[music]
Neil from Messick's here with the Kubota L4060.
This tractor is a little bit different than most in that it uses Kubota glide shift transmission.
We don't see a whole lot of this transmission anymore and we happen to have one in stock,
so we thought, while it was here,we do a quick demo on exactly how this works.
Typically,in most of Kubota's tractors ,they're usually sold with hydrostatic transmissions.
When you look at most machines under about 60 horsepower or so,
hydrostatics are probably 95% of what's out there.
that you will see in some of the L Series machines that are a little bit more uncommon.
One of those they would refer to as a DT model code,
clutching years type transmission, and the other one is glide shift a
which is a clutching gears type transmission, and the other one is glide shift, a GST.
A glide shift is basically a gear transmission that operates in a clutchless manner,
a little bit like a power shift would in a big agricultural tractor.
There is some intricacies to exactly how this transmission works.
Come along here with me and I'll show you exactly how one operates,
and maybe you'll find that this might be something worth considering for your task.
can see this tractor has a large mower attached to the back of it,
and that's because the customer that's buying this machine is going to almost exclusively mow with it,
that's really all they're going to do.
The tractor that they're replacing is another Kubota model,
that has over 10,000 hours on it and still running strong.
Literally,
these guys are going out for 40 hours a week,
kicking this thing into gear,and going andcutting grass with it.
It is all that they're doing.
Because they're working under that situation where they're basically at a constant speed all the time,
a hydrostatic transmission isn't really the best choice for them.
You know a hydrostatic is constantly pumping fluid through orifices it generates heat and where and in this case a gear drives
Transmission can really serve them better because they're going to kick the thing into gear [and] drive at a constant speed for another 10,000 hours
[and] so they've chosen to go with a glide shift tractor for that reason so most people who are doing
You know loader work in a variety of applications are best served by a hydro
That's really the best transmission for those cases
but
There are applications
[where] this [clyde] [ship] can be a little bit better if you come around here with me let's show you up here on the platform
Exactly, how it works
The operator station is very similar to all of the other [grand] [l-Series]
Tractors with some differences here on the shuttle and over here on my left hand side
Up here on the - I have a forward and reverse shuttle just like any gear drive
Transmission that you would see you simply lift the shuttle up and move it forward or reverse to change directions
This shuttle is a clutch is a a clutchless shuttle so when you want to change directions
You simply lift the lever and pull to the direction that you want to go and the tractor will clutch and change directions for you
You don't need to be on and off of the clutch all the time
Also [over] here on my left hand side is a gear selector
And you can hear that click as I move back and forth. I had 12 years for forward and eight gears for reverse
One of the things that you do need to be aware of when this
Transmission is when you go through this gear change and the tractor does that clutching for you?
It's not doing it under power, okay?
So there is a slight delay when you pop between these two gears while the tractor clutches and changes gears
That delay can be a little bit problematic if you're operating on hillsides
[so] you can actually feel that there's a moment where the transmissions?
Not engaged in the tractor will slow [down], so if you're on a hill slide [now]
You'll slow down you'll lose speed while the tractor changes gears or if you're in a draft application say pulling a plow you know
during that time that you're not under power the tractor will stop and [it'll] reengage and go again, so
Great applications for loader work and mowing work and those kinds of things, but something you need to be aware of you know
It's when the tractors under load
And you make that gear change there [is] a short period Of time when it's not under power
That would differ from say an agricultural tractor with a power shift transmission that is constantly under power and doesn't have that issue
There are two things when this tractor that make it a step above an old school clutch and gears transmission
That's the [rig] the direction selector up here on the dash and the gear Selector down here on my left hand side
When I go between port in reverse all I need to do is lift this lever up and push it forward
To move the tractor forward you notice I did not have to push the clutch pedal down here to change directions
when I want to go backwards
I could just pull [back] to neutral and then pull it into reverse and
I go in reverse if I even take it shove it straight come forward rapidly in the other direction
[I] just simply change directions
And that's all done without
Grinding of [Gears] [or] any of that the tractor is smart enough to shift the gears and change direction when things are in alignment
so that the glide shift really makes that directional changing a step easier than a
non synchronized [direction] changing Transmission a
Hydraulic shuttle and some of the [M-Series] tractors feel so very very similar to this this one
Just mechanically is a little bit different than what a an hD transmission is in the m-Series machine
The other piece to the puzzle over here is over on my left hand side. It's this gear selector over on my left
So when I'm going in reverse, I have eight reverse gears and twelve forward gears and when I want to switch those Gears I
Just simply push this lever
And it pops from one to the next
When I go to forward I could do the same thing in the forward Direction I
[can] stay on the Throttle and
Just click from one gear to the next we go to a constant bottle speed here
So I can go from 4/5 the six - seven
- eight
[-] nine
all without touching the clutch
You notice with my gear selector down here. There's a point where the shifter has a little
bump to the left to the right
That's there to denote [that] when you're changing between those gears the tractor is actually making a range change again
This is a glide [ship] transmission. So you're not clutching or stopping to make that range change like you would on a hydrostatic tractor
It's able to do it for you. So when I'm going forward and I'm increasing through my gears. I'm sitting here right about
30% Throttle when I go from Seventh to eighth
There's a moment there where it just sits takes a little bit longer to change Gears
And that's because the tractor is changing ranges at that point
it might be hard to pick up on video, but when I'm sitting here it takes, maybe
You know a half a second to change gears as opposed to a quarter second to change gear, so there's there is a small
Mechanical difference there that you can notice as you're shifting through the gears
So we go back to the application here for this particular customer. You know this guy is going to go [out]
He's going to bring his revs up to 540 for his mower
I'm gonna kick the thing in the forward and do most of his traveling in one constant speed the entire time all with gear driven
Transmissions being more efficient and wearing better over those thousands and thousands of hours, and what a hydrostatic is going to
So all that said you know not to speak Badly of hydrostatics. They are
[ninety-eight] [percent] of what's sold anymore, right?
It's a very very popular transmission, but there are applications where this light [shift] is still a viable
Option for particular applications, and that's why kubota has kept it in the product line for us
It's not a tractor that we would ever stop
We just simply don't see the demand for glide shifts anymore, but if you have an application where you could use something like this
It's certainly attractive that we could special water for you
So if you have any needs for machines like this give us a call at Messick's
We're available at 800 [to] 2 [to] 3 [373] or online at Messick's [Com]
you