New to the board ex-Kubota user

bitstibe · Nov 1, 2005

Well, I did it. I had been looking to upgrade my Kubota 7610 for a while. Got 8 acres in the mountains of Utah with a lot of outside work to do and several horse. Have to say, I looked at a lot of different tractors and kept coming back to the Branson.

Ended up pulling the trigger on a 3820i. The biggest reason was pricing and power. The like Kubota was about $10k more and the Branson dealer actually gave me $1500 more on my Kubota trade in.

Just a couple of observations after having it for about 2 weeks.

First, it seems to be harder to start than the Kubota. The timed cycle on the glow plug makes me have to cycle it several times to get it to start and not smoke me out of the barn when I start it up. Any suggestions would be appreciated as the cold weather is here and will only make it worse.

Secondly, I have read about the smoking problem on this forum. Surprised a little at how much it does smoke through all ranges but my dealer stated that, for some reason, the Kutjke/Cummins engines seem to smoke for about the first 50/60 hourse then it stops. Will see.

Other than that I really like the tractor. Got a 20a FEL, Pallet Forks (for lifting 1 ton bales and rock work), a 66" box scraper and a rear snow blower (more to come on this as I did like my front blower on the little Kubota) It has never bogged down, I like the gearing system and I have moved 1 ton rocks without a hesitation (other than making sure I keep the FEL low when moving /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif )

Hoping to glean a lot more information as I get more comfortable from this site. Thanks for all the information.

rameye · Nov 2, 2005

Welcome to the board..

In my opinion the glow-plug controller circuit is the achilles heel of these units. They dont glow long enough an I think the glow plugs aren't so hot either.

I'm sure yours will cough and choke for the first 10 seconds or so when its cold out. Tell the dealer! they can upgrade the glow controller to make it stay on longer.

As far as smoke after its warm..I find mine to be typical for a non-turbo diesel working hard.

Anyway I am considering putting a manual glow override to extend the glo times and give them a shot even after she starts to even out the idle.

I have a century, branson twin with the HL50 loader. I beat the living dog crap outta this thing it it doesnt skip a beat! But the reality is that it just has 50 hours on it ...so time will tell.

Good luck..

Myself and GEB are on a personal crusade to fix the crummy start-ups!

Rameye

Yalerider · Dec 8, 2005

I cycle the glow plugs three times also when cold on my 3510i, and it really seems to help the smoke.

mudcat · Dec 8, 2005

I don't have any problems with smoke. Maybe its just a cold wheather issue. It doesn't get too cold here in north central florida. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

BobQ · Dec 8, 2005

I have not had any trouble yet with my 4720 down to 20F. I like this unit way better than the L3130, The L3130 used to bog down too easy on loader work, but the hst was real nice.

Bob

bitstibe · Dec 9, 2005

Put a block heater on it and it seems to be working better. Still requires 5-7 cycles on the glow plug to get it working but it has started at about 15 below zero so far. Chatted with the dealer after he did some work on my snow blower (another interesting story) and he stated that the Branson folks felt it might also be a timing question. Supposedly is related to the smoking problem as well. If it does not improve he will get under the hood for that.

BobQ · Dec 10, 2005

I am wondering, how long does the glow plug timer stay on per cycle on your machine? Mine only stays on for about 15 sec when cold. I do cycle it two or three times on cold days.

Bob

SHIFTY · Dec 11, 2005

One cycle should be fine, Just`be sure to use anti gel during the winter months

bitstibe · Dec 12, 2005

Mine cycles for about 12-15 seconds per cycle. I use anti gel and the block heater and have still never been able to get it to start in less than 5 cycles on the glow plug. If I don't use the block heater I can't get it to start in less than 10-15 cycles...

Buckeye_Jim · Dec 12, 2005

( One cycle should be fine, Just`be sure to use anti gel during the winter months )

My temperatures can drop down to below 20 degrees F but the high for most days here is above freezing. Do I need anti-gel? My 3820i needs about 3 cycles to start and will belch smoke for 15 seconds or so.

Jim Code:<hr /><pre> <ul type="square"> [*]3820I, FEL, Forks, backhoe, box scrapper [/list]