Re: What\'s ailing my bota 4610\"
Hello SmokyMtnMan, up until now,I have been an anonymous reader of this board. I have been reading
your posts with great interest as I was very close to purchasing a new Kubota
L4330 Cab Tractor from
Carver equipment. I am very saddened by the lack of help he has provided in your time of need. I also
live about 5 - 6 hours (half hour north of Richmond Va.) from his dealership and was worried about service
from my local dealers if I purchased my tractor from him. That being said,I have some information for you
after reading your latest post about the noise you had never heard before. I have worked with Vane, Gear
and Piston Pumps for the last 22 years and one thing they all have in common is that when they first start
to pump oil, they are noisy. The noise you heard was the pump cavitating (sucking a mixture of air and oil).
With vane pumps, this noise has been described as the pump sounding like it has marbles in it. With piston
pumps,it can be a fierce growling until the pump fills with oil and quietens down. with your pump inside the
tractor case, the noise will be muted, but the noise you heard pinpoints your problem, as many on this
board have theorized, you need to put more oil into the tractor to cover the pickup on the pump, I would
estimate 3 to 4 quarts should allow you to drive the tractor out of there. There have been several good
reccomendations on doing this, another would be a hand operated suction pump that looks like a grease
gun without the handle. To put oil into the pump you simply pull the handle on the end (like you are
changing a grease cartridge) with the opposite end in a container of oil. You can attach a length of flexible
hose to the suction end, stick the end of the hose into the case and push the handle and eject the oil into
the tractor. You can usually find these at Auto Parts stores. Whatever option you choose, please try this
before you pay someone to pull your tractor out. Hydrostatic drives are basically pumps and they may not
allow your wheels to turn freely like putting a gear tractor in nuetral. As I'm sure you are aware, if you want
to stop a hydrostat, you simply let go of the pedal and the tractor stops itself. Adding more oil will not hurt
anything for the short drive out of the valley you are in. When you get it back on level ground you can
drain the excess oil back out of the tractor and your in business!. On a seperate note, I have observed many discussion forums and without a doubt this board is the most polite and "gentlemanly" board I have found. People here are genuinely trying to help other members without regard for the "color" of their tractor.
Nailerguy