Please Help - B21 3 Point Measurements

[dfkrug]

One final question. I noticed the tractor's piston rod at the backhoe bucket has a slight curvature to it along a the front to rear axis. There are no leaks and the bucket works fine. There also does not appear to be any dings or marks on the piston indicating an impact. Are these piston rods designed that way by chance?

Not just "no", but he** no!

You have to straighten the rod before you buckle it. If it is only slightly
bent, you can straighten it to near perfect using a press. It requires
disassembly of the cylinder. I have successfully straightend several
rods with my HF 20T press. If you do not have that setup, take it to
a machine shop.

As for the 3-pt hitch, my B21's parts were all missing, too. I suspect that
most owners do not store the arms in the provided brackets. I, too, think
you will be fine with aftermarket arms, lift links, and stay chains of the
correct size. Aftermarket toplinks are often superior to the OEM Kub units.

 

[MarkV]

The top link is no issue at all. I accurally like the one I have from Tractor Supply better than the original. Not sure I have stored any of the 3pt pieces in their proper storage places during the last ten years so don't stress too much about it.

Now the bent cylinder rod may well be an issue. As dfkrug says that will be a weak point. I have seen it happen when the bucket is wedged behind an inmovable stump and something has to give. That is how I did it on another tractor. If you feel comfortable with doing it, some of us have carefully bent them back using the tractor hydraulics. In my case I wedged a piece of lumber under the bent section and curled the bucket until the rod was close to straight. That lasted for a number of years until I sold the tractor. No question a machine shop could do a more accurate job.

MarkV