L3010 float mode ?

[Grandad4]

Getting that mid-PTO collar on was the worst part of the mower deck on my little BX tractor also. Can only say that it does get a little easier with practice.

Nice looking L3010! I had its big brother (L4610) years ago. That series were all solid, reliable tractors.

One tip for mowing: keep the radiator vanes clean. Fine debris and dust from mowing will get past the screen and build up on the radiator. I found spraying (cold engine only!) once in a while as needed with a garden hose prevented overheating.

Also, I highly recommend removing the deck for any "tractor work", as apart from "mowing work", since the deck invariably gets in the way on rough terrain and close quarters. An inconvenient extra step but worth it, IMO.

 

[jbeech]

Mission accomplished! Got the collar set into place!

Grandad4, I'd love to have a higher horsepower tractor but not enough to go on the search and/or trade my lovely L3010.

Anyway, no real tractor work in its future, just mowing. Meanwhile, I've been reading up on the mower deck manual and unless I'm mistaken, it perhaps appears I can raise and secure the mower deck in place, then disconnect the two rods from the 3-point lift, and then use an implement attached 3-point (the flail mower) without first removing the deck. This is one of two rods I'd disconnect/remove to free the 3-point to do other things.

After which, I'd switch to 540 PTO from the 2000RPM mid-PTO and be off. I've attached two pertinent pages from the manual describe locking the mower in place. While this is described as being for the purpose of operating the front end loader, I fail to see where once the mower deck is raised and locked in place, after I disconnect the two linkage rods that drive the mechanism, then why this means I cannot use the 3-point hitch as if the mower weren't mounted.

2nd set of eyes on the attached 2-page document would be greatly appreciated. Also attached is a lower rez version of the entire manual (readable, pictures aren't great).

Thanks in advance!

 

[Grandad4]

Switching that big deck on and off the tractor would be a chore. Hopefully locking it in the raised position will be all that's needed. Removing it is an option if the situation calls for it.

 

[jbeech]

Yes, raising the deck sufficiently is going to be a chore. I've not tried it yet, but will report back once I have. I can use a Johnson bar to help. I had left off the locking tabs and set them aside but now that I understand their function, my plan is to install them once again.

Meanwhile, my biggest issue was properly securing the collar on the driveshaft to lock the driveshaft onto the mid-PTO shaft. Quite honestly it was beyond me as I couldn't get sufficient leverage but yesterday, while I had a mobile mechanic here replacing a drier on the air tank of my Freightliner I asked him to have a go. It's now secured in place. He mentioned one of the balls of the collar was being ornery (works much like the retractable collar of a hose-chuck for exchanging air tools).

Anyway, next task is to use the mower and see how it does. I've got news the flail is arriving mid-October so we'll see how that works out. If the tractor horsepower is insufficient then who knows, maybe I'll be looking for a more powerful tractor after all. One thing is certain, I don't want to lollygag whilst mowing in low gear and want to zoom around more quickly.

 

[Russell King]

It will help a lot to clean and lubricate the PTO shaft from the tractor and also the yoke of the drive shaft. Hopefully it will come off easily when you want it off!

 

[jbeech]

Hi Russell, nice to hear from you. I cleaned and greased it but obviously failed to do a sufficiently good job else I would have caught the ball not retracting readily. I was silently embarrassed when he mentioned it. Anyway, you make a good point.

So what I find interesting is Kubota say to stow it with the two locking tabs. I only have two, they only show two, and I am curious how secure this turns out to be. I honestly expected the attached exploded view to show stowing it at aft scissor position, also, but nope!

Anyway, what I see is what the drawing on the right show, the one labeled Mower. I've not quite sussed out if the drawing to the left are the aft mounts but if so, they're not shown with the deck explode views. All will become clear once I return to the project and experiment with stowing the deck for the first time.

 

[jbeech]

So something rather neat about this mid-mount mower deck, which when installed makes the tractor resemble nothing so much as a regular homeowner's lawn tractor (except in scale) are provisions to raise the deck and lock it in place. This leaves the 3-point hitch fully functional to use with implements like brush hog or finish deck, or what I have headed my way, a flail mower.

Means when the grass gets ahead of me for whatever reason, then simply raise and lock the mower deck, back up to the flail mower and connect to the 3-point, and go! Not having to first remove the mid-mount mower deck is HUGE for me.

This first photo is of the locking tabs, exactly as shown in the manual.

This simple and functional setup is a perfect example of the genius of Kubota's engineers. Raising the mower deck enough to lock it with the tabs proved easy enough using a Johnson bar for the last little bit. Maybe this can be done purely with the 3-point mechanism but with mine, after raising it, it needs to be lifted just that little bit more. Easy enough with the Johnson bar so I'm calling it good enough. Note; there's one of these tabs on each side at the forward scissor mount.

And with that, this thread comes to an end and the tractor moves from the shop to where it will live, within a shipping container. I purchased this expressly for the purpose of keeping this L3010 and the zero turn Jacobsen D417 because I prefer to these relatively dirty bits of kit other than within my workshop. And FWIW, this particular one has opening doors at the other end so I have a set of ramps there. also so I may drive straight through if it suits me.

Thanks everyone for thoughts and feedback. i appreciate it.
--
John