Run away or worth a gamble? Kubota B2910

[1savoy]

Hey Guys,

I posted a thread about B21 advice. Lots of good advice was given. I did not realize some of the newer Kubota B's, before the new 2650/ 3350, had position control on the 3 pt hitch. /Pine informed me they did. I got looking around and found a decent looking B2910 locally. I like all the options on the B2910. The asking price for the 2910 with 402 loader is $9,750 with bush hog and $9,300 without. Hours are 809. Checked it out over the weekend and found no coolant in the overflow jug and coolant level was too low to see in the radiator. Owner informed me he may have gotten it warm mowing in really tall grass and it pushed out coolant. He said he is positive it was full when he started mowing. Oil looks good. The other thing that really scares me is both hydraulic filters are gray which makes me think they have never been changed. I assume no 50 hour service or makes me wonder how much service ever???? Hydraulics, PTO, and hydrostat seem to work great, but all this has me worried about long term use/ reliability. I brought this to the owner's attention and he agreed and is willing to drop the price. Looks like $8,500 is as low as he will go. Steering column and dash seem somewhat loose and tach is not working. He said the tach works sometimes and sometimes doesn't. I don't mind fixing problems and I do all my own service. I know Kubotas are tough, but my gut is telling me to run away from this. Seems like alot of tractor for $8,500, but not sure if I am a gambling man. Wonder what everyone thinks? Still contemplating on the B21 s well.

Thanks,
Russ

 

[murphy1244]

Run Russ, That machine will have problems from lack of Maintenance.

 

[namesray]

good question. You can look at it this way. If he does drop the price about $1000, that isn't much if you might be looking at an engine replacement or hydraulic/hydrostat replacement. If you are looking for a tractor for a lot of use and long term, I would keep this one on back burner and keep looking. If you are looking for just occasional use, then it might be worth a shot.

I have a b7800 (similar to b2910). mine has 1600 hrs on it and I have done all the maintenance. As for the hyd/hst filters and fluid, every time I changed mine, 50hr and every 300 hrs after (as stated by book) the fluid came out clean and clear each time, the fine mesh strainer only had a few metal shavings on it, not even enough to really bother with in my opinion, even if I let all of them add up through out the years. And if you state the hydraulics seem to work fine, I would think that strainer doesn't have many metal shavings on it to interrupt hyd flow, or you would notice slow/jerky movement in the functions as my friend did with his one tractor and it turned out to be the mesh strainer was clogged. so I think you might be ok there. my one neighbor has a kubota bx23 with back hoe and puts about 120 hrs a year on his and he hasn't changed a filter in over 7 years and has no trouble with his. That would be about the equal hours to this b2910.

As for the coolant, this worries me the most. I have done a lot of commercial bush hogging with mine and yes, the radiator will chaff up and she will start to run warm, but I have never pushed any fluid out to the point of like you said this one was, and he would have had to run it a while to do it and that would be running it hot, especially if my guess is right that this tractor is in the hot climate of texas. another real life experience with Kubota engines I can pass on is at the golf course I worked at a employee ran a mower with a Kubota diesel in it and the radiator hose came off and he never noticed it until it shut off. ran so hot it warped a piston. mower had 2300+ hours on it at the time. the golf course rebuilt just that cylinder and kept on running it for a few more years.

so these Kubota's are tough, but not indestructible. I would not buy this b2910 because I use mine commercially every day about and need to count on it, but if you just will be using it as an aide for odd jobs, it might be worth it. ask the guy to fill the coolant up and go run it for a while and see if there is any indication of an issue. that is my 2 cents worth. good luck and happy shopping.

 

[s219]

If it's at 809 hours with the factory filters still installed, that looks pretty bad. I'd steer away from this one -- it has failed one of the real basic checks.

If the owner was thinking like a used-car dealer, he would have at least changed the filters before listing the tractor for sale. The fact that he didn't even do that suggests to me he was pretty ignorant about the whole thing. There are probably other aspects of the tractor that have similar neglect. He may have never lubed the front loader fittings or other grease fittings for all we know.

 

[1savoy]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the advice. It sounds like you guys all agree with my gut feel. namesray, I will be just using it occasionally and not needing it commercially, so that is part of what has me thinking about the gamble. If the coolant would have been full and had replacement hydraulic filters, I would have thought the tractor was pretty solid, just a little rough around the edges. I agree with your thoughts about filling the coolant and running it for a bit before handing over cash. Your experience with fluid and filter changes has me feeling a little better about that part of it. Just thinking out loud, maybe I need to go back, fill the cooling system and pressure test it; and run it for a bit. s219, he said he was religious about checking the oil and greasing it before use, but that does not explain how you put it up for sale and do not check the basics before people come to look at it?? I'll keep you posted on what I decide.

Thanks again,
Russ

 

[Fallon]

My friend is looking at a 1 year old L3200 with under 200 hours on it. Told her to check for grey filters & use it as leverage for a better price if she finds em but buy it anyway.

Pushing 900 hours is a different story. I see that as a sign of neglect & abuse. Is the engine oil filter grey too or just the hydro's? If the engine is grey, run like ****. If its just the hydro's, you better get a **** of a deal on it.

If they neglect & abuse their equipment, you need to assume no other proper maintenance was done, mostly greasing. Assume the loader pins, starring gear & every other part is worn excessively. Usually you can check em pretty easy though.

 

[1savoy]

My friend is looking at a 1 year old L3200 with under 200 hours on it. Told her to check for grey filters & use it as leverage for a better price if she finds em but buy it anyway.

Pushing 900 hours is a different story. I see that as a sign of neglect & abuse. Is the engine oil filter grey too or just the hydro's? If the engine is grey, run like ****. If its just the hydro's, you better get a **** of a deal on it.

If they neglect & abuse their equipment, you need to assume no other proper maintenance was done, mostly greasing. Assume the loader pins, starring gear & every other part is worn excessively. Usually you can check em pretty easy though.

Hi Fallon,

Yes, at least the engine oil filter was not gray and the oil looked pretty good. I know what you are saying about all this shows an overall lack of preventive maintenance and possible neglect. My only reason for considering this tractor is due to the price coming down to $8,500. I think this is a really good price for this model from what I have seen them listed for. Please tell me if I am assuming wrong. Just seems like $8,500 for a 30hp w/ loader, w/ telescopic 3pt stabilizers and telescopic end links on the 3 pt hitch plus ratchet type lift rod, position control on 3 pt hitch, mid and rear pto, cruise control, tilt wheel, nice suspension seat w/ arm rests. This machine will only be used for occasional projects and will lead a pampered life if I buy it. Thinking with taking care of the maintenance that needs to be done and a little TLC could give me a machine I could use for a few years and resell for what I have into it. That is where the gamble comes in. If I end up with any major problems or repairs it would end up eating up all the money saved in a "good deal" and would leave me thinking I should have waited for the "right" machine to come along. I have a few projects I could really use it on right now so that also makes me want to grab it and gamble. Decisions decisions.

 

[tractorworks]

I have that tractor an very happy with it. It is easy for chaff to build up while bush hogging and a pain to clean properly. I'm at 1000 hours and have replaced all loader hoses(expect to do that). Fill coolant and run to make sure it is not over heating and look at paint on engine (peeling flaking?). Dismount loader and drive tractor then remount. (ensure it is not twisted). I haven't but believe on that tractor you can pull metal hydraulic screen and clean/inspect/replace without messing with fluid change. I would certainly look closer before passing on it.

 

[1savoy]

Hi Tractorworks,

Thanks for the advice. Glad to hear you like yours. Seems like a really nice sized machine and I like all the options. The 30 hp in that size machine is also nice. All but two of the hydraulic hoses have been replaced and those two are weeping and will need to be replaced. I am thinking I will head back and take a closer look and run it for a longer time period to see if anything surfaces.

Thanks again,
Russ

 

[tractorworks]

"I haven't but believe on that tractor you can pull metal hydraulic screen and clean/inspect/replace without messing with fluid change."
I just checked manual and it said to do it at fluid change. Not sure where I got that idea.