Advice about my Kubota Sunshine L1-22

[John Corey]

Hi guys & gals. It's my first post as I have just purchased my first ever tractor. I feel pretty lucky to have found this terrific site.

I live on the Gold Coast of Australia (Queensland). The wife did not give me much of a budget as I just bought a 62" John Deere zero turn. I had $5000 to spend & I wanted a tractor with a bucket and a slasher (for the horse paddocks).

Today I bought a Kubota Sunshine L1-22D 3cyl diesel with bucket & slasher for $4500 AUD. It's very tidy with brand new tyres & there are absolutely no hydraulic leaks which I thought amazing for such an old tractor. My understanding is the seals in the hydro arms tend to go and start leaking. Well there was absolutely no oil leaking from the seals, even after I had him working the bucket up and down for 10 mins.

I have just arrived home with it and it's now dark so I can't really 'explore' until morning. There are a few questions I would like to ask as I have had no luck with Google. Hopefully someone can help me out or at least point me in the right direction.

# The guy had no idea what year it was but thought somewhere in the 80's. Would someone know when they first made the L1-22 and how long it was in production.

# Any idea if I can locate a manual for this as I would like to learn about the tractor and how to do a basic service myself (oil, air filter, hydraulic fluid, etc) He did say it is due for an oil change so even to know what type of engine oil would be a bonus.

# Does anyone know where I can locate the serial number which I assume I will need to identify the year.

# I have been advised by the previous owner it is 4WD. Does that mean it is an L1-22DT, and not an L1-22 ?

# Is there an online resource for the L1-22?

# I wish to buy an auger for it. Is there a particular size I need to look for?

# If anyone knows anything about my little old tractor I would love to hear about it.

Thanks for your help guys. I know my tractor is probably at the bottom of the pecking order but it's my first ever and I'm darn excited to learn more about it.

Cheers
JC

 

[85Hokie]

Jc,

if you havent been here yet :

http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/008/1/5/8159-kubota-l1-22.html

a little info - not a lot - but a start

 

[CaveCreekRay]

John,

WELCOME!!!

Hey, no excuses necessary! "Old" doesn't man anything in equipment as long as its well taken care of, and yours sounds like it clearly was. My first tractor was an old Japanese Ford that had lived its entire life outside and hadn't had a lick of care. I used it and sold it off in better shape than I got it. But, it served me well.

Many folks here have experience with the older models, though grey market models here in the states are few and far between. We have members from all over the world so somebody may have the answers you are after. In any case, this is a great place to start.

A key to oddball questions faced by us on the other side of the world typing into this "intranet-pipe-thingy" is visualizing what you are looking at. Pictures REALLY help. If you have a 5mp camera or better, you can down-size the files to 1024x70 with a file-resizer and they will be large and sharp for us "up over" here. We refer to tractor pictures as "tractor porn" so upload as many as you can. Start by finding them on your computer by clicking on MANAGE ATTACHMENTS on the lower posting screen. Its easy once you get the hang of it. If you have problems, just PM me and I'll help you out.

Again, welcome to Orange.


Ray

PS: You may not have seen this off a Google search...

http://www.justanswer.com/heavy-equipment/5sii6-hi-l1-22dt-sunshine-kubota-tractor-i-want.html#re.v/287/

A manual at...

http://pdf140.sivoh.com/kubota-tractor-manual-l1-22-dt-bsarghd.pdf

 

[John Corey]

Thanks Ray and Thomas. I really appreciate your input and I'm just about to take a look at the links you have provided. And I have taken some porn pics ***128516; Which I will resize and upload.

I have had the best day. Up with the sunrise and down to my tractor for my first real drive. Before I did though I got the guerney out and washed and cleaned the transmission etc underneath and behind the seat. Back to blue. Drove for a couple of hours down the rear paddock moving some earth and it appears there are no oil leaks at all. It's still Very clean. Got the grease gun out and found the 4 nipples along the hydraulic arms. Yet to find more though. Found out the fuel tank still works, headlights still work.
As I said, a great day.

 

[John Corey]

Just some pics of my Kubota Sunshine L1-22DT. Does anyone have any idea what the thing is with the dials and Japanese writing?
Can anyone confirm that the D stands for Direct Injection?

 

[John Corey]

Sorry I tried to get all these pics in the one post but I'm not real good at his stuff.
I have no idea what the thing in the pic is.

 

[John Corey]

Last one. I assume DT is in regards to Direct Injection.

 

[D2Cat]

DT= Dual Traction (or 4x4), not two wheel drive!

 

[John Corey]

DT= Dual Traction (or 4x4), not two wheel drive!

Ok well that clears that up. So my model is definitely a L1-22DT. Thank you.

 

[Grape Grower]

Sorry I tried to get all these pics in the one post but I'm not real good at his stuff.
I have no idea what the thing in the pic is.

John, nice tractor. I recently got one like yours but not as nice though. Did you find out what these knobs do? Yesterday, I had a Kubota rep here in Japan come and look at my tractor and explain these knobs to me. If you don't know already I can translate it for you.

Can I ask you what is the make and model number of your front end loader? I am currently looking for one. And how are you liking this tractor? I used mine the other day to plow my garden and it is great little tractor, can't wait to use it more.

Here is the info about the switches. These switches are controlling for the monroematic 3 point hydraulics. Let's start with the middle one because that is the main switch. In the picture the middle selector switch is pointed to the left "***25163;***21205;" which means manual control. ***12288;And if this middle selector switch is moved to the right it is in "***33258;***21205;" which means automatic. Automatic was recommend by the Kubota rep. Now let's look at the left up or down switch, up or "***19978;" and down ***19979;. So this is for adjusting the depth of say the rotary that is attached to the pto. Now, for the last switch the one on the right. This is to adjust the tilt of the rotary. If the selector switch is in the middle "***27700;***24179;", there is no tilt or flat. If you adjust this switch to the right "***21491;***19979;***12426;" you adjust the tilt of the rotary to the right. And the same if you turn the selector to the left or "***24038;***19979;***12426;" you are adjusting the tilt to the left.

hmmm. I typed in Japanese text, but when I post it, these *** and numbers *** are posted. Sorry guys.