I've got a problem.My BIL brought his Kabota tractor up here after I volunteered to get it running.The problem is that it has probably sat 4 or 5 years sense it has been ran.I don't really know why he bought it to begin with as he already had two other tractors so when this one wouldn't start he just let it set.Anyway I told him it was a shame to let it completely ruin and I could probably get it running.It only shows 500hrs on meter.Checked it out last fall and found rack stuck in fuel injection pump and one delivery valve stuck.Pulled pump and he took it to a reputable shop that does pump work and had it rebuilt for around $350.I installed it and it would smoke and hit but still wouldn't start.Also I checked glow plugs and all are working.I pulled injectors and found they were dripping and spray pattern erratic.Took them to same shop and they rebuild them.Around $200 more.Still wouldn't start.New fuel and fuel system cleaned.I checked timing,valves etc. I felt bad that he spent that much money and it still wouldn't run so I spent $150 for a kit to check compression.Spec called for 300lbs min.and I only had 125lbs on worst cylinder and 175 on other two.Squirted oil in cylinder and compression came up to nearly normal for a few revolutions and then dropped back down.Problem is either rings need replaced or possibly cylinder walls scored.I told him I needed to pull cylinder head and see how bad it is.He has now decided he doesn't want to put any more money in it and told me I could have it. I offered to buy it before I started working on it but at that time he wouldn't sale it.No way I will take it without paying but I really don't know what it's worth and what else I might find.It's 4 wheel drive and has a heavy duty mower under it.It's also hydrostatic drive and I don't know what setting so long has done to it.Any ideas what I should pay for it.He has always been fair with me and I don't want any hard feelings after I get it running and cleaned up (if and when I do)
I have been working on 2 3cyl. diesels, a kubota and a shiburia. Both have head problems. The kubota would only start with 2 batteries spinning fast and then not run right. We could not find any flaw in the head gasket but that is what fixed it. The other one, a ford 1510 can be started on either but hammers to a stop and lifts the radiator cap. Both of these sat a long time and that is not good without being started and run up to temperature every month or so. I bet yours would run if spun fast enough. If I wanted it I would find out the average price for it in good shape and deduct all costs to make it that way.
I think you're right about starting if I could get it to turn a little faster because it doesn't crank over very fast.With hydrostatic drive there is no way to disconnect drive train when cranking.Pretty sure low compression is my main problem and wandering if cylinder walls may have rusted or rings are stuck.I don't have any experience working on equipment that has been setting that long.
Put it in the "for sale" forum here, and advertise it "as is". i.e. shake loose of it hanging over your head. Share any money you get with your BIL and send 5% to be kosher with the Forestry Forum per the for sale rules here.
Just sayin...
BIL said if I would give him $1000 for the tractor he would be happy.I have a 10 year old cub cadet now but it is not built as heavy as this one.I pulled tractor over in the driveway and cleaned it up,removed mower deck and side covers.A little rubbing compound and wax and it now looks worth repairing.I hate to work on a dirty machine.Found out parts are going to be pretty expensive but I figure even if I have to put another $2000 in it I'll still be ahead.Will be nice to have 4 wheel drive and maybe cut down on what I now have to cut with weed eater.
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Well it looks good parked ;D. I like Kubota reliability but they are as crazy as Deere on parts.
I have been buying parts for my old BX online at Messicks.com . They always come out cheaper then my dealer even with shipping costs. They have a fairly good stock and parts lists for many different kubota models online.
Thanks for the info 21incher,I have been looking at Messicks parts lists and they seem to have a good selection of parts for my machine but I have never ordered anything from them.Nice to know you have had good luck with them and I'll probably order what I need there as soon as I figure out what that might be. I have a dealer about 30 miles away but they don't have a very good reputation for getting parts in a timely manner.
I found the timely issue with 2 dealers too. ::)
2 weeks!!!!!! :o :o ???
That was one of the reasons I got rid of it.
Should be able to order form a dealer and get the parts you need.
Last order I broke the lift arm on my BX and my dealer wanted $142 with tax plus hardware and 7 days to get when I called. Found it online at Messicks along with new hardware for about $125 shipped. Placed order before noon and they shipped same day. Had everything the next afternoon by a brown truck that handed it to me. I still buy oil and filters from my dealer because he gives me good prices on machines and fun to see what's new.
I've almost quit trying to buy anything locally except groceries.Went to NAPA the other day to get a couple Kohler engine oil filters as my welder and mower use the same filter.Counter man put them on the counter and said I owed him $57.I expected them to be a little more than a auto filter but not that much.Looked online and found them for $12 a piece. I believe in supporting local business but that's a little ridiculous.Also online filters were Wix which is who makes NAPA gold filters.Guy who sales Cub Cadet and Stihl chainsaws acts like he's doing you a favor when he has to order you parts and doesn't get in any hurry doing it.I hate to drive all over town looking for something and usually come home empty handed. I guess I'll just keep UPS in business.
We're the same way. I like to keep the parts counters there because they know a lot of stuff I don't, but... ya gotta meet me halfway. Anymore I can look it up and get it here quicker than the counter man. More than ever, he needs to be able to hand me the right part the next morning, somewhat competitive, or it makes no sense to drive a half hour each way to return empty or wrong.
Years ago we were building a house down near Fayetteville, NC, heading towards the coast. Once we started playing "where ya from, who do you know", that man's uncle had the keys to my NAPA up here, and every other one on the way from there to here. He was the overnight delivery man. I enjoyed knowing who was making the rounds when I called in.
Wlmedley, that thing is CLEAN. I also have bought stuff locally and online from Messicks.
Granite, I spent several hours cleaning it up.My BIL had never washed it all the time he had it but it cleaned up good and sheet metal is in really good shape.I pulled the cylinder head off yesterday and placed an order with Messicks for rings and upper gasket kit and a few other small items.$650,I hope that will get it running.If it does another $500 should get it in good shape.They sure are proud of their parts. :laugh:
I used to think parts were expensive for my Deere until I bought a Kubota. The last 3 years Kubota part prices have skyrocketed. But atleast most are available. Good luck, that is a nice little tractor.
Putting the money into that Kubota to fix it right now may seam like the whole deal is too expensive. But if the tractor is kept under cover and treated right, over time it will be a deal. Machinery well only get more expensive and those little 4x4 tractors are handy.
Got my Kubota tore down today.Wouldn't take much more to pull engine completely out but I don't have a engine stand and figured for the work I'm doing it's at a good height.When parts get here I'll drop oil pan and pull pistons.If everything still checks out ok I'll hone cylinders replace rings and reassemble.Plan on rechecking compression as soon as I get head back on.Hopefully it will be back in spec.When I get it all back together it will be kept in a dry barn :laugh:
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Nice progress. Looks like the head is off already. Look forward to what you find out.
Maybe I'll get some incentive from your rebuild to pull the PTO clutch out of my CUT and see what is causing it to stick so tight. (Will engage just fine, but hard to disengage.)
Beenthere,I know what you mean.I've found making myself start on a project is the hardest part.I also would much rather put something back together than take it apart.
Correction to previous post.Would rather put it back together than take it apart as long as I was the one that took it apart :laugh:
The 3 cylinder kubota engine we just put back together was very hard to start and had a slight miss. No. 3 was low on compression. We did rings, rod bearings, no.3 piston and rod , main seal and a valve job. Non of this was needed but we could not find the reason for the miss so we did everything while the motor was out. It was almost certainly the head gasket but no way to tell. It is like new now.
Pulled pistons out today and cleaned up all my parts.Found reason for low compression.Rings stuck on all cylinders.Had a time getting rings off and piston grooves cleaned out.Pistons in good shape,bearings look good and bores good.I'm happy.Parts came in from Messicks today and I should have enough to get thing back together.More to come.
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When You put it back together [do i need to say this?] clean the radiator fins where the eye can't see. They plug up all the time If the tractor is used for mowing. This problem is the death of the compact tractor and very common. I use the 'diesel antifreeze ' and dump it every 2 or 3 years and it comes out so clean.
I'm wondering why a diesel engine with only 500 hours has a stuck ring problem. Engine trait for model or lack of maintenance?
I think it sat. Condensation can do a lot of damage.
Got my little tractor running.Honed cylinders.Bores looked good and end gap measured good with new rings.Installed new rings.When through cylinder head with new exhaust valves and lapped all valves.New valve seals and gaskets.Spent around $800 at Messicks and another $100 on hone,valve spring compressor ect.Was sure glad to hear it run.My back payed a price for being bent over for two days.Transmission and hydraulics working good.I was afraid hydrostatic transmission might have problems from setting so long but seems ok although it has a slight leak somewhere.Will check it out when my back straightens up.Kubota transmission oil is $170 for 5 gallons.Can't have it leaking :laugh:
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I have purchased from Messicks several times. Good outfit. They were the only ones with the Synthetic UTD fluid I wanted to use at a reasonable price.
Once you find the leak in the hydraulic system and get that fixed, I would suggest the following:
Dual fluid and dual filter change
Step 1: Drain the fluid and change the filter. Also clean the transmission strainer screen.
Step 2: Install a new filter and the minimum fluid amount.
Step 3: Run the tractor, drive it a bit on level ground and operate the controls to circulate the fluid until it reaches and fully cycles through the system at least five times. You want to get everything warmed up to help dislodge any sludge.
Step 4: Drain the fluid and change the filter.
Step 5: Install a new filter and fill it to the maximum fluid level.
Step 6: Run the tractor and allow the fluid to circulate again by operating the controls.
Step 7: Check the fluid level and add more fluid if necessary.
This will be expensive but as you noted, you will still be far ahead on value.
That will be a very handy little machine. My little BX takes a beating and keeps on going. I recently bought a Kubota zero turn and just found out the 250 hour maintenance requires drive oil change with Parker HT 1000 oil that is over $100 a gallon and doesn't come in 5 gallon buckets that the machine needs. Prices for oils are crazy lately. Glad Messicks came through for you.
You can't use universal hy-tran in an out of warranty Kubota??
Didn't buy transmission oil at Messicks.I should have because it was about $30 cheaper for 5 gallons than the dealer. I figured shipping would be high on something that heavy.My plan was to change transmission and front axle oil as soon as I got engine running but now need to see where leak is.Put a gallon in and still not full.Hopefully I won't have to disassemble hydrostatic unit to repair leak.Service manual doesn't give alternative oil for transmission so I'll stick with Kubota oil.It did say 90W could be used in front axle.Plan to change engine oil again after running a little more.Still need to order blades for mower deck and a seal for mower deck gear box.I've got a lot of fairly steep banks that I've been mowing with a self propelled walk behind mower.This machine will help me a lot.My old knees aren't what they used to be.What I like is how easy it is to get parts for a 25 year old tractor .
25 years old? Man that's NEW! My newest tractor is 1985 [2110 ford compact] and oldest 1941 JD H. Nice job, you got it made mowing those banks now.
Good to see the tractor back in action! Good work!
Checked out transmission leak on tractor.Turns out its not going to be an easy fix. I'm pretty well committed to fixing this thing now.Already put in to much money and especially time to give up plus I'm really looking forward to mowing with it.Can't tell for sure where oil is leaking from but have got it down to either pipe between transmission and clutch housing or gasket between hydro unit and transmission.Either way now I have to split rear of tractor.Went ahead and ordered more parts.Got new blades for mower and mower gear box seal while I was making order.Another $500 bit the dust.If this tractor had been taken to the dealer for repairs it definitely would have cost more than what it's worth but being I work for free I guess I'll still come out ok.Have ran it around enough that I fill pretty confident everything else is ok.One thing about it is I'm going to know almost every piece of this thing :laugh:
Had a big leak from the transmission housing on my NH1520. $2 "o-ring " inside transmission fixed the issue but had to split the tractor to get to it. If you are operating normally other than the leaking, I would expect you will find something similar in yours.
Was hoping for a $2 o ring but turned out to be a $50 gasket.Leaking between hydro unit and transmission.Can't see down in that area without splitting machine. I guess if was easy everybody would want to do it :laugh:
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Quote from: Wlmedley on August 23, 2023, 03:35:58 PMI guess if was easy everybody would want to do it
I have been saying that for years. Looks like you are progressing well. Kudos!
@Wlmedley (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=58995) Congrats on your determination and progress! When you get er all buttoned up you should have a machine that will last quite a while!
I usually buy new and try to take really good care of anything I buy.My little 1020 Massey Ferguson tractor was bought new in 1987 and I've not had to do hardly anything to it.This Kubota has been fighting me every step of the way but I don't blame it. I can tell it's a well built machine but just hasn't been taken care of.I can't tolerate having something that doesn't run right or has oil dripping out of it.A new one would cost around $13000 and being I plan to use it mostly to cut grass that seems pretty steep.Hopefully when I get it back together this time I won't have to work on it for a long time.Endeavor to Persevere :laugh:
Removed hydro unit today and tore it down.This is something that I wasn't looking forward to.A lot of small parts and if not put back together correctly it could self destruct.Out of curiosity I checked price of complete hydro unit.Only $5800!I'll be sweating bullets until I can get this back together and see it working properly.I've built up quite a few piston pumps and motors but nothing this small.Everything looks good.Don't know why gasket failed.All other gearboxes are sealed with silicone only.Now I just have to wait on parts and second guess myself about assembly of hydro unit.If this retirement thing doesn't work out I guess I could get a job at a Kubota dealership :laugh:
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Should have my tractor back together in a few days.There was an o ring in hydro unit that I didn't order when ordering gasket.Thought I had better replace it also but Messick's didn't have it in stock and just sent me a e mail that it is
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on the way.Took a week for them to find one.While I was waiting I went ahead and cleaned up mower deck and replaced blades,tore down little gear box and replaced seals,installed a few missing bolts and greased everything.Hopefully I'll get to try it out before the snow flys.
Looks like the tractor will be good as new!
I'm enjoying your rebuild
Bill, you better not let Kubota see that you know what your doing...they'll hire you right outta retirement! Good techs are hard to find!
It's not back together yet.In a couple more days we'll see if I know what I'm doing or not.If I don't get it running good I'll never live it down. :laugh:
Quote from: GRANITEstateMP on August 31, 2023, 08:35:20 PM
Bill, you better not let Kubota see that you know what your doing...they'll hire you right outta retirement! Good techs are hard to find!
My experience with Kubota over the last 4 weeks with my defective side by side is that the service reps are totally useless POSs. They don't know how to solve issues and just throw parts at things without listening to the dealer mechanics. They have no idea and don't care. should be working at McDonald's. I made a mistake being loyal to Kubota.
21incher,
Sounds like you have a dealer with communication problems. I've seen that before, sometimes its a misinterpretation of the customers complaint/concern from the service writer to the tech. Sometimes I've seen the customer explain to the service writer what they thought was wrong and how they wanted the tech to start the diagnosis. I hope you get yours figured out, but lumping all the service folks into the pos category might be a bit much, I know quite a few techs/writers/parts guys/and such in a few different disciplines, no doubt some are hacks, and some are parts replacers, but the majority aren't
Not at all. Crankcase fills with oil and gas at about 12 ounces in 20 hours. Original Kubota said this is normal if it's not run hard enough but finally the dealer got them to open a case. They approved oil change , head gasket check, and new injectors. The dealer then took it to his farm and ran it hard for 5 hours. Oil still went up with contamination. Dealer asked for more help and so far they are saying it's normal for the engine just change the oil every couple hours insteadof the normal schedule. Seems to be an issue with others also and I heard that it's a problem with the Subaru engines.
Dealer just got a new one in and talking to the mechanic they have totally redesigned the injector and intake manifold along with adding a couple sensors mid year for some reason with no explanation. The Kubota rep is avoiding the mechanic on a couple problem machines because it seems they don't know what to do to fix them. Been at the dealership over 4 weeks and the mechanic is good but can't touch anything without pre approval from the rep that has no ideas and is useless. I have 20k in a garbage machine from Kubota and won't accept it back until it's fixed and the mechanic knows it's not fixed but Kubota is saying they don't have a fix but it looks like they came up with one on new machines that were just implemented. Kubota doesn't care.
Do you have Kubota insurance on the machine?
I worked at a heavy equipment dealership my entire working life.Started with Case moved to International Harvester and ended with Komatsu plus many different side brands thrown in.With many design problems we would find the problem long before the manufacturer and if it wasn't to expensive to modify we would go ahead and do it.If it required a major modification the dealer had no choice but to wait till the manufacturer came up with a fix which usually seemed to take a long time.Looks like they would just replace your engine if newer design has taken care of the problem but who knows what they are thinking.Komatsu always seemed to pretty good about admitting they had a problem and trying to correct it even when it cost them a lot of money.I have always been impressed by machines manufactured in Japan .Quality control was second to none in most cases.Hope they get your machine fixed .
Quote from: SawyerTed on September 01, 2023, 07:16:48 PM
Do you have Kubota insurance on the machine?
No just the 2 year warranty coverage good until next June
I talked to the owner of the dealership 2 weeks ago and was told a replacement engine was talked about but would not solve the problems because it would be the same engine. Don't think the new engine would work as all the electronics have also changed including the ecu for the new cam sensors and map sensors plus the intake air is routed through the frame that may be part of the water issue with condensation in the tubes. This is not made in Japan. Mine is one of the early ones off the Georgia line when Kubota started building their own engines. Sorry to hijack this thread but Kubota says all communications must go through the dealer and the dealership is trying hard to help but Kubota is of no use as the rep is ignoring the problem and saying it's something your stuck with even though it's not right. Looking at the New farm equipment lemon law if it's not fixed right and this qualifies under it. Sorry for the rant.
Finally got my tractor back together.Everything seems to be working good.No more oil leaking from transmission.Not something I would want to work on everyday but I guess it was worth it in the end.Need a few small items (head light switch ect) but I can get aftermarket and not pay Kubotas high prices.My grandson was up yesterday and helped me try it out.He has always been afraid of tractors,atv's ect but my DIL figured out he didn't like the noise.A set of earmuffs and now he loves riding on the tractor.Threw a fit when I shut it off .Going to put mower deck on it today and try it out.
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Wow looks like a newer model. Great job, your gamble definitely paid off. Enjoy it.
Good!!! glad you both are happy with the tractor.
Nice work, might work out better than a new one. Is that the next owner riding with you?
The Kubota saga has now ended.Spent a lot of today putting mower deck back on and adjusted.Another job that turned into more than I had figured.Adjusting turnbuckles frozen up,casters all had to be moved ect,but I am finally finished.Tried it out and was pleasantly impressed.Mower runs smooth and cuts really good.Machine will go around pretty steep banks and up and down steeper ones.Was thinking about getting a new weed eater but now I think my old one will last a while longer.I think I now have about $2800 invested but probably at least 60hrs of labor.Wouldn't really want to do it again but would if I had to.Now to get back to other work I've been neglecting.
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