Kubota PTO Options?

Pricing out a Kubota Tractor and there are several PTO options, I plan to go with Hydrostatic 4WD... what does " Live Independent PTO with Hydraulic Clutch" mean? Is the PTO on demand or continuously running?

Following…interested to hear what size and price you end up with. I’ve been thinking about a kubota also.

I know Keets and a few others are also interested- I'm trying to get up to speed on all options. I think for what I plan to use it for, I'm leaning into the L3902

Forgot to mention that the dealer I stopped at said tractor availability is ok but loaders are the Supply Chain constraint right now.

dealer I was talking to called last week, I was on the list for when a loader showed up....I don't have time to mess with it anymore this year, so I told him to call the next guy..I believe the live pto is just saying the pto runs no matter what you do with the clutch, as long as the pto is engaged....you can call Chili Implement, can't remember the guy's name off hand

What keets said.

Is the hydrostatic the one where you have a rocker foot pedal for forward and back? Dad has one in the 35 horse range with that pedal and we both hate it would rather have gears and stick shift or at least a lever for forward and reverse on the column.

Yup- it has the foot pedal rocker style

My understanding, which could be wrong, is that you you lose some of the hp rating in pure pulling power through a hydro vs gears but a hydro wouldn't mechanically "break" like gears or a clutch under excess load.

I have a Kubota L2501, with the 4WD HST, FEL and many more attachments. You have to engage the clutch, before you flick the PTO on. Zero chance that I would ever go back to a gear tractor with a FEL. If you were just bush hogging, or crop planting, maybe.

What are you wanting out of the tractor? Just keep in mind that just because the horse power goes up, doesnt mean the lift capacity for the FEL does. The L3902 has the same lift capacity as my L2501 with the LA525 FEL. The engine in the L2501 is "rated" at 25HP so it doesnt require the DPF, but it is far more capable and compares more with a 30 HP tractor easily.

Warrior- I believe this is true, based on the brochure I'm looking at- engine HSP remains the same but on a L3902 PTO HP drops from 32.1 for gear driven to 30.3 HP for HSD

Lift capacity might not change but weight of the tractor afffects ability to use the available lift.....heavier and wider is always safer. Lots of folks injured and killed each year lifting more than their tractor can safely handle....

Yup, they make suitcase weights for a reason. And what can be lifted on flat ground while sitting still is a whole lot more than on a slope in motion.

Hydrostatic is ok if mowing the lawn, The best transmission is geared with a shuttle shift. Of course much better on a Ford or New Holland tractor.

We run 4 Kubotas on the tree farm............... a BX 1850, a B 2630, an MX 5000 and an M 6800. EVERY ONE OF THEM will lift more than you should lift. Even weighted..........it's way to easy to get into a bad situation using the loader if you aren't using your head at ALL TIMES.

Be careful !!!

I have a L2501, FEL, gear, with filled ag tires 4WD. It will do anything I will ever need it for. Not having to deal with the emissions equipment that is required on higher horsepower tractors is a plus. Our whole farm is hilly so the 4WD is a must have. The loader can lift way more than you need to or can safely lift in most situations. I keep a heavy duty box blade on the back most of the time as a counter weight, or a I can lower it if I am pulling posts or such. I am a tractor newby so I am still figuring it all out.

An easy definition for hydrostatic is the loud whiny transmission. Just my 2 cents.

Excellent!

I don't know about Kubotas as I have a Deere.
But a HST or Hydrostatic transmission, at least the Deere I have does not have a clutch.
You shift the tractor into what speed range you want then press the forward or backward pedal and your off.
As far as the PTO all I have to do is pull the PTO knob out and its working.
To run the PTO when I'm not on the tractor (when using a chipper for example) I have to set the parking brake then it'll run when I jump off the seat. If I don't set the parking brake getting off the seat will kill the tractor.

How does this clutch work on a Kubota with a HST?

Jerry bought a 60 horsepower kubota...with 480 hrs on it...hydrostatic clutch..with a cab...a heavy duty brushhog..a fertizer spreader.....and an auger for digging post holes..it's got a bucket on the front..( that might come on of them standard..I don't know) for 40,000.00 cash 3 years ago.

It has a heater and air conditioner.

I've heard the tractor alone would cost close to that without the attachments now but I don't know.

The worst thing about it is it'd a pain I the butt if you have to regenerate it.
It can take between 15 and 40 minutes depending but 20 is about normal. During tha time you wait.

You gotta keep the RPMs above 2400. Believe me i know .

It also came with a spear for handling round bales that we can put on the front if we take the bucket off


It does everything we need it to and then some

We've done alot of brush hogging with it.

It came.from. kubota dealership in Maryland..I think in Antietnam(sp) in Hagerstown.

Delivery fee to jerrys..4 hrs one way..was included in the purchase price

My tractor can easily lift the rated weight with no issue, but a L2501 and a L3902 are just about as close as you can get to the same. The L3902 is 200lbs heavier, but wheelbase, width everything is the same. However I digress, I was just simply pointing out that higher horsepower doesnt always mean higher lift capacity.

@Willy, Just have to completely disagree, mowing the lawn with a hydrostatic WITHOUT cruise control sucks. Using the FEL is where the hydrostatic is absolutely money.

I'm interested, too.

Two of our Kubotas are HST. Pick your range (Rabbit, turtle or M on the one that has 3 ranges) and push the foot pedal forward or back.

The other two.................one is straight gear. The other is synchro'ed gear with shuttle.

I just aquired a MX5200 from FIL since they decided to sell their place and move to town. He bought the tractor new but passed on getting the loader. I knew I needed one so I went by the dealer and priced one. He had 3 and said he just got them after a 9mo wait and had 4 new tractors on the lot that they would fit. I went straight home, got my tractor and carried it back up there to have one installed.
Got 3rd function added as well. Picked up a used grapple for a good price too.
Wife is thrilled, cut and cleaned up a couple of trees in 2 days where it would have taken a few weekends to load on trailer, haul and unload on a pile.

This tractor is geared with shuttle shift. Dealer said I would be happier in the long run over HST.
Dad has a 3901 (I think) with HST and has had no issues either

Usually live and independent pto mean 2 different things so I'm not sure really how they have that set up. But as to the hydrostatic I personally hate it. Give me a good shuttle clutch and leave me be. And I run a loader tractor every day.

I will obviously ask the dealer but I wanted to solicit feedback first- I agree there’s ambiguity in the description, one option is continuous PTO and one can awesome that’s live all the time but not sure on independent.

I would also bet the Hydrostatic Drive is for the grass cutting community vs the farming community. They add a lot of creature comforts to target the same demographic. I would fall into the grass cutting group- so I don’t enter with any prior knowledge or personal preference, already conditioned to HSD

I hear ya Cathryn. That regeneration stuff is a bunch of crapola. Hate it!