Are most attachments a kit?

[Skyco]

Ok a couple of weeks ago I bought a KingKutter 4' rotary mower for my BX24. Had a heck of a time assembling it, ruined a 1200 lb come-a-long warping the 3-point uprights and backstays into place to get the bolts in. After about 6 hours use I had to weld the stop pipe in place below the pivot for the upper link. It is about a 1 1/4 pipe piece on a 5/8 bolt, after some use it dropped down to where the stop, a 1" square piece welded on the upper pivot, was just about to hop over the pipe. I pushed it up as high as it would go with all the play with a 5/8 bolt through a 1" hole and mig'd it in place.

Then today I spring for a Speeco FarmForce post hole digger at TSC, had a 10% off coupon so figured I'd go ahead and buy it. So I'm out in the backyard assembling it and the piece that attaches to the top link support on the BX is way too big top to bottom...so now I gotta get out the plasma cutter and put a big notch in it so it won't hit the stop above the pivot point that Kubota has for some reason. Without the notch being cut you can't raise the gearbox but about 2 ft off the ground- not gonna work since the auger bit is much longer than that.

Is this the way it's gonna be in the tractor world? On the one hand I love tinkering but on the other hand when I pay hundreds of bucks for stuff I expect it to be right... What the heck do guys do that don't have the tools to fix/modify brand new stuff?

BTW the gearbox with the PHD sounds really suspect, clanky and rough to me when turning it by hand. Got run inside by a storm so I haven't cut the notch or put power to the gearbox yet. And yes I did fill it with oil....

 

[LarryD]

Box blade came in a crate and required assembly, installed all bolts loosely and tightened up, no problem in 4 years. Landscape was the same. Hybrid brushog was the same.

Now if you want to talk about the Jinma chipper, that is a different beast. Lots of fine tuning required.

I'm pretty sure you shouldn't have needed a come-a-long to get the BB pieces together and any grinding in a gear box would cause me concern. Could that just be tight gears?

 

[Skyco]

I corrected a brain fart in my first message- it wasn't a box blade but was a rotary mower that I had to pull the parts into alignment..

Yeah the gear box feels weird, it isn't a grinding sound, more of a slight clank and a rough pulsating feel when turning by hand. The gear box on my rotary mower turns very smooth by comparison.
I'll get the notch cut and do some test digs in the morning, will see how it acts under power with a load.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

At TSC they are mainly kits. I'm thinking of a getting a KK tiller with my 10% coupon. I borrowed one last year and really liked it.

 

[JoeinTX]

As for the cutter, you got any pictures of the final product?

I can see some labor and manipulation, maybe, in getting it all together but not to the point of ruining other tools and making major modifications. I see KK shredders sitting fully assembled at TSCs all the time without any seeming problem in the assembly, so, did you assemble it right?

I had to partially assemble my Howse shredder but it was effortless and idiot-proof if you had any set of common hand tools.

"Without the notch being cut you can't raise the gearbox but about 2 ft off the ground- not gonna work since the auger bit is much longer than that..."


I can sort of understand this. The PHD maker is working on very general specs and is not designing it to work with a particular tractor or fitting which could require some tinkering. Again, pics would help a lot to really understand the situation and just for fun as well.


"Is this the way it's gonna be in the tractor world?"

Well, sometimes and sometimes no. I don't really buy any major implements that aren't fully assembled because I want to see and know exactly what I'm buying. A couple of years ago I bought a canopy kit that was "generally" designed to fit my tractor but it could also sort-of fit any number of tractors in the same size range. It wasn't a perfect installation...required some measuring and guessing and a few new holes drilled along with a few more pieces than was included in the "comprehensive" kit I had bought. No big deal because I've got a solid shade for my tractor seat.

 

[mjncad]

Is this the way it's gonna be in the tractor world? On the one hand I love tinkering but on the other hand when I pay hundreds of bucks for stuff I expect it to be right... What the heck do guys do that don't have the tools to fix/modify brand new stuff?

The tractor world learned this trick from the computer world.

 

[Skyco]

As for the cutter, you got any pictures of the final product?

I can see some labor and manipulation, maybe, in getting it all together but not to the point of ruining other tools and making major modifications. I see KK shredders sitting fully assembled at TSCs all the time without any seeming problem in the assembly, so, did you assemble it right?

I had to partially assemble my Howse shredder but it was effortless and idiot-proof if you had any set of common hand tools.

"Without the notch being cut you can't raise the gearbox but about 2 ft off the ground- not gonna work since the auger bit is much longer than that..."


I can sort of understand this. The PHD maker is working on very general specs and is not designing it to work with a particular tractor or fitting which could require some tinkering. Again, pics would help a lot to really understand the situation and just for fun as well.


"Is this the way it's gonna be in the tractor world?"

Well, sometimes and sometimes no. I don't really buy any major implements that aren't fully assembled because I want to see and know exactly what I'm buying. A couple of years ago I bought a canopy kit that was "generally" designed to fit my tractor but it could also sort-of fit any number of tractors in the same size range. It wasn't a perfect installation...required some measuring and guessing and a few new holes drilled along with a few more pieces than was included in the "comprehensive" kit I had bought. No big deal because I've got a solid shade for my tractor seat.

Yep the cutter is assembled exactly as the directions and pics in the manual dictate...longer bolts would have helped to pull some of the parts together. The main misfit though were the braces for the vertical 3 point attachments. The holes were a good 1/4 inch off. I assembled the unit for the first time at my property 120 miles from home, home is where my plasma cutter, torch, welder, drill press etc live....hence the use of a HF come-a-long to pull stuff into alignment, otherwise it would have been a no go situation. KK apparently wants me, the consumer, to do the final forming and bending of some parts it seems. The big bars that go back to the where the tailwheel bolts on are supplied drilled but not bent. In the instructions the ends have to be bent to fit...try bending 1/2" thick 2" wide bar by hand 3" from each end in the field during assembly. If I'd have been at home the oxy/actylene would have come out to heat the parts. Hence I call it a kit, rather than a finished product

The end of a top link is no bigger than the socket holding the swivel ball. In Speeco/FarmForce's PHD they welded the ball to attach to the top link point in about a 4" plate, measured vertically, so it is much larger vertically than a top link, this plate is welded in the end of the pipe that forms the boom. I guess they assumed all tractors have plenty of clearance around the top link ears- the Kubota BX24 does not have much above the pin holes- they have a plate there, presumably to keep one from raising the top link too far and damaging the bodywork right above it...works fine with a top link, but with the more massive end of the PHD boom it is a problem.
I'll get some pics after it is light out...

 

[Skyco]

Ok here are the pics-
1st is the PHD boom as it comes
2nd is the modified end
3rd is the top link attachment point on the Kub with the bar that is in the way, see the nice dent I put in it before I realized there was an interference issue?
4th is the PHD on the tractor, it now raises far enough to work!

Sorry didn't have any yellow paint so touch up was Kubota Orange and the pics are poor because they are cell phone pics, didn't bother to go in and get the good camera.

You can also see my homemade ripper tooth on the ground in the first two pics...

 

[JoeinTX]

Pics look great....

Yeah, I would have to chalk that up to the manufacturer building the top-link end to generic specs rather than thinking about any particular make or model tractor it might be used on. It would fit just fine on any old Ford or MF. But, your modification there looks mighty fine.

Hate to hear about the KK assembly.........yeah, I can see how forging that that thing together in the middle of nowhere with no real tools could dampen your enthusiasm. Why they wouldn't have more consistent holes/fittings or go the small extra step of finishing some of the parts is a mystery to me. It doesn't seem like that much extra effort and it makes me wonder if the guys at TSC are constantly fidgeting with these things to get them together for sale.

 

[Rowdius]

I had to put my KK shredder together, and did not have these troubles, all of the braces and straps were fairly easy to put together. Now, one of the drain plugs were next to impossible to remove...