Determining a tractor's age

[19thSF]

I often read posts asking for a way to determine a Kubota tractor's age. There is no easy way to do that. Even the term "age" has more than one meaning where tractors are concerned. You can refer to websites like TractorData.com and perhaps get the years the Kubota model was produced, but that is about it. Following is some information that may be helpful if you want to pin down a particular tractor's dates.

A tractor is traditionally "aged" by the date the original dealer sold it.

Kubota tractor serial numbers are sequential and therefore do not contain a code to determine age.

A polite e-mail to Kubota customer service giving them the model and serial number will usually get a reply with the tractor's year of manufacture, date of first sale and the original selling dealer's name.

Kubota | Contact Us Form - Inquiries & Information

Need to communicate with Kubota? Submit questions or comments regarding product info, marketing opt-out, technical service & parts info. Contact today!

www.kubotausa.com

A cooperative dealer can also get the information for you.

Reference to tractors for sale sites that give serial numbers and "claimed" age are useful in determined a tractor's "not older than and not newer than" age. This may be be all you want when looking at a used tractor.

Kubota engine serial numbers do have a code that indicates the date of production. Determining the engine's production date at least gives you a "built after date" for the tractor. Please refer to the attached information. The portion of the chart that covers tractors older than 2010 was omitted. The chart in its entirety can be obtained from Kubota, or by following the link below.

Kubota Engine Serial Number ID | Kubota Engine America

Find all of the information you need to correctly identify your Kubota engine.Find all of the information you need to correctly identify your Kubota engine.

www.kubotaengine.com

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

It's stuck!

 

[19thSF]

It's stuck!

Thanks Wolfman! Could we add it to the Service and Repair, and the buying advice categories if you think that is appropriate. That is where I see the inquiry the most. Or ...........you pick the right category. I am just trying to see this question answered for all who are going to ask it going forward.

Only bird shit and fools fall out of the sky.......................................err did I forget about paratroopers!

 

[GeoHorn]

I can guarantee you a brand new car sitting on a dealer’s lot slowly deteriorates...just not at the same rate as a car mfr’d the exact same day and/or a sequential serial number ...which was sold and driven daily.
In actual fact, the car which sat on the lot unsold and undriven.... deteriorates FASTER in some ways than the car sold/driven. How?
Well... anyone who’s visited the Tractor Dealer will see brand new unsold tractors sitting out in the weather and sun. It’s brother, which rolled off the assembly-line the hour before or after which was sold and went to work somewhere.... might have been properly stored indoors. It’s engine was run and achieved regular lubrication from it’s oil-pump and it’s cylinders coated with oil. The unsold one on the dealers yard sits with dry cylinders and every day the sun heats it up and the air exits the crankcase.... and at night cools down and sucks moist air back into that engine.... and rusts internally.
The rubber components environmentally age sitting in that unprotected yard. So does it’s wiring. And the lubricants and hydraulics slowly absorb atmospheric moisture.... which the operating tractor heats up and drives the moisture out.

Those sequential serialed tractors were produced to a similar modification-standard...while the same model number which came off the assembly-line the next year might have a very different set of improvements and/or modificaitons which materially affect value.

So, in my opinion.... serial number is most important...but year of manufacture is also valuable information.

 

[19thSF]

I can guarantee you a brand new car sitting on a dealer’s lot slowly deteriorates...just not at the same rate as a car mfr’d the exact same day and/or a sequential serial number ...which was sold and driven daily.
In actual fact, the car which sat on the lot unsold and undriven.... deteriorates FASTER in some ways than the car sold/driven. How?
Well... anyone who’s visited the Tractor Dealer will see brand new unsold tractors sitting out in the weather and sun. It’s brother, which rolled off the assembly-line the hour before or after which was sold and went to work somewhere.... might have been properly stored indoors. It’s engine was run and achieved regular lubrication from it’s oil-pump and it’s cylinders coated with oil. The unsold one on the dealers yard sits with dry cylinders and every day the sun heats it up and the air exits the crankcase.... and at night cools down and sucks moist air back into that engine.... and rusts internally.
The rubber components environmentally age sitting in that unprotected yard. So does it’s wiring. And the lubricants and hydraulics slowly absorb atmospheric moisture.... which the operating tractor heats up and drives the moisture out.

Those sequential serialed tractors were produced to a similar modification-standard...while the same model number which came off the assembly-line the next year might have a very different set of improvements and/or modificaitons which materially affect value.

So, in my opinion.... serial number is most important...but year of manufacture is also valuable information.

Your point is well made!

 

[Tx Jim]

Back when I was employed by a Tractor/equip dealership if a unit sat on lot unsold for a year or 2 then the unit was classified as being a year or 2 older not current yr model. Serial #s were utilized to determine actual yr model of manufacturing.

 

[JRaf]

On my very old L245DT there are stamps on the wheels that date the tractor (or at least the wheels) as having been manufactured in 1977. It's the only date I can find anywhere on the tractor.