M9000 tractor questions

[philztoy]

Hello;

I am looking at a M9000 Kubota with a cab. I want to get a machine on which I can use a 7 or 8 foot tiller. I am looking at an M9000 and it looks like it has an 8 speed transmission with the lowest gear moving the machine at 1.6 MPH?

It doesn't appear there are any high or low ranges on the tractor. Is that correct?

Just wondering for general opinions, comments (or insults?) regarding whether the machine is slow enough for running a tiller as it definetely has enough PTO horsepower.

Also, with respect to this particular tractor the A/C compressor went out a long time ago and is removed. It sounds fairly expensive but repair wise is it hard to install a new compressor and charge the system? The guy also doesn't know the actual year of the tractor. But it looks like this may not be easy to determine. The tractor has a thousand hours on it, which seems like low hours for this tractor.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Phil

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Yes 1.6MPH is the slowest, the trans has 2 ranges high and low and a 4 speed so 8 gears.

I don't see an add on creeper kit for it, some models allow you to add a creeper gear kit that will slow it way down.

I personally don't thing it's slow enough for a tiller, but I'll let the guys that use that model make that call.

1000 Hours on that model is just getting broken in.

A/C systems can get real pricey to repair, but if that's not the issues you can get the parts for it and it can get repaired, it's just not what I would call an easy job.

 

[philztoy]

thanks for the comment. I am not sure if that is slow enough to til with either. I guess that is walking speed. so it might work. It seems like I am going slower than that when I till, but I never really know with the tractors I am using so I am just not sure.

The serial number on this tractor is 56996. I searched and can't find much information as to the year of this tractor or any kubota tables which correlate serial number to year of manufacture. Any help would also be appreciated.

Thanks.

Phil

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

thanks for the comment. I am not sure if that is slow enough to til with either. I guess that is walking speed. so it might work. It seems like I am going slower than that when I till, but I never really know with the tractors I am using so I am just not sure.

The serial number on this tractor is 56996. I searched and can't find much information as to the year of this tractor or any kubota tables which correlate serial number to year of manufacture. Any help would also be appreciated.

Thanks.

Phil

Yea years on Kubota's are hard to nail down, I can tell you if it's a M9000DTC (4wd cabbed model) that it is a older model, as they changed things halfway through it's production life.
Parts still should be easy to get, it's a very popular and well designed model.

 

[philztoy]

Thanks, it does have a cab on it. It looks like a creeper gear was available for later models (after 2003) with a powershuttle transmission. Power shuttle has the forward reverse lever right? I think this has the synchronized transmission but not sure what the difference is. My other Kubota is an HST.

Looks like a decent beast of a tractor. But I can run a 6 foot on the 3830 with the HST and get perfect speed match .

I have one (or hopefully 2) foot tiller-itis. I want to till more ground in less time and I thought putting an 8 foot on an 80 pto horse tractor might work.

 

[retiredlawnboy]

...have a 6', and are greedy to do more.

How much ground are you tilling(lots once a season or several pieces many times per season)?
What your intention for tilling (breaking/ cultivating)?
What is the consistency of your soil/dirt?

....just saying, bigger is not always better. I too found myself in a similar situation. The more I use my (5') tiller for turnover, the quicker it wore out from the beating. It works great for cultivating! I have returned to plows and disks for the initial turnover. Less moving parts equals a lower maintenance cost. It also cost me the joy of splitting the tractor to replace the override clutch! Again, just something to consider...

 

[philztoy]

Thanks for the perspective. I am a food plot planter. I have a 70 acre "farm" and I am planting maybe 5-7 acres per year, but tend to clear new areas here and there every other year. I am a little greedy... greedy about time... I want to till more faster. I only have limited after work and weekend time for my farming endeavors. The tillers just seem like the fastest way for me to get the job done in minimal time. And another foot or so of tiller, seems like it would be great and save a little time. Perhaps incorrect thinking but sort of my state of mind right now.

The soil is loamy with gravel and a few 6 to 10 inch rocks mixed in never where I expect them) and a couple areas of clay. I tend to turn over existing fields twice or three times (trying to interrupt the weeds) before planting. Sometimes I skip a field for a year or two and have to go through the turf. Many times I am tilling at the end of summer after brushhogging a grown over field. so I would say 40% breaking and 60% cultivating?

I have beat the crap out of the 6 foot king cutter I have over the last 8 years, I think mostly because of the rocks I encounter. I had to patch/weld several cuts in the housing and welded the the 3 point carriage back together and onto the tiller again this year. So I am considering a new 6 foot or advancing the plan with a wider tiller. I use the 6 foot mostly and I have a couple of 4 footers on 20 to 30 horse tractors but those seem to take a long time so I just use them in tight spots. If my buddies would actually show up to help (like they promise every year but never actually do but maybe once lol), I have enough tillage equipment to do it fast. But since I know they won't show up I would like to do it faster myself and I can only drive one tractor at a time.

I have never been good with a plow and a disc. I am a self taught "farmer" and I was surprised by the size of tractor I need for a two or three bottom plow. And the 6 foot crappy disc I bought at TSC just doesn't do much of anything, I think due to the weight?

Sooo... here I am a self trained ( mostly untrained) hobby farmer knowing how to use a tiller and wishing for more lol.

So my goal in this endeavor is to get through the fields faster. Don't get me wrong I love doing the work. I think pushing paper without seeing any tactile results all day makes driving the tractor using the implements and seeing the results more rewarding.

I just want to accomplish a lot in the minimum time... without splitting the tractor if possible.

What size tractor do you find you need for a 4 bottom plow and what size disk? I used to have a three bottom and I used my 70 horse case IH 695 and it seemed to be working pretty hard to break the soil. The guy at the Kubota dealer told me yesterday that the farmers using the M9000 had said that tractor worked pretty hard pulling a 4 bottom.

Sorry about all the rambling but that is my present story. I do very much appreciate the perspective and advice. it is all very helpful.

Phil

 

[retiredlawnboy]

Wow!!! I feel like I am looking in a mirror!

Your background and desires are where I started, or as you say, have educated yourself to, are identical. My farm is smaller and plot only work 3 acres here in OH but we work through and plant spring and fall veggies in the same plots, grow naturally with no herbicides while combating the drift of grass seeds blowing over from the neighbors hay fields! Our 5' King Kutter tiller, about 8yrs old as well has seen tine replacement every other year and now the transmission/drive is in need of rebuild.

I started out with the old 3pt 3 bottom behind the L245. The tractor would barely lift it and you would have to drive in reverse to get any where. When you dropped the plows into the soil, you better be moving and ready to increase the rpms as well as favoring the downhill in order to get any dirt turned over! The disks were the older pull behind cast iron that had weight. These things that you see overpriced at the farm stores are no where near enough to get a job done. I had purchased a potato plow to open the furrow to collect potatoes, that too has no weight, so I talked the wife into a real antique pull behind harvester and it is the sweetest thing! I am thinking on trying to dig the old brocc and cabbage plants as it will help knock off the dirt so I can cull out the plants to prevent fungus growth.

Anyway, My M6800 will pull a 3 bottom 16" with no problem, and the disks weigh hundreds of pounds, or in your case, add some weight. Your 90hp should have the same success. I still salivate over a 96" tiller but the cost and the experience of what I have been through, the smaller ones can be used between the rows after planting.

 

[philztoy]

Yeah I am living the 95" tiller dream lol.

That 6 foot I have is gear drive and beefy. But I have beat it up. never had to replace the tines yet thought

The M6800 is about the same horsepower as my IH 695. The 695 has been a great tractor but has unknown hours and presently overheats if I load it up (such as trying to go to fast with a 6 foot brush hog running). I am going to replace the radiator but I can't really do a lot of hard work with that one right now.

The fist plow I tried was a two bottom on a fairly new and nice 26 horse hst Deere and I got it to work but it wasn't pretty lol. Like you said the pto couldn't lift it with much clearance and you had to use tricks to make it through a row. I did a lot better with a 4 foot tiller on that machine and still have it. But I sold the plows a long time ago.

The TSC disk was crap. Like you say some of that old iron works great. So maybe I need to revisit it again. I am happy to say I haven't had the displeasure of finding out what an over-ride clutch is until now. What exactly is that. Something that slips if the PTO bogs down and then wears out?

Yeah a 90 HP tractor with a cab sounds pretty nice along with a 90 or 96" tiller. Still trying to sort it all out. But that is part of the fun

Thanks again for the opinions and information

 

[retiredlawnboy]

PTO override clutch is an additional clutch that allows the power left in the implement to remain in the implement and not push the tractor after you push the clutch pedal in to disengage the transmission. Basically a one way valve if you will, allowing the engine to power the transmission but the implements in turn wont be able to send their power back through. The Service Department says the tiller is the hardest on the clutch.

To replace the assembly in my L245 would have been $1600 new, $800 used. I was lucky enough to find one in Peoria on a used L185 that was the same part for only $250! It was a basic crack open, slide out and replace. The hardest time consuming part was removing all of the fenders, pedal linkage, floor pans, etc. I could have bought the disks for $300 but would have had to open the assembly with all of the spring clips and didn't want to not get it back together. I now have an extra and will probably do that this next time as I have another L245 that I use the tiller on and it will be needing one sometime. After that I realized the increased HP of the 6800 would pull the plows and disks to break up the soil and then make the additional passes with the tiller.

My 6800 has a FEL but would have loved to have a cab too. The deal I got was too good to pass up though.

I will say, you need a wife. They are better than buddies who don't come over. Mine will work out there after dark just to get things done!

 

[philztoy]

Ahhh the pto overide clutch either isn't there or is out on one or two of my old molines... I do get a little implement push on a couple tractors now that you mention it lol. Its kind of like the roll out when you land an airplane.

A wife??? OHHHHHHHH my bad.... you mean a GOOD wife. I am still trying to buy the last one out. I ought to have a personal egyption pyramid worth of labor for what I paid and continue to pay for that one. Unfortunately, she was extreamely lazy and unmotivated.... who knew that marriage and divorce rewards the slackers. Another life lesson, but, I am on my own for now which I hope will eventually be a net gain.... albeit off setting a larger long term loss. That is sort of like saying "I lose money on every part I build but I make up for it in volume!" isn't it? lol

That is cool that your wife helps She sounds like a good one. Does she have a younger sister?

I will be watching my overide status now. I forget which one of my tractors surprised me with a brush hog push but I think it was one of the hand clutch molines. Did the 50's tractors have override clutches? I mostly pull cultipackers around with those. Not much PTO work, but I will be watching

Thanks for explaining that to me... I do like learning about tractors. The price per pound of metal is always advantageous in tractors!

Phil

 

[retiredlawnboy]

Not every tractor may have one, especially the really older ones. As you have felt the push, that is the lack there of. On tractors that have one, the push id relieved through the clutch. As it wears out you loose the forward connection like the main clutch and it goes quickly! Typical brush hogging, baling, spraying, occasional post hole digging, any light occasional pto work is fine.

Your M9000 would have one.

Sorry about the wife, I don't have another one for you, mine is a one of a kind! (As in she only has a brother)

 

[Tx Jim]

philztoy
I thought I had read that the model 9000 had bad reviews when it came to AC performance. I think it had to do with poor air flow(ducts) under cab roof.

 

[philztoy]

philztoy
I thought I had read that the model 9000 had bad reviews when it came to AC performance. I think it had to do with poor air flow(ducts) under cab roof.

Thanks Jim. Coincidentally the A/C is out in this one. The owner said it went out early on and needs a new compressor. It does appear the AC has been problematic for a few guys over in the maintenance forum.

I thought the A/C would be an easy buy new compressor fix but there may be more issues there than I would like.

Phil

 

[Bulldog]

I wouldn't want a cab tractor without A/C, what's the point. Unless you take the doors off it would be like sitting in a oven during the summer.

I bought 2 M9000's and had great service from them both. The biggest thing I've seen is their cooling system is way to small. If the radiator gets just a small amount of build up in the front It will make it start to heat up and on a cab model it will affect the A/C. If you buy that tractor I would suggest cleaning the radiator every day if your really putting it to work. A friend of mine just went thru this last summer and blew his 9000 up caused by overheating, and a new driver that failed to watch the guages.

 

[philztoy]

I wouldn't want a cab tractor without A/C, what's the point. Unless you take the doors off it would be like sitting in a oven during the summer.

I bought 2 M9000's and had great service from them both. The biggest thing I've seen is their cooling system is way to small. If the radiator gets just a small amount of build up in the front It will make it start to heat up and on a cab model it will affect the A/C. If you buy that tractor I would suggest cleaning the radiator every day if your really putting it to work. A friend of mine just went thru this last summer and blew his 9000 up caused by overheating, and a new driver that failed to watch the guages.

Yes I agree. I was planning on fixing the A/C if I bought it. The post on here that I saw regarding that problem was a radiator issue like you say. Did you A/C work well when everything was clean?

Phil

 

[Tx Jim]

a small amount of build up in the front It will make it start to heat up and on a cab model it will affect the A/C. If you buy that tractor I would suggest cleaning the radiator every day if your really putting it to work. A friend of mine just went thru this last summer and blew his 9000 up caused by overheating, and a new driver that failed to watch the guages.

I understand what you mean by a small amount of trash in front of rad/cond affecting AC as the M4900 I did own was that way. My M7040 is a lot more tolerant of trash in front of rad/cond.

On subject of driver not looking at gauges causing engine failure that driver would be an EX-driver at my farm.

 

[Bulldog]

Jim, I'm glad to hear the newer tractor have been improved as far as the cooling system goes. Kubota needed to address that issue in my opinion.

I agree with you about the ex-driver. In my buddies case it was his niece that did the deed. I don't know what's so hard about looking at the guages but some people can't seem to do it.