Buying Advice New B3350

[bandit67]

Glad the dealer saw the error of his ways. You don't make a customer wait while you snatch up the first model to hit the lot. Not good business.

 

[ericdube]

Glad the dealer saw the error of his ways. You don't make a customer wait while you snatch up the first model to hit the lot. Not good business.

Just to be clear, the owner did immediately offer up the first B3350 as soon as I mentioned I was serious in purchasing one (even though that unit was ordered for himself.) This dealer has always been really good to me over the years and has gone to great lengths a number of times to help me out when I was in need. I really have nothing by nice things to say about everyone at the dealer (this will be my third tractor purchase from them.)

 

[jim_wilson]

SUCCESS!

I took the day off from work to run some errands - and I made my way thru the roadblocks up to m dealer - and got the order in for the QA setup and a bucket. I wasn't sure the parts would be active - but they had them in the system. He actually told me at first that he had the QA in stock - but it turned out that it had gotten installed on a tractor that just got sold. So I'm going to have to wait a couple of weeks to get the stuff.

I'm psyched to try out this setup and see how well it works. I already ordered a rock bucket a couple of weeks back in anticipation of getting this setup. I love it when a plan comes together.

 

[ericdube]

SUCCESS!

I took the day off from work to run some errands - and I made my way thru the roadblocks up to m dealer - and got the order in for the QA setup and a bucket. I wasn't sure the parts would be active - but they had them in the system. He actually told me at first that he had the QA in stock - but it turned out that it had gotten installed on a tractor that just got sold. So I'm going to have to wait a couple of weeks to get the stuff.

I'm psyched to try out this setup and see how well it works. I already ordered a rock bucket a couple of weeks back in anticipation of getting this setup. I love it when a plan comes together.

Nice! Glad to hear you were able to get it ordered.

How are you planning on attaching the rock bucket if the QA is non-standard?

 

[jim_wilson]

Nice! Glad to hear you were able to get it ordered.

How are you planning on attaching the rock bucket if the QA is non-standard?

When I get the Kubota QA I'm going to do some measurements and see what is "non-standard about it.

My thinking is this:

the skid-steer type QA is pretty simple, you've only really got a few variables. There's width, height, and possibly the angle of the attachment points. Also maybe the size of the slots that the pins engage into. In any case what you're dealing with is all straight line stuff. Even if I have to completely weld on new stuff onto the rock bucket - it's all straight angles so it's pretty simple.

But I'm betting on this: when I originally got the B3200 I did a lot of looking into what it would take to put a skid steer type QA on the LA504 FEL. And the major problem was that the location of the loader arms presented a problem in that they pretty much lined up directly where the engagement pin mechanism needs to be to fit the SSQA standard. There's actually a few different SSQA standards out there so it is a bit "sloppy". I'm betting that the part that that is non-standard on the Kubota is simply the width - or maybe the location of the pin engagement points. In either case - it's a pretty easy fix weld and cut wise.

There's a lot of implements out there that are SSQA compatible - including a huge amount of stuff that's made for the mini-skid steers that fits right into the weight range that make them useful on a B3200. "Real" skid steer implements are typically too heavy for the LA504 - they're made for much higher capacities than the LA504 is capable of - and therefore weigh so much they suck up a lot of the LA504 capacity and hence make themselves sort of useless. But I've found a pretty decent selection of available attachments that weigh in such that they would be useful on a loader with the LA504 capacity. The major stumbling block was getting them attached.

Trying to weld on the brackets for a pin-on style FEL connection is - in my opinion - much more of a pain in the neck than trying to modify an implement to fit SSQA.

We'll see shortly. I hoping the salesman was right and the stuff comes in - in a couple of weeks. I ordered the rock bucket a couple of weeks ago and they said 4 to 5 weeks. So I should see it all come in around the same time.

Once I get everything - I plan on documenting and posting everything here so everybody can take advantage. I know there is at least one other FELin the Kubota lineup (besides the LA504 and LA534) - that have the same arm spacing - and therefore could take advantage of this new QA setup.

 

[bandit67]

Trying to weld on the brackets for a pin-on style FEL connection is - in my opinion - much more of a pain in the neck than trying to modify an implement to fit SSQA.

The nice thing about the "old" pre-2013 pin type QA was that you only needed to buy the pin-on attachments that fit those loaders. Many of the aftermarket manufacturers have pin-on options for the big B series loaders.

However, it'll soon be a "6 of one, half dozen of the other" scenario now that Kubota went to their "skid steer style" QA. Us B series owners still have "redheaded stepchild" QA's, whether we have pin style or SS style.

All I know is I'll suffer through the old style pin type QA cause I ain't changing over my bucket, forks, & snowplow. If I only had the bucket, I'd probably do what Jim is doing, cause the SSQA is still a bit quicker on the change-out.

 

[jim_wilson]

The nice thing about the "old" pre-2013 pin type QA was that you only needed to buy the pin-on attachments that fit those loaders. Many of the aftermarket manufacturers have pin-on options for the big B series loaders.

However, it'll soon be a "6 of one, half dozen of the other" scenario now that Kubota went to their "skid steer style" QA. Us B series owners still have "redheaded stepchild" QA's, whether we have pin style or SS style.

All I know is I'll suffer through the old style pin type QA cause I ain't changing over my bucket, forks, & snowplow. If I only had the bucket, I'd probably do what Jim is doing, cause the SSQA is still a bit quicker on the change-out.

I haven't had a huge amount of luck finding the pin on style attachments. Maybe I'm looking at the more out of the ordinary stuff. Buckets and fork frame are available right from Kubota for the pin on style - and I've seen the random rock bucket and grapple too - but nowhere near the assortment that's available for SSQA type attachment.

I just bought my tractor last year. I've got a 60" bucket, a 54" bucket - which I was planning to weld teeth onto and just use for dirt digging, and I've got the Kubota fork frame. Since I've only had the tractor for less than a year - none of them are really all that beat up. Some scratches on the buckets and some nicks on the fork frame - but they're in pretty good shape. So I was left with a little bit of a conundrum - because it's going to cost me to switch. But I'm figuring I can sell all the pin-on stuff I have now and recover most of the money out of them - and then I'll be fully investedin the new SSQA style stuff - or - I could stick with the pin-on style and be pounding pins in and out forever more - and - have to do a bunch of welding for whatever other attachments I might want to put on the FEL. I figure in the end I'll likely be money even if I add a rock bucket , grapple - and maybe one or two other things to the FEL. Plus it will just be easier for me if I have to weld up anything to go on it. I really wasn't looking forward to the PITA of trying to make brackets and find the right tubing and line everything up that would go along with custom welding an implement to fit on the pin-on style attachment type.

I have a small property - but I've found I can justifiably swap four different implements over the course of any afternoon of 4 hours work. Dig some dirt - digging bucket. Pick up some rocks - fork frame, pick up a cut down tree: grapple, dig some rocks out of pile of dirt: rock bucket. Seeing how it takes me a good few minutes to swap each implement - I'm saving some measureable time.

Plus the skid steer style is potentially modifiable to be completely hands off - that's something the pin-on style could never be.

 

[Ductape]

Jim, Just curious.... why didn't you originally go with an aftermarket SSQA such as the one ATI makes? I think they are a grand-ish, but were available back when you bought your tractor.

 

[Ductape]

I was at the dealer today picking up some items and they had a B2650.
It's different, I could get used to it. Though I didn't get a picture but the floor has over an inch thick of heavy duty foam under the mat.
Boy that brochure is really emphasizing sound and dust proofing. The dome light, sound, dust and the speakers in the roof. Kubota really does read these forums.
I didn't have too much time today but I have to go back, I will ask to drive it. Not sure why they put the fuse box and wires on the floor?

That sure is nice. Looks like Kubota made quite a few improvements..... I'm very impressed with the left side brakes. I haven't been able to look at one in person since my local dealer doesn't have one on the ground yet. I suspect I'd opt for the 26 HP version since I'm pretty apprehensive about owning the new emissions crap if I don't have to. The clincher would be whether or not my Woods backhoe subframe, and front mount snow blower subframes would work on the new 50 series. I can actually justify spending money to upgrade to the new tractor, but no way I can justify taking the hit and buying a new backhoe and front blower to go along with it.

 

[ericdube]

That sure is nice. Looks like Kubota made quite a few improvements..... I'm very impressed with the left side brakes. I haven't been able to look at one in person since my local dealer doesn't have one on the ground yet. I suspect I'd opt for the 26 HP version since I'm pretty apprehensive about owning the new emissions crap if I don't have to. The clincher would be whether or not my Woods backhoe subframe, and front mount snow blower subframes would work on the new 50 series. I can actually justify spending money to upgrade to the new tractor, but no way I can justify taking the hit and buying a new backhoe and front blower to go along with it.

While I can't comment on the backhoe subframe (you will probably need to talk to Woods about this), I'm fairly certain there's a NEW quick-attach subframe (P/N B2714) for the B50 series (which should at least work with your existing attachments.) I'm fairly certain though that it's different than the B3030 subframe since I wasn't able get the pricing for it when I first got a quote for the B3350 because it wasn't in the system yet.

(FWIW, The backhoe subframe part number I got for the BH77 is BH4973. Although, I don't know what the part number is for the BH subframe on the B3030. If it's the same as that part number, you might be okay with the Woods subframe you have now.)

Edit: After looking at the on-line parts diagrams for the BH77, the mounting kits look somewhat different for the B3030 and the B50 series (and the parts aren't really identical.) I would definitely check with Woods.

 

[jim_wilson]

Jim, Just curious.... why didn't you originally go with an aftermarket SSQA such as the one ATI makes? I think they are a grand-ish, but were available back when you bought your tractor.

I looked at the ATI SSQA setup and decided against it for three main reasons:

1) It was expensive. If I remember correctly just to get the quick connect and a matching bucket was going to be something like $2000

2) It was heavy - I wanted to use as much of the capability of the loader as possible and not basically be lugging around a bunch of extra weight in QA and bucket that doesn't do anything for me actually carrying a load. IMHO the ATI SSQA and the ATI bucket were way overbuilt (and therefore way too heavy) - for the LA504 loader on the B3200.

3) the ATI SSQA is basically a hack in my opinion. They take a generic SSQA setup and graft on the appropriate brackets to fit whichever loader they're making a solution for. This does two things - A) adds a bunch of unneeded weight (as I mentioned above) and B) pushes the pivot pins out just that much further than they really need to be. Which once again reduces the loader capacity.

At the time - I just decided that going with the Kubota pin-on style QA was just a better deal. The QA assembly itself was only like $300 or something like that - and extra buckets ( I ended up getting another 54" bucket to use just for digging in addition to the 60" that came with the tractor) - cost far less and are a lot less weighty than the ATI SSQA buckets.

In the end - with the Kubota pin-on QA I ended up with the following: 1 QA setup (around $300 if I remember correctly) , 1 60" bucket (was about $550 again - if I remember correctly) , a 54" bucket (about $550) - and the Kubota fork frame - which was about $650 .

So for around the same price as what I would have paid for just the ATI QA and 1 bucket - I got a QA, 2 buckets - and a fork lift frame. All of which are better suited to the tractor than the ATI stuff would have been.

Once I got the tractor - I actually spent a bunch of time measuring the LA504 - going to Kubota dealers to look at SSQA style QA's on L-series (and others) - and checking out the specs on the SSQA standard - because I was seriously thinking of trying to make up my own SSQA setup to fit on the LA504 - that didn't have the drawbacks of the ATI setup. I didn't do it - because I just ran out of time and the Kubota pin-on QA works - it's just not optimal IMHO.

So when I saw the B50 stuff come out - and saw the QA setup I thought to myself "holy crap - Kubota just made almost exactly what I was thinking of making".

When I put the order in at the dealer yesterday I got the Kubota SSQA QA piece, a 54" bucket, and a 60" bucket. The grand total came to like $1690. They wanted like $650 for the QA, $490 for a 54" bucket, and $550 for the 60" bucket. I had talked to a different dealer a month or so ago - and they had quote $450 for the QA - plus shipping. For some reason the dealer I ordered from is higher on the QA, but they were also lower on the buckets - so I figure it's all going to even out.

I'm going to get a fork frame too - but I am going to talk to Artillian about that. He makes a nice low-weight fork frame and has some nice add-ons for that frame. His pricing is about the same as the Kubota frame. Currently he only makes John Deere stuff - but I've already exchanged email with him and told him I'd like to use one of his frames on one of these new Kubota QA setups - and he said he'd be open to taking a look and seeing what he can do. He's located here in MA - so he's relatively close.

I haven't beat up any of the pin-on attachments - they're all in pretty good shape. So I'll be selling them on Craigslist or whatever once I get the new setup. I'm hoping I can recoup a good portion of my money by doing this.

 

[Burtonbr]

It doesn't look like my local dealer is going to add the new QA to the B2650 he has in stock. Still curious about if this will work on other B series loaders I looked up the P/N for the loader. The Boom numbers are close but not identical.

7J053-58014 - LA364

7J056-58014 – la534

I hope to go take some measurements later in the week to see how close the 534 is to mine.

 

[jim_wilson]

It doesn't look like my local dealer is going to add the new QA to the B2650 he has in stock. Still curious about if this will work on other B series loaders I looked up the P/N for the loader. The Boom numbers are close but not identical.

7J053-58014 - LA364

7J056-58014 – la534

I hope to go take some measurements later in the week to see how close the 534 is to mine.

Look at the buckets. The new LA534 takes the exact same buckets as the LA504 - I haven't researched any of the other loaders, but I know that a number of people here on TBN have used the "old" Kubota pin-on style QA piece for the LA504 - on other Kubota loaders.

If you look at the specs for the LA504 and the LA534 - the LA534 is listed as having a slightly higher lift height - that's probably why the arms are different. There's also a bucket level mechanism that is available for the LA534 - so that is another slight difference.

I've already ordered one of the new Kubota lever-style QA 's from the LA534 to go on the LA504 loader on my B3200. The dealer said it should take a couple of weeks. If you want to hold on that long - I'll report in here once I get it and install it.

 

[Burtonbr]

I've already ordered one of the new Kubota lever-style QA 's from the LA534 to go on the LA504 loader on my B3200. The dealer said it should take a couple of weeks. If you want to hold on that long - I'll report in here once I get it and install it.

Oh so you took one for the team, and ordered it without seeing it Thanks, I will be interested in hearing your opinion on it. I think I would rather have the lever type over pin on if it will work with minimal modification.

 

[jim_wilson]

Oh so you took one for the team, and ordered it without seeing it Thanks, I will be interested in hearing your opinion on it. I think I would rather have the lever type over pin on if it will work with minimal modification.

I believe that this new lever-style QA will just bolt right onto the LA504. I don't know why it wouldn't. The 54" and 60" pin-on style buckets that are listed for the LA504 - are the exact same part numbers as those listed for the new LA534. So the loader arm spacing - and the spacing between the pins on the bucket - should be exactly the same. Otherwise the buckets simply wouldn't work. When I initially talked to the first dealer - the salesperson told me something about it not working - because the LA504 loader arms are "reinforced" to handle the QA. I honestly don't know what the heck he was talking about - weight is weight out at the end of the loader arms - the loader is either going to lift the weight - or it's not.

You're either going to have to weld up your old bucket and other attachments to work on the new QA - or order new attachments to fit it. I just ordered the new buckets to match the lever-style QA. If you look at the design of the new buckets vs. the pin-on buckets - you'll see that the back face of the bucket has a larger flat surface - to accomodate the new QA. You could adapt the old pin-on bucket to the new QA I'm sure - but you'd probably end up adding a bunch of extra weight to it in the process.

The dealer told me a couple of weeks on Friday. So we'll see if that holds true.

 

[bandit67]

That salesman may have confused the B series with the BX. Kubota added some additional reinforcing to the new BX loader arms to deal with their new factory QA setup.

It is possible though that the new loader had to be reinforced to handle the twisting forces that come with the new SSQA style setup. The old pin style QA still had 4 pins, just like the standard pin on bucket without the QA. But to be perfectly honest, I don't see how the 2 different QA setups (pinQA & SSQA) really have all that much different twisting forces once everything is locked in.

I have to say it is pretty cool to have the new SSQA available for the B series. I might be just a bit envious. But I still ain't changing everything over. Still have to get out to switch implements either way. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

Need to put the money into hydraulic backhoe thumb & hydraulic FEL plow angle first.

 

[Burtonbr]

Looking at the pictures of the buckets I notice the the plates that the pins attach to the loader arms and cylinder are much wider apart and have bushings on either side, hopefully that will all be included in your kit. Was the dealer able to give you a price on the 2 lever quick coupler ?

Thanks

 

[jim_wilson]

That salesman may have confused the B series with the BX. Kubota added some additional reinforcing to the new BX loader arms to deal with their new factory QA setup.

It is possible though that the new loader had to be reinforced to handle the twisting forces that come with the new SSQA style setup. The old pin style QA still had 4 pins, just like the standard pin on bucket without the QA. But to be perfectly honest, I don't see how the 2 different QA setups (pinQA & SSQA) really have all that much different twisting forces once everything is locked in.

I have to say it is pretty cool to have the new SSQA available for the B series. I might be just a bit envious. But I still ain't changing everything over. Still have to get out to switch implements either way. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

Need to put the money into hydraulic backhoe thumb & hydraulic FEL plow angle first.

I just went back and took another look at the brochure pics of the new QA setup - and I guess I can see how the new QA might possibly cause more twisting forces on the arms - but honestly I don't really see how it could be all that much more than the old pin-on style QA setup. Once an LA534 is available on a dealer lot and I have the time - I'll try to take a close look at one and see if there any obvious places where it's different or reinforced.

Another way of looking at it is: I don't see how the Kubota SSQA setup - would be any worse for the loader - than the ATI SSQA setup, which is heavier and puts the bucket just that much further out from the pins - thereby increasing the leverage the bucket has against the ends of the loader arms.

 

[jim_wilson]

Looking at the pictures of the buckets I notice the the plates that the pins attach to the loader arms and cylinder are much wider apart and have bushings on either side, hopefully that will all be included in your kit. Was the dealer able to give you a price on the 2 lever quick coupler ?

Thanks

I got a quote from one dealer BEFORE the part was actually active in the Kubota parts system - of $435 + shipping. This might have not reflected what the price is now.

I ended up paying $650 for the QA setup part itself from a different dealer. The one I originally got the quote from seemed to have a problem calling my back when I asked for status - so I went to another one, which happened to be the one I originally bought the tractor from.

I noticed the plates are wider too. Looking at the picture - which admittedly isn't all that great - it does look like there must be bushings and longer pins that make this work. I assuming (hoping) that the QA itself comes with all this and is setup to just go onto the existing loader arms. Buying stuff from Kubota before - they seem to do this. I got the thumb for the BH77 backhoe from my dealer after I received the tractor - because it was not in stock at the time I took delivery of the tractor. The thumb came with a longer pin to replace one of the bucket pivot points. The end of the LA534 loader arms have got to be the same as the LA504 - because it uses the same buckets.

 

[ericdube]

I got a quote from one dealer BEFORE the part was actually active in the Kubota parts system - of $435 + shipping. This might have not reflected what the price is now.

I ended up paying $650 for the QA setup part itself from a different dealer. The one I originally got the quote from seemed to have a problem calling my back when I asked for status - so I went to another one, which happened to be the one I originally bought the tractor from.

I noticed the plates are wider too. Looking at the picture - which admittedly isn't all that great - it does look like there must be bushings and longer pins that make this work. I assuming (hoping) that the QA itself comes with all this and is setup to just go onto the existing loader arms. Buying stuff from Kubota before - they seem to do this. I got the thumb for the BH77 backhoe from my dealer after I received the tractor - because it was not in stock at the time I took delivery of the tractor. The thumb came with a longer pin to replace one of the bucket pivot points. The end of the LA534 loader arms have got to be the same as the LA504 - because it uses the same buckets.

I suspect you'll have that QA well before everything for the B3350 comes in, so be sure to take plenty of pictures when you get it! I'm still rather curious how different it is dimensionally to a standard SSQA. It would be nice to know how easy or how hard it is to modify standard SSQA compatible attachment to make them fit.

The good news is that I sold my B2620 today, so there's no looking back now at this point! I'm committed to buying the B3350 no matter what!