Replaced the HST fan

   / Replaced the HST fan #1  

rnbrn21

Bronze Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2013
Messages
69
Location
Honeoye Falls, NY
Tractor
Kubota BX24
Today I replaced the HST fan and shaft boots on my BX24. It was a lot of work but most people with some mechanical ability should be able to handle it. I ran into a couple of problems I thought I would share. The first problem that I had was removing the black plastic knobs for the 3 point hitch lowering and mower deck height adjustment. They do just pull off but it requires a lot of force. I ended up using a pry bar. When I tried to remove the rear bolts holding the fender on I stripped the inserts out of the handles on both sides. I had to use a set of vicegrips the get the screws out of the inserts. I'm not sure how I would have prevented this problem. I have used epoxy and glued the inserts back into the handles, I won't know until tomorrow when I try to install the bolts to see if the epoxy holds. I would say that the hardest part of the job was moving the engine out of the way to be able to move the drive shaft forward. I used a piece of 2x4 with a hole drilled in it to clear the drain plug on the oil pan and lifted the engine with a floor jack. This worked pretty well. When I replaced the shaft boots a placed a spare boot on the shaft facing forward in case the front one ever gets torn. The last thing that I did was install a Bxpanded skid plate so that I hopefully won't ever have to do this again.
 
   / Replaced the HST fan #2  
Glad to hear you got it fixed.
 
   / Replaced the HST fan #3  
All that work is exactly why I bought and installed a Bro-Tek skid plate as soon as I bought my BX25. While I was doing my research on which tractor to buy, I found the HST fan to be a concern since I knew what I would be doing with the machine. So far it's doing it's job just fine and I have no worries about the fan. Good work on the replacement. I hope that's the last one you need to fix.

Paul
 
   / Replaced the HST fan
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Unfortunately I learned about this liability a little too late. With the Bxpanded skid plate I shouldn't have to worry about it again. I did learn a lot about my tractor with the process of the replacement
 
   / Replaced the HST fan #5  
Unfortunately I learned about this liability a little too late. With the Bxpanded skid plate I shouldn't have to worry about it again. I did learn a lot about my tractor with the process of the replacement
That's a good thing.
 
   / Replaced the HST fan #6  
I had a MF GC2310 for a couple of years that had the hydro fan. Since then I have traded for a little larger Kubota and it seems like I have read about broken fans on the Kubota BX series pretty often over the years and I rarely saw it on the MF threads. That could be related to volume or more engaged threads. Anyway, I googled Massey Ferguson GC fan, and a link came back to TBN about a member that outlined on the Massey GC's it is a 20 minute job and less than 20 dollars to replace it.

My point in all of this is that Kubota has got to be aware of this issue over the years and also know that a lot of owners do some work on their own and to make owners move the engine, and epoxy pieces like mbrn21 just went through, to replace an easlly damaged part seems irresponsible towards their customers. These tractors have been around long enough for this to be addressed by Kubota. I've seen at least one thread where a perfectly placed stick even got through the skid plate option. Are the 2012 and newer BX's still designed this way? Time for a design adjustment on Kubota's end of things.
 
   / Replaced the HST fan #7  
Totally agree with the assessment that Bota should review their use of fans. I traded my B2200 off for a 2620 because of the fan issue. I am constantly working in areas that have sticks and such that could bust up the fan. The 2620 has a hst heat exchanger that sits infront of the rad and keeps the fluid sort of cool. The 2620 also has a lot more ground clearance .
 
 
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