Good morning. We're just getting back off of Kubota Connect 2023. This is Kubota's annual dealer meeting that we attend every year. Generally, a really big marker in the year for introducing all the new things that are going to be changing in 2023. Both internally and business processes and priorities of the company and the dealers. Also, importantly to you, an introduction of all of the new models that we're going to be seeing in 2023. We're going to spend some time here talking about all the different changes that we're going to be seeing to the various product series with Kubota this year. Join me here for a little while.
We're going to dive into the changes for 2023. Some of what we're going to talk about today is small and expected refreshes. Some of these things can also be really significant. One of the more significant ones is what is happening in the LX series. We have two new models coming out. LX3520 and LX4020. Now we talked through Kubota model numbers. We know the first two digits there are the horsepower. The second two are a series identifier. These are 35 and 40 horsepower tractors. These are a replacement for the prior LX3310. The LX2610 will remain in production as the value member in this series. That's a really popular model.
That one stays in production. That's a 26 horse variant where these new ones will be at 35 and 40. This one has a lot of changes to it. The most significant is the transmission. When you see new models come out, in most cases the bones of that tractor are usually kept. In this case, the entire rear end of this machine is redesigned. That is primarily to reduce the HST whine on this tractor. I own one of these machines. The whine is louder than most. When they introduced cab versions of this machine, it became more problematic. Being inside that cab, you really hear the noise a lot. The new model now is going to have a much quieter transmission. I can confirm that because I got to run the tractor around at the show.
It is a lot quieter. That redesigned transmission also has a mechanical version of Kubota's auto throttle. It allows you to tie the HST pedal to the engine RPMs and make the tractor drive a lot more like a car. It's a feature that we've had for a long time over in the Grand L series. That now is going to be available in the LX. The new models are also going to have a flatter platform without a hump in the middle. It makes it easier to get your feet on and off the machine. All the lights are upgraded now to LEDs. You're going to have better visibility. The tractor receives new grips and controls the whole way around, making them a little bit more comfortable.
The front axle, importantly, is getting wider. You're picking up about an extra 4 inches of width in the front axle, which is going to help the machine be more stable. That is echoed in the loader. The new loader for this model is also about 4 inches wider. That's going to make the loader a little bit more solid and stable, but also, create more room to be able to drive the tractor between the arms when you're taking the loader on and off. The new machine also has a 540E PTO. That allows you to have a gear selection for the PTO so that you can run the tractor at lower RPMs but still have a 540 speed PTO coming out the back.
That's going to be important for that 40 horsepower model because most of the PTO implements for this tractor do not need 40 horsepower. You can run the engine RPMs a little bit lower, have the thing run a little bit quieter, but still have the speed that you need for your rear attachments. The additional horsepower also allows this machine to have a faster travel speed. It's going to have memory switches for engine RPMs. You have an electronic rocker over there that you can save an RPM, allowing you to tap it and have the engine jump to that speed. Most handy for setting your 540 engine RPMs so that you're not hunting for that with a mechanical lever.
There is a new mower deck available for this tractor now. It's going to have garden hose attachments on it to make cleaning under the deck easier. Just set your hose onto the deck there, spin the blades around, and let the water wash the underside of the deck out. Lots of changes coming to the LX. Some very significant upgrades. We're going to see shipments on this start in March of 2023. There is some existing field inventory out there of the older models that are going to be available here for a little while at a slightly lower price point. The next big upgrade that we're seeing is over in the SVL75.
I'm jumping around here a little bit, putting the big change models here near the front of the list. This thing gets several upgrades. In terms of capacity, it has a little bit more lift capacity. It has a higher boom lift, increased hydraulic flow, wraparound LED lights on the top of the cab, a higher ground speed. The air conditioning controls are now up at the front of the machine rather than behind you. The switches are the same switches that are now used in the Dash 5 excavators. They're bigger buttons that are all rubberized, and they have backlights on them. I love how they feel. They're very cool. You also have a touchscreen now that has keyless start.
You can plug in your codes. Importantly, it has an integrated backup camera as standard equipment. The one thing that I really like about this is, one, the size of the screen is a nice 7-inch screen. It fits beautifully on the side of the machine. It doesn't crowd you when you're getting in and out. They also have placed the backup camera in a good spot. Sometimes when we see these backup cameras, they feel a little hacked on. This one is integrated into the back door, and it's a very wide-angle camera. You can actually see something that's only 2 feet back behind the machine. A lot of times the camera view on these things is done in such a way that you can't see what's behind you very well.
This one is really good. There's a Bluetooth radio that's going to be integrated into the machine now, and it's standard equipment. You can tie that to your phone, and there is a microphone inside of the cab there already to pick up your speech if you're talking to somebody on your paired cell phone. Around the back of the machine, the fuel tank now is in the rear door of the machine. This is how Kubota's skid steers are done, and we love it. It helps serviceability, and it also gives a little bit of hidden capacity to the machine.
The specs on these things are done with empty fuel tanks, and filling that thing up with fuel gives you more ballast on the back end of the machine and a little bit of a spec bump when you've got a big, full fuel tank there in the back. The new model can also accept additional weight kits on the back. The older ones could not. If you look in the top side of the engine here, you're going to notice rather than the radiator being vertical across the back of the machine, hiding your access to the engine, you could debolt and swing the radiators out on the new model. This is definitely a lot easier now, locating them up over top of the engine.
Stacked on top of that now is an optional reversing fan. That reversing fan allows the radiator to run backwards so that any chaff and dirt can be blown off of the radiator. That will happen automatically with a timer that can be set inside the cab, or you have a button in there to run it manually. This is important for machines that are run in really dirty environments. It helps keep the cooling pack there on top of the engine nice and clean. It's a feature that we have been asking for, for a long time. The drive motors in this are also changed out now. They're going to feature an auto downshift option.
If you're driving the machine along in high and you go into a turn, and you need low range to have the torque to make your way through the turn, this can now sense that load and automatically downshift the track motors. The gentleman in the video here is one of our salesmen. He has been a heavy equipment operator for over 15 years. He was really happy with the way that this thing felt. It's a very nice upgrade to the drive of the machine. The cab itself is now a full one-piece cab and is pressure positive. The reason why that's important is because pressure positive cabs keep dust from ingressing in through any of the places in the cab where you might have hoses or gaps in the cab structure itself.
That pressure positive cab should help keep the inside of these machines a little bit cleaner. You also have an on-off switch now for a self-leveling function to have the boom go level up and down. Four minutes of me talking as quickly as possible for all the things that have changed on the SVL75-3. This is a hugely important model for us. It's very popular with our customers, and these upgrades are going to be making this machine even more attractive. For something a little less earth-shattering in our world, last year we would have had upgrades to two models. L3301 and L3901 were upgraded to the L3302 and L3902.
Now that left one model left in that product family. The L2501 remained as the economy model. That machine this year is getting the same treatment. The L2501 now becomes an L2502. It's picking up all the same upgrades that the other models did last year, so things like improved ergonomics, moving your PTO knobs and stuff around closer to the front of the machine, rubber floor mats, additional lighting and stuff around the front of the machine. Just the look of this machine is really sharp as well. It's a very nice visual upgrade if you're into the appearance of tractors. Just the same changes that would have happened over on the standard L series last year.
Exactly the same thing is happening with the L4701 as well. This is the next step up in the product family, a little bit larger frame, but receiving all of the same upgrades. New loader, new bucket options for that loader, LED headlights, side working lights, improved suspension on the seat, the brake pedals. We're talking about both the L2502 and the L4701, the brake pedals and the hydrostatic pedals are switched so that they're on different sides of the machine allowing you to do steering brakes with your hydrostatic tractor. Arm rests are available now for this even though it is the economy tractor, you can option it back up with some of those comfort features.
I really like the fuel water separator that's on this rather than some cheap assemblies. You've got this really nice large fuel water separator that gives you a great visual to it. There's some changes to some of the oil gauging and color caps and controls that just modernize the tractor and make it look a little bit better. The standard L series has a new tire option as well. This is the Track Loader 2 tire. Now this tire is going to be exclusive to Kubota. This is a little along the lines of what happened with R14 tires years ago which have become really popular. This Track Loader 2 tire is an alternative design to the R4 is what it would look like to me.
That large bar cleat on the R4 now has a gap cut out of the middle that should give it more biting surfaces and a little bit more tractive quality to it. This is a Kubota exclusive tire. You'll see the circle K's molded into the tire itself. Sharp looking design and it's pretty cool. Now we have some new narrow tractors as well. We've got two different ones here to talk about. Narrow tractors are not high volume products. They're usually sold through to things like Christmas tree farms, orchards, nurseries, places where you need small narrow tractors. Now these machines cannot be equipped with loaders.
Now previously there was one of these in the small end of the B series but there's now some new options. There's an LX3520 that's a narrow version of the LX series large frame tractor and also an L4802. It's going to give us that narrow option up in the larger L series frame. This is two places where in the past we never have offered a narrow tractor. Probably not high volume models for us. I see most of our customers, particularly Christmas tree farms, still sticking with the small machine because that's the point here. If you need a little bit more horsepower, a little bit more capable tractor, think vineyard pulling a sprayer deal, Kubota has got more options for you now than we have in the past.
We have some rolling production changes happening on the M6. Now you're not going to see new model numbers for this. These are changes that are just going to happen along with regular production. You've got some changes happening here to the loader stick that are going to add shifting controls up on the loader stick so that you can change your gears on this tractor while you're driving. Also, two neat changes to the transmission. One of these is a knob over on your right hand side that allows you to change how hard the machine shifts as you go between forward and reverse.
You're changing the pressure that's put on those clutch plates as you shuttle. Now you can make that really soft if you're shuttling the tractor and you're not under load, or if you are under load you can make it a little bit harder so that you don't slip those clutch plates too hard. It allows that tractor to shuttle more smoothly overall than before that was adjustable. That's a nice change. You also notice a new button up here on the dash. That goes and allows the tractor's brakes to declutch the tractor, is effectively how it feels. As you're driving along in a field, say you have a hay baler behind you and you need to slow down a little bit for that baler to work through a slug of grass.
You can now just tap those brakes a little bit, allow the tractor to slow while the slug works its way through. Take your foot off the brake and go back to your cruising speed again without having to jump the tractor around in gears. Also it's nice if you're rolling to a stop at just about anywhere, rather than having the transmission push the tractor along if you step on the brakes. Now if you hit them it will declutch the machine and allow you to roll to a stop as you go. Nice feature. Believe it or not, that's how most tractors in the past have not had something like that but we're seeing it a lot more often, and it is an unusual feature to have down in this class of tractor.
Normally you need to be in more deluxe or larger machines before you start to pick this stuff up. I was a little light on the pictures here on the M7 but it's receiving a lot of the same upgrades here that the M6 is. In the standard and deluxe machines where you have that mechanical valve for your loader, you're going to see the same stick now that's offered here in the M6, again putting those transmission controls onto the loader stick. The M7 is also receiving a lot of small incremental updates around the machine. This is going to a Dash 4 series now, so if you pay attention to all these model numbers we were in an M7 Dash 2, we're skipping over 3 and going to 4.
That's because a lot of these changes have been so small. The Dash 3 version was only shipped in Europe and never came to the United States. Going to the Dash 4 now is just incrementally improving this tractor here that's been out for a little while. There's nothing earth shattering here except for a new selection for the front wheel steering speed. If you're working this tractor in tight areas, these are machines that are commonly found in feedlots and stuff, you can change how many rotations of your steering wheel it takes to take your tires from lock to lock. This selection is going to basically allow you to double the steering speed.
It's just going to help this big tractor to be a lot more maneuverable. Small changes happening in the M7 but significant enough to be worth mentioning and justifying this new Dash 4 model. Many people don't realize how large of a company that Kubota has become here over the years through a number of different acquisitions. There's a lot of other companies under this portfolio that are over time starting to merge closer and closer together. Kubota Canada offers a number of things that are pictured here that we don't have in the US. Surely we'd like to have some of them, particularly the corn planter. There's some really cool air drills, some big plows.
This is stuff out of the Kaverlin product line. Most of it's offered up in Canada. It's fun to walk around these shows and see all these things. It gives you some appreciation for the breadth of the company and the different things that they offered. If you're a Canadian, you've got a bunch of things here that are new to you that I haven't talked about so far because I can't sell them as much as I'd like to have them. Also under there is the Great Plains line. We've got some of those things sitting around the showroom. A lot of stuff from Lamb Pride. Many people have still not picked up on the fact that 70 years ago now, Kubota purchased Lamb Pride.
You've got new implements that are always offered to us at this show. Some new snow blowers, changes to quick hitches, 4-in-1 buckets for small tractors. There's a really cool Harley Rake pre-seater type deal that goes on the back of a BX series tractor. For a small machine like that, you can actually do some turf prep, which is neat. We've had a lot of customers ask for that in the past and never really been able to offer one on a tractor this small. A lot of additions to the Lamb Pride product category. We also saw Lamb Pride start offering some rear remotes, which is neat.
If you look at Kubota's line in third function kits, that additional hydraulic circuit to go out on your front loader, you'd have an option from Kubota's OEM, but also Kubota internally through Lamb Pride offering an alternative, cheaper third function kit through that side of the family. The same thing looks like it's happening here with a rear remote. If you'd like some cheap rear remotes to put out the back of your machine, we're going to be able to order some of those under Lamb Pride. Now they're not going to be as clean and tightly integrated as what the OEM options are. Those will always remain your nicest choice.
If you're looking for something really simple to say, operate a sickle bar off the back, and you don't want to put on these expensive rear remotes to do it looks like Lamb Pride is going to become a source of those for us, which will be cool. Also something that we're going to get looks like it's going to be a greater selection of top and tilt kits, very much along the same thinking here that we get all these third functions and now rear remotes through Lamb Pride, and now we're starting to see top and tilts offered. That's going to give you the hydraulic top link and a hydraulic side link to be able to make adjustments on your three-point hitch from the seat of the machine.
Some of these things were teased in the past, but it looks like they're actually going to be available for ordering now. As supply chains start to correct themselves, we should be able to get some of this stuff in. Fun to see all the variety that's offered between all these different companies, all kinds of supporting that core Kubota tractor. Over on the turf side of the house, we've got a couple of new changes as well. The F3990 is receiving a new engine and a new model number coming out as the F3710. This is the front mower that we tend to sell mostly to municipalities, school districts, the occasional higher acreage homeowner or farmer that's got a lot of mowing to do.
This is receiving a new engine. It's the same engine that's being used up in the LX4020. It's being run in a turbo configuration down here at 37 horsepower in this model. The important thing here is going to be an approved DPF operation. The older model, we had a couple of problems here and there within really cold weather when it came to regens. This is a new design. It's going to be a little bit more proven, should be more reliable for us. They've also added some hood assists, some redesigns in the back end of it, some guest struts to hold that, and the first place that we're seeing Kubota offer tie downs in this equipment.
There's some hooks on the front of the back of the machine here. If you're trailering this between locations, say if you're a school district taking the machine between school locations, you've got factory locations now to be able to throw your straps around, which is going to be really handy. The 1611, the high horsepower zero turn mower is also getting an update. That's going from the ZD1511 to the ZD1611. We're seeing exactly the same thing happen here is up in the F-series, this is running this same engine, 37 horsepower with a turbocharger on.
It's going to have that improved motor on it, an improved monitor for the operation of the machine, and the same tie-down points. We've got those cool hooks now to be able to throw our straps on. Over in the more residential series, you've got a couple of changes happening over here in the Z200 series. These things are mostly in relation to vibration, which is a problem in these low price point machines. When companies start making things to hit those low box store price points, you're going to see some compromises made, and one of those compromises is often in terms of vibration.
This machine now has things like more rubber isolation around the base, some weighted sticks in the drive that help keep that vibration from the motor from making its way up to you, the operator. It just makes it a nicer machine to run, it's a little less fatiguing. You're also going to see rubber floor mats, some push-button starts in some models depending on the engine configuration, and these guys should start shipping here to be available for this coming turf mowing season. We've got some changes happening over in the RTV series, this time specifically with the sidekick, the RTV XG850. I own one, and I appreciate the things that they're doing here.
The biggest change in this machine is going to be the setup of the foot pedal. The one in the older model, its positioning is in a place that can make it a little fatiguing to operate, and also really hard to drive at slow speeds. The new model is not nearly as jumpy, and your foot position is a lot better. It's actually a much more significant update to that machine than what it may sound like owning one of those. These are things that were really sorely needed. The engine is going to be changed in this one as well. The new one has about five or six more horsepower, and it's tuned a little bit differently to help with hill climbing and under load pulling, so it's going to outperform the old model in that way. Some visual changes are happening here.
There's going to be new decals on the new models, and then also a new stone gray color. This was done last year with a desert tan model. It's a limited edition, one per dealership offering. It comes in with a whole bunch of standard accessories installed on it. Very popular machine. A lot of people were trying to chase these things down. That desert tan color from last year is now coming into the product line. It was a limited run last year, and it was so well received that they're removing the green color from the product line and now offering the desert tan to be able to be ordered. That's nice.
I like the look of that way over the green one, so we'll be able to sell those to other people who may have been seeking those out and unable to find one. There's also a crossroads configuration here of the RTV520 we're going to be receiving. That's going to come with a factory cab, an electric bed lift, alloy wheels, cargo box mat, and a glove box already installed in the machine. Again, this is a limited offering. We're only going to get a couple of them. It's a tricked-out, built-up version of the RTV520. Jumping back to the construction world, the KX71 is getting upgraded now with the KX030.
Many of these changes aren't very surprising because we've seen them happen in other parts of the product line. The KX71 was just lagging behind the rest of the family. That machine had gotten really old, frankly. The rest of the excavators had moved on, but now it's finally catching up. This is offered in both an open station and a cab variant. It's getting a little bit more powerful. It's getting a spec bump the whole way around. Out on the boom, you now have a diverter block, so if you have your thumb on the machine, you can just flip the diverter over to be able to plug in a hammer or another attachment out on your boom.
The biggest change in this machine is just in terms of the controls being upgraded and a very significant change to the roominess of the platform. If you look at the cab version of this, the cab is absolutely huge for this size machine. Now, importantly at this point, the cab does not offer air conditioning. We caught one out here in the field that had an AC compressor on it, so somebody is clearly experimenting with it, but the ordering codes that are out there for us right now do not include air. For us here in the Northeast, that's generally a big deal. We usually want our excavators with air. This one does not have it.
On the mechanical side, the travel motors in this machine now feature auto shifting, just like we were talking with up in the SVL75. When those track motors are in high range and become under load, they will automatically shift down the load to help you make your turns. It just makes these things a lot nicer to drive, less things to fuss around with while you're traveling from place to place. Shopping for a piece of equipment and we can help, or if you have parts or service needs for a machine you've already got, give us a call at Messick's. We're available at 1-800-222-3373 or online at messicks.com.
