L48 - trouble

[foz]

Anyone else with an L48 returning it on a regular basis?? Mine is going in Monday to meet with Mr. Dealer & Kubota Tech, now loader won't lift the 2500 Lbs it is rated for, what a piece of S*@#!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am ready to send it back to Kubota

 

[kubmech]

Foz, have you had a chance to check out this thread
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=buykubota&Number=140515&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=>http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=buykubota&Number=140515&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=</A>

 

[HKSawyer]

Foz, (btw I'm a vol. firefighter too) Sorry you are having a bad experience. What else is the tractor doing inthe way of unpleasantness?

I have a different concern about the L48. This is coming from a person who is fond of this tractor very much and has considered purchasing one. The concern is the hystat system. It itself may be fine, or not, I don't know. What I do know from experience is that in heavy-duty land clearing applications, tractors with hystat drive (e.g., a Cat D3 dozer) will overheat their trannies when pushing big piles of debris until they cannot move forward. All that pushing and churning of the fluids under great force creates big time heat, I guess. For land clearing therefore, its best to have a the traditional gear driven tractor or preferable the shuttle shift. I have not experienced this overheating on an L48 (to clarify again, I don't own one) but this has prompted me to stay with a "traditional" sized backhoe like a JCB 214 class machine. But their are some jobs that only a smaller footprint can accomplish, and the Kubota L35 or 48 would be perfect. So I still may end up with one.

 

[DavidInNH]

I haven't done a lot of FEL work with my L48, mostly running the backhoe and the chipper. I have put less than 30 hours on it, but it had 348 on it when I got it. I think most of those hours were running the backhoe with a few for snow moving. Its worked like a champ. At first I worried that it was going to be too big, but it seems like everytime I dig a hole, all that comes out is 2-3' nuggets. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

You might want to look at posts by Rat on the L48, I think he does a lot of earth moving.

-david

 

[foz]

Sorry i've been working so haven't had time to post. Update on L48 is that the dealer replaced my relief valve a few days prior to my trouble & "goober" the new mechanic forgot to reset my pressure. All is fine with it now. My problems with the L48 are not that it won't do what i ask, it is the constant bad valve, new relief valve, etc....I think Kubota put this product to market 6 months before they were ready (? just my opinion ?). If it stays working without any valve troubles, or redesigns, it would be a great machine. As far as the smaller footprint, i have some builders that will only use me because when doing additions, we create less damage with L48 than the full sized units.

 

[JATO_RaT]

Foz, I have the full manual for the L48. If you don't and have some questions, eMail me. As for the pressure, it is easy enough to check yourself if you want to buy a gauge and connector. The manual shows checking it at the rear remote, the one on the left as you stand at the back facing the rear end. Yours is probably tied to the hoe right now. It gives what the pressure should be there. Good luck, Rat...