Will Kubota T1600 cut long grass?

[Sandford_Keith]

Has anybody got any advice on whether a Kubota T1600HST ride-on mower is suitable for cutting a small bumpy paddock of 1.5 acres about 15 times a season. I have the chance of buying one at a resonable price but wonder whether it will do the job. It has a 13.5hp twin cylinder diesel engine, a 44" side-discharge deck and 1,100hrs on the clock. Thanks for any help.

 

[mark2610d]

yes it will do the job. The T SERIES kubota garden tractors are very well built and they last a long time. I have a t1460 with a 12.5 engine and it has over 1000 hours and still runs like it did when new (does not use a drop of oil). I have only done regular service work to it (no broken parts). My t1460 has cut tall grass as high as your knee and it never ran out of power. Just make sure your blades are sharp.

The diesel engine should have more torque than a gas engine of the same hp that too will help with the cutting potential.

 

[crbr]

Has anybody got any advice on whether a Kubota T1600HST ride-on mower is suitable for cutting a small bumpy paddock of 1.5 acres about 15 times a season. I have the chance of buying one at a resonable price but wonder whether it will do the job. It has a 13.5hp twin cylinder diesel engine, a 44" side-discharge deck and 1,100hrs on the clock. Thanks for any help.

Welcome, from across the pond.

 

[Taiser]

Yep the diesels on those T's are tanks, won't have any problems.

 

[603t]

Check the transaxle! A simple way to check is to feel for excessive axial play in the propeller shaft right before it enters the transaxle. There should really be no play/slop at all, and if so, there either already are problems, or there will soon be some.

The rest of the tractor is a tank for sure, with grease fittings all over the place, and very heavy gauge steel throughout. It would have been nice if there was one on the steering wheel shaft, but that could be added easily.

The main weakness is the transaxle. The input shaft is not properly supported with only one small radial ball bearing on the outside, and a very small roller/needle bearing behind the front cover of the transaxle. The distance between these two bearings is very short, only like 2 inches, yielding very poor axial load capability. Couple that with a pretty heavy and long propeller shaft, at less than optimal angles, and you have a nice sinusoidal axial torque beating the weak bearings. There is more, but that should be enough for now!