Kubota tractor questions

My neighbor keeps his Kubota 3901 in my barn and says use it whenever you need it, which I consider very generous. I am used to bigger farm tractors with clutches for gear change and locking brakes and throttle control. SO I used his tractor the other day to move a few bucket loads of gravel. This was down a hill, not too steep and I was in low range and the tractor just freewheeled on me and I was using the brakes and finally got to the bottom. This is the same hill I go down with two, 2000 pound round bales at a time. The tractor has a gas pedal like a car and you move your heel and toe to change direction. My question are several. Is freewheeling the nature of the beast with the transmission these tractors have? If I was to use it to pull a hay rake for instance would I have to keep my foot on the gas pedal all day? There is no way to lock the brakes together, how can this be safe for highway use? If you take your foot off the gas pedal to steer with the brakes the tractor stops, this doesn't seem logical to me. Maybe this tractor is not really designed to be a farm tractor as much as a 5 acre carry mulch to the flower bed and mow the yard piece of equipment. Am I missing something or lost in the past? Thanks, Ellis

It has the same transmission control as my B2650 - Hydrostatic with treadle.

Push down on the front to go forward, take your foot off to stop, push down on the back to go backwards.

If it's properly adjusted, the tractor should stop when you take your foot off the pedal. It probably wouldn't hold a hill but all-out freewheeling is not right either. I'll have to try mine on a hill to see what it does.

Meanwhile, letting WAY up on the pedal, just short of stopping, should give you the engine braking you're used to from a gear shift trans with a clutch.

Well first look at the left brake you will find a lever or tab that moves over to tie both brakes together.. Now that solves that. Freewheeling is absolutely not a trait of that tractor. MORE than likely you did not have it in one of the range selection good. And yes one does have to maintain the foot on the pedal to move , pretty much that way with any hydrostatic unless they have cruise control which the more expensive KUBOTAS do have. That is a bare bones entry level tractor.

HST transmissions do not freewheel. If it freewheeled, you must have kicked it out of range gear by accident. The concept is the engine spins a hydraulic pump which then spins a hydraulic motor to the wheels. The pedal is just a valve between the pump and motor controlling the amount of flow and direction.

If you wanted to field work, hopefully you bought the cruise control lever. If not, yep foot on the pedal. The benefit is fine speed and position control especially in tight places. The brakes do lock together and the only time they are really used is trying to come to a complete stop on a hill (hold you there). I suggest you read the manual if you want to use it.
owners manual

Could it be that your bucket load of gravel going down hill took enough weight off the drive tires to cause a loss of traction that felt like freewheeling? If it is mfwd try with front end drive engaged and see if that helps or maybe a smaller load of gravel or hook something on the 3 pt to add weight/traction. I cannot help with the Kubota-specific questions but I am sure you will get some help with them from people here with Kubota experience.

Bingo.

Most likely tires sliding due to inadequate weight on rear wheels going downhill with FEL load.

Dean

JM
Can I buy a self driving Kubota that will
lawn my lawn?
How difficult is it to add cruse?

Was it in 4 wheel drive? They are light on the rear, if no attachment back there it and in 2 wheel it was probably lifting a wheel. I have one and it will slide the wheels before freewheeling. Mow some places so steep I slide some even when dry. Have another one I didn't remember to put in 4 wheel before dropping over and took a couple of wild rides. Made me remember after that Have a weight i put on 3 point when using the loader. 900 pounds.

As mentioned free wheels if put in neutral only. Will slide going downhill if rear tires unweighted in 2wd just like a big tractor. The HST pedal provides aggressive engine braking to the point of rarely / ever needing to uses the brakes. Even in high range with 6-8 ton hay wagon behind our L5030 the hst pedal is used to control the speed coming down hills. If its a really steep hill we will stop and put in medium range so its less load on the hst. I've only used the brakes when accidentally knocking the range transmission out of gear on a hill.

To use the steering brakes, you either use the cruise control (hand lever for the pedal) or you reach your other foot over. With 4wd and the sharp steering on the Kubota style axles its super rare to need it, once in a while to force the loader to go sideways or you don't feel like stepping on the diff lock when a tire is spinning. Sometimes to help line up a 3 point implement that is being difficult.

Your comment about bigger farm tractors caught my attention. Be real careful! I bought a smaller Kubota B a few years ago after using 5-6000 lb farm tractors all my life. I tipped it on its side almost immediately, and almost did it again a few weeks later. Eventually I built a ballast box of concrete and put axle extensions on it. Those little machines are great on the level, but take a lot of getting used to and more careful operation on hills and turning. Damn lucky I and the tractor did not get hurt.

Tim

I've had three small Kubota Hydro's with loaders on them. I have never had one that would freewheel and they all had a lock on the brake peddle to lock them together. The B3000 I have does have a lever too for the hydro to lock it in so you can take your foot off the peddle. I would never have a small Kubota loader tractor without at least having the rear wheels loaded. I also have a 200 lb weight on the back of mine if I don't have something on the 3 pt. The ones I've had would bring the rear right off the ground without the extra weight on the back when using the loader.

I have a kubota L4310 hydro 43hp if i go doen a steep hill when brush hogging in 2wd it sorta takes off sliding pretty easy if i put it in 4wd it will hold itself back hope this helps