ZEN-NOH ZL2201 pictures and questions

[CSH]

Here's a couple of pictures of the ZEN-NOH (gray market Kubota L2201). The front end is much too light when making turns up a gentle slope with the pictured 5' rotary cutter attached. Anyone have a good idea of how much weight will be needed to keep the front wheels firmly planted? What is the maximum amount that can be added to the front bracket without damaging the axle and/or steering linkages? Neil, the tach does have an indicator for 540 rpm (PTO 1st gear). BillK, did you ever run down the 4 PTO speeds for this model?

 

[geneP]

Your tractor looks similar in size to my L2250. My tractor was also a little light in the front with my 5' brush hog. I built a brush guard for the front and added a couple of 1" steel plates to the bottom. The total weight of the guard/plates is about 240#, and is enough to keep the front on the ground, even on inclines.

 

[njrqs]

Shawn

What did we decide your tractor was again?? - It looks very similar to my L1501/L185. To be an L2201 there must be some differences.

Mine runs a 4' slasher and that is heavy. So yours must struggle a bit with that big baby on??

I have no front weights and with the slasher on the ground, no probs, but with if off the ground, I have to be very, very careful. Of course as soon as the tractor tips back a bit, the slasher hits the ground and all is well, it is just a bit scary.

I have removed my front bracket with the intention of getting a weight made.

What I may end up doing is bolting the bracket back on, and using U bolts to bolt some length of railway line on. It is about 30kg/m. So I'd have about 80lbs with a 4' length on the front. Should be fine then.

Have fun with your baby. Looks in good nick.

Cheers

 

[CSH]

Neil, from what I have been told the L2201 is most similar to the "made for USA market" Kubota L245. It has a 24hp 3 cylinder diesel that makes 22hp at the PTO. I cut weeds that were 4' - 5' in height for about two hours yesterday with the occasional sappling. I ran it in 6th gear and the engine never missed a beat. Yes, when the 'hog was raised off the ground I had to be more careful but really had no problems when it was lowered and cutting.

I asked several people about the correct size bushhog for this size tractor and got a 50/50 split between 4' and 5'. For my use (light to medium duty cutting) I think the 5' was the correct choice, at least once I get enough weight on the front. Some of the cutting that I'll be doing a little later involves inclines that are about 15 degrees. I was thinking that 125 lbs would be about right, just don't want to damage the axle.

 

[njrqs]

OK

I know the L245. Yes it is bigger than mine as has a bigger 3 cyl engine. So therefore the 5' slasher would be OK. Just couldn't imagine a 5' one on mine /w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif

Apart from the engines, our are much the same.

I too have a 4 speed PTO, and slash in 2nd gear. Don't use the PTO for anything else.

Cheers

 

[CSH]

Neil, do you have the PTO speeds for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th? Since the 1501 is so similar the 2201 might have the same ratio.

CSH

 

[njrqs]

Can't help you with the 4 speeds, but the manual for the L245 3 speeds lists them as follows;

1st 540rpm (pr/s)
2nd 700 rpm (11.7r/s)
3rd 1000rpm (16.7 r/s)

Maybe someone else can helo us here like BillK.

I don't know what you would do with all 4 speeds but the Japs must have had a reason?

Cheers

 

[Anonymous Poster]

OK. The 4 PTO speeds on L2201 are:

1st....622rpm @2800engine rpm (540rpm@2430 on engine)
2nd...810 @2800
3rd...1160 @2800
4th... 1480 @2800

Sorry i meant to post this ages ago,but kept forgetting the info at work.

CSH, your pics look great. Beautiful country. Your tractor looks in really nice condition. The 5' rotary cutter is probably a bit big for it. We use 4 ft on these size tractors, but they drive 4 ft very comfortably. You can still stall them out in heavy going without trying too hard. If the growth is sparse it would have enough power to drive 5 ft.

Once we tried to lift over 520 kg on the rear of one of these, and it lifted fine but front started to lift off the ground. The hydraulics are quite good on these models.

Regarding counterweights, we make a profile cut from 2"steel plate and simply hang weight on the front bar. Each profile weighs 25kg, and 2-3 weights seem fine for most users. On steeper country we may go to 4 or more weights.Probably 60-80 kg would be OK on your application.2wd always needs more weight than 4wd.

Having said that, the last L1501 we added 4 weight too(customer has a very heavy post driver and should have bought a larger tractor, but his funds were limited), bent the front bar. We then cut the bent parts off and rewelded the bar with heavier material, and a lenghtwise stiffener which worked really well. Helps is you have a range of metalworking equipment for this.

As i understand it ,the 4th PTO gear is used for very fine rotary tilling, at creeper speeds, to get a superfine till. This would only work on well worked soil.But the high PTO speeds could also be used for driving generators or pumps or other belt drives where required.

Hope this helps.
BillK
Diesel Traders

 

[njrqs]

Gidday again Bill. Hey you aren't registered. Come on - Get with it /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Those PTO speeds, would they apply also to my L1501?

I'd like some of those weights, but like everything, the freight kills most things I want to get up here.

I'll be down your way next week. Don't suppose I could get some of those weights in my suitcase (They are suitcase weights afterall aren't they /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif)

Hope business is doing you well down there.

Hey - What is an L2000. Saw one at the shops towing trolleys. Looks to be not a grey. Looks same as mine but has 3cyl engine. What size engine is it and any other details?

Cheers

 

[CSH]

Bill, thanks for the information on the PTO speeds and front weights. I doubt I will ever use anything other than PTO 1st gear, but it is nice to have the information. Yes, the tractor is in great shape, having less than 500 hours and was maintained wonderfully by the previous owner. It starts easily and gets oil pressure in about 1 second. The only thing "wrong" with it is a couple of rust specs around the bolt attachments of the fenders from when it was parked outside for a while.

The only other things I would like to do are widen the rear wheel spacing and add a ROPS. Where are the adjustment bolts on the rear axle, and what it the proper procedure? Bill, I assume that you offer a ROPS for this model of tractor. Do you use a Kubota (and which model is it, the L245?) or an aftermarket version?

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Hi Neil
Should really register,but i'm still very basic with computers.
Much prefer Kubotas to computers. I'm learning(slowly).

The PTO speeds are the same for L1501 as well.We had one tractor with a L1501 rear end and L2201 front half. Worked well. We only noticed serial numbers on transmission half was for L1501.But engine and plate on side of flywheel housing was L2201. They are largely the same with an extra cylinder.

Neil, if you can carry the weights in your suitcase, you can take them for free!! They are similar to suitcase weights, but we have'nt profiled the handles into them. They also have an intricate centre to suit all models we import, Some have wider sections across the front.

We have been really busy. Our website is a real bonus. People come in with downloaded pricelists, well up to speed on what we do.Sold another 2 X 4 in 1 loaders yesterday.
please come and visit if you are in Sydney.

CHS, if your only problem with L2201 is small rust spots you are indeed fortunate.Most imports these days need a full respray. Very rarely do we let one go without a paintjob. And I think the other importers are finding the same.

Wheel spacing is a bit of a problem with L series. They tend to be narrower than we would like. We have tried 2 methods.
The first was to set the wheels on wider setting with some machined hubs behind. This gained about 75mm per side at AUD 300 per side.We used longer bolts to go through both spacer and wheel to attach to the hub.

The second (cheaper method) way we used again today. We ground the welded hub out of the wheelrim and repositioned and rewelded the hub near the side of the rim. This also gains about 70 mm per side at about half the price.We first did this to one of our customers units,who also happened to be an engineer, and the results 9 months later look good.

Some people have suggested doubling up on the rear wheel, but I'm not sure about joining the wheels properly Maybe we'll try this later.

Oh yeah, we also suppplied a few with proper turf tyres, using
very wide 13.6X 16 rear tyres at great expense. But works really well ,especially with water in rear tyres when a loader is fitted.

Other than reversing the wheels, there are no other settings on the standard setup.Looking at your pics, you already have the wheels at the widest standard setting.

The ROPS we buy in from a supplier on the north coast of NSW who has certified Aust. Standard rollframes. But they are the same attachment as L245 , which may be easier to obtain locally.

BillK

 

[njrqs]

Bill

Oops - I am off to Melbourne - [censored]

I have my wheels reversed outwards, the only adjustment I could see.

I tried a ROPS from Bareco (Too tight to pay your freight) and it was a dud. Wouldn't fit without taking the mudguards off, and then the cross bar at the top's hole didn't line up. Crap.

So one day I must get one of yours????

 

[coleman67]

Those look like new tires? I have a L1500 and I was told I would have a hard time finding tires that would fit. I live I California in the central valley area. What was the cost of the rears?

 

[CSH]

coleman, the tires were on it when I got it, and yes, there appears to be quite a bit of life left in them. I haven't looked around for tires at any of the local places. Have you checked the sites on the 'net that specialize in tractor tires?

 

[BillK]

Tires for grey Kubota L1500 and most other earlier models are 8.3 X 22 on the rear. This size is not stocked in Australia and I expect may be difficult to obtain even in the US as few tractors other than grey, use them.

We get by ,converting a few tractors to turf tires at high prices , which leaves us some original (usually good ) rear tires. We also include some new tires from Japan in our regular containers, but prices in Japan are not cheap.

Apparently some tires are made in China or Vietnam of this size, but we don't really have the demand to chase better suppliers. The last pair of new rears have been on our shelves for 6 months.

BillK
Diesel Traders

 

[Soundguy]

The tires that came on my grey yanmar were very similar...the rubber looked a bit aged ( tractor was from 1979 )...but the tread was probably 95%... those thick rubber cleats just last and last.

There is a neighbor down the street with an 8n.. with original rear tires on it... the cleats are just nubs now.. andthe fronts have been changed out to what look like car tires.... but those spade stile rear ag tires must be monsters...

Soundguy