I've got an 2008 L 3400 , the lift arms for the 3 point do not operate smoothly when moving upward, its especially jerky with any weight on it . moving down is fine . There is an adjustable rod mounted to the lift arm on the left side , in the manual they call it a position control rod ,but it doesn't mention any thing else about it any where in the manual . Iv'e called 2 Kubota dealers and they were no help . Iv'e thought about trying to adjust that rod but I'm a little afraid to . Some help with this problem would be appreciated .
L 3400 , jerky 3 point hitch
- Thread starter bibman1951
- Start date
You could try it. Usually that will adjust the feed back or cancel point of lift.
I would say more like control valve adjustment issue. Internal under lift cover.
Pat
I would say more like control valve adjustment issue. Internal under lift cover.
Pat
Creature Meadow
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
2012 L4600, Disk, Brush Hog, GB60 Garden Bedder, GSS72 Grading Scraper
My uncle has a 2003 L3400 that I have used a lot and it has same problem you describe. It has been that was since he bought it new.
Thought long and hard before purchasing my L4600 because I did not want a jerky 3 point hitch. My L4600 is smooth which I verified when test driving it before purchasing.
Regardless of implement on his it is jerky, I have used a road scraper, disk, tiller, and garden bedder all very different in weight with same jerky result.
Good luck and I will follow this thread to see if someone has a way to correct it without spending a bucket of money so I can pass along to him.
Jay
Thought long and hard before purchasing my L4600 because I did not want a jerky 3 point hitch. My L4600 is smooth which I verified when test driving it before purchasing.
Regardless of implement on his it is jerky, I have used a road scraper, disk, tiller, and garden bedder all very different in weight with same jerky result.
Good luck and I will follow this thread to see if someone has a way to correct it without spending a bucket of money so I can pass along to him.
Jay
Thanks for the reply . Don't know what I'm gonna do about it . I don't want to go to the expense of replacing that valve , might just have to live with it .
Spoke with the division service manager at Kubota about this when the L2800/L3400 were introduced. We spoke about using the grand L valve, but it was described to me that it is NOT a bolt-on modification. We did not speak in any other detail about it. It has to do with the position control valve assembly under the 3ph housing.
Adjusting it properly will fix 90% of people's complaints. Then 8% of them will be cured by lifting the 3ph at idle speed. The other 2% can't be cured short of selling them a GRAND L tractor, because smoothing the 3ph fixes one problem, then usually there'll be complaints about other problems such as noisy HST's, rough HST pedals, jerky HST's, loud engines, heat from the floors, etc.
It was called a GRAND L for a reason, and carries a slightly heftier price tag.
Adjusting it properly will fix 90% of people's complaints. Then 8% of them will be cured by lifting the 3ph at idle speed. The other 2% can't be cured short of selling them a GRAND L tractor, because smoothing the 3ph fixes one problem, then usually there'll be complaints about other problems such as noisy HST's, rough HST pedals, jerky HST's, loud engines, heat from the floors, etc.
It was called a GRAND L for a reason, and carries a slightly heftier price tag.
Hummm , well I need to know how to properly adjust that feed back rod . I don't wanna trade one problem for another . thanks for your reply
Sorry it took me this long to reply . I looked at the videos you sent me , I still don't know what to adjust on this thing . I gave up on calling Kubota dealers , some act like they never heard of this problem which is BS , I may just have to live with it unless someone out there has an answer , thanks for your reply .
CaveCreekRay
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L3800 HST, KingKutter box scraper, KingKutter 66" rake, County Pride Subsoiler
My 2012 L3800 had the issue. My buddy's 2010 L3800 has it as well.
I took mine in for warranty service and the dealer blew me off. Came back essentially untouched. When the regional headquarters called to see how my service went I was nice but told the lady my experience. She arranged to have the tractor picked up and returned to the service department.
A super technician there identified it as a bad 3pt control valve. Kubota blew them off until they forwarded a video of the rear tires getting light between them and the ground while the ass end of my tractor was dancing. When I waved the safety flag, citing close quarter work with my wife and workers, they suddenly got serious. After two months of battling Kubota, my tractor was returned with a new $900 valve installed.
I tried to search Orange for the thread. I had included pics and short video of the valve on the bench. Adjusting that valve MUST be done according to the tech instructions because part of that valve is the bypass function and I think its that pressure bypass that ends up getting the tractor jumping. Its a cheaper valve that Kubota used in several models and it should have been scrapped far earlier than they did. The tech indicated that the new valve was a slightly different design but, from the outside, they sure look identical to me.
Its amazing how many corners the Kubota bean counters are willing to cut to save a couple bucks. A 3pt hitch is the primary operating device on a tractor, after the drivetrain. Tractors have had 3pt valves for 70 years and they worked fine. The L Series is considered an entry level tractor and they just don't put the quality and engineering into them that they do the larger series machines. Plain and simple. Period. Dot. Sorry Kubota but, YOU OWN THIS ONE.
Good luck.
I took mine in for warranty service and the dealer blew me off. Came back essentially untouched. When the regional headquarters called to see how my service went I was nice but told the lady my experience. She arranged to have the tractor picked up and returned to the service department.
A super technician there identified it as a bad 3pt control valve. Kubota blew them off until they forwarded a video of the rear tires getting light between them and the ground while the ass end of my tractor was dancing. When I waved the safety flag, citing close quarter work with my wife and workers, they suddenly got serious. After two months of battling Kubota, my tractor was returned with a new $900 valve installed.
I tried to search Orange for the thread. I had included pics and short video of the valve on the bench. Adjusting that valve MUST be done according to the tech instructions because part of that valve is the bypass function and I think its that pressure bypass that ends up getting the tractor jumping. Its a cheaper valve that Kubota used in several models and it should have been scrapped far earlier than they did. The tech indicated that the new valve was a slightly different design but, from the outside, they sure look identical to me.
Its amazing how many corners the Kubota bean counters are willing to cut to save a couple bucks. A 3pt hitch is the primary operating device on a tractor, after the drivetrain. Tractors have had 3pt valves for 70 years and they worked fine. The L Series is considered an entry level tractor and they just don't put the quality and engineering into them that they do the larger series machines. Plain and simple. Period. Dot. Sorry Kubota but, YOU OWN THIS ONE.
Good luck.
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Here is a link to Ray's thread.
http://www.orangetractortalks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17412
It has a lot of information in it about the valve.
http://www.orangetractortalks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17412
It has a lot of information in it about the valve.
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coachgeo
Well-known member
Equipment
L225 w/woods Few Mowers & Back Blade, D722 in Motorcycle (Triumph Tiger), LMTV
looks like these were moved/deleted from photobook before they recent changes so the Apps written to skirt that wont make a difference.
CaveCreekRay
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L3800 HST, KingKutter box scraper, KingKutter 66" rake, County Pride Subsoiler
These might help....
MEASURE your current installed adjustments before removal. Save measurements to restore new valve installation, if adjustment doesn't help. I'd focus on the relief valve adjustment but I suspect you'll have to replace the valve as that seems to be the universal solution. Something inside seems to start bypassing under load.
Here is the valve on the underside of the rear end cover...
Here is one measurement...
Here is another...
This is the 3-pt hydraulic piston. Most people have no idea how large it is. You can see the 3pt valve behind it.
By the way, the "commode lid" rear end cover has no gasket seal. My mech resealed mine with a nice coat of gray RTV sealant though, the fluid level is so far down that I doubt you'd get much leakage if left unsealed.
Hope this helps someone out there.
MEASURE your current installed adjustments before removal. Save measurements to restore new valve installation, if adjustment doesn't help. I'd focus on the relief valve adjustment but I suspect you'll have to replace the valve as that seems to be the universal solution. Something inside seems to start bypassing under load.
Here is the valve on the underside of the rear end cover...
Here is one measurement...
Here is another...
This is the 3-pt hydraulic piston. Most people have no idea how large it is. You can see the 3pt valve behind it.
By the way, the "commode lid" rear end cover has no gasket seal. My mech resealed mine with a nice coat of gray RTV sealant though, the fluid level is so far down that I doubt you'd get much leakage if left unsealed.
Hope this helps someone out there.
Attachments
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Ray, thanks for posting the pictures. I looked yesterday morning for about 20 minutes for the link you said you could not find. I found it and was going to copy and paste it, but Sheepfarmer beat me (by about 20 minutes!). Then the pictures were not there.
CaveCreekRay
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L3800 HST, KingKutter box scraper, KingKutter 66" rake, County Pride Subsoiler
Len,
Not sure what happened to to Photobucket but I have all the pictures from that thread, as well as a couple short videos I shot of the valve operation. I guess I'll have to upload the videos to YouTube and link them, if anyone is interested.
Not sure what happened to to Photobucket but I have all the pictures from that thread, as well as a couple short videos I shot of the valve operation. I guess I'll have to upload the videos to YouTube and link them, if anyone is interested.
As much as you can, I know it is time consuming, I used your thread as an example of how to construct a good thread for solving a problem in the stickied dpf thread.
CaveCreekRay
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L3800 HST, KingKutter box scraper, KingKutter 66" rake, County Pride Subsoiler
Problem is, I would have to guess at what the pics were that I was replacing. I'll try but its liable to get goofed up more.
Update: After trying for fifteen minutes, I managed to get one picture updated. There is something going on between the Orange board software and my new iMac using Firefox. As I scan the hundreds of pictures I have, the system locks up after about the third one. This is hopeless.
Sorry...
Update: After trying for fifteen minutes, I managed to get one picture updated. There is something going on between the Orange board software and my new iMac using Firefox. As I scan the hundreds of pictures I have, the system locks up after about the third one. This is hopeless.
Sorry...
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Hello sheep farmer , I clicked on the link about the 3 point control valve you sent me, but i couldn't get it to come up . Could you please check to see it is correct , I would appreciate it . Thanks