Question about L3800 fuel gauge

[Carl k]

I did a search on this but didn't find anything. I have an L3800. When it was delivered it had a full tank of fuel. After 9 hours of bush hogging the gauge was reading just under 1/4. The L3800 is supposed to have a 10 gallon tank, so it appeared that I used about 8 gallons of fuel in 9 hours of use. I put in 4 gallons, and now the fuel gauge reads just a little under full. This does not sound right. 4 gallons on top of a little less than 1/4 tank should have brought the gauge somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 full. Has anyone else noticed this about their fuel gauge? Is this normal?

 

[Bluegill]

The fuel gauge isn't very accurate on my L3800, it reads full at 3/4 tank. I don't worry about it, just top it off when it get down to around half on the gauge.

Mine seems to average around 3 hours per gallon, more or less depending on what I'm doing.

 

[Dune33]

When i run my 3800 to empty on the fuel gauge and add 6 gallons the gauge reed full but i dont think it's realy full, it sure burns more fuel than my old L1500

Dune

 

[Iowan]

My BX2660 is the same way. It takes two or more hours to come off full, then the gage seams to move at a faster rate closer to empty. If I add two gallons at a quarter tank it will show full again. My tank is half full when the gage shows between 3/4Th's and full. Accuracy of the gage has a lot to do with the shape of the tank at any given fuel level. your gage indicates the level of the fuel in the tank not volume.

 

[Carl k]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I need to gain more experience with the fuel gauge. Sure wish it was more linear. Still, I love my Kubota.

 

[Bluegill]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I need to gain more experience with the fuel gauge. Sure wish it was more linear. Still, I love my Kubota.

The L3800 is a great tractor. I do love mine!

 

[birddogger]

If you look at the shape of the tank it would make sense. It is kind of shaped like a fat 7. The top 1/2 of the depth probably contains 2/3 of the fuel. So to create a sensor that would compensate for the change in gallons per inch of depth would be a little nightmarish.
There is one good thing about this, it makes you panic about running out of fuel so you fill it prematurely; not a bad thing since nobody likes bleeding the injectors after running the tank empty.

 

[Bulldog]

A couple of days ago I was working on a project for a neighbor and was almost done. Trying to finish it up I ran my L3000 until I couldn't stand it any longer. The fuel gauge not only read empty but it had even quit moving at all. Made my dash to the closest storage tank and it held 7 gallons in a 8 gallon tank. At a 1/4 tank mine really has about half.

My M9000 has a low fuel light and a guage. When the light comes on you better wish for 2 things.
1, be on flat ground
2, hope the fuel storage tank is real close

When it says empty it doesn't play.

 

[gpreuss]

When i run my 3800 to empty on the fuel gauge and add 6 gallons the gauge reed full but i dont think it's realy full, it sure burns more fuel than my old L1500

Dune

I'm in complete agreement - the guage is reliable only as a warning light. When mine says about half a tank the tractor usually takes 5 gallons easily. Compared to my old 185, the L3200 is something like flushing a toilet. My dad used to say that the big difference between gas and diesel is that diesel only burns the fuel necessary to do the work, where gas burns the fuel to get the RPMs, and the work is a by-product. Probably a gross over-simplification. The L185 agreed with his assessment, but the L3200 acts more like gas. I feel sorry for you folks that went for the bigger engine; you have a pipe line to the fuel depot?

 

[Bluegill]

I'm in complete agreement - the guage is reliable only as a warning light. When mine says about half a tank the tractor usually takes 5 gallons easily. Compared to my old 185, the L3200 is something like flushing a toilet. My dad used to say that the big difference between gas and diesel is that diesel only burns the fuel necessary to do the work, where gas burns the fuel to get the RPMs, and the work is a by-product. Probably a gross over-simplification. The L185 agreed with his assessment, but the L3200 acts more like gas. I feel sorry for you folks that went for the bigger engine; you have a pipe line to the fuel depot?

I had an old L245 for many years and it was easy on fuel.

We have an old L3750 5 cyl and it's not so bad, but rarely sees more than 1500 rpm. Lot's of torque.

Now have a new L3800 that does most of the work around here and like I said earlier, it averages around 3 hours per gallon, more or less depending. It does seem to use more fuel than the other two.

That said, I like the L3800 by far better than the others!

 

[Carl k]

Hi Bluegill,
You said that you're getting 3 hours to the gallon. Could you tell me at approximately what rpm so I can get a feeling for what I should be getting with my L3800 I've been using at 2500 rpm. In the warm months I use my tractor exclusively for bush hogging. So I run it at 2500 rpm to get 540 at the PTO. I think I used 8 gallons in 9 hours, but with the funky fuel gauge I really don't know for sure how much fuel I used. Thanks.

 

[Bulldog]

I feel sorry for you folks that went for the bigger engine; you have a pipe line to the fuel depot?

I would love to hear what the gallon per hour burn rate is on some of these tractors. My L3000 (32hp) burns way under a gallon per hr. I mowed hay with my M9000 (92hp) yesterday and it burned 1.5 gallons per hour. I don't think that's bad but I don't have anything to compair it to.

 

[Bluegill]

Hi Bluegill,
You said that you're getting 3 hours to the gallon. Could you tell me at approximately what rpm so I can get a feeling for what I should be getting with my L3800 I've been using at 2500 rpm. In the warm months I use my tractor exclusively for bush hogging. So I run it at 2500 rpm to get 540 at the PTO. I think I used 8 gallons in 9 hours, but with the funky fuel gauge I really don't know for sure how much fuel I used. Thanks.

First, mine is a gear drive and from experience they don't burn as much fuel per hour as a hydro.

I mow 40-60 acres, but usually no more than 6-8 at a time and a few miles of logging roads. I use between 1800-2200 rpm, depending on how tall/thick the grass/brush is. I will sometimes run it up to 2500 rpm, but it does not feel right or sound right to me. I usually use less rpm when doing FEL work and the rig just sips fuel...

 

[Benhameen]

I was wanting to know the hour to gallon ratio on my l3800 too. I have been letting it get down to about 1/8 of a tank then adding 5 gallons at a time. I don't live close enough to the to the pump to fill it up there and get an accurate measurement of fuel. When I add 5 gallons it reads full on the gauge.

So I gather from the other post that even though I've added 5 gallons and its showing full, I could still add a few more gallons ?

I put 3 hours on it yesterday @ 2200 rpm; plowing and using the FEL to move dirt, it went from full to half tank in that time. I guess I could add another 5 gallons today and see how much it will take before I can see it at the top of the tank.