How many hours before it dies?

[Hai]

I still looking for a smaller tractor to replace my Long 610. Came across a 2001 4x4 L3410 with loader and 3000 hours on the clock. My questions are:
- Are 3000 hours too much for this tractor?
- How many hours before the engine needs to be rebuilt?
Assuming everything works and it does not smoke (that's what the seller says), should I buy this tractor? and at what price?
About smoke, what exhaust color shows worn engine?
Thank you very much for your help.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I still looking for a smaller tractor to replace my Long 610. Came across a 2001 4x4 L3410 with loader and 3000 hours on the clock. My questions are:
- Are 3000 hours too much for this tractor?
- How many hours before the engine needs to be rebuilt?
Assuming everything works and it does not smoke (that's what the seller says), should I buy this tractor? and at what price?
About smoke, what exhaust color shows worn engine?
Thank you very much for your help.

3000 hours on a tractor is a lot, especially for the year that it is.
I would bet it's going to need a rebuild shortly if it doesn't already.
Depending on what your going to do with it, it may last you years before it needs rebuilt.

 

[Billdog350]

Wolfman, I know you're all over this forum so I don't know how much background you have on Kubotas, and thus I respect your opinion.

That said, how do you know/judge that 3000hrs is due for a rebuild? My dad's L48 had over 3000 hrs on it when it recently injested some water which caused a catastrophic failure. When the engine was torn down by a Kubota dealer, it was determined that everything was in excellent shape internally and still had more than 50% life on it. Oil pressure was good, compression was good, valves and camshaft looked great...etc.

My only point is that 3000 is definitely higher than most tractors, but I would have a hard time saying it is 100% ready for a rebuild, especially on a well maintained Kubota.

 

[Hai]

Thank you Wolfman and Billdog for your comments. It sounds like oil pressure, compression pressure and exhaust smoke would be good indicators of the engine condition. Is there anything else I should look for? Thanks.

 

[Bluegill]

I agree with Billdog. Ya can't go by just the hour meter.

We have a L3750 from the late 80's with over 3000 hours and the engine is fine. Age & neglect has done way more damage than the hours of use.

 

[skeets]

gill hit it right on the head, if you know the total back ground on that tractor and how it was maintained ... well that's one thing,,,,, but not knowing what it went through in its life,, I would walk away from that one my self

 

[Billdog350]

If inspecting a used machine, check when it was last serviced. Check the filters, are they rusty? If changed every 100hrs or 1yr, they likely should look pretty good. If they're rusty or painted on, then its likely an indicator that maintenance was not performed as frequently as it should have been. Factory filters are painted on the machine, most of the kubota filters have different colors and some have part numbers stamped on them. If you see any filters that look original to the machine, run don't walk away.

Look under the oil cap, it shouldn't be sludgy under the cap or in the valve rocker area. Black is ok, but sludge and deposits aren't. If you see white residue (moisture) that's not good as well.

Check for leaks, especially around hydraulic lines, cylinders, valve bodies, front axle, rear axle.

Machine should start quickly and smooth out quickly, not a lot of smoke. Very rough running for extended periods (more than ~30 seconds or less) is bad news.

Tires? Worn tires get pricy.

Tie rod ends? Not expensive but still a repair item.

Use loader to lift up front end and check tightness of the front wheels/knuckles. Those are all rebuild-able and aren't super expensive, but it can add up if you have to replace everything.

Is bucket worn? Dented/bent? how are the bushings in the front loader? Look for recent grease, that's a best case.

 

[Balvar24]

I ended up shelling out the money for a new machine because all the used stuff I saw had lived a rough life and depreciation just wasn't there. I had to drive 1 1/2 hrs. away to get a good price, but I ended up paying about $3-$5 grand more for twice the machine.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Hai,
Sorry my first post was worded a little off, thanks Billdog350 for pointing it out.

What I meant to say was that 3000 is a lot of hours for that year, but like everyone has stated not too many if it was properly maintained.
If it's not smoking, starts smooth, has little blow by, no heavy leaks, no heavy wear, then it will probably run you years before needing a rebuild.

As far as checking it out to buy, check that all levers work, especially 4wd, look for heavy leaks, and anything that shows excessive wear, check the operation of the loader and make sure it smooth and no obvious banging or clucking noises, check around the bolts that attach the loader for wear.

One real plus to Kubota's is it's fairly easy to get parts, you can get great service manuals (get one if you buy it), and there is a lot of information available to keep it running right!

 

[BotaDriver]

A good way to determine the condition of an old machine is to have the oil tested, check each cylinder's compression and just listen to it overall. That's about all that can be done without getting into engine itself. Not sure of the hole for the GP, but a camera tool may be able to be put in to have a look. Same for the oil pan drain plugs. Just depends on how thorough and how much time you have to inspect the machine.

 

[Wild and Free]

Haing been a heavy diesel tech for 20+ years and having worked on small equipment with Kubota engines in about everything one can point at 3000 hours is extremely low for these engine, I worked for a dealer that sold and serviced Kubotas and we got B7100 tractors in from a railroad fleet with 18,000-20,000 hours and the only reason for coming in for service work was for worn out front axle pins and clutches other than that they still ran awesme. We run about 20 light plants here at the mine I work at and they all run Kubota engine and most have 10-15K hours on them and run like new as well.

Like stated above abuse and neglect are prime reasons for an engine dying at under 10K hours, especially a kubota engine.

 

[Hai]

I really appreciate the comments and suggestions you all have given me so far. It turned out that the tractor with 3000 hrs has power steering leak, so it's been crossed out of my list. Still have the L3010 on the check list. Again, many thanks.

 

[Hai]

Bota Driver: "Not sure of the hole for the GP, but a camera tool may be able to be put in to have a look."
What is hole for the GP?

 

[Wild and Free]

He meant using a small snake type camera and putting it down the glowplug hole to inspect the cylinder condition, We have 4 different ones here in the shop and use them quite a bit and the tips are too big to get through most injector tip holes even on our large cat and detroit engines, we have one elcheapo ac/delco camera about 150 bucks that is the smallest and has the best image of even our several thousand dollar snake camera.

Why would you discount a tractor just because of a leak? That is a pretty minor issue overall. Heck I bought my B2150 and spent a week fixing leaks but the tractor is solid and perfect once the leaks were fixed.
Most were just loose fittings & hose clamps or bad stripped out hose clamps and dried out hard o-rings.

 

[gpreuss]

This is like buying a car with about 180,000 miles on it (3000 hrs X 60 mph); maybe not too bad if it is a traveling salesman, but hell if it is a soccer mom. I'd try to find out what it was used for. A normal work year is about 2000 hours - 40 hrs X 50 weeks. This tractor works out to about 230 hrs/year. That would be about right for agriculture; maybe 3 weeks of field prep and 3 of harvesting. It would be a lot for loader work or landscaping.

 

[lreops]

gpreuss, your comparison has one flaw. You're comparing apples to oranges, as in gas and diesel. Figure out how many trucks with over a million miles, running close to full RPM's at ten plus hours a day, and the harder you work them, the stronger they get. If maintained properly, they can last multiple generations in a tractor that is used not as much.

My 2¢, I'll sit back down and shut up now.


Ron

 

[gpreuss]

Good point! I really wasn't thinking of the engine as much as the wear and tear on the bushings and bearings in the steering linkage, loader arms, pins and buckets, etc. On second thought they are probably not overly costly to fix. The tractor itself is probably OK.
My bad.
Thanks,
Gil

 

[Bulldog]

I agree with Wolfman that 3000 hrs is alot for that year model. That said, how it was maintained will tell the real story. I know my Kubota (B7100) had over 6000 hrs on it when I traded for a new one and it ran fine.

I know this is in a different class of machine but I had a Cat 980 G with 25,000 + hrs when it was replaced that ran perfect and had never been rebuilt.

Propper maintainance is everything IMHO.