Operating the L3901
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85Hokie
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BX-25D ,PTB. Under Armor, '90&'92-B7100HST's, '06 BX1850 FEL
Even my big a$$ - 220 lbs trips the switch when heading forward.......
I dont place my self in that situation often ....nose down - bucket full, but a little bump throws me enough forward to kill the engine.
I might have to find me a piece of cardboard too!
CaveCreekRay
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L3800 HST, KingKutter box scraper, KingKutter 66" rake, County Pride Subsoiler
C'mon folks!
Its all to save the "chidren." If we save one kid a century, that is all that matters.
Its all to save the "chidren." If we save one kid a century, that is all that matters.
It will start but may die when the forward pedal is depressed. May be a non issue, specific only to some seats, you'll have to do the experiment
I don't think we're saving any children, only adults that fall off
Well, if the adults would stop drinking the adult beverages while operating, it might be more effective than a ROPS at keeping folks from falling off.I don't think we're saving any children, only adults that fall off
But so many people operate them much better when they do!Well, if the adults would stop drinking the adult beverages while operating, it might be more effective than a ROPS at keeping folks from falling off.
Was going to post this in a general area of the site, but figured the fellow 3901 owners would know best...
Though a family connection I have a line on an old Ford post hole digger. Haven't seen it yet, but will go look at it tomorrow. Can be mine for $250 so it sounds like a score. I'm told that it was used with on a Deere roughly the size of our '39s so I assume these are pretty standard and I should hookup to our standard hitch? Anybody know if I should be inspecting anything specific when I go look at it tomorrow? Never had one so figured I'd be wise to ask.
Also, separate musing... I have a BH77 with a 10" bucket used mainly for trenching. In the future I'll be digging a septic and wondered what you guys think would be a good bucket size for general digging in sandy/rocky soil? Do I just go with the largest the BH77 and 3901 will handle? I think this is a 22", IIRC.
Any advice or input would be great.
Though a family connection I have a line on an old Ford post hole digger. Haven't seen it yet, but will go look at it tomorrow. Can be mine for $250 so it sounds like a score. I'm told that it was used with on a Deere roughly the size of our '39s so I assume these are pretty standard and I should hookup to our standard hitch? Anybody know if I should be inspecting anything specific when I go look at it tomorrow? Never had one so figured I'd be wise to ask.
Also, separate musing... I have a BH77 with a 10" bucket used mainly for trenching. In the future I'll be digging a septic and wondered what you guys think would be a good bucket size for general digging in sandy/rocky soil? Do I just go with the largest the BH77 and 3901 will handle? I think this is a 22", IIRC.
Any advice or input would be great.
Zippyslug not sure on your questions however i was looking at backblades to smooth out my yard with some top soil, How does your 72" work with the L3901 and issues? i am still getting the hang of this matching implements to tractor thing.
Sorry, let me translate myself:
Question 1 was, basically, "will an old Ford post hole driller fit the 3901?"
I went ahead and bought it. It might need to do some retrofitting, but it was a good deal.
Question 2 was "I already have a 10" bucket on my backhoe for trenching. What's a good choice for general digging... do I just get the largest they make?"
Question 1 was, basically, "will an old Ford post hole driller fit the 3901?"
I went ahead and bought it. It might need to do some retrofitting, but it was a good deal.
Question 2 was "I already have a 10" bucket on my backhoe for trenching. What's a good choice for general digging... do I just get the largest they make?"
Nope, no issues at all. That being said, if I'm moving heavy soil I generally find it helpful to knock the machine down in low gear and engage 4WD. I also have AG tires with sandy ground, so YMMV.
I guess it depends on what size the PHD is. I had one years ago that was a CAT 2 and it took a big tractor to handle it just due to the width of the lower arms.
Bucket size will depend on what you're digging. My old BH had a 16" and it did fine. In most cases it could have handled a little larger bucket but not in hard pack ground.
Bucket size will depend on what you're digging. My old BH had a 16" and it did fine. In most cases it could have handled a little larger bucket but not in hard pack ground.
I did buy this PHD and I'd like to offer a followup in case anybody in the future goes down this path.
It's an old Ford 22-63 (circa-early 60's) and is a beast.
FWIW, this implement does not connect to the 39's 3 point hitch out of the box, since the center connector is about 5" too short, whereby the side links hit the body of the digger. My intention is to make an adapter than can be bolted to the holes in the top link mounting plate which has a hole for the PHD's mounting pin a bit further away from the tractor. Seems simple in principal, but I'll post whatever my solution is once I get it working.
Update per my post above...
I have my Ford 22-63 PHD now working with my L3901. I went through a few designs/modification ideas but I was trying solve this without any permanent alterations to either the tractor of implement. Then the easiest solution occurred to me: just make an adapter to "extend" the toplink mounting holes -
The two plates are made from 1/4" plate mounted with three 1/2" bolts which allows some "fine tuning" up and down of where the mount hole are positioned. I had to modify the plates a couple of times so they would clear the u-joints on the drive shaft. I also originally had some tabs where I was going to weld on some kind of stabilizers but honestly the 1/4" plate seems plenty strong. If it starts to bend I'll look at making these out of thicker material.
To install, I run a couple of link pins in the outer holes so they are perfectly aligned and then tighten the three 1/2" bolts. Once the plates are firmly attached to the tractor I pull the pins back out and... voila, you're ready to mount the PHD.
The new link holes are 5" further away from the factory mount holes so this allows the PHD to clear the tractors arms but of course this screws with the range of motion of the PHD. Mounted in the bottom hole makes PHD too low so the auger drags on the ground even at full raised height. Mounted in the top hole the PHD can only dig to a depth of around 16" inches. Mounting in the middle hole seems to be the best of both worlds.
I've also noticed that when mounting in the bottom hole that the drive shaft tends to hit the frame of the PHD when fully raised.
Overall, not a bad solution for an inexpensive and well built digger.
I have my Ford 22-63 PHD now working with my L3901. I went through a few designs/modification ideas but I was trying solve this without any permanent alterations to either the tractor of implement. Then the easiest solution occurred to me: just make an adapter to "extend" the toplink mounting holes -
The two plates are made from 1/4" plate mounted with three 1/2" bolts which allows some "fine tuning" up and down of where the mount hole are positioned. I had to modify the plates a couple of times so they would clear the u-joints on the drive shaft. I also originally had some tabs where I was going to weld on some kind of stabilizers but honestly the 1/4" plate seems plenty strong. If it starts to bend I'll look at making these out of thicker material.
To install, I run a couple of link pins in the outer holes so they are perfectly aligned and then tighten the three 1/2" bolts. Once the plates are firmly attached to the tractor I pull the pins back out and... voila, you're ready to mount the PHD.
The new link holes are 5" further away from the factory mount holes so this allows the PHD to clear the tractors arms but of course this screws with the range of motion of the PHD. Mounted in the bottom hole makes PHD too low so the auger drags on the ground even at full raised height. Mounted in the top hole the PHD can only dig to a depth of around 16" inches. Mounting in the middle hole seems to be the best of both worlds.
I've also noticed that when mounting in the bottom hole that the drive shaft tends to hit the frame of the PHD when fully raised.
Overall, not a bad solution for an inexpensive and well built digger.
Looks like if you were needing a deeper hole, 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.
It might be a pain in the butt if you were digging holes all day, but for corner posts or whatever, not much trouble.
It might be a pain in the butt if you were digging holes all day, but for corner posts or whatever, not much trouble.
CaveCreekRay
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L3800 HST, KingKutter box scraper, KingKutter 66" rake, County Pride Subsoiler
Zippy,
Nice job... that thing is cool! Looks like its made out of a rear end off a truck. Does need some paint. May I suggest some sand blasting and then some Kubota orange II Paint?
I bet you'll never wear it out.
Nice job... that thing is cool! Looks like its made out of a rear end off a truck. Does need some paint. May I suggest some sand blasting and then some Kubota orange II Paint?
I bet you'll never wear it out.
ShaunBlake
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B6100D; B219; Piranha bar; Hodge stabilizers; Filled Ag rears; R322T w/48" deck
What an understatement! Excellent design, unlikely to ever need reinforcements -- but you can always add a couple of gussets on each side should you want to change if from beefy to monstrous.
And it's a rare occasion that I get to differ with CCR, but I believe the proper paint color is the Kubota gray.
Thanks for the follow-up... now, where's the holes?
I have a l3800 with the bh77 and 16" bucket. I believe Kubota offers an optional 24" bucket with this backhoe. My soil is hard packed with quite a few large rocks. I think the 16" is the largest bucket that my backhoe would efficiently dig in my soil.
Maybe it's one of those things you just have to be there to understand. I can't see why the PHD wouldn't hook to the tractor without the extra plates. What keeps it from hooking like normal, does something hit on the tractor?
CaveCreekRay
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L3800 HST, KingKutter box scraper, KingKutter 66" rake, County Pride Subsoiler
SB,
I stand corrected! That would work too.
Nice to see it go to a good and capable home rather than rusting like so much old machinery around the country...
I stand corrected! That would work too.
Nice to see it go to a good and capable home rather than rusting like so much old machinery around the country...
The problem is that when the PHD's is attached to one of the factory connection points this brings it too close to the tractor... the "shoulders" of the PHD barely clear when the 3PH is dropped all the way down but hit when you try to raise it. Not a very usable situation to say the least!
This digger is so old that it was probably never designed it with modern compact tractors in mind. Modern PHD also tend to have the single lift boom as part of their design... mine has this super beefy U-shaped design, which was the problem.