What DON'T You Like About Your New LS

[Username Taken]

Currently looking at an LS XG3135. I'm impressed for the most part.

I like that they replaced that old diesel (Mitsu? Shibaura :confused3 with a new engine containing technology not from when I Love Lucy was all the craze. Being a former arm of Hyundai, I suspect (hope) they have the engineering to do it right.

Anyway, pretend you're talking to a dummy because...... Well, I am when it comes to tractors.

And it's not so much that I'm impressed by LS, it's more like I am seriously UNimpressed by most of the other manufacturers. All of them actually.

 

[George2615]

Welcome to TBN......

The new LS you are looking at has an engine made by LS. So far I haven't heard any bad stories. My LS XR3037HC is a 2014 and has the Shibaura engine. Shibaura makes very good engines as does Mitsubishi. My previous tractor had the Mitsu engine. I've had no problem with either Mitsubishi or Shibaura. I went with a hydrostatic over a gear tractor because it suits my needs better. No shifting involved and much faster for loader work plus I'm getting older too.

The LS engine has 50 hour regen cycles where mine regens every 5 hours. If you look at LS history you'll find they have been building tractors for a long time even though they only started marketing the LS in 1995. I looked at all brands at the local farm show but at the time I found all other brands with the same options cost more than LS so I went with LS. I felt they had the most bang for the buck for a premium tractor. The XG will have fewer options than an XR so for the little difference in price you may want to check the features on the XR series

 

[Diggin It]

Mine's a much smaller machine, but so far the only thing I haven't liked is/was the swivel seat to use the BH. I made a cheap jump seat to take care of that annoyance.

 

[dalola]

And it's not so much that I'm impressed by LS, it's more like I am seriously UNimpressed by most of the other manufacturers. All of them actually.

I'm curious as to what it is that makes you so unimpressed with other brands? Seems like an odd thing to say, especially given your self assessment of tractor knowledge.

 

[jaydee325]

I've got an R3039H. The only thing I find myself occasionally grumbling about to myself is rear visibility. But, that probably has more to do with my short stature.

It also would have been nice if LS would have provided a fuel shut off valve at the tank outlet to facilitate fuel filter changes.

It has been a great tractor that has exceeded my expectations. Dealer has been great too.

 

[Username Taken]

I'm curious as to what it is that makes you so unimpressed with other brands? Seems like an odd thing to say, especially given your self assessment of tractor knowledge.

That's a fair question.

I don't know a lot about moving dirt around but I know a fair amount about the mechanical aspects of things with wheels on them. And I like them. Plus, I'm literate. I like to study things.

I also don't mind having an opinion disproved. I consider it a free education.

Most of the other 'manufacturers' have a hodge-podge of parts in them. Deere uses Yanmar a lot and I don't own sail boat. Many of the others don't have single part in them made by them. Kubota is one of the very few that makes most of their own parts and I don't care much for their dealers.

My buddy broke a U-Joint knuckle on his Deere (his fault) and we tore it down to fix it. Problem is, you can't just replace the yoke, you have to replace the entire drive shift.

We went to a driveline shop to have the yoke cut off and a new one welded on. Done all the time in the automobile world. All the time.

Can't do it. on a Deere. Deere's splines are proprietary. You want a new splined yoke? You gotta buy it from Deere. There's just simply no choice. They even use different splines at either end and on the other driveshaft. Many, many things on a Deere are proprietary. You'd think they could find better things for their Engineers to do. :confused3:
Anyway, know what that little POS shaft cost (about 40" long)?


$750. Take it or leave it. They go out of their way to force you to buy from them so they can rip your head off. A drive shaft that should cost $150, TOPS, they want 5 times more than that. And I should have been able to buy a yoke for $20. Back in the day, I bought an all aluminum, balanced, complete driveshaft with the U-Joints included for $120 from Ford Racing Parts for my Hot Rod Mustang.

I won't do business with a Company that pulls that stuff.

Engines?? A diesel with the technology of a flathead V8 for around $25k? No thanks. The new, turbocharged diesels make so much more power than an IDI, it ain't funny.

I could go on and on, but your question deserved an honest (as I see it) answer.

 

[Diggin It]

Can't do it. on a Deere. Deere's splines are proprietary.

One of the main reasons I didn't go green. Even when their parts aren't proprietary, their part numbers can be. My JD X-300 has a Kawaski engine with an FH491V engine. No local parts suppliers could find that number. They all said I must have it wrong because Kawaski never made that engine according to any documents they had access to. Once we finally got past all the numbers, we figured out that apparently it's a renumbered for JD FH451V. Everything seems to be the same other than the number assigned to it for JD machines.

 

[dalola]

That's a fair question.

I don't know a lot about moving dirt around but I know a fair amount about the mechanical aspects of things with wheels on them. And I like them. Plus, I'm literate. I like to study things.

I also don't mind having an opinion disproved. I consider it a free education.

Most of the other 'manufacturers' have a hodge-podge of parts in them. Deere uses Yanmar a lot and I don't own sail boat. Many of the others don't have single part in them made by them. Kubota is one of the very few that makes most of their own parts and I don't care much for their dealers.

My buddy broke a U-Joint knuckle on his Deere (his fault) and we tore it down to fix it. Problem is, you can't just replace the yoke, you have to replace the entire drive shift.

We went to a driveline shop to have the yoke cut off and a new one welded on. Done all the time in the automobile world. All the time.

Can't do it. on a Deere. Deere's splines are proprietary. You want a new splined yoke? You gotta buy it from Deere. There's just simply no choice. They even use different splines at either end and on the other driveshaft. Many, many things on a Deere are proprietary. You'd think they could find better things for their Engineers to do. :confused3:
Anyway, know what that little POS shaft cost (about 40" long)?


$750. Take it or leave it. They go out of their way to force you to buy from them so they can rip your head off. A drive shaft that should cost $150, TOPS, they want 5 times more than that. And I should have been able to buy a yoke for $20. Back in the day, I bought an all aluminum, balanced, complete driveshaft with the U-Joints included for $120 from Ford Racing Parts for my Hot Rod Mustang.

I won't do business with a Company that pulls that stuff.

Engines?? A diesel with the technology of a flathead V8 for around $25k? No thanks. The new, turbocharged diesels make so much more power than an IDI, it ain't funny.

I could go on and on, but your question deserved an honest (as I see it) answer.

Fair enough, appreciate the reply!

Hopefully you'll find a machine that works great for you. Let us know what you finally settle on.

 

[bruceatlam]

I own a 2012 R3039H.

I find myself wishing that I had more room as an operator. My feet keep getting caught on various things. It's an irritant.

My plastic gas tank just will not hold fuel ----- it keeps splitting at the seam. I alternate between two tanks and just patch the seam leak when it leaks. The patch lasts for a while. I'm good at changing tanks.

My tph check chain hardware has broken about anywhere it can break on both sides. I've made my own replacement parts.

Other than those things ---- I love my little tractor.

 

[Username Taken]

Fair enough, appreciate the reply!

Hopefully you'll find a machine that works great for you. Let us know what you finally settle on.

Kubota was my first choice by far. But I couldn't find a dealer worth a flip. They were all trying to run a game, made me feel like a pork chop, dismissive, arrogant and skimming the edge of truthfulness. This to a guy that has a Beacon Score of 870 with the 'auto bump' (under the old system).

To be fair, I only tried two of them. I believe that kind of attitude trickles down from the OEM.

If I could have found one that I could deal with, I would put them back into first place. LS isn't a 'second choice' I just kinda like them a little better.

That could all change. Dealers are a different breed, it seems to me.

I went to buy a Ford Super Duty couple years ago. I was always a Ford guy. But the Dealer I drove 200 miles to see was such an incredible jerk, I ended up buying a Ram Cummins Turbo Diesel.

I made a copy of the order and mailed it to the General Manager, thanking him for the truly terrible service.

It's amazing to me how people who are in the Customer Service Business seem to manage to treat their Customers, their only reason to exist, like pond scum.

Thanks for your well wishes and I also wish you the best.