Should I trade my L2501

[airbiscuit]

This is my solution;
View attachment 736638
This is going on my L2501. We’re expecting 45-50 HP and 28-30 PTO. I’m expecting to have it installed in the next couple months.

Mike

I hope you take lots of pics of this project and start a separate tread. It should be cool.

 

[Rdrcr]

I hope you take lots of pics of this project and start a separate tread. It should be cool.

I will. Absolutely. There will be tons of information to share regarding the project.

Mike

 

[Garson]

Your main problem is the hydrostatic drive. These tractors are built for convenience but you lose about 35% of your power just to run the transmission. Shuttle shift is actually quite convenient once you adapt and it's more reliable and quieter.

 

[ljjhouser]

You are probably right, the tractor may be under-powered for the job. 19 at pto may be too little. There is a price to pay in hp for the convenience of HST, and well as $$. But if you have 24.8 (Kubota L2501) engine, and the pto is 19, then the total loss for using the pto from the tractor is about 23%. And not all of that loss is transmission.
Anyway I never bought many large purchases hoping to reach the mininum required for projects or work. I always would like to have a little "too much" (if there is such a thing) for things like getting in soft fields or etc. The L3901 may be a better fit. The worse thing that can happen is that you purchase another tractor, and then discover that you wish you had gone with more HP.

It is a rare post that a person bought a tractor and said "I wish I had less hp."

As far as the regen process you seem to have already avoided, I have the L4701. NO PROBLEMS I am at 300 hours. There is so much discussion about that. You can write 100 posts saying it has been no problem, and there may some ACTUALs post of problems. Not a lot. Does it use more fuel. Maybe a little. But if you work while it regens, it makes little difference. The key to regen is heat. The tractor has to provide enough heat to burn particles.
Good Luck, hope you find a good solution to solve the problem.

 

[TBone]

You are probably right, the tractor may be under-powered for the job. 19 at pto may be too little. There is a price to pay in hp for the convenience of HST, and well as $$. But if you have 24.8 (Kubota L2501) engine, and the pto is 19, then the total loss for using the pto from the tractor is about 23%. And not all of that loss is transmission.
Anyway I never bought many large purchases hoping to reach the mininum required for projects or work. I always would like to have a little "too much" (if there is such a thing) for things like getting in soft fields or etc. The L3901 may be a better fit. The worse thing that can happen is that you purchase another tractor, and then discover that you wish you had gone with more HP.

It is a rare post that a person bought a tractor and said "I wish I had less hp."

As far as the regen process you seem to have already avoided, I have the L4701. NO PROBLEMS I am at 300 hours. There is so much discussion about that. You can write 100 posts saying it has been no problem, and there may some ACTUALs post of problems. Not a lot. Does it use more fuel. Maybe a little. But if you work while it regens, it makes little difference. The key to regen is heat. The tractor has to provide enough heat to burn particles.
Good Luck, hope you find a good solution to solve the problem.

Thanks. I would like to stay with the same size footprint on a more powerful tractor. I've got a bunch of trees on part of my property and the little L2501 gets around them like a dream. It's just the open part with heavy grass that the little engine just can't keep up.

 

[Jerry/MT]

There’s no ‘hope’ here. The results will ‘prove’ the effectiveness of the turbo and turbo setup.

We already know the tractor frame will support 39HP and the turbo will produce a bit more, for a lot less money.

There are a couple successful L2501 turbo setups that have been running, without issue, for more than 50 hours.

It’s going to be a good project, I just need to find a local PTO dyno so we can verify our results.

Mike

Are you really sure that the engine and drive line components will support the boosted engine output?
Usually turbo'd engines have reduced compression ratio because of increased cylinder inflow temperatures or they have special coatings on the piston crown to take the higher peak gas temperatures. You realize that you will have to turn the fuel flow up also.
50 running hours will only prove you don't have an early engine death. Tractor engines are designed for 1000's of hours of dependable operation. I'd advise you consider more operating time before you declare success.
The proper way to design an engine and powertrain is to design it for a turbo and then de-rate for lower power models all the way to normally aspirated. The lower rated models will generally have greater durability. The alternative is upgrade the weak components as you uprate the engine. That means more parts inventory and additional manufacturing costs.

Unless you have a lot more info on the engine design details that are generally only privy to the engine manufacturer, make and break development programs are generally very costly.

Good luck on your endeavor.

 

[crashz]

I've had the same issues as well. Cutting with a 5ft JD rotary cutter. Angling the cutter helped quite a bit (tail wheel is set to the lowest adjustment) and put brand new blades on it. Still struggles in thick, tall grass.

One thing I will do is cut some openings in the back of the cutter to help release the build up of cuttings. The tractor has enough power to cut or smash the grass, but not enough to keep cutting the build-up. Every time I bog down or the cutter clutch starts to slip, there is a huge clod of built up grass.

 

[airbiscuit]

This is my solution;
View attachment 736638
This is going on my L2501. We’re expecting 45-50 HP and 28-30 PTO. I’m expecting to have it installed in the next couple months.

Mike

Well, this is orange, and it's turbocharged. Seems to give it more power (if not sense)!

 

[stso9d]

Well, this is orange, and it's turbocharged. Seems to give it more power (if not sense)!

Dang!

 

[Little Red Tractor]

I think the 60 inch is overtaxing the 25 HP a bit. I run a 48 behind a B 2301. Lots of power, and I cut close to the ground as well.

 

[jeff9366]

Make and break development programs are generally very costly.

Turbocharging new L3940 Gutless Pig Tractor

Instead of bashing my new powerless L3940 HST Cab tractor I would like to turbo the thing. I see the same engine is used in the Bobcat S-160 skid steer with a turbo. Rather than tell me why I don't want to do this can you throw me some ideas? Very serious here. Thanks, Fred

www.tractorbynet.com

I Still Hate My Tractor

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/286348-turbocharging-new-l3940-gutless-pig.html Had it 5 months now. Some good things to note: Cab heater and A/C works excellent. Bad things: Little to no power. If going up an incline and the Revs are at 2600 and I use ANY of the...

www.tractorbynet.com

I Still Hate My Tractor II

So I have 50 hours blowing snow with it and now running an 8 inch Woodmax chipper. Before the turbo install the tractor engine would die out on anything over 5 inches of wood diameter. Now with the turbo you can't kill the engine, in fact Saturday I got a large piece of Maple stuck in the...

www.tractorbynet.com

The bottom line to the above 1,151 messages is The Fred intermittently got the incremental power he wanted at fabulous expense in down time.

The Fred's concluding Kubota post was January 3, 2021:
"I DO still hate my tractor!"​

I have been posting here since 2011. I cannot recall ONE thread where adding a turbo to an engine not specifically set up for a turbo proved successful for the owner.

​

 

[Mudfarmer]

"Thanks for the replies. My cutter is a 60" medium duty Land Pride."

No wonder, five foot is too big for 25 hp. I bet it bounces off the tires when you take a sharp turn. Sell it and get a four-foot mower.

 

[Citydude]

Umm, I ran a 6' behind a 2501. Type of stuff that is being mowed dictates speed of mowing. Bogs down, slow up. Its that simple.

 

[Rdrcr]

Well, this is orange, and it's turbocharged. Seems to give it more power (if not sense)!

Not what I’m going for, although, it’s highly entertaining!

Mike

 

[Tractor X]

hello TBN people,
i would like to share some info on the D1703 engine used in the l2501
L2501 Modifications .
the OP that started the "L2501 Modification" thread has successfully built and installed a turbo for his D1703... also a small group of us over at OTT have done the injection timing and fuel advance mods on the D1703 with great success.
we have some very knowledgeable members (gearheads) involved in this thread including @Rdrcr who is currently installing a turbo to his D1703. Mike has been a big contributor and help to the thread!
here is part 1 video and history of the D1703 mod

part 2

i have no idea how much HP and torque i gained on my D1703... but its not the same tractor

 

[TMGT]

When I was looking at the 2501 awhile ago, my plan was to put the inj. pump to L3200 settings and changing out the pto gear so I could turn up the rpm to gain more power and increase the hyd pump output also.

I like turbos but to make it right really requires different pistons, injectors, inj. lines etc.

Sent from my SM-G715U1 using TractorByNet mobile app

 

[TBone]

"Thanks for the replies. My cutter is a 60" medium duty Land Pride."

No wonder, five foot is too big for 25 hp. I bet it bounces off the tires when you take a sharp turn. Sell it and get a four-foot mower.

Nope, does not bounce off the tires.

 

[Jerry/MT]

Make and break development programs are generally very costly.

Turbocharging new L3940 Gutless Pig Tractor

Instead of bashing my new powerless L3940 HST Cab tractor I would like to turbo the thing. I see the same engine is used in the Bobcat S-160 skid steer with a turbo. Rather than tell me why I don't want to do this can you throw me some ideas? Very serious here. Thanks, Fred

www.tractorbynet.com

I Still Hate My Tractor

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/286348-turbocharging-new-l3940-gutless-pig.html Had it 5 months now. Some good things to note: Cab heater and A/C works excellent. Bad things: Little to no power. If going up an incline and the Revs are at 2600 and I use ANY of the...

www.tractorbynet.com

I Still Hate My Tractor II

So I have 50 hours blowing snow with it and now running an 8 inch Woodmax chipper. Before the turbo install the tractor engine would die out on anything over 5 inches of wood diameter. Now with the turbo you can't kill the engine, in fact Saturday I got a large piece of Maple stuck in the...

www.tractorbynet.com

The bottom line to the above 1,151 messages is The Fred intermittently got the incremental power he wanted at fabulous expense in down time.

The Fred's concluding Kubota post was January 3, 2021:
"I DO still hate my tractor!"​

I have been posting here since 2011. I cannot recall ONE thread where adding a turbo to an engine not specifically set up for a turbo proved successful for the owner.

​

A predictable result!

 

[TBone]

hello TBN people,
i would like to share some info on the D1703 engine used in the l2501
L2501 Modifications .
the OP that started the "L2501 Modification" thread has successfully built and installed a turbo for his D1703... also a small group of us over at OTT have done the injection timing and fuel advance mods on the D1703 with great success.
we have some very knowledgeable members (gearheads) involved in this thread including @Rdrcr who is currently installing a turbo to his D1703. Mike has been a big contributor and help to the thread!
here is part 1 video and history of the D1703 mod

part 2

i have no idea how much HP and torque i gained on my D1703... but its not the same tractor

I watched both of these videos and found them to be long, detailed and very informative. He gained some hp (doesn't know how much without a dyno) and did not add a turbo, which I like. The guy has done his homework and really impressed me with his skills and knowledge. If I were younger I might attempt his "tune up" but at my age I don't think I'm capable. Wish I was!

 

[Tractor X]

I watched both of these videos and found them to be long, detailed and very informative. He gained some hp (doesn't know how much without a dyno) and did not add a turbo, which I like. The guy has done his homework and really impressed me with his skills and knowledge. If I were younger I might attempt his "tune up" but at my age I don't think I'm capable. Wish I was!

yes sir, the videos were definitely long! outta respect for Netmagi, i watched both from beginning to end.
very informative and Kubota's D1703 is a popular engine for sure. interesting that the engine has been used in the l35 backhoe (35.1 HP), l3400 (34.7 HP) and l2501 (24.8 HP) to name a few. if i had to guess (butt dyno), i'm thinking ~32 HP after mod.
the mod took ~4 hrs plus 2 hrs collecting data, tweaking fuel limit screw and checking EGT's.
gotta say i had a good time working on my tractor... its 100% solid now!

best of luck!