Choices L3800 DT or L3901 HST

[Bluegill]

Just purchased a new L3901 HST with loader. Boy am I disapointed. The front loader hydraulics seem very weak. It's a real struggle to load the bucket with aggregate. I have used heavy equipment for years and have always crowded into the material to be loaded, curl the bucket and then lift it up to travel.
I haven't added ballast or any weight to the rear, and it won't even lift the rear of the tractor.
Has anyone else had these complaints and short of trading it off are there any remedies? The dealer says they will check it out when I return it for the 1st service at 50 hours, but they say they have never had hydraulic complaints. I plan to load shingles onto my pallet forks and just find out for sure what it is lifting. I have always been impressed watching these tractors that are owned by landscapers etc. not sure now thanks for any response or help

The loader & hydraulics on my L3800DT are the same as yours and it has plenty of power for the size of this tractor. Your dealer needs to check the psi on yours and adjust if needed. Also need ballast (500-800+lbs) on the 3 pt, this is a must on these small rigs!!! And this isn't "heavy equipment" so you may need to adjust your approach & expectations a bit.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

cn2redjeep,

The smaller Kubotas are just like all smaller tractors: low mass and limited horsepower.

The mass affects your ability to "dig into" a load because you cannot carry much momentum and you have little wheel weight and will spin tires quickly. Once into the load, you cannot "lift" and "drive" at the same time without loading up the engine.

A massive CASE loader can gently dig into a load of material and lift away a full bucket because of the overall mass of the machine. Kubota recommends NOT ramming the pile but scraping the front of the pile while lifting and curling the bucket. Takes practice but, its very effective and its easy to get a 75-95% bucket load. You may have to back-drag the material to build up enough to have a chance of filling the bucket. After the pile face gets below 24", you can try rolling scoops, depending on the type of material.

Have your loader checked to make sure it will lift the specified design load, then learn to work within those limitations. It's not a big machine but, they can do a heck of a lot of work when you get used to them.

 

[Iguide]

Personal preference is all it is. I just do not like operating a tractor with HST!!!

It really is all about personal preference's. In today's society ease of life is the trend and HST along with automatic transmissions have become the most popular. However that is really irrelevant when choosing what you like. Myself I have had both AT vehicles and HST tractors along with geared pick up and shuttle shift. At this point of my life I have chosen geared in both my Dodge Ram Cummins Diesel and my L 3800 shuttle shift. For ME I feel I have better control, power and for ME more ease and confidence of use. I am not suggesting that will be or should be for any one other than myself.

Back when I had a landscape company and plowed snow for a living in the winter AT in my pick up was the only thing that made good sense for it's ease of use and quickness as compared with gears. At that time I had both HST and geared tractors and my personal choice at that time was still geared. My employees preferred the HST and I did for them because it was quicker and operation was more time efficient. "Got more done quicker".
But you could never get me to believe that gears for plowing snow commercially over AT is/was an advantage.

At this time of my life though I prefer and will keep gears, slower, yes and maybe at this point of my life that is a better thing for ME. Just to give you a bit more perspective on my outlook on life, most of my stereo equipment ( I like music) is still analog. I guess I just like the old and familiar ways.

God Speed