New to us L5030HSTC

[slowzuki]

Well, we took the plunge! We will be driving to Bangor Maine to pick up an L5030 HSTC with 400 hrs on it this Friday. Dealt with Mike of Dorr's Equipment.

We initially looked at this tractor in mid February and drove it a bit. It was at an employees house cleaning up after a big snow storm. It had galaxy turfs on it at the time.

Well, over the last month and a bit we worked out a deal to ad a remote and swap the tires for some R-4's. A second Q/T bracket for me to mount my snowplow to is included too. It has the rear defroster but I will be buying the wiper option to add myself when I put a radio and rear lights in.

It has the 853 loader and what unfortunatly looks like the light duty bucket (its not a round back on it)

It will be augmenting and possibly replacing the shared use International 584 4wd cab and loader tractor we currently use.

The IH is getting old with lots of hours and not so reliable.

The main tasks the L5030 will be doing:

Haying - mowing, raking, tedding, square baling. I have been very impressed with Daryl's experience with his 5030.

Light logging - in the winter on weekends on our and other properties. Haven't decided on the winch yet.

Loading logs on the band mill

Bushhogging - Squealer 600 the IH currently runs (yes, it was too small for it!) maybe do some small contract work in the area. Many rich people moving in with bigger than riding mower to small for tractor investment type properties.

Snowblowing / Plowing - the 6 ft Meyers power angle will get a Q/T plate and the 84" Lucknow blower will be exercied in the winter.

General site work as we are building a shop / apartment this summer.

Possibly some contract mowing with a batwing mower for a friend with a landscape company. Not likely this summer.

Pretty excited even through this is a major down size for us!

 

[_RaT_]

Alright Ken. I have been to Bangor Maine. Built a home down near Camden. Let us know how the L5030 works. I had the standard duty on my L48 and added a chunk of steel across the top which is where the HD seems to depart from the lighter duty. It stiffened it up considerably and gave me a great area for adding hooks as well as a visual for when the bucket was flat. MArk

 

[GaryE]

Mike,

Congratulations, glad to see Dorrs was able to give you a good deal. If you have some free time Friday, can I buy you coffee, or lunch? I will probably need to stop by Dorrs sometime this week anyway.


Gary

 

[slowzuki]

I've never used a tractor with the light bucket on it before, I'm concerned by normal use of the lip for prying etc will bend it all up.

Does stuff stick badly in a non-round back bucket?

Have to see I guess. I'd like to get some teeth to weld up a toothbar for digging. I find I have to be rougher than I'd like on the international to get it to dig in our rocky soil.

The cutting edge is just about gone on the International, the edges have maybe a 1/4" before they hit bucket.

 

[Dargo]

Congratulations! I think you'll be pleased. My L5030HSTC is sort of marginally small for the size property I have, but if I went to a larger tractor I wouldn't be able to use it around my house. I have the R4's on mine and was very impressed on how it performed in a 30" snow we had this winter.

I have the T&T on mine. That being the case, I have the 4 plugs on the rear. I'm really wondering if they would work for a hydraulic rear blade? When moving all the snow, it was convenient to be able to change the vertical angle of the blade while still in the tractor. I could take a much less aggressive angle when plowing a gravel driveway and not pull any gravel off. On concrete, I could take a more aggressive angle and clean off all the snow and ice. However the "tilt" part was sort of worthless then. I'd much rather been able to change the angle of the blade from in the tractor instead of having to get out, pull the pin, and swing the blade around to plow the other side of driveways. Would the "tilt" outlets work to run a hydraulic angle on a rear blade?

On your bucket, I can't tell if it is the same bucket I have or not. On my bucket I have a thick 3/8" piece of steel running the entire width of the bucket across the top. I didn't need to add any plate before I welded grab hooks on the top of my bucket. Anyway, I have a lot of large rocks / boulders on my property. I've used the bucket to move, roll, and carry all I can lift. I used the hooks I welded on to drag all the 5030 will drag, and have not had any issues. By using the hooks on the top of my bucket, I've been able to raise the bucket up and gain additional traction when dragging boulders. I still have never bent anything.

 

[_RaT_]

If it's clay soil it will stick to anything regardless of configuration. I did not find the cutting edge on the L48's standard duty bucket to be any different from the HD bucket. I tend not to use a bolt cutting edge because I don't need one and it does not cut as easily as the built in cutting edge and if mine ever does get worn down, I will add one then. I have a toothbar left from my L48 that I stuck on the L3830 and it works perfectly. They can be very advantageous. I have a 1/2" air impact that makes taking the 3/4" nuts off the bolts easier especially since they take a beating on the inside of the bucket. What I noticed about the std vs HD bucket is that it twists easier, that is, if you catch the right or left front lip on something and curl, it twists the bucket some. It's the curl function that has the most say in what it wants the bucket to do. The boom lift does not have that kind of power. I took care of that with a 3/8" piece of 3" angle iron welded to the top or the bucket. It stiffened it up considerably.

 

[slowzuki]

Thanks Rat,

I'm used to working nuts on the inside of a bucket, the international has 6 forged steel tines that we use for moving brush, logs and manuare. They bolt in with plow bolts to the bottom of the bucket.

The international bucket is 3/16" or so with 1/4" straping in 6 places on the bottom. The end plates are 1/4" and the back is double wall so I don't know how thick.

 

[slowzuki]

Heres a picture of it closer if anyone can identify the bucket

 

[slowzuki]

And another showing the bucket and the tractor if anyone can identify the bucket

 

[_RaT_]

Ken, are you asking if that is thwe HD bucket? If so, I think the picture you show is not the HD. The HD's on Kubota typically have about a 2" round or pipe brace across the top. That one looks like a simple fold in the steel.