L39 First impressions: Backhoe, Grapple, Ease of Use

Titan17

Member

Equipment
L3901 TLB, Caroni RFM, Scag Wildcat ZTR, Piranha TB,York RE 96", MTL HD 48" grap
Jan 13, 2019
92
6
8
Uncasville, CT
A while since last post. Lots to do this past month. Put about 20 hrs on L39 I bought over the winter.

Here's my opinion. The backhoe kicks butt. It's a whole different animal than 3 point I'm used to. The swing function is powerful and actually useful for finish grading. Good clearance for going up/down steep banks.
Not a mini ex but it will definitely do what I need to do. I just hired out the really big stuff to a 9 ton mini. No comparison to that but the really big jobs are done in very short time for less than $1000.

The loader is what I expected for lifting capacity but the fact that it's heavyweight means less concern about damage from heavy use and abuse. Back blading is more effective with these heavy machines. Hydraulics are super fast and that takes getting used to.

Grapple bucket, even though it's a cheap Tomahawk, it does the job and sure beats no grapple. Not as HD as the stock bucket but for cleanup and smaller stuff it's fine. Dragged 12" downed trees with ease. I don't think this could handle a skid steer kind of abuse. .

The GST transmission:. The jury is still out on that one. A lot of busy work when you're used to Hydrostatic. But lots of power and you seldom need 1st or 2nd gear.
Not crazy about lag between shifts on Hill but not dangerous. Going from F to R is nice and smooth when you throttle down and keep it moving.
A bit of a clank in the rear end when going f to r when in higher gears; IS THIS NORMAL???

The GST makes me appreciate the HST on my B2910. That tractor is no slouch either.

All in all I'm happy with tractor because of backhoe. But I do see a Hydrostatic model in my future.

Here are some pics. View attachment 43312
 
Last edited: