Looking at a L4150, any known issues with this model?

according to this: http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/001/3/0/1306-kubota-l4150.html it's quite a hoss. I don't recall anyone posting anything about them here before so you may be our 1st to contribute.

Generally Kubota labels their FEL's via their lifting capacity in kilograms and if this is the case what you've been told is accurate.
Unfortunately finding more spec's on the loader is very hard. Not much is listed on the internet. One would probably need to purchase an owners manual and/or a WSM to get more info.

3600 hrs is alittle high but if it runs good without smokeing or any blowby it should go alot longer befoer needing rebuilt.

Good luck
Dave

I took a few pictures with my phone.

more pictures

still more l4150 bf900

They were officiall closed when I got there, but I got up on it anyhow to get a feel for the controls layout. Everything seemed easy to find, the shifter acted a little 'sticky' between gears, but that may be because it wasn't running. I spotted a couple 'repairs' that strike me as odd. And I don't like how the plumbing runs for that homeade grapple. Rear tires are at least 2/3 full of liquid. No ROPS, that struck me as odd. $11,500.... sound reasonable? I plan on trying to talk them down (just for principle of haggling if nothing else)
thanks,
-ron

serial number and last pic
L4150DT-52006

if things get serious I'll get pictures with a real camera
-ron

Nice pics.
That is odd that it doesn't have a ROPS. Kubota has some kind of program, or used to, that discounted the installation of ROPS on most older models that didn't originally come with one. You might ask if it's still appilcable for this model.

Can't tell from the pics, what repairs are you seeing that look suspect?

A grapple is a very nice implement to have. Looking at the length of those hoses suggests a 3rd function valve, perhaps on the right fender but I can't tell, does it have a 3rd function valve? If so thats a plus also. I wouldn't be overly concerned w/how the hoses run as you can dress them up or make up some brackets etc.
Is the FEL bucket a quick attach?

The tractor looks pretty good for the hrs. By looking at the design I'd say that hydro shuttleshift feature made this a top of the line tractor in it's day.
It looks pretty stout and those rears are pretty wide spread, almost puts me in mind that it may have been fitted w./duals at one point but then again it may be wide spread for crop rows, hard to say.

Proof will be in how she runs. As it sits it looks pretty good, at least via the pics
Good luck
Dave

First let me appologise for the words below (there's lots of them). I've got more time to think about tractors than I do to actually work on or use them. So when shopping for tractors I have a tendacy to examine every facet.

The repairs themselves don't bother me, it's a culmination of them all that makes me wonder about this tractor's work history.
The only thing that I can see that has been repaired is the main drawbar bracket where it bolts on to the left side of the tractor. Both sets of holes (upper and lower) have been welded back together (first set of pictures this is visible). It is a good looking repair, no fault to whomever performed it. The front tie rods both look bent back ever so slightly (could be factory but it would make toe adjustments very difficult). The hood is slightly warped (no dents) but the handle is bound up and it cannot be opened.

Combine that with the 3660 hrs on it and all of these things indicate to me that it is/was a well maintained tractor. But that it has also been well used by the previous owner. So my concern is 'how wore out is it?'.

The grapple.. I can take it or leave it. My current tractor (1970 IH 856 Diesel) has one and it's more of a pain then it is useful. When removing snow it poses a problem in that I cannot get too close to things when I 'back scrape' away from garage doors or buildings; I've hit the eaves of my house with my current grapple, I was watching the ground and not paying attention to the top of the grapple and dinged up my gutters. The only time I use it is when I move round bales, and I don't even need to use it, I just clamp onto the bales "because I can". I use a bale spear to actually hold the bales. As of right now, there are no aftermarket hydraulic control valves on this tractor. The long hoses on for the grapple on this tractor are designed to run all the way to the rear and hook up to the only external hydraulic port, that port is controlled by the lever on the left side of the seat (just above the high/low range lever left side of the seat). That poses a slight problem in that I need that hydraulic port for the spout on the snowblower, I'd also need it if I were using a sickle mower. On the bright side there is another spot that I could add a second controlled hydraulic connection, the slot is already in the sheet metal and it looks like a bolt on ordeal from below.

The bucket on this tractor is not a quick-attach style, it's permanent (not a big issue right now).

In another thread I was asking about converting my old tractor to quick-attach bucket and I ran across manufactured parts that I could use to convert this one if I want to (and I think that I would eventually)
Has anybody ever made their own Loader Quick Hitch?
Loader conversion bracket
http://www.erskineattachments.com/attachments/frontend-loader-converter/100-012-000/

Weld on plate for existing loader
http://www.everythingattachments.co...iversal-Quick-Attach-Plate-p/cal-uniplate.htm


While typing this up the salesman called me back and we have tentatively arranged for me to take it home this weekend for a 'test drive'. I'll hook it up to all the implements that I have and give them all a whirl to see if it will do everything that I want/need.

Single hydraulic outlet.. I can add another..

I don't like the grapple hoses running all the way to the rear. I can find a way to "T" into the lines that feed the 4-way loader control and add an aftermarket 2-way control up on the loader. This might add a bit of a ******* look to it, but then I should be able to keep all loader hydraulic controls in one place and require only the primary hookup to the tractor (if I keep the grapple).

I will need to remove the extra 'teeth' from the bucket and see if I can add a cutting edge on it. I use my tractor the most in the winter and I use it mostly for 2 activities.. moving snow and moving hay. Those teeth present problems for the snow removal most certainly and since I use a bale spear I don't really need them for that either.

Wheel spacing.. interesting but I'll probably leave it alone.

Like I told the saleman last night. With tractors you really have 3 options
1. Buy new and get everything you want (this is not in my budget)
2. Buy used and learn to live with what you bought (this is my current plan)
3. Buy something that you like and make it do everything you need (time consuming)

I really do like the size and the features on this tractor. As long as the tractor is mechanically sound (no engine/drivetrain issues) the other "problems" that I saw are fairly easy to rectify. (FWD/interlocker/size/name brand). I don't want to be buying a tractor just to say that I 'have a kubota' though. I want to make sure it's going to function as desired and I won't have to find anything else in the next 5-10yrs..(not that I won't.. but that I won't have to)

thanks for reading
-ron

I found the ad online
http://www.fastline.com/v100/Kubota...ail-617ced6b-8c05-404c-80a3-f82ef655170e.aspx

Picking it up over lunch today to take it home for the weekend. Sunday will be the day I put it to work.. rototilling, mowing, hole augering, and bale moving..

More pictures and a 'Seat of Pants' review on Monday (or Tuesday)

-ron

this pic was supposed to be on that last post

it does my big jobs.. tomorrow I 'use' it for other tasks so I get a feel for the controls

It rototill real well also, 8ft is pushing it, the temps climbed to "H" while tilling the riding arena.. 80°f today..

just about 3 more hours of tilling today and I was done. I went to put it away and I was driving across flat pasture and it quit moving forward. It als lost all other hydraulic function. Hydraulic fluid level is full. I've done some reading on the internet that says to check the filter and screen. I haven't found any picture of the screen yet, what does it look like?

thans,
-ron

Ron, sorry to hear shes failed you. I'm not sure on the exact screen location but look for the return line to the HST as this is generally where they locate the screen on the line where it enters the sump.
I'm guessing that it has at least 2 hydro pumps, the pump integral to the HST and an external one for the implements. Could even have a 3rd pump.
Other than the fluid and common sump, the 2 (or 3) pumps are in different circuits so the failure has to be common to both. Does it have one or more hydro filters?
The screen would be common as well as the return. If the return line is cracked it could be sucking air limiting fluid flow.
Sometimes the external implement pump is used as a prime pump for the HST pump so a failure in ti could cause a total system failure.
When you hooked up the tiller, does it use any hydraulics to operate? Is there a loop back line if certain hydro implements aren't connected?
I'd check all the quick connects, disconnect then reconnect them as they can sometimes look good but aren't and not pass fluid.
Those are all my swags.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Dave

I went back to the tractor and spun the filter loose, lots of fluid came out so I stopped right away. Got on the tractor, fired it up (starts and runs like a dream) but it still wouldn't move or raise the bucket. So I slowly increased the throttle to 1500, still nothing.. quickly went to wide open and she started to creep then full speed(in 1st gear) 1.1MPH!!! It worked fine the rest of the evening. I think the hydraulic pump is getting weak, when cold it will raide the 3pt (with rototiller) and bucket at idle. When at operating temps I had to be running at least 1500rpm to even lift the bucket or 3pt (even empty).

some more pics with my hole auger and check out that Red River valley clay..

to answer your questions..
snowblower 3pt only (I'm missing the chute cylinder right now)
rototiller 3pt and PTO only, no additional hydro
the only hydro thing that I hooked up was the bucket grapple that came with it.

there was no loopback.

tractor goes back in the morning and 'dickering' begins on both their asking price and what they think my 856 is worth on trade.

-ron

In the last couple days I've been trying to find as many currently available for sale tractors of the types that are going to be involved in this transaction

Their l4150
My IH 856D

I created an excel spreadsheet with the location of the tractors, a grid of the options on the tractors, hours, URL locations of where I found them and the prices.. Then I tossed out the highest and lowest tractor prices and averaged the rest (for the l4150 I also tossed out their tractor in my low average)

I came up with average asking prices as follows
l4150
$7100-7933
IH 856
$8885-8906

After my research I'm wondering why the local tractor place feels that their 4150 (with higher than average hours) is worth 50% more than 'average'.

I'm new to this whole dealing with dealerships on used stuff, all my equipment have come from individuals. When salesmen start talking about 'wholesale' prices versus 'retail' it makes sense to me in terms of NEW goods but there is no 'wholesale' value on 'antiques'. So I guess my question is, the values I have listed above should be considered 'retail' correct? And when he offers me a trade in value for my 856 I should expect that to be lower than the prices I have listed above because he is going to price it as 'Wholesale' correct?

(This sucks for me)
He came out yesterday to get some pictures, the serial number, and the hours off of my tractor (my hours are also high) and it fired right up and ran for about 30 seconds then shut down.. no fuel at either of the filters. The first one drained right away and then I opened the bleeder on the second one and it never drained. I opened the fuel line at the injector pump and it appeard that fuel was coming out, so I fired it up and it ran for 30 seconds again and died, man that sucked. We talked for a while with the bleeder on the second filter open and it never bled out.. 10 minutes after he left I opened the first filter bleeder again and then BOTH bleeders started leaking.. so I closed them back up and opened the line at the injector pump and bled that air out and it fired right up and stayed running.

I know why this happened.. the copper washers at the injector pump on my tractor leak..the tractor had been sitting for about 2 months and the fuel from the injector pump and the line from the second fuel filter to the injector pump had leaked out. The real issue is why didn't I start it the day before and make sure that there wasn't any 'stupid' issue like this? I'm not very happy with myself about that. Since then I've left it running for about 1/2hr just idling away, should have done that before he came out..

After he left I hosed the whole thing down with engine degreaser and pressure washed it.. looks almost too good to trade in now. I'm thinking about spraying the inside top of the cab with rubberized undercoating to help with the diesel drone. Just the top, not the sides or bottom (although I have considered spraying the bottom half from the windows down to the platform, but not the platform itself) This deal still isn't in the bag and either one of us can back out, and if I end up keeping my 856 I am going to do this and I already have the aerosol cans of undercoating. I'm also thinking of painting the cab red and leaving the doors/window openings white. Just to 'spruce it up a bit'

So now the salesman is going to send out a 'mechanic' to check it out in the next couple days.


Mostly this is just a brain dump regarding my current situation, but if you have any advice about wheeling and dealing with used equipment and dealerships I'd appreciate it. Both my wife and Dad say that I should do deal, my wife doesn't care about the price differences and Dad says that I should target keeping the price difference between trade in and 'newer' tractor to $1500.

-ron