New to me F3680, first use and impressions

[johncar]

I'm surprised Kubota would use a nylon bushing in there. Okay on a Barbie Jeep, but not on a commercial mower. I wonder if you could have an oilite bronze bushing machined to fit? I'm surprised the pin would wear too, with a nylon bushing.

Hi greenrider1, The bushes are some type of lightweight synthetic looking material, the chap at the Kubota spare Parts had a name for it but I have forgotten it already. Anyway everything is more expensive here and it's about $200 or so for all the bits so look after those steering knuckles. There are a few other odds and ends in that price like a few replacement bolts, 2 gaskets for the bottom bevel gear plate plus two new drain plugs for the left and right gear casings. The old ones were worn off from running over things, probably concrete curbs and such so I was unable to drain the oil without taking of the complete lower bevel gear plate hence the new gaskets required.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Well if any of you guys just get disgusted with your orange machine I'd be more than happy to help you get rid of it. I'm tired of reading about how great they are. Its hard to find a used one down this way.

QUOTE=Sigarms;4145704]Do what I did, just buy one off of JT. Barlow's shipping price to my place would of been close to probably what it would of cost me in gas to drive and pick it up LOL[/QUOTE]
I have traded one to Barlpws with 160 hours F2680e 72" newer (50 hours) side discharge deck. Barlows will be picking it up from me next week and they are around the $10000 range sell or trade.nd deliver

reading JohnThomas' reviews, I half expected this thing to mow the lawn all by itself while I was at work, make diesel fuel, empty the dishwasher and fold the laundry! :

Are you saying yours doesn't do all of these things? I've owned 3 different ones and owned one of them twice, traded it and bought it back later and ALL of mine did everyone of these things and even more.:laughing::cool2:

 

[Barnbuilder]

QUOTE=Sigarms;4145704]Do what I did, just buy one off of JT. Barlow's shipping price to my place would of been close to probably what it would of cost me in gas to drive and pick it up LOL

I have traded one to Barlpws with 160 hours F2680e 72" newer (50 hours) side discharge deck. Barlows will be picking it up from me next week and they are around the $10000 range sell or trade.nd deliver


Who were you dealing with so I can call them. What size engine and 4wd? Anything wrong with it? Hope the price isn't too high. Just spent 69k on a truck and 11k on a trailer.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Well if any of you guys just get disgusted with your orange machine I'd be more than happy to help you get rid of it. I'm tired of reading about how great they are. Its hard to find a used one down this way.

Do what I did, just buy one off of JT. Barlow's shipping price to my place would of been close to probably what it would of cost me in gas to drive and pick it up LOL

I have traded one to Barlpws with 160 hours F2680e 72" newer (50 hours) side discharge deck. Barlows will be picking it up from me next week and they are around the $10000 range sell or trade.nd deliver


Who were you dealing with Steve Barlow owner of Barlows so I can call them. What size engine and 4wd? 26HP 2wd Anything wrong with it? Nothing wrong with it Hope the price isn't too high. Around $10000 Just spent 69k on a truck and 11k on a trailer.

I'd recommend it to a friend and have but he who hesitates is lost.

 

[jcummins]

I made an earlier comment on cut quality, now after the first complete mowing....I'd say cut quality between ZD326 and F3680, no difference. Both very good.

Question on greasing....Greased everything before this last mowing, except the driveshaft u joint next to the mower. Couldn't get to it. Appears I may need to take it off to grease. So what is the trick to getting this done? Also I saw a video sometime back, it showed how to tip up the mower deck...and it disconnected the driveshaft before doing. Is that truly needed?

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

I made an earlier comment on cut quality, now after the first complete mowing....I'd say cut quality between ZD326 and F3680, no difference. Both very good.

Question on greasing....Greased everything before this last mowing, except the driveshaft u joint next to the mower. Couldn't get to it. Appears I may need to take it off to grease. So what is the trick to getting this done? Also I saw a video sometime back, it showed how to tip up the mower deck...and it disconnected the driveshaft before doing. Is that truly needed?

I started to say yes on removing drive shaft to raise deck but after further thought I don't think so. It is really easy to remove drive shaft or pull it out of machine to find grease zerk and put it back in/on and will probably help to know exactly where it is for later greasing. If you don't have manual for mower and deck you need one for lifting deck. It's not bad job to do but a bit heavy for one person.
I may have posted how to do it here on this forum if you want to go back a few pages to find it. Not may, I'm sure I did.

 

[jcummins]

I took a long hard look at the mower deck, adjustments, since I wanted to correct the right wobbly/rotating gauge wheel, but I also wanted to raise the cutting height.

I simply stared at the chart, the settings on my deck, and was lost. I studied it for a good 5 minutes then it came together. Kubota simply assigned a letter, or symbol for every hole in every part of the adjustment mechanism. My deck is set for 2.75 inches. Measured the blade cutting height, it is 3 inches. ??????? The bottom edge of the deck is 2.75 inches. So, it appears the cutting height is really the bottom of the front edge of the deck. Given that, it's immaterial, since you don't set you mower at XX height then measure your grass. I used the setting on the ZD326 at 3.5 inches. Due to low pressure in the tires, it was probably a bit less. I tend to mow long, think it is easier on the grass. The current setting I will say gives a more groomed look to the yard, but during hot weather bet it won't. And with 4.5 acres I'm more concerned about the health of the grass, than the grooming.

I found the deck is very slightly lower on the right side, which is probably taking a little weight off of the gauge wheel causing the rotation issue. Deck is apparently tweaked just a tiny bit. I cannot see any cutting difference left to right in the yard, in fact, the yard cut looks great. It actually may be better than the ZD. For now, I'm going to raise the cutting (bottom of deck) height to 3.5, per the chart. Mow again and see how it performs before I try finite adjustments.

TrailDragon there are no weights on the front gauge wheels. I did open up that double nutted thing on the gauge wheels. Had a spring behind it, with nothing I could adjust....both of these adjusters are bottomed out on both wheels. Anti scalp rollers appear to be properly positioned, per the chart, and are no even close to the ground. I will be taking all or some of the rear weight off before mowing this next time.

 

[TailDragon]

Been busy moving dirt before the rain getting home too late to post.
The weight I meant is that of the deck. If lowered all the way down the front wheels carry a lot of the deck weight.
Do not forget the drive shaft from the engine and the transmission, three zerks.

 

[jcummins]

I call a Kubota dealer and talked to a guy about the F series...I've talked to him couple times before. Asked about more aggressive tires, and he said a LOT of his customers do that. So it is commonly done, and may be in my future. Also found out Kubota has bar tires as optional equipment on the F series. Turf size is 24x12-12, bar size is 23x10.5-12. Not sure why the bar size is different. I see a Carlisle ATV tire in 24x12-12, which I like, ....but I also see a picture on the web showing that tire up against a 24x12-12 turf tire...ATV tire is noticeably taller. So a tire size is not a tire size, it's something printed on the side of the tire.

TailDragon didn't you say you had bar tires on your F's? What size brand?
And how do you grease the zerk on driveline up next to motor. I couldn't get anything to it. Have to take it loose?

 

[TailDragon]

24x12-12 but they are square rather than rounded.
Have to bump the engine to turn drive shaft. Not much room to work under there.