BX25D. Mod #1 and continued.

[4shorts]

YouBoob...I like it.

Ya me to :laughing:

Wow- I was going to post some photos of my new Harbor Freight 4x8 trailer assembly and the little additions I made, but Paul's work is so fine, I am embarrassed to waste people's time with my junk. Not only are the welds perfect, but the photos are really good, too, which makes the posts even better. Keep up the sweet work! I have bolts/nuts in my bucket from attaching the tooth bar, and I think I would have used flat head allen bolts, threaded into the bucket's thick lip, if I had to do it again. I think that would work?

Thanks my friend but you really give me way to much credit. I'd like to see your work on your trailer. Hey I like photos too! You have to be really careful when drilling the lip of these buckets. We're the lip was welded the metal can be very hard and almost impossible to drill so tapping is even harder to do. That being said, I've ever had any issues with the nuts in the bucket. If I did I would have come up with a way to avoid using them.
Great to hear your enjoying these threads.

4shorts-
All of the mods you have made on your tractors are extremely creative, innovative, etc. They are well thought out and not just "bling" that serves no purposeful function. Your creativity and ingenuity are enviable. Your fabrication skills are outstanding also. From the materials you use to the impeccable craftsmanship your mods are amazing. I wish I lived close enough to you to see if I could get you to do some mods on my L3200 HST. I would like to have my tractor "tricked-out" with some of your mods (tool box, lighting, cutting edge, etc.). I could follow your lead, but I don't have the craftsmanship or tools to complete them as accurately and neatly as you do. Your improvements are professional and factory quality.

Keep up the good work and keep the photos and videos coming.

Well DEK its safe to say that you made my day if not my month sir and I thank you very much for that. It's so nice to hear that people enjoy seeing my work in progress and its even nicer when guys like yourself take the time to say it. It gives me the encouragement to continue. It do take time to do these jobs plus take photos, do writups and then shrink the photos them upload them but after reading your post I realize its worth it.

Thant being said I started a new mod on the BX this morning and worked on it steady all day. It took 9 hours to do and I'll be posting the work in about an hour so stay tuned.
Thanks again for your kind words :thumbsup:

What bucket size and model tractor was the cutting edge from? Also what were the original dimensions of it? If i had to guess I'd say it started off as 54" x 6" x 1/2" but not positive.

Great job once again!

The cutting edge was from my Kubota dealer. I snapped a photo of the PN for you. It was around 61" long. My dealer said they couldn't find one short enough for the BX and I really didn't mind. This one came with the bolts, nuts and washers. I think it was around $200.
Thank you!

 

[Scooby074]

Looking good Paul.

Congrats on the BX.

I like the ripper, next up is a QC for the backhoe bucket :thumbsup:

Speaking of backhoe buckets, a smooth cleanout style bucket is on my list of projects for either this year or next. The small factory bucket is not real good for cleanup, takes a long time and its hard too keep on grade, well it's harder and more time consuming than a proper ditching bucket. I guess I should say.

If you have much ditch cleanup to do, you might want to consider it.

 

[BelarusBulldog]

Nice addition to the bucket Paul, any idea how much it weighs? Nice neat install too by the way.

 

[4shorts]

Looking good Paul.

Congrats on the BX.

I like the ripper, next up is a QC for the backhoe bucket :thumbsup:

Speaking of backhoe buckets, a smooth cleanout style bucket is on my list of projects for either this year or next. The small factory bucket is not real good for cleanup, takes a long time and its hard too keep on grade, well it's harder and more time consuming than a proper ditching bucket. I guess I should say.

If you have much ditch cleanup to do, you might want to consider it.

Thanks Jason. Yup. I got one of those buckets to make as well unless you want to make two and send me one

Nice addition to the bucket Paul, any idea how much it weighs? Nice neat install too by the way.

Ramsay I think it weighs in at 40 lbs. I just didn't want to wear out the buckets lip.

 

[4shorts]

Today was a day for another mod on the new BX. Anyone that has a BX will know or at least should know that the HST cooling fan is very easy to damage on these machines. Although Kubota tried to address the issue but putting in a fan guard I think It might have actually helped if we lived in a perfect world but I don't so I set out to design my own.

I called this project designing on the fly. I didn't really know what direction to go in this morning when I started it. I had some checked plated aluminum I could have used but decided not to. My goal was to make it look as if it came with the machine so I'll have to let you decide if I accomplished that goal I also didn't want to loose any ground clearance and I know I accomplished that.

A few technical issues were run into such as the front Drive shaft. had to work around that thing. Then there was the HST mechanism sticking down and then there was the issue of how to attach it. Well I designed a skid pan instead of just a guard. I also designed it in three sections and it completely covers the underside of the tractor. I also included a section for the HST filter so it would be protected. I punched slots in various places to aid in cooling.
I started out by removing the OEM fan guard and pressing it back flat. I then added some material to it to stiffen it up then punched four holes in it and tacked four nuts to it. From there I built from that. I used 1/8th steel plate that I had left over from another job and to get around the HST pedal linkage issue I just simply housed the system in or boxed it in if you like. I also punched three small holes in the lower section of that so water couldn't build up.
I get a lot of question on the plasma cutter I use so I included a few photo's of that. I think the rest is self explanatory looking at the photo's.

The next few mods will be truly custom ones so don't change the channel.

 

[4shorts]

Here are some more photo's.

Here's the finished product!

 

[BelarusBulldog]

Excellent! That's how "ALL" HST tractors should come from the factory!

 

[ericher69]

Paul;


Bravo on that "underarmor" for your bx.

Sure you could sell to other owners on the site.

Great mods and looking forward to more!

 

[Bob77064]

Great job Paul, have you given any thought to another shop in KY?

 

[4shorts]

Excellent! That's how "ALL" HST tractors should come from the factory!

So true my friend so true.

Paul;


Bravo on that "underarmor" for your bx.

Sure you could sell to other owners on the site.

Great mods and looking forward to more!

Thanks my buddy. Oh ya. There's many more to come. Thanks for posting :thumbsup:

Great job Paul, have you given any thought to another shop in KY?

:laughing: Bob I needed that laugh. Thanks. Is there a lot of tractors in KY? If there is I'm on my way. Could take awhile. I'm heading down on the BX :cool2: