Operating the L3901

zippyslug31

New member

Equipment
L3901, LA525, BH77, 72" BB, old Ford 22-63 PHD
Jun 27, 2015
82
0
0
Crooked River Ranch, Oregon
you could start with the PHD in the middle hole and after digging it's full depth, switch the top link to the bottom hole.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. With the adjustability that I built into the plates, the 3 mounting holes, PLUS the PHD having a 2-position pivot at the lower connection arm... I should have tons of options.
 

zippyslug31

New member

Equipment
L3901, LA525, BH77, 72" BB, old Ford 22-63 PHD
Jun 27, 2015
82
0
0
Crooked River Ranch, Oregon
Nice to see it go to a good and capable home rather than rusting like so much old machinery around the country...
And this unit was starting to go down that path with some surface pitting. Luckily there's so much metal in this that it would take a while for it to fully rust away! Slapping on a coat of Rustoleum oil based paint was the way to go and worked great for this application. It floats nice and you can lay it on pretty thick; gives a decent finish and should protect it for years to come.
 

CaveCreekRay

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3800 HST, KingKutter box scraper, KingKutter 66" rake, County Pride Subsoiler
Jul 11, 2014
2,631
93
48
Cave Creek, AZ
Awesome. Can't beat brushed (or rolled) Rustoleum with oil.

I have a "hot-walker" that will need some attention this winter. The arms are starting to rust and I'll sand 'em and then coat them with a couple of coats of Rustoleum, rolling the coats on.
 

zippyslug31

New member

Equipment
L3901, LA525, BH77, 72" BB, old Ford 22-63 PHD
Jun 27, 2015
82
0
0
Crooked River Ranch, Oregon
New topic: L3901 shop/service manual. :(
Seems they are "sort of" available. Quite a few of the ebay sources say they are sold out. Either way, at around $125 for what some have said is sparse info I'm not sure if I can justify the purchase.

So, can anybody put a definitive review of this manual and is it worth it?

Anybody know of a source on the web that cost less... or dare I say FREE?
Anybody have an e-copy that they are willing to loan me in exchange for an e-copy of my 3901, BH77, and/or LA525 owner's manuals (that I scanned myself from my paper manuals)?

TIA

EDIT: FWIW, I'm specifically talking about item# 9Y111-10120
 
Last edited:

Wormwood

New member

Equipment
M5-111 SVL97-2 Sidekick
Oct 3, 2011
25
0
1
Little Rock, AR, United States
I've got some questions for 3901 drivers...

I'm at 30.1hrs. & haven't had the particle filter require cleaning yet. I was under the impression to expect it at ~15-20hrs (wrong...), so when should I really expect it to need cleaning?

I have the BH77 on the back, with 16" & 10" buckets. To begin digging I lower the boom, extending the dipperstick, & uncurling the bucket & then reverse this sequence to capture dirt into the bucket. Halfway through the scooping the dipperstick cylinder seems to lose most of it's breakout force. In other words, since that cylinder is no longer moving with the other 2, I have to stop & work just the dipperstick. I know it's not too much for it as it doesn't even rock the tractor when actuating it even by itself. It's like the cylinder is oversized in the middle of the stroke & I seeing the effect of fluid blowing past the piston. In the end I have to back out of the scoop & only take half, sometimes less...! This is with a 10" bucket, come on?!?!

Besides the OPC seat sensor, has anyone noticed how loud the hydrostatic is? I've checked the fluid, it's full & no bubbles, so it may just be that loud... When I had my BX before this one, I removed the rops & filled it with great stuff which made it a lot more quiet. Has anyone tried this on the 3901?

Last thing is the loader bucket, has anyone noticed Kubota has gone to thinner steel with reinforcing bands with doublers in weak areas, be careful...

Thanks!

Wormwood
 

zippyslug31

New member

Equipment
L3901, LA525, BH77, 72" BB, old Ford 22-63 PHD
Jun 27, 2015
82
0
0
Crooked River Ranch, Oregon
I have the BH77...
Yeah, this seems strange, but what comes to mind is the hyrdo valve under the driver's seat. Do you have it open enough? If not, you'd obviously be starving the system of any real fluid.
Just what popped into my head...

anyone noticed how loud the hydrostatic is?
We may be talking about two different things, but I've noticed what sounds like a very loud, overworked power steering pump. I've read others comment on it too and they assure me that "it's normal". Whatever it is though, it does sound like it's overworked and under-powered for the machine.
 

zippyslug31

New member

Equipment
L3901, LA525, BH77, 72" BB, old Ford 22-63 PHD
Jun 27, 2015
82
0
0
Crooked River Ranch, Oregon
I'm at 30.1hrs. & haven't had the particle filter require cleaning yet.
I guess I have a thought on this, too. I have about 75 hrs and I think I've ran through 2 or 3 cycles. The cycles are totally dependent on your usage circumstances, load, hell I'd even think quality of fuel. Little to do with "how much time" so i myself wouldn't be too concerned.... yet.

There's also two types of cycles that can occur (sorry I'm not being very technical with this) so maybe you have had a brief cycle run through and it just happened without you being aware? Honestly, the cycles are so non-invasive that the only indication that anything is different are the lights, which are sometimes steady, sometimes flashing depending on the type of cycle that is occurring. Pretty sure I read in the manual what the different lights mean... give it a quick read.
 

Wormwood

New member

Equipment
M5-111 SVL97-2 Sidekick
Oct 3, 2011
25
0
1
Little Rock, AR, United States
I guess I have a thought on this, too. I have about 75 hrs and I think I've ran through 2 or 3 cycles. The cycles are totally dependent on your usage circumstances... .
Zippy, mine finally went off at 38.1hrs. & everything went off without a hitch. My last experience with these DPF filters was an 08 F350. You remember the Powerstroke diesels that were shooting flames out the exhaust? That was mine... Worst experience I've had with trucks & the most expensive.


Yeah, this seems strange, but what comes to mind is the hyrdo valve under the driver's seat. Do you have it open enough? If not, you'd obviously be starving the system of any real fluid.
Nah, it can't be that because all the other cylinders & driver system are strong as ever. It's only the dipperstick cylinder & specifically when it's in the middle of the stroke. I suppose I'll call the Kubota dealer on that one. You can work around it such as curling the bucket early & breaking the backhoe away from the dirt before you reach mid stroke. However, you can never push a spoil pile of dirt away from the backhoe & you either have to be real close or real far from what you need to dig.

Well, I'm close to my 50hrs. so I'll call Messicks & get a svc. manual coming so I can change the fluids out & see what can be done about the backhoe cylinder. Oh & the hydrostatic pump noise, yeah it's still loud but once I removed the sunshade that helped a lot. i'll still put some great stuff in the ROPS as it'll help kill the noise even more.

Wormwood
 

KennedyFarmer

New member

Equipment
L3901, with not enough attachments
Jun 8, 2015
290
2
0
Pennsylvania
New topic: L3901 shop/service manual. :(
Seems they are "sort of" available. Quite a few of the ebay sources say they are sold out. Either way, at around $125 for what some have said is sparse info I'm not sure if I can justify the purchase.

So, can anybody put a definitive review of this manual and is it worth it?

Anybody know of a source on the web that cost less... or dare I say FREE?
Anybody have an e-copy that they are willing to loan me in exchange for an e-copy of my 3901, BH77, and/or LA525 owner's manuals (that I scanned myself from my paper manuals)?

TIA

EDIT: FWIW, I'm specifically talking about item# 9Y111-10120
I just ordered one from my local dealer i will let you know how it goes i asked this question before on here and i was told by someone that the manual is well worth it if you plan on doing your own service.
 

KennedyFarmer

New member

Equipment
L3901, with not enough attachments
Jun 8, 2015
290
2
0
Pennsylvania
I just did my 50hr service today, only have 47hr on it but it was so warm this past week and today was the last day of it. So on ward ho with the 50Hr service.

Changed the engine oil complete drain.

Replaced all the filters, oil, fuel, hydro, HST

The fuel filter was a PITA for while it keep leaking from the top and the radiator fan sprayed diesel at me since I was along side the tractor.

The Hydro filter advice that someone gave me was great I parked the tractor in a nice spot where it was tilled toward the rear tire farthest away from the filter. I lost about a quart of fluid on the swap out.

HST filter was easy, very little fluid loss but i did tilt the tractor away from the filter.

Greased everything after I was done, winter snows are coming so I hope we are ready :rolleyes:
 

Ike

New member

Equipment
Kubota L 3301, Farmall Cub. JD B. Ferguson TE 20
Jul 18, 2015
324
1
0
Mich
I have had 2 regens on my 3301 and other than the light coming on once it starts you don't even know it is going on. Mine at the very start seems like the engine misses for a sec then the light comes on. I never leave it sit and idle for any length of time and usually run it around 2000 RPM's most of the time. If I have to I use a lower gear with higher RPM's