Mini Tractors - lets see um (2 Viewers)

[AdventureToolCompany]

Tractors alway come in handy.......like getting the new lift in the shop!

 

[EWheeler]

With my landcruisers and other hobbies, I've always longed for a tractor to do some heavy lifting and ease in moving immobilized vehicles. I grew up with a father owning a dirt work company, so there was always a piece of equipment around to make easy work of most any project, I missed that convenience! Late last year I bought my neighbors house as an investment/rental and now have 1.25 acres total. The acquisition of the new dirt brought some land shaping and pad prepping projects, so with good reason I've been on the hunt for a piece of equipment.

My dream buy would have been a john deer 110 tlb. This is a true backhoe at about half the size of a 310. It seems all these units live in the midwest/east coast and the only unit I found for sale anywhere close was $40k. My budget for just a tractor with a front bucket and rear box scraper was set at $10k and I would have stretched to $15-18k for the right unit with a backhoe. I've been cruising craigslist and marketplace for a couple months now and have been a bit demoralized about the price of used equipment, there was absolutely nothing in that price range worth looking at in my search. The days of a $5k tractor to do a little dirt work seem to be over, much like the days of a $1k running FJ40 are long gone I guess? At least this is the case in southern CA where we don't have a TON of agriculture like areas in the east.

Yesterday I ran across an early 80's Kubota L305DT. 30hp 3 cyl diesel, 1200 original hours, 4x4, kubota front end loader, box scraper, and a 60" brush hog. The seller was an equipment repair mechanic and he was 20 minutes from me. I ran down as soon as he replied to my inquiry and ran it through functionality tests, which all checked out good. He had just replaced both clutches (primary & PTO, its a 2 stage 2 disc clutch), put new rubber on it, and did an engine service. I am actually attracted to the earlier tractors without hydrostatic drive because I fear the costs of repair to the hydrostatic trans if they ever go out. Seems too complicated, I like simple and robust. The seller wouldn't budge off his price of $12k, and I obliged as I felt the tractor fit my needs and nothing on the market has come close.

I would really like to convert the FEL to a quick change style attachment. I could save 2' or so of load center distance when using forks if I could drop the bucket. I saved some photos from earlier in this thread of the LA525 FEL attachment which has the quick change on it, so I will be seeking out some plans to build something to suit my needs. I've found the website Tractor By Net, seems like a decent resource, but not a ton of info on these older Kubotas. I suspect many owners/users of these tractors are not hanging out on internet forums.... If anyone knows of a better forum for inquiring about repairs and other stupid questions from a new tractor owner, I would love to hear about it.

My biggest question off the bat is about filling the rear tires with water. How much, can you do too much, and any additives required/suggested? We don't get freezing weather here, so that's not of concern. Should I fill the front's as well?


Here are some photos of the tractor:

 

[1MOA]

That's a fair price for that tractor with that many hours, new tires and the attachments. Those tractors are beasts and will run forever.
If your rears are the standard 12,4-24 tires you need to add 30 gallons of water to each rear tire which will give you 321 lbs weight in each rear tire.

 

[1911]

Only need to fill the rears, to counterbalance the weight of whatever the front bucket may hold. The box blade will help some; they're usually not light.

 

[flintknapper]

With my landcruisers and other hobbies, I've always longed for a tractor to do some heavy lifting and ease in moving immobilized vehicles. I grew up with a father owning a dirt work company, so there was always a piece of equipment around to make easy work of most any project, I missed that convenience! Late last year I bought my neighbors house as an investment/rental and now have 1.25 acres total. The acquisition of the new dirt brought some land shaping and pad prepping projects, so with good reason I've been on the hunt for a piece of equipment.

My dream buy would have been a john deer 110 tlb. This is a true backhoe at about half the size of a 310. It seems all these units live in the midwest/east coast and the only unit I found for sale anywhere close was $40k. My budget for just a tractor with a front bucket and rear box scraper was set at $10k and I would have stretched to $15-18k for the right unit with a backhoe. I've been cruising craigslist and marketplace for a couple months now and have been a bit demoralized about the price of used equipment, there was absolutely nothing in that price range worth looking at in my search. The days of a $5k tractor to do a little dirt work seem to be over, much like the days of a $1k running FJ40 are long gone I guess? At least this is the case in southern CA where we don't have a TON of agriculture like areas in the east.

Yesterday I ran across an early 80's Kubota L305DT. 30hp 3 cyl diesel, 1200 original hours, 4x4, kubota front end loader, box scraper, and a 60" brush hog. The seller was an equipment repair mechanic and he was 20 minutes from me. I ran down as soon as he replied to my inquiry and ran it through functionality tests, which all checked out good. He had just replaced both clutches (primary & PTO, its a 2 stage 2 disc clutch), put new rubber on it, and did an engine service. I am actually attracted to the earlier tractors without hydrostatic drive because I fear the costs of repair to the hydrostatic trans if they ever go out. Seems too complicated, I like simple and robust. The seller wouldn't budge off his price of $12k, and I obliged as I felt the tractor fit my needs and nothing on the market has come close.

I would really like to convert the FEL to a quick change style attachment. I could save 2' or so of load center distance when using forks if I could drop the bucket. I saved some photos from earlier in this thread of the LA525 FEL attachment which has the quick change on it, so I will be seeking out some plans to build something to suit my needs. I've found the website Tractor By Net, seems like a decent resource, but not a ton of info on these older Kubotas. I suspect many owners/users of these tractors are not hanging out on internet forums.... If anyone knows of a better forum for inquiring about repairs and other stupid questions from a new tractor owner, I would love to hear about it.

My biggest question off the bat is about filling the rear tires with water. How much, can you do too much, and any additives required/suggested? We don't get freezing weather here, so that's not of concern. Should I fill the front's as well?


Here are some photos of the tractor:

View attachment 3302351


View attachment 3302352View attachment 3302353View attachment 3302354View attachment 3302355

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[EWheeler]

For Kubota Tractors....come join us here:

OrangeTractorTalks - Everything Kubota

OrangeTractorTalks, the place for Kubota tractor service tips, classifieds, specs, discussion, news and reviews!

www.orangetractortalks.com

Just signed up an hour ago and got some manuals secured. Thanks!

 

[EWheeler]

That's a fair price for that tractor with that many hours, new tires and the attachments. Those tractors are beasts and will run forever.
If your rears are the standard 12,4-24 tires you need to add 30 gallons of water to each rear tire which will give you 321 lbs weight in each rear tire.

Thanks for the feedback. I tried to chew him down to $10k, but he wouldn't budge from $12. He said he had other people coordinating to look at it, one guy said he would come and get it as soon as he filled the tires with water. May be a lie, but from my view of the market, the clean tractors move very quickly here. A quick internet search said these older tractors are very stout, and there were no signs of abuse or repairs or repainting so I jumped in the deep end.

I found a copy of the owners manual online and it gives guidance on filling the tires for ballast. Says you can fill up to 75% of tire volume, which looks to be about what you are suggesting. It says to fill to ~300lbs with 2lbs of CaCl2 per gallon of water.

Any downside to leaving them full at all times? The user manual says to adjust fill level as required for ballast weight needed for your specific tasks.... It's unlikely for me to average more than a couple hours a week on this thing, it will spend most of its time sitting. Would be nice to just set it and forget it with the tire fill.

 

[e9999]

I don't know anything about this, but the notion of having water for the long run in contact with steel in a hidden spot raises questions in my mind. As in, it's in there for 5 years and the wheels rot out from the inside and you don't know... Is that an issue? I imagine there are additives to slow down corrosion, and that's what the CaCl2 is for, I take it. Is that good enough? Maybe purge with nitrogen after filling? Use a "heavy" oil instead? Curious... Or it's a total non-issue?

 

[Dunbar]

See OTT for rear tire fill methods. Water will freeze so either use windshield washer fluid or i belive dealers use beet juice.

 

[flintknapper]

That's a fair price for that tractor with that many hours, new tires and the attachments. Those tractors are beasts and will run forever.
If your rears are the standard 12,4-24 tires you need to add 30 gallons of water to each rear tire which will give you 321 lbs weight in each rear tire.

^^^^^

Older Kubota's are the Land Cruiser (for longevity) of the tractor world.

Mine will be 27 yrs. old next month and still runs like new.

Kubota Compact L2350DT:

 

[flintknapper]

I don't know anything about this, but the notion of having water for the long run in contact with steel in a hidden spot raises questions in my mind. As in, it's in there for 5 years and the wheels rot out from the inside and you don't know... Is that an issue? I imagine there are additives to slow down corrosion, and that's what the CaCl2 is for, I take it. Is that good enough? Maybe purge with nitrogen after filling? Use a "heavy" oil instead? Curious... Or it's a total non-issue?

There are various anti-corrosion solutions to use (water and antifreeze is common), or just use a tube inside the tire when water ballasting.

 

[flintknapper]

Thanks for the feedback. I tried to chew him down to $10k, but he wouldn't budge from $12. He said he had other people coordinating to look at it, one guy said he would come and get it as soon as he filled the tires with water. May be a lie, but from my view of the market, the clean tractors move very quickly here. A quick internet search said these older tractors are very stout, and there were no signs of abuse or repairs or repainting so I jumped in the deep end.

I found a copy of the owners manual online and it gives guidance on filling the tires for ballast. Says you can fill up to 75% of tire volume, which looks to be about what you are suggesting. It says to fill to ~300lbs with 2lbs of CaCl2 per gallon of water.

Any downside to leaving them full at all times? The user manual says to adjust fill level as required for ballast weight needed for your specific tasks.... It's unlikely for me to average more than a couple hours a week on this thing, it will spend most of its time sitting. Would be nice to just set it and forget it with the tire fill.

I can assure you the seller had folks 'lined up' to buy.

Compact tractors of the era and hours are in high demand and you are actually lucky to have found one so close by. Enjoy your tractor. With regular maintenance.....you can expect to get 4-5K hours use out of that engine.

Welcome to OTT forum as well. See you there.

 

[PAToyota]

I imagine there are additives to slow down corrosion, and that's what the CaCl2 is for, I take it. Is that good enough?

Actually, calcium chloride is more corrosive than plain water. The CaCl2 is added for more weight and as anti-freeze.

 

[flintknapper]

Bush hogging, dirt hauling, and moth spotting.

View attachment 2675124

^^^^^

Pretty Luna Moth.

We have those too.

Plus others.

 

[greenbeast]

^^^^^

Older Kubota's are the Land Cruiser (for longevity) of the tractor world.

Mine will be 27 yrs. old next month and still runs like new.

Kubota Compact L2350DT:


View attachment 3302592
View attachment 3302594
View attachment 3302596
View attachment 3302598
View attachment 3302599

Wow what a beautiful time capsule you have there!!

 

[greenbeast]

See OTT for rear tire fill methods. Water will freeze so either use windshield washer fluid or i belive dealers use beet juice.

I have beet juice in my Kubota M5 111, never had an issue.

Like others I think you did alright, these tractors are in high demand, one with your pedigree is even more rare. Nice find!!

Just purchased the wife a L3902 last week for all our lawn work and brush hogging under trees. Along with all the other tasks a tractor could be used on our farm.

 

[NCFJ]

I recently built an addition to my shop. Did all the grading work with the bucket and the double box blade with rippers.

 

[StinkyPig]

@NCFJ your hired!
Not much better therapy than a warm day on a tractor. No bitching, no phones, if only the dog could fit in the cab...

 

[NCFJ]

So I needed to set trusses, 19 of them. I am building this addition alone so setting trusses was not going to be fast, and cranes around here charge by the hour and set up. The trusses are only 26' and a little over 100 lbs. So I added a 12' length of 2" square stock to the bale spear, attached a couple C clamps at the end to prevent the strap from sliding down the pole.

Process: Attach truss to boom with strap, up on tractor and set truss on walls, off tractor and up 12' on one side, down and move to other side, up and down, up in the center attach braces and remove strap, down back on tractor and back out and do it again. Tell you what, I'm 63 and this process made me realize I'm an old man

Used it to set a big honking header as well

 

[NCFJ]

Still waiting on two garage doors

3/4" plywood on the walls, 1/2" on the ceiling, all painted 2 coats Kilz two coats gloss white. It's well lit with just the big door and windows. Walls wipe down with ease after spraying a truck.