HST Range Selector

D

Dirt Mover

Member
Jan 9, 2014
55
1
8
Delaware
This is in reference to my new (9 hours now) B3350. The range selector is very difficult to shift. The owners manual and a decal in the cab say " if difficult to shift to neutral firmly press the brake pedals for several seconds and shift" I do that and most of the time I can't get it to shift. " If difficult to shift to L M H" nudge (my word) the motion control pedal to rotate the gears a little and shift". That does not always work well either. Frustrating.

Have any of you experienced this problem?

I plan to talk to the dealer to see if anything can be done about this.

DM
 
ItBmine

ItBmine

Well-known member

Equipment
B2620, RTV-X1100C
Jan 21, 2014
1,376
382
83
Canada
Try touching one of the hydro pedals a bit, then put it in gear. I get this the odd time on my B2620.
 
T

tiredguy

New member

Equipment
B3030 HSTC,B2781 51" front mounted snowblower,60" MMM
Jan 21, 2010
302
0
0
northern lower Michigan
Dirt,
sometimes we overlook the simple things trying to figure it out. I've had the same problems that in the beginning were very frustrating with my B3030 doing the same thing. All it needs every now and then is a shot of lubrication on the pivot on the side of the transmission most of the time to get it moving freely. The more hours I've put on it and it loosens by normal wear the easier it moves. Same thing with your HST pedal, lube the pivot points to make sure it's not sticking and returning to neutral as it should. It's new and everything is tight and I use Deep Creep that's a Sea Foam brand because it works well in all types of weather effectively. Remember too if the pivot on your HST pedal has a grease zerk on it that thick grease of any kind gets stiiffer the colder it is outside and keep it from moving as easily as it should. Cold weather always changes the viscosity of any lube.
I found in the beginning too that getting someone to work the range selector inside the cab back and forth while I sprayed the lube made it much easier to get it where it needed to be and worked it in very well and the tractor doesn't need to be running while doing it so you can safely work without putting yourself in harms way.
Al
 
D

Dirt Mover

Member
Jan 9, 2014
55
1
8
Delaware
Thank you all,
I have tried rpm decrease and also moving the hydro pedal. Didn't seem to make much difference.
I am looking at the lube possibility. Yesterday the temperature was a little warmer. I decided to take the tractor for a little drive. Started and did prescribed warm up before going. Including warm up I ran the tractor about 30 min total. While travelling I stopped periodically decreased rpm and shifted the range selector, darn thing shifted easily every time. Maybe the temperature had something to do with it. Will see how it goes on the next run.
DM
 
quazz

quazz

Member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3800 and Z411
Jan 6, 2014
296
4
18
Rockley, NS
A long time ago you couldn't just change gears in a car or truck easily. You had to learn how to coax them. At least this was the case in my old wrecks lol.
"If you can't find them grind them" my friends would say when I struggled to coax a gear change.
 
F

flati

New member

Equipment
Kubota B2320
Dec 27, 2013
28
0
0
Eastern Ohio
My B2320 is a hydro also and it has a clutch which needs to be used when changing between low, medium and high range. Im not familiar with your model, wasn't sure if it had a clutch.
 
Last edited:
SteveF

SteveF

New member

Equipment
BX25
May 15, 2013
307
0
0
Huntingdon, PA
I thought I had a similar problem last summer. I never even put into high range until I had about 30 hours on it. Lever was tough to move between ranges and I thought there was a problem but I had work to do and kept at the job at hand. Funny thing is, now that I have 140 hours on it, it is still tough to hit the sweet spot but I'm used to it. My expectations have changed as I've come to get more experience on the machine. My sense is that yours will too with more time in the seat. Happy digging!
 
navspecwar

navspecwar

New member

Equipment
B3300HST FEL, ATH72 Finish Mower, 5ft KKRear Blade,Piranha TB
Oct 5, 2013
101
0
0
Marion, Illinois
SteveF said:
Funny thing is, now that I have 140 hours on it, it is still tough to hit the sweet spot but I'm used to it. My expectations have changed as I've come to get more experience on the machine. My sense is that yours will too with more time in the seat. Happy digging!
Click to expand...
Good point! Very practical way to explain.
 
K

KBorange

New member

Equipment
Kubota L3200
Aug 11, 2013
44
0
0
Eureka Missouri
Mine is difficult at times, but depressing the hydro pedal a few times forward and reverse usually does the trick. Are you sure you don't have a clutch pedal? My l3200hst has a clutch.
 
I

ibunker

New member

Equipment
B3300SU w/BK76, Box blade, DR wood chipper
Dec 5, 2010
52
0
0
Port Orchard, WA
Agree with KB above, my B3300SU (has a clutch) and have to press the HST pedal forward and back works the best.
 
D

Dirt Mover

Member
Jan 9, 2014
55
1
8
Delaware
Everybody,
Looks like this is going to be a "normal" thing to live with. Can't quite understand how Kubota would allow such a frustrating feature to exist on a machine that is supposed to be top quality. This is a first for me.

My tractor does not have a clutch. Didn't realize that some of the hydros do.
MD
 
K

KBorange

New member

Equipment
Kubota L3200
Aug 11, 2013
44
0
0
Eureka Missouri
Also after you engage the hydro pedals a few times forward and reverse, wait a few seconds before you try to slam it into gear.
 
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