BX 1800

[Dyer retired]

Barryh,

I like the lights and the protective cage a lot. I went with the square housed halogens on my rig to clear the garage door when pulling in and out, but find that they emit a pretty focused square beam to a fairly small defined area in the front of the tractor that I've finally set for about 10 to 15 feet in front of the blower. Again, probably OCD, but after hitting a couple of heavier branches, I am forever adjusting them to be level with each other where the beam hits the ground. Do you think therapy is warranted? Dyer, retired

 

[Barryh]

Barryh,

I like the lights and the protective cage a lot. I went with the square housed halogens on my rig to clear the garage door when pulling in and out, but find that they emit a pretty focused square beam to a fairly small defined area in the front of the tractor that I've finally set for about 10 to 15 feet in front of the blower. Again, probably OCD, but after hitting a couple of heavier branches, I am forever adjusting them to be level with each other where the beam hits the ground. Do you think therapy is warranted? Dyer, retired

I've noticed with the square beam tractor lights they seem to come in to versions, one is a narrow focused beam and one emits a wider area beam. I have the version that emits the wider beam. Can't recall the item number or info at the moment. But if you look at the back of each package it should tell you. When the weather warms up I plan to go over my tractor again and do some upgrades and, add more accessories.

 

[Dyer retired]

BarryH,

I suspected there was some difference, because I'd never seen such narrowly focused beams, but when I bought them I was not so concerned and just picking up the $12 buck units, or whatever minimal price they were. I've since replaced the bulbs with higher wattage halogens and they do fine. Too much time on my hands right now and thinking of projects to fix when warmer weather hits. John

 

[Barryh]

BarryH,

I suspected there was some difference, because I'd never seen such narrowly focused beams, but when I bought them I was not so concerned and just picking up the $12 buck units, or whatever minimal price they were. I've since replaced the bulbs with higher wattage halogens and they do fine. Too much time on my hands right now and thinking of projects to fix when warmer weather hits. John

John, wherejago?? Feeling better and like your old self I hope. Hows that snow coming along?

 

[mcnitt]

I believe the focussed beams are spotlights, and the wide beams are referred to as trapazoids.

 

[Dyer retired]

wherejago?? Feeling better and like your old self I hope. Hows that snow coming along?

Barryh,

Feeling better every day, but going slow. I have an old habit, like everyone else, of thinking I feel ready to do some manual labor and end up undoing the good work of the Doctor, so I'm listening to him this time. We got a foot of snow two days ago and it's 36 degrees right now. My back deck is completely covered in snow because I don't dare run the walk behind blower up on to clear it (that thing is a wrestling match on a good day to use,) so I called one of my buddies and his High School son is looking to make some cash and is coming to do the work for me. My buddy advises to offer him cash instead of food, it will be cheaper, ha! More snow and rain (they don't seem to know yet) coming tonight...either way it will be a mess, but DST coming the 9th, so things will at least feel like summer is coming soon.

I included a picture of the rear deck I'm talking about and it doesn't look any different today, so I'm nervous about any rain event on top of it. Glad the High School kids still don't mind working a little. Thanks for checking in. John

 

[Dyer retired]

mcnitt,

The spots are more focused than I really like, but with everything else, they mounted up and look o.k., I can actually see what I'm doing now, and so I've gotten used to them. Thanks for the reply. Dyer, retired

 

[Dyer retired]

MILS153,

The blade I have is on the rear 3 point hitch (The second picture gives you a better look at the blade) and it can be pulled...as I have it ready to do here, or turned around and pushed...which is what I do with the lighter snowfalls. I pull the blade often times to let the edge dig down through the harder packed snow to the frozen ground and pull it out to a pile where I can then use the blower to toss it into the woods. It has no down pressure beyond the weight of the blade, but that's been plenty and I level my dirt driveway in the summer with it easily (well, you know...after a little practice.) Depending on how frozen the horse manure gets, I would think you'd be able to haul that out with the blade, but don't quote me. If you post your threads to the general audience of TBN, you'll find that there are probably a great many people that use the rig for exactly what you are intending and could give you far better experienced advice on how it will work.

I think the price sounds great and hours would not scare me. I also find that there is nothing made of metal or fiberglass that can't be made to look brand new again, so even minor blemishes would not deter me. My brand new tractor had hydraulic leaks when I first got it and they would have been fine, but for driving me crazy, so I just took the connections apart, sealed them, and have not had a problem since. Good luck and buy that thing before someone else does. Let us know. Dyer, retired What part of Maine are you in by the way?

 

[Barryh]

wherejago?? Feeling better and like your old self I hope. Hows that snow coming along?

Barryh,

Feeling better every day, but going slow. I have an old habit, like everyone else, of thinking I feel ready to do some manual labor and end up undoing the good work of the Doctor, so I'm listening to him this time. We got a foot of snow two days ago and it's 36 degrees right now. My back deck is completely covered in snow because I don't dare run the walk behind blower up on to clear it (that thing is a wrestling match on a good day to use,) so I called one of my buddies and his High School son is looking to make some cash and is coming to do the work for me. My buddy advises to offer him cash instead of food, it will be cheaper, ha! More snow and rain (they don't seem to know yet) coming tonight...either way it will be a mess, but DST coming the 9th, so things will at least feel like summer is coming soon.

I included a picture of the rear deck I'm talking about and it doesn't look any different today, so I'm nervous about any rain event on top of it. Glad the High School kids still don't mind working a little. Thanks for checking in. John

Hey, did you say there was deck in the picture? Big John, your smart to listen to the Doc and your good sense. Hang in there always plenty of time to do manual labor later when your 100%. Taker easy... enjoy the fireplace, the snow and what ever your drinking pleasure.

 

[Dyer retired]

As I have written in previous posts, I came across TBN after surgery while trying to utilize my recovery period to find a solution to a problem that has been aggravating me since 2003 with my Kubota BX 2750 snowblower. When I would shear one of the auger shear pins, I would spend way more time than should be required to find the sheared pin, because it would be all concealed in the grease and the auger shaft and drive shaft had about an inch of play from one wing to the other.

We had some good discussions about marking the shaft and bearing collar to make lining up easier (and it does help,) but then I still had the side to side problem and, as you all know, if those holes don't line up exactly, no amount of hammer and punch will make that thing come out of there. I have spent up to 30 minutes before changing pins and have found that the colder it is out, the more wind coming out of the Northeast, etc. the slower the process goes. God help you if both auger pins break because, at least if only one breaks, you can orient the broken auger with the intact side to help get you in the ballpark, but with both pins sheared...hang right on!! I'm pretty sure I've had nightmares about it all!

"Kevinj" read my post and sent me a message telling me how to fix the immediate problem with the play between the wings and auger shaft by loosening the drive shaft collar bearing set screws, adjust everything to center, and re-tighten the allen set screws on the collar bearings. Kevinj also pointed out something that I had not considered and that was that if the wings were bent out, I might have to bend them back before anything else. It should have been obvious to me that this is exactly what had happened, because when the unit was new there was no gap between the auger shaft and collar bearing. I was pretty sure that the auger shafts hadn't shrunken in the cold air, ha! I measured everything and found a difference of an inch between the front of the wings and the back of the unit. It was now apparent to me that the wings on the 2750 are susceptible to bending outward, which surprised me somewhat because, although they are stamped sheet metal, they seemed fairly rugged. The wings bent slightly outward and the flange bearing cover on the inside of the wing pulled against the shaft bearing. The set screws on the collar shaft bearings weren't really meant to withstand (and obviously didn't) a lot of sideways force and would slip on the drive shaft a limited amount. That meant that as long as those wings could be bent by hitting the ice hardened snow banks, I would be right back in the same predicament as before with the pins.

I came up with what I like to call: "A $65.00 solution to a $1.58 problem." The wings won't bend out anymore and the shafts maintain precise positioning now, so when I shear a pin, it's a 5 minute job. Most of that 5 minutes is walking to the basement to get a new shear pin and wrenching the thing on, but those holes line up every time now. I had more time on my hands, so I added another support up higher on the wings using wire cable as an alternative....just for the fun of it. I have no intention of ever getting rid of the 2750, so I didn't care if it came out looking bad...as long as it worked...and it does (work that is!) As I said, although it was a $65.00 solution, I got about $1000.00 worth of fun working on it and just playing around with it, which sure beat sitting in front of the television waiting for summer.

My next project is putting a hydraulic chute rotation system on and I've posted some questions regarding that on TBN already.

O.K., go ahead and make fun! Dyer, retired