So I have not updated this thread in a great while. Thus far I have used the BH92 backhoe, LA1055 loader (with bucket, forks, and EA grapple), Woods HC60 rotary cutter, and Woods BSM84 7' box blade with the tractor.
My greatest pain point has been the BH92. The relief valves started leaking massively, and it had to go back for service. They supposedly switched a hose and added a tee somewhere. It now doesn't spray fluid every where, but it does leak fluid while I am using the third function. So it has to go back later this year for repairs on that. Also, today I started a new thread about the power beyond hose getting hit by the three point lift rod adjustment square tube and damaging the hose. It seems the engineering around adding the BH92 to this tractor was amazing, but a few things were unfortunately missed. However, the backhoe is an awesome productive tool to have.
At one point I lost about 5 gallons of fluid from my third function line under the tractor. The fitting apparently came loose while I was mowing. I am still unsure if I hit something with it or it just vibrated loose. I did manage to hit a stump that somehow the front axle missed and the support under the fuel tank got. However, I don't think it hit the third function line or it would have bent everything associated with the parts underneath for the third function.
The cab is awesome. I can work longer, in hot or cold weather, and never get dirty. The only downside is not being able to hear the normal tractor sounds, but I'm fine without. I did a lot of box blade work today and it is very dry and the entire machine was covered in dust, but I was not. I can also cut closer to the edges of my fields without worrying about bees, which I already ran into once. When you see a bunch of those suckers tapping on your windows you really appreciated the cab.
The R4 tires have no issues with the box blade but to be fair I did not have the scarifiers down. However, I don't think it would have an issue. However, if it is wet, they will slide, and if it is mud, you are screwed, especially if trying to go up hill. I don't care for the R4 tires when cutting, but they definitely tear the yard up less so I just mowed the yard a couple weeks ago with the rotary cutter because I was honestly too lazy to get the riding mower out and the ground was very hard. The one thing about the R4 tires is they pack the ground hard and don't loosen the dirt. This is great when doing dirt work like I was doing today with the box blade. It compacted the dirt I moved with the blade very hard which should help with runoff tomorrow.
The tractor had no issues in low low or low high with the box blade. Honestly I wouldn't go faster because if I hit a stump it would probably break something. The cutter I think I was doing medium low about 4mph at most in thick brush. The tractor didn't bog down but a few times in really thick stuff. The HST is very nice for work all around. I was surprised at how well it handled the box blade without getting warm today.
The fancies of the L60 are very nice, such as the low/high HST lever on the dash. I am thankful for the electronic HST because it is much less fatigue on my legs and knees and I can work a lot longer without having to get out and walk around.
I performed the 50 hour maintenance which was pretty straight forward. I did not change the main HST filter, only the HST transmission filter, because the main HST filter dumps the fluid and I didn't want to do it at the time. I will wait until I have about 250 hours to do the main filter (Kubota calls for 400 hours), since at 250 hours I have to change the HST filter again anyway.
The tractor came with a variety of pins for the three point which no one explained what they were for.
Here is the low down. Here is what I received:
One setup of these is for cat 1 implements which has the bushings to go to the cat2 setup on the tractor:
One setup of these is for cat 2 implements:
One pin is to hold the drawbar in (I have a swinging drawbar but the dealer gave me back the standard drawbar that came with the tractor, so here is what it looks like with that pin):
And one is for the implement on the drawbar:
The three point goes on very easy and should come off very easy. The BH92 was very simple to remove. I have not removed the LA1055 loader as I have no desire to ever do so.
Here is one project with the backhoe, 2' ditch for french drain and gutter drain around my barn:
The ditch was so easy for the backhoe to dig. It was very quick to get my gutter drains done with it.
Here is another picture with the backhoe on that project:
And this is my latest box blade project:
I did a lot of leveling in the pasture but more importantly had to make the water drain towards the french drain ditch I put in a couple months ago. Prior to doing all this the ground was just full of hoof prints, and when it rained it was a slosh mud mess that took literally over 2 weeks to dry. I am hoping I got the slope correct this time to get things draining towards the french drain I just put in. I expect I'll have more work to do later but I need to determine how the water flows in the next rain.
The only other concern I have is when I go up hill the steering gets hard to turn. I have read where others have had similar issues and would be interested in hearing from anyone with the same issue and if there is a way to fix it. I swear it feels like it runs out of fluid. I sometimes wonder if the intake for the steering is sucking air from the hydraulic tank or something. Sometimes at low RPMs the steering is difficult as well. That is somewhat to be expected, but it just gets weird sometimes when it feels like it doesn't want to turn. However, the biggest issue is definitely going up hills. It really sucks when mowing, and is kind of scary on the hillside.
Overall I am very impressed with the tractor. I am hoping I can get the backhoe issues all resolved.
Thankfully my dealer has been good to resolve any issues. From the horror stories I read from others on the forums and various YouTube videos, I am very pleased with the dealer I chose. All the parts for my 50 hour service they had on hand and were the same price or slightly less than Messicks. I used them for comparison since they do so much business and figured the prices should be close to Messicks' to be fair. I somewhat feel like all the issues have been Kubota issues thus far. The only exception has been the leaking loader nut that I had to tighten, the forgotten defroster switch, and maybe the third function line nut coming undone. But to be fair all that is minor stuff that anyone could miss with so much that goes into the build of the tractor.
That's my thoughts today. I just wanted to post an update since I haven't updated the thread in a while.
