ptsg
Super Member
Sometimes you have to work around trees and having the ROPS up is not an option. Those are not my pictures. It's from another forum.
Why are Kubota FEL's so weak?
- Thread starter clarkharms
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Sometimes you have to work around trees and having the ROPS up is not an option. Those are not my pictures. It's from another forum.
4570Man
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- Kubota M59, Kubota L3800, Grasshopper 428D, Topkick dump truck, 3500 dump truck, 10 ton trailer, more lighter trailers.
Anyone that would use that term to refer to a Grand L has probably never sat on one much less used one for very long. I see someone hating on a 3 point hitch nearly daily here. Ditching the turn buckles and fixed length arms makes it a pretty trouble free process. Theres no shortage of people to complain about HST whine either. No whine on the grand and the 6 speed is a big plus. There are some useless features but most of them make using it a much more enjoyable experiencesYep, you get one heck of a lot more tractor in a Grand L for your money. Little things like telescoping lower links and telescoping sway bars make hooking up SO much nicer. And I did pick a Kioti over a standard L.I have heard people denigrate a Grand L as just "bells and whistle" meaning that the extra things the Grand L offers for extra money are superfluous over a Standard L. They don't know what they are talking about. There are dozens if not hundreds of improvements in a Grand L over a Standard L not the least of which is more weight, and considerably larger axles to go along with their stronger loaders. But companies provide choices and price points to sell tractors. It is up to the individual to decide where they want to fall on that spectrum.
If memory serves me correctly, Montana is now LS, or was absorbed by them.
Grateful11
Veteran Member
Here's the one I've scanning through to see if anyone mentioned it. Personally I'm with you. Take the CK series for example a 2800# tractor rated at lifting 1800# just seems really out of proportion for the tractor to me. Our son bought a CK2610HST last year and kept it about 8 months. It had the lighter weight loader but would still lift more weight than I think should've for the size of the tractor. He bit the bullet and bought something with a little more heft to it. Actually the biggest complaint from everyone that used the Kioti was the loader control. It could not curl enough to keep up with the loader coming down. About 4 different operators tried and tried to get it to do it but it just wouldn't. My wife dropped a couple bales on the feed lot trying to lower them, she's been driving tractors of all sizes for about 50 years. Yes the Kubota is rated for less lift but at least the loader control is controllable. I don't think there was anything wrong with the Kioti tractor itself but the loader control just plain sucked. I've seen this mentioned by Kioti owners on youtube also.
The lift and curl feature on the Kubota is no doubt quicker than the Kioti (L3901 vs CK4010). The lift and curl sweet spot is very small on the Kioti and difficult to find. I don't use that for my applications so for me it isn't a feature that matters much but there might be a point that I wished I had it. It is a great feature for people that really need it and sounds like something you use a lot. That may be a reason the L3901 has a much lower lift capacity. (they give up lift for faster action) The strength of the loader on the CK is something that I use quite often for moving various things and my grapple. YOU MUST add serious ballast. For me, that means the backhoe has to be attached. When it is on, I still have to be very careful and slow on heavy lifts but it is a beast and will lift some serious weight.
crazyal
Super Member
The problem with charts is they measure couple points and come up with a number. On my GL if I have the bucket in the dump position as far as it will go and try to use curl function to push the tractor back out of some mud it's worthless. However just moving it slightly and suddenly it has all the power in the world to do it. How much can my loader lift? No clue but I have had more than I should of safely had in it. For those of us who have the experience it's stupid to do. For those of us who don't it can be deadly. If Kioti feels the need to have a stronger loader then more power to them (pun intended). However the real question is why and will it be useful?
Why will it be useful? Because some users lift things that need a stronger frontloader or other stronger features. So they buy and use tractors that do that. (otherwise everyone would have a BX series)
Will it be useful? Yes if the tractor is built to do so and and it is safely operated in a manner according to the manufactures instructions.
I have lifted the front loader where the back wheel came of the ground many times. It wasn't a big deal, I lifted slowly and when the rear wheel came up, I lowered it back down and added my backhoe or brush cutter to the tractor and safely lifted the load.
There is no problem with charts, they are engineered with a mathematical solution to rate the maximum or minimum capabilities of a any component in a static situation not a dynamic one.
s219
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Almost every time the topic comes up, it's due to a simplistic understanding about loader capacity versus height. Everyone looks at the load number but doesn't compare the height. Kubota and Deere loaders generally lift 8-12" higher than most competing loaders. If you look at the capacity not at max height, but at the lower height of the competing loaders, the Kubota and Deere ratings are often similar and sometimes even higher.
Last time the debate came up, I distinctly remember comparing this between the L2501 and a Mahindra 1626. Somebody chose the Mahindra because the loader was stronger on paper and poo-poo'd all over the L2501. But when we looked at the loader curves they were the same, it just happened that the Kubota went higher so it had a lower rating on paper. So in that comparison, all the buyer did was handicap himself with a lower height and didn't gain any actual load capacity.
Maybe it's Kubota's fault for not explaining this. Maybe it's the customer's fault for not understanding, or only considering the capacity and not the height. Either way, there is more to it than capacity and it's unfortunate if that gets missed when people shop for tractors.
Last time the debate came up, I distinctly remember comparing this between the L2501 and a Mahindra 1626. Somebody chose the Mahindra because the loader was stronger on paper and poo-poo'd all over the L2501. But when we looked at the loader curves they were the same, it just happened that the Kubota went higher so it had a lower rating on paper. So in that comparison, all the buyer did was handicap himself with a lower height and didn't gain any actual load capacity.
Maybe it's Kubota's fault for not explaining this. Maybe it's the customer's fault for not understanding, or only considering the capacity and not the height. Either way, there is more to it than capacity and it's unfortunate if that gets missed when people shop for tractors.
k0ua
Epic Contributor
Also don't forget cycle times. Just as important as maximum weight a loader can lift. When you put a larger lift cylinder on a loader for an equal flow rate pump the cycle time goes up. In other words, you can now lift more weight, but you can't lift it as fast and the end result can be that in a day you don't get as much work done.
An example of this is the loader on my DK35se is the KL351. It will only lift to full height about 1460 lbs. BUT it can have the mighty KL401 loader on it just like the DK40se has (2760lbs to full height). Either loader is available and spec'd for the tractor, but the majority of the KL351's were mated to the DK35se's like mine and the majority of the KL401's were mated with the DK40se's and on up to DK50's.
BUT while my loader won't lift as much, it does it MUCH faster. Remember the pump flow is just about shy of 10GPM on my tractor and the pump flow is just slightly over 10GPM on the DK40se but with the loader cylinders being so much larger on the KL401 they fill so much slower at the rated flow rate.
What does this mean? While I can't lift as much with my loader, I can do it a whole lot faster. The factory buckets on the KL351 are 66 inch and the factor bucket on the KL401 is 72 inch. Both will easily lift a full bucket of wet gravel/sand to full height, and yes the KL401 is lifting more, but my little loader will cycle faster and it may work out at the end of the day, I can move about as much materiel as the larger loader. Something to think about.
My tractor chassis with its 3 cylinder engine is 4 inches shorter than the DK40se with its 4 cylinder engine is 4 inches longer. And the DK40se is fitted with larger rear wheels/tires. I tried them both, and while I hated to give up the lift capacity of the DK40se, I really came to like the much quicker loader on my DK35se. Also the DK40se with its larger tires was harder for my wife to get up on than the DK35se, so that right there was sort of a non starter.
An example of this is the loader on my DK35se is the KL351. It will only lift to full height about 1460 lbs. BUT it can have the mighty KL401 loader on it just like the DK40se has (2760lbs to full height). Either loader is available and spec'd for the tractor, but the majority of the KL351's were mated to the DK35se's like mine and the majority of the KL401's were mated with the DK40se's and on up to DK50's.
BUT while my loader won't lift as much, it does it MUCH faster. Remember the pump flow is just about shy of 10GPM on my tractor and the pump flow is just slightly over 10GPM on the DK40se but with the loader cylinders being so much larger on the KL401 they fill so much slower at the rated flow rate.
What does this mean? While I can't lift as much with my loader, I can do it a whole lot faster. The factory buckets on the KL351 are 66 inch and the factor bucket on the KL401 is 72 inch. Both will easily lift a full bucket of wet gravel/sand to full height, and yes the KL401 is lifting more, but my little loader will cycle faster and it may work out at the end of the day, I can move about as much materiel as the larger loader. Something to think about.
My tractor chassis with its 3 cylinder engine is 4 inches shorter than the DK40se with its 4 cylinder engine is 4 inches longer. And the DK40se is fitted with larger rear wheels/tires. I tried them both, and while I hated to give up the lift capacity of the DK40se, I really came to like the much quicker loader on my DK35se. Also the DK40se with its larger tires was harder for my wife to get up on than the DK35se, so that right there was sort of a non starter.
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