Four wheel drive not working L35

[TNhalfback]

First post here. Looking to replace my old John Deere 870 that has treated me good, but I need/want a FEL. There's an L35-backhoe/loader on FB that's within my budget, less than $15,000. Looks good in the pictures and ad says everything works good except the four wheel drive does not work.

Impossible to diagnose with that much info, but I'll ask anyhow. Any guesses as to what is wrong and what it would take to fix? Hoping there's a common "minor" issue.

I also saw a BX22 that the 4 wheel drive worked, but not the 2 wheel - any comment on that one?

Thanks,
Bob

 

[RCW]

Welcome to OTT!

Both scenarios sound potentially scary.

With limited knowledge, one must expect the worst

The L35 could be as simple as a bad roll pin, but could be a big, big mess.

The BX22 without rear drive would be a definite NO in my book.

I’d pass on both.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I'm would do the L35, but I'm adventurous (aka Crazy).

 

[Nicksacco]

@TNhalfback as an L35 owner who loves the machine, my vote is for that one.
However, it seems L35's don't get the love they need and it's possible as was mentioned it could be simple or difficult.
I would check the front axle for oil by opening the bottom bolts and 1) see if there's any oil in the axle and 2) if you see any chunks.

Crawling under the machine, the drive shaft passes from the transmission between the oil pan "halves" into the front axle inside a tube. Broken roll pins could be hiding there. The tube is designed in 2 parts - the larger one slides over the smaller diameter one. The pins are on front and back of the shaft.

If you can get the front end off the ground with the bucket and rotate the wheels listening for noise - that would be good too.

The axle is very heavy, but removing it is not impossible and taking it apart is a straight forward process.

I hope you'll get back to us with what you've found. I and others here have experience with the L35 that just may help you.

 

[mikester]

Lot's of red flags IMHO.

Put all 4 wheels in the air using the jacks and loader bucket, tractor in 2WD and neutral and turn off the engine. Rotate each of the front wheels in turn. The other front wheel should turn in the opposite direction. Differential gears should mesh smoothly without skipping or excessive noise. If the front diff sounds ok take a look at the front axel drive tube.

Take a good look at the seller's property and how well they take care of their other equipment and vehicles. I'd probably do that before investing any time trying to figure out what's going on with their machines. If you get there and the machine is hot or running...run, don't walk away. Seller's generally try to dump their basket cases. Beware of flippers and abusers/neglectors.

 

[rbargeron]

The L35 was (is) an amazing survivor considering the abuse they often get. Many are left in 4wd their whole life and simply wear out their tires and smaller parts.

One common thing on older 4wd's is the front driveshaft coupling splines get rusted and stop working. Take a quick look under there to see whether the outer tubes, shaft & couplings look right. It might be as simple as a stripped out 050 coupling - often the front one.

 

[fried1765]

First post here. Looking to replace my old John Deere 870 that has treated me good, but I need/want a FEL. There's an L35-backhoe/loader on FB that's within my budget, less than $15,000. Looks good in the pictures and ad says everything works good except the four wheel drive does not work.

Impossible to diagnose with that much info, but I'll ask anyhow. Any guesses as to what is wrong and what it would take to fix? Hoping there's a common "minor" issue.

I also saw a BX22 that the 4 wheel drive worked, but not the 2 wheel - any comment on that one?

Thanks,
Bob

I have the L48 TLB, bigger brother to the L35 TLB.
The L48 was last built/sold in 2009, and mine (261 hrs. ) is worth $40K+ today.
Newest L35 TLB was built in 2004.

A very clean, low hour, L35 TLB, could possibly be worth up to $25K.
Unless you are prepared to do the repair work yourself, or do not expect to ever need 4 whl. drive, I would pass, .....but then, I am too old to be interested in buying any machine that knowingly needs repair.
How many engine hours on this L35?

 

[TNhalfback]

Thanks for the response. Both have seemed to have disappeared from FB so no decision from me is needed. The L35 felt like the right size. I'll keep looking.

 

[fried1765]

Thanks for the response. Both have seemed to have disappeared from FB so no decision from me is needed. The L35 felt like the right size. I'll keep looking.

I have absolutely no idea of your financial capabilities, and do not need to know.
That said: When you do find an L35 that you like, but is priced above your budget, be careful to not just reject it out of hand.
Think (not very long) hard, and offer CASH!
If you think long, it will be sold to someone else!
An extra 3 or 4 grand (above your budget) might get you a far better machine, that will be relatively trouble free.

A private sale of these machines is often best.
Many, or most, buyers do not have the means to pay directly, and must finance.
That leaves the private sellers at a disadvantage, as they will not/cannot finance......thus they must bargain!

The L35 is a sweet little machine, so you may need to spend more time looking than you would like.

It took me almost a year to find my L48, but oh what a machine,..... and with only 251 hours.
My contractor friend says I "stole" my machine, and I think he is right.
Seller had Parkinson's, and could no longer use it.

I fluffed and buffed it, and it looks almost new now (2006).
Bought in 2019, and worth at least 10K more today, on the used market!

 

[TNhalfback]

Thanks fried1765. I was hot-to-trot after making the decision to replace my JD 870 with something with a loader. The L's seem to be in my price range and I don't have an issue with shifting with a clutch.

A L2050 just showed up - $10,500, near the top of my new budget. Owner says all works except the tach, so no idea of the hours. Been stored outside from the looks of it. Worth looking at in your opinion. I'll bring cash and try to negotiate. like you suggest, but once I decide I want something........

 

[fried1765]

Thanks fried1765. I was hot-to-trot after making the decision to replace my JD 870 with something with a loader. The L's seem to be in my price range and I don't have an issue with shifting with a clutch.

A L2050 just showed up - $10,500, near the top of my new budget. Owner says all works except the tach, so no idea of the hours. Been stored outside from the looks of it. Worth looking at in your opinion. I'll bring cash and try to negotiate. like you suggest, but once I decide I want something........

Stored outside, and absolutely no record of hours?
A 24 year old tractor ?
I MIGHT crawl over to look at it some day,.... but I sure would not hurry!

You truly are too..... "hot to trot"!
(I am old now, so simply can't trot.)
Trust me.......there are MUCH better deals out there!
Try not to be too tight with your "budget",
Sometimes it makes good sense to go above your "budget" if/when the right machine comes along.

I went almost $5K above my budget, after nearly a year of looking, but oh what a fine (all optioned out, 251 hour-L48 TLB) machine I got.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

The L2050 is not a bad option, fairly easy to get parts for, and a fairly simple tractor albeit very light on power.
It's only a 20HP L one of the smallest ever made.
Has almost 2k in three point lift but will quickly run out of power pulling anything that heavy.
Loader will have medium to low lift capability with no options to swap buckets.
Make sure it's a DT and has power steering, if it doesn't have both walk way very quickly!
Bigger L's of the sam2 50 series will have Hydrostatic steering, it's a much better steering setup than normal power steering.

 

[GrizBota]

Sounds like you could benefit from honing in on what you really need/want. Especially if you’re ready to buy a nice bright orange, lower hour machine with an FEL.

The BX and L35 are two very different machines capability wise. The L2050 is sort of mid way, but as mentioned, the smallest of the Ls. A TLB (the L35) is different yet than a normal L.

You might consider quantifying what you need this new to you Kubota to do. It sounds like you have previous tractor experience with the JD you are replacing. Then figure out at least what series you need (BX, B, LX, L) and if it needs to be be a TLB (I believe size wise there are options in the BX, B and L series). Sounds like you’re good with either gear or HST drive but would like 4WD. Sounds like having an FEL is a big attraction, so maybe think about what you want to do with that specifically. That may help steer you towards a specific series. If your budget is hard set around $10k, that might keep you in the older BX and B range (or busted L). If you bump up to say $20k, that could open up your options a fair bit if you want/need a larger and/or newer machine.

I’ll put in a plug for the Grand L 30 and Grand L 40 series used tractors for mid to late 2000 machines with many Hp and drive configurations and FEL capacities from moderate to pretty dang good. Granted, these are not TLBs.

Happy hunting.

 

[Nicksacco]

Goodluck @TNhalfback - keep us posted - there's a lot of knowledge here for just about any machine!

 

[fried1765]

Thanks fried1765. I was hot-to-trot after making the decision to replace my JD 870 with something with a loader. The L's seem to be in my price range and I don't have an issue with shifting with a clutch.

A L2050 just showed up - $10,500, near the top of my new budget. Owner says all works except the tach, so no idea of the hours. Been stored outside from the looks of it. Worth looking at in your opinion. I'll bring cash and try to negotiate. like you suggest, but once I decide I want something........

TRY...... TO BE PATIENT!