Looking at a preowned Kubota L2800

[jodebg]

Can anyone tell by this photo if the 4wd control lever is in the 4 or 2 wd position?

The 2 biggest concerns: The badly rusted rear valve stems. From what
I saw the rims look fine, but the stems are badly corroded.

And the fact that the owner stated that the machine ran in full time 4wd. He did not
know that there was a control lever. Thusly the tractor may have run for 216 hours
in continuous 4 wd.

 

[k0ua]

It looks to me that the lever is probably in the UP position. So, yes the Front wheel assist would be on. (4wd). But the only way to tell for sure would be to depress the lever..

 

[jeff9366]

The biggest concerns:

1) The badly rusted rear valve stems. From what I saw the rims look fine, but the stems are badly corroded.

2) The owner stated that the machine ran in full time 4wd. He did not
know that there was a control lever. Thus, the tractor may have run for 216 hours
in continuous 4 wd.

I am not a tire expert. If just the internal tire valve is corroded, it should be a simple screw out/screw in replacement. If the external part of the stem is corroded, I do not know how difficult it would be to replace but I am sure your local tire store can give you an estimate. ((I can't imagine people or insurers paying for replacement car tires when only the valve body needs replacement, given low skill levels at parallel car parking today.))

Corrosion of the rims is another consideration but they are thick steel. Even corroded with sodium chloride fill rims should maintain structural integrity for twenty-five years. The third/fourth owner can replace the wheel rims.

Operating the tractor on dirt in 4-WD during 'normal' tractor operating conditions is perfectly fine. Damage MAY occur if tractor was run at high (15 mph) speeds on the road for twenty consecutive minutes or longer with 4-WD engaged. Small front wheels and associated gearing do not like long term high speeds.
[Music playing in background: Release me, LET ME GO.]

I operate my tractor and my previous tractor in 4-WD continuously on dirt, only disengaging to 2-WD when I drive on a hard surface road in HST/HIGH. The traction load on a tractor is constant at a given load. In 2-WD the rear wheels propel. In 4-WD the front and rear wheels propel, but the total traction load is the same, but shared.

 

[The Deerslayer]

The position of the lever appears to be in the 4WD position. If it were me, I would not be at all concerned that it ran 200 hours in 4WD (Unless he ran it at hi-speeds on the road). Mine has been in 4 WD 98% of the time.

As far as the valve stems, find out where he bought the tractor from and confirm what they were filled with from the dealer. As has been stated you can probably drain a little out to see. If they have calcium in them, I would not necessarily walk. You can use that to negotiate a lower price.
From the limited angle of the pic, it seems to be in decent shape. As we're from the same state, you too have probably noticed a limited used supply on these.

 

[k0ua]

As for the slightly rusted/paint worn off of the floorboards, you can coat them with pickup truck bed coating and they will look great and give additional traction.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...ating-floorboards.html?highlight=pickup+truck

 

[Paul Thornton]

Looks like it is in 4 wheel drive. If he didn't spend all of his time driving on pavement, it is probably not a problem. On mine that lever is fairly stiff and hard to push down. What did he use the tractor for? How does the wear on the front tires compare to the rear? k0ua's picture sums it up well.

 

[teg]

Can anyone tell by this photo if the 4wd control lever is in the 4 or 2 wd position?...

My guess is that it's in 4x4 Look at blue circle. The blue arrow is where the sight glass is...

Most of these tractor run 4x4 ALL THE TIME. It's a non-issue. I have 660 hours, 95% in 4x4. There is a reason why kubota does NOT sell R4 industrial tires on 2 wheel drive only tractors. I have taken my tractor out of 4x4 only to find out how bad R4 tires are for "traction".

View attachment 500141

 

[teg]

...The badly rusted rear valve stems. From what
I saw the rims look fine, but the stems are badly corroded...

Do you have close up photos of them???

 

[bspeedy]

If you provide the asking price, someone can advise you if that is reasonable or not. I'd pay 10 but not 14. 12 may be reasonable, if a little on the high side. For the same $, you could get a good used grand L with less than 1000 hours. Grand L is much more tractor for a bit more money.

 

[Thomas]

Regarding the jerky hydraulics, are you referring to the 3ph. FEL, or the HST operation?

3 pt. hitch.