New L2000 owner

I also have a used L2000 - and have a number of posts as this year it decided not to start.

Mine came with the property and 10 minutes tutoring. I only have a tiller.
I till with PTO in "first" lowest of the four choices in low range (there are two) in first gear at 2000 rpm. And have for 5 years because this is what i was told in those 10 minutes.
Wouldn't think you'd mow like that though.
I have some old harrows and pull a single in high range and fifth gear. Adding an extra harrow means dropping the range.

I don't really know a lot about it but will share what I do know, or think I know LOL.

Lots of really helpful people here, so if you don't get a reply, change the header and repost. Someone will come along.

i do know what most of the knobs, sticks and dodads do.

Mauals are hard to come by and since you have a great market tractor it makes it even more of a headache to find a book on it. Said thing is there's too many jackwagons out here taking advantage of people by selling them BS manuals. Check with Service Dept Vic, he's one of the headhoncho's around here. He may know where to go.

I don't want towastyourtime with stuff you already know. So I won't.
I will tell you that to till I put the small shifter, left side by your foot up and to left. The shifter to left by seat forward and tranny shifter up, into first (beside reverse which is up and far left).
Anyway don't know what you know and rather than insult your current knowledge will offer my very limited experience for any questions you have.
Nic

With a 3 or 4 speed pto the 1st gear is the normal operating gear for pto work. 1st gives you the 540rpms you need for optimal operation. I have a 3 speed pto on my B6100 and I had asked on here a while back what the other 2 speeds might be used for, and like one fellow OTTer pointed out the 3rd gear could be used for like a pto mount generator where you need high pto rpm's but a low enging idle.

The key with a tiller is you want it low and slow. So put the transmission in first or second gear and keep the pto in 1st gear for best performance.

I also have the L2000.
As far as the gears and levers, I can walk you through those.
I'll get something put together and post on here.
As far as the 540 RPM PTO output, use 1st gear on the PTO (the left gearshift) and run the throttle at just a bit over 2000 RPM. There should be a '540' mark on your tach. That is 540 PTO when running the PTO in 1st.
Pressed for time at the moment but will post back as soon as I can...

14karat
Had my L2000 for five years and have no idea what some things are. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

Yup, have one of these babies too. I have had no trouble from mine except the hydraulic pump not lifting the bucket sometimes. All in all a very good tractor.

Maybe one of you can post a video, explaining what the different features are. That would be much easier than trying to explain it through multiple posts. Just a thought.

I finally got back to this.
Sorry - I don't have a video or pics, but I wrote this up in one post...

We will start with the right foot:

You have 2 brake pedals, a right and a left. Use one or the other to 'help you turn on a dime' or both together to stop.
To the left of the brake pedals you see a lever with a ring handle. That would be your parking brake. Press down your brake pedals and lift up on the ring to lock the pedals. To release, just push the brake pedals.

Also in the same general area of the parking brake, there is a lever attached to your throttle mechanism. You lift up on that lever to shut the fuel off to the engine - (this is the CORRECT way to kill the engine - more on that later)

Further up - to the right of the dashboard is the long rod that runs from the brake area up to the hood. That would be your throttle lever. It works reverse of how you'd think... Push forward to slow down and pull back to speed up... unfortunately it does cause problems if you are running in some heavy brush or low trees and a tree limb or vine cathes the throttle lever - you will find that it will push it to wide-open throttle when you least expect it...

Getting back to your right foot... to the right and below the brake pedals is a small foot lever - that is an accelerator pedal... you can use this when your hands are otherwise occupied and you need extra throttle... a good example - if I'm mowing and I have my throttle set where I want and hit a patch of thick grass or am climbing a hill, I'll step on the accelerator a bit to give it a little extra juice without messing with the throttle setting...

Now BEHIND your right foot is a good weapon to keep in mind - as long as you understand how to use it...
The horizontal bar that you can step on with your right heel is the differential lock.
Should you find yourself in a place where one back wheel begins to spin but the other just sits still, you can step on the diff lock and engage both back wheels... like having a solid rear axle... be advised tho - this is for temporary use and only when going straight... I wouldn't suggest trying to make any turns with diff lock engaged. (Oh... also, don't engage diff lock with the engine wide open in high gear and one wheel spinning ridiculously fast... that would NOT be a good thing...)

Further up between the right fender and the seat is the hydraulic lift control. Pull back to raise up, push forward to lower... this works together with the adjustment knob just beneath the seat. This knob will control how fast the hydraulics will release (or lower).

On to the left foot:
That's a clutch pedal... not sure what else I can say about it.

Behind your left foot is the range lever. Push all the way back for low range and all the way forward for high range. And just an extra thought here - if you're riding along and hit a few bumps and suddenly the tractor just stops moving.. like it's in neutral.. you may want to check and make sure your foot didn't hit the range lever and knock it out of gear before you spend 15 minutes checking the gearshift, shut off the tractor, walk back to the house and get the truck and chain to pull the tractor back to the house and start gathering your tools to tear into the transmission... (not that it's ever happened to me like that before... I'm just sayin'...)

Ok... PTO shifter - that the one on the left. There's 4 speeds on the PTO. Typically you will only use speed #1. The tachometer on the dash has an indication mark for '540 PTO'... that's when the PTO is in 1st.
I have used PTO 2 when I'm mowing short grass and kicked the engine down around 1800 RPM, but that's rare...

Then the gearshift is on the right... not sure what to say about that one either, other than I wish there was more than just 4 speeds and 2 ranges... I find myself wanting 'slower than 2nd, but faster than 1st' a lot...

On the dash - the black knob on the left is the cylinder pressure relief. This is used to help START the engine - you can pull that out, get the engine turning over, and release... typically only helps in cold weather... a lot of folks (my kids included) think that's how you kill the engine.. it does, but you really should use the fuel shutoff I indicated above...

The big black knob on the bottom right of the dash is the glow plug and starter switch. Turn it one way to heat the glow plugs for a few seconds before turning it the opposite way to engage the starter. In cold weather give the glow plugs a little extra time to heat up to get the engine started. In especially hot weather - you probably won't even need the glow plugs...

That's all I got... I hope it helps...

Maybe someone else out there can add pics to it???

I'll add one addendum to this...
The PTO speed is not affected by the range setting.
The hi/lo ranges only affect your axle speed.

I haven't found any reference to the PTO speed ratios - that would be some good info to have if anyone knows where they might be...

Wondered what that under seat knob was and after five years of wondering I now know. Thank you for that.
Anyone tell me what maintance I should be doing - above and beyond oil, air, fuel filter - rad check and oil check?

Oh and what is the screw off "cap" on floor forward of seat for ? Hydraulic fluid? How do i check on that?

So a really big thanks 14K for taking the time to write - i could supply pics but I would kind of feel like someone did all the work and I was riding coat tails.

Thanks Wamagiibon,
That cap is for the transmission/hydraulic fluid.
I keep my fluid level just enough to cover the shaft (you can see it thru the hole).
One thing to note about that cap... it has a vent hole. If it gets clogged, when the tranny gets hot, the pressure will push the fluid back thru the shift levers.
This happened to me when I first got my L2000 and the vent hole in the cap was so packed, I couldn't even tell there was a hole there!
There is also a hydraulic screen/filter in the bottom of the tranny case. It is below the range lever on the left side.
There is another post in the forums about it.
I haven't had mine out yet - will probably do that in the off season this year.
- And if you want to post pics you won't hurt my feelings...

Should have time to put all your work to some pics this weekend.
Regarding that tranny/hydo fluid - what do i top it with? Is there a particular brand or type?
Thanks in advance

I'm using a combination fluid I bought from the local NAPA in a 5 gal jug.

Also - one other good maintenance tip I forgot about...
At the base of the steering column where the tube goes into the steering box, there is a drain hole - this is to allow any water that runs down the steering column to escape.
Keep that one clean - if water sits in the steering column it will eventually work it's way into the steering box and the internal ball bearings will fail.
I've rebuilt the box and the ball gear on mine already - it's not all that hard but definitely not fun.

My first tractor just happens to be the L2000 as well. Just bought it last month and since I work offshore in the gulf, I haven't had much time to mess with it. Thanks for all the good advice and knowledge. I was wondering, did any of you have any issue with the bush hog lifting up as you run over hills? if so what did you do to modify it to float better over the ground? I was thinking of adding some chain to the center link to give it some up and down movement. Again thanks for the shared knowledge.

You can move the top link to different holes at tractor end. I think up is the correct direction. You can also lengthen the top link as much as possible.
Some shredders have a link between the top link and the connection to the shredder that folds down when the top link is lengthened - in effect adding a few inches to the top link.


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