the ocean shipper, in addition to charging by the cube, applies a fuel surcharge based on weight, for the heavy stuff. As it was, I paid a $281.00 fuel surcharge, with empty rears. Total freight from Fla. to St. Croix was $1,781.00. This included a bush hog and BB. Add $200 to that to have Benny deliver from the port, (a $100 pucker surcharge over his usual $100 rate), to my place. That should make most of you guys happy with your shipping charges!

Duals on Kodiak Island, hmmmmmm. I'll get back to you on that one a little later. I failed to notice your model and seem to have read that duals might overload the drive system on smaller class tractors. I am however interested!

Recoveryhill · Nov 4, 2010

tungularafishcamp said:
You might want to look at putting duals on it, I have had mine on my L2800 since I got it except to load/unload it from the boat and is scares me each time without them, feels like always gonna roll over while with them on I am all over my hills n beach and hardly ever feels unstable even sidehilling.
Have fun with your new Kubota
Rikc

Rikc...

The 2800/3400/3700 share the same drive line. How long have you had the duals on? Any problems?

I'd be very interested in the source of the kit and some general idea of cost. Was it a straight out of the box kit or did you have to fab adapters?

Our terrain is probably somewhat similar, challenged! I have plenty of areas where "things normal" but it goes from normal to difficult at the drop of a hat.

I'd be thinking that with the track offered by duals, filling the tires might not be necessary and would add unnecessary stress to the drive line. You didn't say if you were loaded, or not.

Thanks!

Tomas

Verticaltrx · Nov 4, 2010

My suggestion would be to just move the rear tires out to their widest position and either fluid fill the tires or add rear wheel weights (or both). Duals would provide great stability, but the do have some drawbacks, especially for the type of work you would be doing. First it will make your tractor MUCH wider, you would be running over uncut grass when bush hogging and your loader and box blade would not cover your tracks. Second, they really tear the heck out of grass/gravel/road pack, etc if you do a lot of tight turning. My experience with this comes from big 150-180hp tractors, but the principle is the same. That outer tire has to move faster on the turn than the inner tire, but can't since it's connected to the other tire. This makes it scuff along on tight turns which can really make a mess of things.

If you do want duals, the only type that would be available would be what we call 'snap on' 'clip on' duals. They use a metal ring that sandwiches between your current rim and the new rim and long bolts to hold it all together. Big tractors use axle mount duals in which the outer dual mounts on a hub on the axle just like a regular tire. It's a much better setup, but really isn't available for tractors much under 100hp.