A Closer Look at Kubota’s All-New SVL75-3 Compact Track Loader

Bryan Furnace (00:09):

Today we're here to talk about Kubota's new skid-steer, the SVL75-3. Apparently they have revamped almost everything on the machine. So here from Kubota to talk to us today is Jerry Corder. He's going to give us a breakdown of what all has changed on the new Kubota series. So I guess let's just start at the rear of the machine. Can you give us an overview of what's changed, what you guys have had your hands into on the new dash-3 series?

Jerry Corder (00:38):

Absolutely. And the rear is a great place to start. Once you open up the engine bay, the first thing you see is that it's completely been redesigned. This machine is all about productivity and serviceability and once you open up that engine door, there's nothing in the way to get you to the filters, fluid flows and all of that. We've moved the radiator up on top, the fuel tank to the rear door.

Bryan Furnace (01:01):

So if I'm understanding that correctly, the fuel tank actually, does the door swing out with the fuel tank on it, so everything's easily accessible there?

Jerry Corder (01:08):

It does.

Bryan Furnace (01:08):

And now that is no longer taking up space in the rear compartment where you're trying to get your hands around the motor to fix things.

Jerry Corder (01:15):

Correct. As soon as you open that door, everything would ever need to touch is right at your fingertips. We've put in the pre-cleaner from our SVL97 series on top, we've added a lockable fuel fill, which is real important in some areas of the country. And moving the radiator up on top has caused us to put an optional reversing fan up on top so that you can keep that rear deck clean of debris.

Bryan Furnace (01:42):

That's fantastic. We do a lot of forestry application work and it is always a nightmare trying to keep the top of that engine compartment clear of debris, to keep the fire hazard down, to keep everything breathing the way that it's supposed to. So I'm really glad to hear you guys have added that. Anything else at the back of the machine engine compartment wise that you'd like to tell us about?

Jerry Corder (02:02):

If you close that door right there in the door is that new wide angle camera, which gives you 176 degrees of visibility, including right there off the back bumper. You can see everything behind you and you don't have to account for a blind spot. And yes, that does show right there on the brand new 7-inch touchscreen.

Bryan Furnace (02:20):

That's beautiful. I will say, and this isn't Kubota, this is just manufacturers in general, as an operator in the past, what's always been frustrating is you've got these great backup cameras and then you have this very tiny little screen with very poor resolution that you're supposed to make sense of that picture. So it's really nice now that manufacturers are starting to put in the high resolution screens.

Jerry Corder (02:39):

Yeah, seven inches doesn't seem like a lot. When it's right in front of your face in the cab, it's plenty big to see.

Bryan Furnace (02:47):

Moving to the outside, the sides of the machine, what's changed on the outside of the machine?

Jerry Corder (02:51):

We've changed the loader arms from front to back. We have a higher hinge pin height up front and a higher cross pipe in the back for better rearward visibility. Anything with that camera, it's still necessary sometimes to look behind you and now you can do that without that cross pipe in the way.

Bryan Furnace (03:07):

Perfect.

Jerry Corder (03:08):

We've also added standard LED lights front and rear. Not that it necessarily has to do with the side of the machine, but we borrowed some aspects from some of our other machines. From the SVL65, we have taken the advanced multifunction valve, which allows for seamless, simultaneous operation loader arm and an attachment. So you can be lifting a load with a combo bucket and working everything at the same time and it doesn't bog anything.

Bryan Furnace (03:36):

So you've actually increased the amount of functions you can do at one given time with the machine?

Jerry Corder (03:42):

Absolutely. As I mentioned at the start, this new machine's all about productivity and serviceability. And one other thing that we have added is we've added the auto downshift function from our line of excavators, which automatically shifts from high range to low range as you're entering a turn, so that it smooths out the ride as well as gives you good exiting torque from the turn. And it shifts back into high range when you're done. This is especially important if you have a high or a heavy load and it just keeps it smooth and consistent.

Bryan Furnace (04:14):

Now I'm going to be operator in the room here and I'm going to ask the question, can I run around, zip it around in rabbit speed all the time and then as I go into a pile, this will automatically downshift into turtle so that I can get into that pile and then immediately zip off? Or do I still need to downshift into that turtle mode?

Jerry Corder (04:33):

In a pile, you would still need to downshift. This relates to turns.

Bryan Furnace (04:37):

Okay. Okay. So the machine is sensing the turn more than it is the load on the motors themselves?

Jerry Corder (04:44):

Absolutely.

Bryan Furnace (04:44):

Okay, perfect. Well, let's move into the cab. Let's change. I hear you guys have had your hands all through that cab.

Jerry Corder (06:07):

Correct. First of all, it's a brand new cab. We've gone from a two piece cab to a one piece cab and it still has the roll-up door.

Bryan Furnace (06:16):

Yes, perfect.

Jerry Corder (06:17):

And the one piece cab seals the cab from dirt and water intrusion. It makes for a quieter environment.

Bryan Furnace (06:25):

Yeah, those one piece cabs, that's one of those small things that just when you look at it at 30,000 feet, doesn't look like it would have that big of an impact. But when you are in that machine, it is substantially quieter. You get far less, like you said, dust intrusion. It's a much cleaner experience. But then I'm so glad you guys kept that rollup door. That is one of the biggest, back in my days of selling equipment, I could always get people with a rollup door. That is such a nice feature.

Jerry Corder (06:52):

The cab size is still the same. So you get in, you sit down, you've got plenty of room around you and it's just a comfortable place to work.

Bryan Furnace (07:00):

And then you mentioned also you guys increased the screen size. So this thing has, and like you said, seven inches does not sound like a big screen, but when it is four inches from your face, that's actually a pretty dang big screen.

Jerry Corder (07:12):

Correct. And it includes a lot of features in and of itself. It has keyless start, it's touchscreen as well as it has a jog dial. It has integrated Bluetooth and radio. You can change the track settings off of that. You can administer a number of accounts. So if you have different people and you want to lock one person out of high flow or high range, you can do that.

Bryan Furnace (07:33):

I will say that, again from an operator standpoint, it has been so nice to have now that first of all we've gone more to the DH style controls over the conventional pilot controls. Having all of that adjustability and tweaking ability within those menu systems but then also, like you just mentioned, have different user profiles where I can change the sensitivity, the hydraulics, the track speed, all of that stuff for me. And then my buddy Rick can get in there and he can have his own setup and the two are completely independent of each other. That is such a convenient feature to have.

Jerry Corder (08:06):

Absolutely. And especially in rental environments and other places it's a real benefit.

Bryan Furnace (08:10):

Yeah, absolutely. So let me ask you this. From what I understand, these are full on in production. This is not a coming soon interview. This is, it's here. Go down to the local dealer and check it out.

Jerry Corder (08:21):

Yep. These started showing up in dealers or they started shipping in May, first week of May. So they've been in dealer hands for three months.

Bryan Furnace (08:30):

Well, anything else highlight-wise you want to cover before we start to wrap up here?

Jerry Corder (08:34):

I talked about productivity. Some of the other things that we've increased is a higher ROC, we've increased the hinge pin height as I've mentioned. We've increased the auxiliary flow, we've increased the speed in both high and low range. This is an incredibly productive machine. That one piece cab, it lifts up with assists. One person can do it and once the cab's in the air, you have a fairly straight shot right off the back of the machine. Without that radiator in the way the clean out is a breeze. So easy maintenance, easy serviceability, and definitely productive. And it comes performance matched with our system company Land Pride's different attachments.

Bryan Furnace (09:11):

So it sounds like whether I had a bad or a good experience with Kubota previously, I need to come check out the new dash-3 series because it is not the same machine.

Jerry Corder (09:20):

Without a doubt. One of my salespeople, I've been leveraging this common that aside from the fact that it has a rollup door and it's orange, it's all different.

Bryan Furnace (09:28):

Well Jerry, thank you so much for all the information. I genuinely appreciate this. I'm excited to see the new dash-3 series. Well thank you again for Jerry taking the time to come on the show to give us a rundown of the new dash-3 series from Kubota. As you can see, they have had their hands in almost every aspect of this machine. So if there's been something in the past that you haven't liked about a Kubota machine, I would absolutely encourage you have another look. Give the new dash-3 series a spin and see what you think. As always, I hope this helps you in your business. We'll catch you on the next episode with The Dirt.