LX2610 Manual Says No Tire Fluid When Operating the Loader

SDT

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Interesting, I had not noticed this and have read the manual a few times. I just checked and sure enough it says:
  • While the backhoe is installed on the tractor, the liquid ballast in the rear tires should be removed.
  • While the loader is installed on the CAB tractor, the liquid ballast in the rear tires should be removed.
So it's backhoe or CAB+loader where they don't want you to us it.
Makes sense to me for multiple reasons.

Clearly, this is an intentional inclusion in the manual rather than a mistake.

No, I did not say it could not be done or that many folks do not do so.

SDT
 

pokey1416

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Says the same thing for us Grand L's and the BH. I thought it was because of overloading the tires but wonder if it's because the front end FEL might get kind of light? The BH92 is one heavy beast for sure.

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ctfjr

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Filled tires provide excellent counterweight, along with a heavy implement. Neither weight alone is sufficient to allow safe use of the loader at max capacity.
btw I have filled rear tires. . . My comment had to do with relieving pressure on the front axle with fel use. Without ballast behind the rear axle you can really load the front axle when the loader is near capacity - more than the actual loader weight.
 

Freeheeler

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I understand the reasoning behind them saying to not fill the rears with backhoe use. Filled tires does not put any extra forces on the axle and has no affect on how light or heavy the front end is. Where it can come into play is if you raise the rear end too much with the stabilizers, that extra weight in the tires is exerted onto the stabilizers and they can get damaged. Personally, I leave the rears filled and simply don't raise the rear tires off the ground when digging. The stabilizers can lift it easily, but it's the fore-aft forces that they can't handle. Other than that aspect, the filled rears actually help to stabilize (add weight and lowers the COG of the system) while digging.
I can't see any physical reason why filled rears would de-stabilize the system for FEL work.
 

Henro

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Whatever they may be, Kubota has their reasons for such instructions.

Relatedly, I never use liquid ballast for multiple reasons. A ballast box is more effective, easily removed, useful for other purposes, and priced similarly to beet juice.
But the actual reason may be something lost in the translation, or a poor technical writer to begin with.

Why would that tractor be different than others? Does Kubota make that same recommendation for all other tractors they sell? Why would wheel weights for example, be different than liquid ballast? Etc, etc...

Where is the common sense here? Drain the fluid in the rear tires before using the loader? Same thing has been said in Kubota manuals for when using a backhoe. Drain fluid in rear tires before using the backhoe?

Sounds like whoever writes these manuals should move back into the real world...from whatever alternate reality they may be in now...
 

GreensvilleJay

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re: Where is the common sense here? Drain the fluid in the rear tires before using the loader? Same thing has been said in Kubota manuals for when using a backhoe. Drain fluid in rear tires before using the backhoe?

It may be a simple weight calculation. Say a rear tire is good for 1000# at 20PSI. You put 350# of ballast in it,then add a 1800# BH on the tractor. 2x 350=700+1800=2500# on tires rated for 2000#, so 500# over the rated specs. You'll have to read the tire (NOT the manual) and look at the weight charts to see if this is applicatable to your situation, but I can readily see how it could happen.
After all we all 'know' a 7000# trailer is NOT rated to carry a 7000# load !!
 

erda

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LX3310HSDCC
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I posted a similar question regarding my LX3310 cab.

Inquiries to Kubota Canada have gone unanswered…
 
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SDT

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If I had to pick between lawyer and engineer, I'd guess a lawyer wrote those parts.
As one who is both, perhaps.

Still I can think of multiple reasons for such instructions.

Best guess: Reducing warranty claims resulting from inexperienced operators over stressing drive train components in low range without the fail-safe provided by loss of traction.
 
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S-G-R

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I posted a similar question regarding my LX3310 cab.

Inquiries to Kubota Canada have gone unanswered…
And you probably won't get a reply so there isn't a paper trail in case something goes sideways.
 

SDT

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MBA also.

"Engineers" wrote such material but with input from multiple sources.

As always, bottom line is final arbiter.
 

Old_Paint

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How does the ballast affect the tire rating at all? If you overload the tire with ballast by hooking up a backhoe, you'll overload the same tire without ballast, probably worse.

The tire rating will be usually related to air pressure rating, not weight, generally speaking. Any weight rating is if the tire is at rated air pressure. If there is no ballast, then the amount of air space in the tire is far greater, which will allow more tire distortion to compress the air to a much higher level inside the tire, and assume more of the load on the destorted part of the tire. Liquid doesn't compress, meaning the amount of volume of air at a given pressure is far more effective to keep the tire the proper shape. This means the tire is going to hold its shape a lot better for the same amount of added weight on a loaded tire. There's a pretty good writeup about ballast and why it's recommended in the OM about that, actually, which sort of means the manual is contradicting itself. Why am I not surprised? If you look at the photos showing you which filter is what, you'll find they're completely backward (I found out the hard way). If they could get something that wrong, why wouldn't the folks writing the instruction book and translating the engineers' specifications get something else wrong?
 

dgtvrpepair

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I can understand that they say to remove liquid ballast with backhoe installed. I can not understand why they say to remove liquid ballast with a cab. I have a cab tractor and have always had liquid ballast in rear only. The cab does not add very much additional weight. I can not imagine not having it. I don't recommend it in the front tires.
 

SDT

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I can understand that they say to remove liquid ballast with backhoe installed. I can not understand why they say to remove liquid ballast with a cab. I have a cab tractor and have always had liquid ballast in rear only. The cab does not add very much additional weight. I can not imagine not having it. I don't recommend it in the front tires.
3310 cab model is nearly 500 Lbs. heavier than ROPS model.
 
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I don't know why they would say that but my only comment about fel use and ballast is loaded tires don't help. Only ballast behind the rear axle relieves pressure on the front axle.
The front axle is designed to take the load, the loader will only lift 1000 lbs, I don't think its an issue.
 
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RalphVa

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Pg. 94 says no liquid ballast with back hoe or with a Cab.

I was surprised to find this in the manual - I just purchased the tractor and was reading through the manual last night, and it stated that you should drain any tire fluid before operating the loader. That's actually one of the reasons I was thinking of adding fluid - to help offset the weight in the loader. Am I missing something?
[/QUOTE
 

B2710

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Dealer filled the rears on my cab L3310 as part of prep before I picked it up. Glad they did, it is tippy as is, could not imagine how bad it would be if the rears were not loaded.
 
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Ranger Pride

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Dealer filled the rears on my cab L3310 as part of prep before I picked it up. Glad they did, it is tippy as is, could not imagine how bad it would be if the rears were not loaded.
I know this is an older thread but I am perplexed by what the manual says. I have the LX2610 model with cab and I do have loaded tires. I can’t imagine having to take the liquid ballast out to use the loader. What a pain in the a$$ that would be.
 

Daferris

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LX2610
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I know this is an older thread but I am perplexed by what the manual says. I have the LX2610 model with cab and I do have loaded tires. I can’t imagine having to take the liquid ballast out to use the loader. What a pain in the a$$ that would be.
I think you are referring to the manual page that recommends removing the ballast if using a backhoe.
Attached is from page 23 of the LA535 loader operations manual.

Now the LX2610 Workshop manual says for the Cab version of the tractor to remove the ballast when the loader is Installed It does not even mention if used just that it's installed.
Personally I would load the tires and forget about it. The weight of the ballast is carried within the tire itself. It acts as "un-sprung" weight if comparing to a auto. So the main forces acting on the tractor is the extra rotational mass, Not really a concern with such a low speed item as a tractor.
As to the axle stress it conceivably could add more stress in shear when you lift enough to pick up the rear tires but again not anything I would worry about. The load capacity of the tires might be an issue with both loader and cab to the point that the air space in the tire is diminished but again I would not lose sleep over it...
 

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