mattbatson

so, little history first....
bought this tractor sight unseen from Noonday tractor auction a DBA under J&K tractor sales/auction based out of Flint, TX and had it shipped to my home in Florida (by the way, I do believe that Brandon, the owner of noonday, did not know about this problem, and he has offered to send me 500 bucks for my troubles...which I accepted of course)

At the time I realized the risk, but the price was better than anything else i could find.

As it turns out, me seeing it in person probably wouldnt have made any difference whatsoever...

Intermittently, the starter wouldnt turn over the engine. The solenoid would click, like it wanted to turn, but wouldnt.
so, a hit with a pipe and bang off it would go...
then it would be several starts before seizing up again.
So, I pull off all the side engine panels for a closer look and I find that the top, where the gear case meets the engine, is separated and in fact the gear case itself is cracked with a big peice missing...
pics are tough because it is hard to see/get down there...

tractor :: 012-1.jpg picture by mattbatson - Photobucket

The top four mount bolts are either missing or not connected due to the fact that the bellhousing of the gear case is shattered there.
you can stick your finger down there...if you could get your hand down there.

I'll have better pics after I remove the fuel tank (which isnt going to be all that easy either).

So, looks like the entire tractor needs to be disassembled.

so, local kubota dealer says they would have to split the tractor in half (whatever that means) and remove the engine...and would be at least 20 hrs at 75 bucks per hour.

so, looks like I'm gonna be tearing this sucker apart by myself

that gear case part is 3K new, and there are only two available..both in CA

My plan is to hopefully avoid buying new, and to take this gear case into a metal fab shop and get them to do some magic. Since the gear case seal against the engine doesnt need to be able to seal in fluid or air, I think we will be able to figure something out. I do plan to own this tractor forever, and to pass it on to my son...but 3K is too much for us to drop on this tractor right now.

of course, this is probably a month away, as it is going to take me a while to get everything apart

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If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
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Thomas

Dang..Ouch,not good start for tractor owner.
Hope your up and running less time and not so costly.

mattbatson

yeah, it is going to be a good "getting to know my tractor time"

It is too bad that the previous owner of this tractor did such damage, and then tried to conceal it and sell it.

If I didnt have a soul, I would do the same thing

However, I'm planning on sticking it out.
I think there is a possibility that the frame may be bent...that the tractor may have been dropped onto a rock or something...this would cause the engine and gear case to want to separate`
when I dig deeper, I'll know more.

even if the fram is bent, I think I can get it straightened by a shop...we'll see

__________________
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

Thomas

Bent frame to boot..sure hope the front loader okay if one...no snapping/cracking etc. sounds.

mattbatson

disconnected this clamp here on both sides
and then...



and then this little bolt here



and it all comes off

I keep looking at this thing here and wondering what it is?



another pic

__________________
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

mattbatson

i dont know if the frame is bent...i was thinking there is a possibility considering the damage to the gear case it would seem that something pretty traumatic happened...like dropping it off a small cliff or something

so far as the fel, it seemed to work fine (keep in mind i'm no expert), although one thing i did notice was that were the arms cleared the fel frame as they went up and down...there was a lot of room (maybe 4 inches or so) on the left side, but only half an inch on the other side....all of which would indicate it might be slightly bent.

I would think that can be fixed also, if it needs to be, in the future.

again, I could come up with some colorful words to describe the type of person who would pass on for sale a tractor that he did this to...but there is no need, as we all already know

he just better watch his six, cause karma is a bitch

__________________
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

Thomas

Does the locking rear end engage easy?

mattbatson

you know, I never tried it out.
It said in the manual to only use it when going in a straight line, and I just never got around to using it.
the lever does move fine up and down (down at your left foot on mine).

i imagine I wont be trying that out with it running for quite some time...until I fix the gear case and get it all together I guess.

does that bear some indication of a bad situation/condition?

__________________
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

mattbatson

Kubota B1750 Tractor with Loader - YouTube

i happened onto a "for sale" youtube video of my very own tractor.


I was trying to keep my 2.5 yr old entertained for a couple of minutes, and he loves anything with tractors or big trucks in it...so I pulled up youtube and typed in kubota tractor.

the very first video I clicked on was from a Mcgrew equipment corp. of a b1750 for sale.

So, I'm looking at the guy work the tractor through it's motions to show everyone how well the tractor worked , when I noticed it had a bushhog FEL just like mine.
Then I noticed the tires were the same, and it had the same little golf balls installed on the Hyd levers for the FEL, and the bucket was identical with the same bends and hooks, and the taillights on the left was loose and turned around and the reflector under it was missing the plastic cover...etc.

then I looked up Mcgrew equipment, and sure enough they are in Seven Valleys, PA which is where the dealer I bought it from purchased it.

What are the odds eh?

And I'm watching the video and saying to myself "Damn, that tractor looks like it runs GREAT!"

I really hope my posts on here helps another newbie like myself when they are looking to buy their own new "old" tractor....

Lesson learned is that there is always the possibility of something else lurking underneath the surface...something that may be very difficult to diagnose from a quick 15 min evaluation in the dealers parking lot.
__________________

__________________
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

Thomas

You are correct about working locking rear end.
Seen heard some don't use locking rear end right and in time a real mess inside tranny...fingers cross not so in your case.

You tube...what are the odds,almost make one want to post update on the tractor.

mattbatson

post an update on youtube...now that is an idea.

might just do that

__________________
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

mattbatson

worthington used parts supply has found the part and says it is 675 plus shipping.

they say that the clutch housing is part of the gear case, but only a part of it.

this may mean I can just remove this part of the gear case, and leave the rest of the case alone.

__________________
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

mattbatson

finally got it into the garage



have it up on wheel casters to make it easy to move around

working on getting the dash off, then will be going from there

__________________
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

mattbatson

finally got the dash and tank off...been busy chasing an electrical problem on one of my cars....

video instead of pic's cause the wife had the camera...

Untitled on Vimeo

__________________
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

Thomas

My word talk about abuse.
Wonder how much action tractor seen since wide open crack and what extras maybe inside.

Have you consider a complete over haul?

mattbatson

yeah, there seems to be some real idiots out there running these things

I am going to replace or repair the gear case...wont know for sure until I get it off.

then clutch assembly and universal joints, maybe the rear engine seal if leaking, etc.
I dont know for certain what I will replace until I get it all apart.

will post up more pics as I continue with disassembly.

__________________
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

mattbatson

Okay, did some work tonight in the garage...

Okay, so it seems, for some reason, the previous owner had done some welding on the FEL frame. In this picture, you see where part of the FEL bolts to the clutch cover (which is what I'm taking off and replacing). Not sure why this is, but may be related somehow to whatever catastrophic event may have happened...who knows exactly what.



Below, you can see the other side is not welded...just relying on the factory bolts to secure it...



I also found a crack on the FEL frame on the passenger side that will need to be welded up (since I am removing this frame anyways, it shouldnt be a big deal)



and another shot



here I am removing a couple of hyd hoses that are really hard to get to normally, but are exposed with all the stuff I've taken off....so they were both a little old looking and I'll be putting new hoses on there...





and here I am beginning to remove the power steering box (still so happy that I have power steering, cause I thought it was a manual box when I bought it)...disconnect the hardline



and then the soft line....and every hyd hose disconnected gets some black duct tape to keep out the debris...



Ran out of time, but just need to get the tie rod, or whatever it is called, disconnected and the power steering box should just pull off the clutch cover.

Then I'll start removing the FEL frame....

cheers !

__________________
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

Thomas

If not to late or to much disconnected,maybe power washer or good air hose to get rid of the grim etc...may come in handy when putting back together of finding (hope not) more damage.

mattbatson

hey, yeah i thought about doing that too.
I go out to work on it, and I'm so anxious to get it apart, that I always forget.
Maybe today....

I'll tell you what, the original gray paint on the clutch cover is in amazingly good shape...still has the gloss and everything....once I get it washed you'll see

__________________
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

mattbatson

got the power steering off...



and also found this...



this is at the rear of the clutch cover, just before the seat.

The more I see and dig, the more damage I find

next is stuff like the foot steps and pedals, FEL , etc...with other honey do list stuff, and the 2 yr old to watch, I have to find little bits of time where I can.
I'll keep ya posted

__________________
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise: