Hey Jim, I got to crank it up today on the lot and get a feel for it.
The
L39 is really an awesome piece of equipment.
The TL1000 FEL (72" heavy duty round QA bucket) and BT1000 BH with 18" bucket are both impressive as is the integrated frame. The reason they were able to slope down the hood is the battery is not in front of the radiator like on my L-3130, instead it has been moved over to the side where you step up onto the deck and in its place is a hydraulic fluid cooler in front of the radiator, kinda like what you see on an HST.
The 12 speed GST shifter is over on the right hand side where the entire dashboard is located instead of on the left side like my L-3130. And the swivel seat works great with plenty of room to walk around the side to the BH. The BH iron is quite beefy, as are the hydraulic cylinders powering the boom, dipper, etc.
The IND tires do make it look real compact for some reason, they are not very tall and no where near as tall as the AG1's on our L-3130, maybe an optical illusion until I see it out here in the woods on our place. It is larger than the previous L-35 though for sure.
They are delivering it here to the farm tomorrow PM so I'll take some pics close up then, it was raining all day here today but will clear out for the weekend for me to spend some seat time getting acquainted with our new workhorse! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif