B2150 w/ cracked FEL bucket

[Stephen]

Hi and a happy upcoming new year to all.

I've a line on a used B2150HSD (oh how the requisite size of my toy has grown) w/ the Kubota 60" belly mower and LA350 FEL for just under $12k. 400 hours, one owner, stored indoors.

Looks good from the pictures so seems like a pretty reasonable price. Comments ?

Anyway here's the kicker - the FEL bucket has a 5 inch crack near the middle of the bucket which the owner intends to have fixed. I can easily imagine closing a crack with a weld or a welded plate, but can anyone tell me if this is really sufficient or what a proper repair would be ? I'd hate to have a bucket fail while lifting some heavy load. Potential horror story.

Are all 2150HSDs 4wd ? Just what do all the letters after the model really mean (HSD, HSE, HSB, HST, DT) ? OK H seems to be hydro but the rest is a mystery.

-thanks,
Steve

 

[Bird]

Stephen, I'm no expert by any means, but a 5" crack in the bucket? I'd just weld that sucker myself, grind off any excess to smooth it, maybe give it a shot of paint, and forget it.

As for all those letters, I can't remember all of them myself, but I think
HSD=Hydrostatic transmission, 4WD
HSE=Hydrostatic transmission, 2WD
HSB=Don't remember that one
HST=Hydrostatic transmission (may be an "E" or "D")
DT=Geared tractor


Bird

 

[Kevin_mc]

Steve, I imagine your pretty excited about closing this deal. Any chance you could get the price lowered and let the owner keep the split bucket and you could by a new one. There will a lot riding on how well that split is repaired. Now this seller might be somebody who you've known a long time but I don't know that so I find myself wondering how that FEL got mistreated to create that split and if the B2150 has been mistreated also.

As for all the acronyms I knew what some of them were when I was shopping but that has been two years and most of it has slipped away. You might want to visit a dealer and get some literature which may have other models but the same acronyms.

Good luck with your deal. You may only get to spend that money on a tractor once so don't get anything less than what you really want. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Kevin Mc

 

[Kevin_mc]

Bird, That seems like a lot of trouble to fix a bucket for carrying fishing tackle. But I guess you don't want it to leak so you can use it for a live well./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Kevin

 

[Thomas]

Stephen,
Was that 5 inch crack in front of the bucket or in the back....I was just wondering.

Have a safe and Pleasant New Years.

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[JerryG]

Steve,
Have a V groove ground in to the crack to clean it up and weld it. It's not a big deal. Most any loader bucket will develop stress cracks if it’s used very much. I would also weld a reinforcement plate on the back if its not going to be in the way after the V groove is welded.
Don't let something as common and as minor as a crack in the bucket keep you from getting the tractor if it's the on one you want.
JerryG

 

[gordon]

Whoever designed the kubota bucket had to own a sand pile. The buckets are lightly built to say the least. The lighter weight gives more lifting cap. at the cost of a bucket that is easier to bend and or crack. So I wouldn't be worried about the bucket. As the others have already said just v groove it and weld it up and the weld will be stronger than new.

To give more strengh to a bucket bottom add some plate steel across the bottom. This will help with two things added wear plate and more strengh.

gordon

 

[Thomas]

gordon,
Still /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gifing how you express a Kubota bucket,that was a good one. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Kelvin]

Steve,
The "B" suffix means that tractor has the "Bi-Speed Turn" option on the 4wd models (N/A for 2wd models). Therefore the B2150HSDB would be a 4wd B2150 with Bi-Speed turn.

In layman's terms, bi-speed turn allows the front wheels to turn faster than the rear ones while in a turn thus reducing wear & tear on the ground and creating a tighter turning radius.

I purchased an 800 hour B2150 HSD with Kubota loader about two years ago for under $9500. In comparison, it seems like the one you are looking at is priced on the high side. I would think that $10K-$11K would be an appropriate price range without any serious or expensive defects. I'm not qualified to comment on how to rate the loader crack.

[EDIT COMMENTS: I didn't notice that the mid-mower was included. That makes the price seem pretty good after all. Sorry about that.]

The B2150 has an excellent reputation overall. I will tell you the things that I don't like about the B2150 (in comparison to the B2710 [which essentially replaced it] as well as the B2410/B2910). Note that this is not an attempt to talk you out of the B2150; just making you aware of differences that you should know about.

(1) Tire & Wheel availability: Officially, the B2150 had Ag and Turf tire options; no R-4 option.

(2) The B2150's mid and rear PTOs turn on and off with the same lever. With the newer models, the two PTOs are controlled by separate levers allowing independent or simultaneous operation. If you do not use the B2150's mid PTO, make sure that it has the cover on it; I was using a 3pt rotary mower in tall grass and grass wrapped around the spinning mid-PTO nearly causing a severe field fire (after the grass heated up quite a bit) and then the grass tore up the mid-PTO seal causing a hydrostatic fluid leak.

(3) The ground clearance for the mid-mower is very poor. The flat-deck models have much better ground clearance.

(4) Flat deck: I like the flat deck quite a bit. Wish I had one.

Hope this helps,
Kelvin


<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Kelvin on 12/31/00 07:19 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[Stephen]

WOW !! 8 replies ! I can always expect quick and competant responses here. Thanks All.

I don't know the current owner except by phone & email but I finally squeezed a description of the crack out of him. He describes it as the front plate (toothed plate) at the front lip of the bucket as the cracked part. He says he will get it cut off and a new one put on at his local Kubota dealer for $100 and change. Anyway I think that if the description is correct it allays my fears of a bucket failure under load. I'll want to see it close up.

Price ....
Used tractor prices seem to be a little loose and wild. I've found comparable B2400HSDs at $10.5k to $14k.
I've seen a lot of B2150HSDs and some B2400s on the market. Relatively few of the newer models
(B2410s & B7500HSD) except at Carver's.

After adjusting for attachments I find B2150HSDs (after 1995) around 1000 hours for $7.2-$8.5k, and ones around 200-400 hours closer to $9k or a little over. I don't see many deals that match Kelvin's <$9k, B2150@800hrs + FEL>, tho' I'm still looking.

If you've got 1000 hours on a tractor in 2 to 4 years it's probably seen commercial, maybe rental usage - that's my fear anyway. I've had enough misaligned rental cars to understand that issue !
--
A new B2410HSD ! I'd guess it would come in at least $15.5k with FEL and mower and it's really overkill for me. Even the B2150 is bigger than I need. I'd prefer to find a B2100HSD or a B7500HSD but they are relatively rare in the used market (for different reasons).