Looking at a Rental return Kubota L4701 - I have a few Questions

[All In A Days Work]

Hi Guys,

My wife and I are looking at buying our first tractor. We are looking at a L4701 it is a rental return with 220 hours, the dealer has installed different tires on it (low Profile) and lowered the finders. Here is the list of stuff that I have picked out.

L4701 HST
Rear Tire: 320/85R20 AG with beat juice
Front Tire: 25x8.50-14 R4
one rear remote - spring center valve
Heavy Duty round back bucket
Bearcat SC5540 5" Chipper/Shredder
And one of theses a Landpride RB2672, RB2684 or the RB3784 rear blade.

So my questions are about the tires that have been installed. Being a little lower profile then stock, if I ever decide to buy a back-hoe will there be a problem with ground clearance? Second looking for pro and cons on the back blade. The dealer thinks I should stick with the 72" but reading on here it seems as though the 84" would be better.

Tim

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Of the rear blades that you have listed out, the RB3784 would be the unit to get. Way more blade than the 26 series unit. If you are going to be doing much grading at all, you may want to consider getting all 3 rear remotes now so that you can get a top & tilt set in the future and still have the 3rd one to control the hydraulic angling that you are going to want on that rear blade that you get. Be sure to get one of those 3 with the float function.

Sorry that I can't help you out with the back hoe question and I would almost bet that the dealer has in stock the rear blade that he thinks you should have.

One last thing, get skid shoes for whatever rear blade you end up getting.

 

[All In A Days Work]

Thanks Brian, I will look into the three remotes. Besides convenience is there another reason to do the three remotes at this time? I'm already pushing my budget.

Tim

 

[grm61]

Why the different tires?? Sounds a little odd...I don't think I'd want a lowered tractor.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Thanks Brian, I will look into the three remotes. Besides convenience is there another reason to do the three remotes at this time? I'm already pushing my budget.

Tim

Very common for the dealer to sell these items (options) at a better price with the original purchase than later on. Also a good chance of free installation. One of those things of you won't know without asking. You can always say that you will have to wait for later on, just to much money at this time. But again, you won't know without asking.

Good luck :thumbsup:

 

[All In A Days Work]

Why the different tires?? Sounds a little odd...I don't think I'd want a lowered tractor.

A lot of the tractors that size get sold or least to orchardist (Apple's and Cherries) and they install the lower profile tires to fit in the tree rows. I looked at a New Holland Boomer 50 the other day that had the same tires. I'm kind of along the same lines as you, but some of the folks that I have talked to around here seem to like them, but then again they have orchards. That's way I asked on here.

 

[Leejohn]

I wouldn't want ags and R4's mixed. Why not just put R4s or ags on all 4 wheels. Also if you want to change well the wheels work.

 

[2458n]

I thought that the r4 took a different rim. Just so you know going in that ag tires might not fit on your front rims. I have been wrong before.

 

[All In A Days Work]

Leejohn, The R1 and R4 combo concerns me also, but I know very little to nothing of the effect of such a combo. Apparently it works in the orchards. The other wheels will fit but I need to check on the finders, the dealer said that they lower the finders to fit the new tire setup.

2458n, Your right they do take a different wheel. The way I understand it is that the dealer has a custom wheels made for the setup. On the quote it says "Rear tires 320/85R20 AG with SB25617-1 3/8 6 Lug Plates"

 

[redman135]

If you want to do finish work with the back blade get a tail wheel for the blade, and make it adjustable height so you can get it exactly right for you. Some tail wheels are fixed height . Also I recommend a hydraulic top link, and hydraulic blade slew, as those are the 2 you will use most.

 

[Leejohn]

"Quote" the dealer said that they lower the finders to fit the new tire setup.
How did they do that? Can you get a picture of this tractor?

 

[banshee42096]

With It being lowered it takes away from the lifting height of the 3 point so your back blade may not lift high enough for certain circumstances.

 

[Grandad4]

Tim, that tire combo may be a problem for you over the long term for a reason no one has mentioned so far. The issue is the 4wd and the gear ratios, which require tires that are the proper diameters so the drivetrain doesn't bind up when operating in 4wd. There is usually an acceptable margin. I've heard + or - 5% of ideal is workable; if it's more than that there can eventually be some damage and the tractor may not handle properly. If the tire combination was chosen with that in mind, they may be OK, but if it was just a matter of slapping on something smaller without figuring the proper front/rear circumferences, it's not right and could give trouble in the future. The dealer should be able to explain the tire combination chosen in detail. If he gives you a puzzled look when you ask about this, he probably hasn't even thought about it and that raises lots of other questions.

 

[All In A Days Work]

"Quote" the dealer said that they lower the finders to fit the new tire setup.
How did they do that? Can you get a picture of this tractor?

I'm not sure when I will be able to get photo's, the dealer is on winter hours (closed weekends). The dealer is South of me and for the next couple of weeks I'm working out of town the other direction.

 

[All In A Days Work]

Tim, that tire combo may be a problem for you over the long term for a reason no one has mentioned so far. The issue is the 4wd and the gear ratios, which require tires that are the proper diameters so the drivetrain doesn't bind up when operating in 4wd. There is usually an acceptable margin. I've heard + or - 5% of ideal is workable; if it's more than that there can eventually be some damage and the tractor may not handle properly. If the tire combination was chosen with that in mind, they may be OK, but if it was just a matter of slapping on something smaller without figuring the proper front/rear circumferences, it's not right and could give trouble in the future. The dealer should be able to explain the tire combination chosen in detail. If he gives you a puzzled look when you ask about this, he probably hasn't even thought about it and that raises lots of other questions.

They have been in business for years and have been putting the smaller tires on for years also, I think it will be OK that way. The salesman assured me that they have it set properly. That is on my list of stuff to ask though, I would like to know how it is calculated. The New Holland dealer does the same thing, I looked at a used Boomer 50 that had smaller tires. It seems to be pretty normal around here. I talked to a friend last night that has a cherry orchard and was told that all of his tractors have the smaller tires.

I have a few questions for the dealer on Monday.

 

[All In A Days Work]

With It being lowered it takes away from the lifting height of the 3 point so your back blade may not lift high enough for certain circumstances.

Okay with my limited knowledge of tractor tires and not knowing what brand of tire is on the tractor, here is what I came up with. 4" lower in the rear and 2" in the front, just doesn't seem right does it?

Stock rear 49.4" front 30.1"
As Setup 41.0" Front 25.9"

Along the lines of Grandad4 thought. Without knowing the mechanics of the gear train it seems out of wack.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Okay with my limited knowledge of tractor tires and not knowing what brand of tire is on the tractor, here is what I came up with. 4" lower in the rear and 2" in the front, just doesn't seem right does it?

Stock rear 49.4" front 30.1"
As Setup 41.0" Front 25.9"

Along the lines of Grandad4 thought. Without knowing the mechanics of the gear train it seems out of wack.

Actually it's pretty close, stock set up is 1.64 to 1, as it is set up, 1.58 to 1. The difference is 4%, must be close enough for them to be doing it all the time.

 

[All In A Days Work]

Brain, The size of the tires that are on there is a little bit of a guess on my part. As on the quote the tire size is listed but not the brand, I had to search to find the diameter and I found three different sizes for the front 25.9", 25.4" and 24.9"

 

[GManBart]

A couple of things come to mind right away. One, used tractors, when purchased from a dealer usually offer very little savings over going new...often not enough to even think about. Two, the front to rear tire ratio requires you to measure the actual rolling circumference of the tires, on the machine, on a flat surface, and then use the transfer case ratio to get an actual figure. It's possible the dealers have figured this out, but it's also possible they're doing what they've always done, and getting away with it because there is a range of acceptable difference from front to back, but you want the fronts turning faster (not being pushed by the rears). Third, a machine that has been lowered with smaller tires might be great for an orchard, but it's not going to be as good for field or woods work where ground clearance is an important consideration...even without considering backhoe use. Lastly, if you're really pushing your budget, you might consider saving yourself $5-10K and get more machine and a better warranty by looking at Kioti or LS.

The last two times I was shopping new compact tractors I spec'd out similar (as close as possible) machines from all the big brands, and the difference between Kioti or LS and Kubota was $10K. I was looking at the biggest CUTs, so the savings might be less on slightly smaller machines.

Almost forgot...regardless of what/where you buy, save yourself some hassle down the road and get an original parts manual, and shop manual for the machine. Try to get them added into the deal as part of negotiations. Just a short amount of time here and you'll find nearly constant posts about people trying to find parts numbers, or specifications on their machine that they would have with those two books.

 

[All In A Days Work]

A couple of things come to mind right away. One, used tractors, when purchased from a dealer usually offer very little savings over going new...often not enough to even think about. Two, the front to rear tire ratio requires you to measure the actual rolling circumference of the tires, on the machine, on a flat surface, and then use the transfer case ratio to get an actual figure. It's possible the dealers have figured this out, but it's also possible they're doing what they've always done, and getting away with it because there is a range of acceptable difference from front to back, but you want the fronts turning faster (not being pushed by the rears). Third, a machine that has been lowered with smaller tires might be great for an orchard, but it's not going to be as good for field or woods work where ground clearance is an important consideration...even without considering backhoe use. Lastly, if you're really pushing your budget, you might consider saving yourself $5-10K and get more machine and a better warranty by looking at Kioti or LS.

The last two times I was shopping new compact tractors I spec'd out similar (as close as possible) machines from all the big brands, and the difference between Kioti or LS and Kubota was $10K. I was looking at the biggest CUTs, so the savings might be less on slightly smaller machines.

Almost forgot...regardless of what/where you buy, save yourself some hassle down the road and get an original parts manual, and shop manual for the machine. Try to get them added into the deal as part of negotiations. Just a short amount of time here and you'll find nearly constant posts about people trying to find parts numbers, or specifications on their machine that they would have with those two books.

Good idea!

Thanks