Kubota BX series ridiculous transmission

[kevinj]

BXxx60 owners - Does the tractor drift much when it's heavy, and you take your foot off the pedal in reverse? Any noticable difference with the implements off?

Jesse

The hydro is not a brake and therfore will drift if given enough incline. The hydro can bumped lightly in the oppisite direction to to stop or slow if needed. They do build in some degree of braking. My B drifts more than the L or BX. Tractors have brakes for a reason.

The more weight on the BX the slower the stop. I do not have a loader for mine but with snowblower and rear weights it is very smooth compared to just the mower.

 

[dodge man]

I tried the trick someone else suggested today when I was mowing. I lifted the forward pedal with the back of my foot to get reverse. That worked and was much easier to control. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

John, I do not know your level of experience. My dealer says the people who never run a hydro seem to accept it and those who have run them on other machines will not accept the 50 series design.
BX2200, B7800, BX1500, L3240, Kubota gas mower which did like the BX50's, F2880E, BX2350 and B3200. This is my experience and currently own 3 of them.
Mine was tried by several people at the dealer. My dealer was doing wheelies in the lot and sent pics to Kubota. I now have a 60 series and it works fine.
No one but me and my wife have tried mine and neither of us have done wheelies.
I had a BX1500 before the 1850 and it worked fine.
I had a BX2200, B7800, BX1500, L3240 and now have a B3200 and F2880E and of course the BX2350 and they all worked fine except the BX2350)
When I say locked up the wheels, I mean only a stop, not trying to go forward. It was controllable backing uphill but not at all going down. It could be worked with on the level. My input was because kevinj stated it was uncontrollable which I took to mean on uphill, flat or downhill.
Try yours in high range backing down an incline, that is where mine was the worst.
I won't try this because I will agree with you with out trying it that it will physically hurt me so I never do this. I rarely if ever use any of my tractors in high range other than when moving from one work location to another one. Never mow in high or work my loader in high. Would never back downhill in high on any of them but know doing it on the BX2350 would probably break my neck.
I have hills in the yard and drive so I must back down hills either mowing or snow blowing. My three acres are almost all hillside but I usually only back uphill and go forward going down when I mow which is what I use this tractor for.

I have been running hydro drive stuff for over 20 years and do have some idea how they work. If you look at my sig line you will see that I currently have 3 of them.

Me to with the 3 currently owned plus the past other 5. Again, I agree that this is not the norm with Kubota but when the statement was made that no one can feather it to make it workable I responded with my opinion and experience. It's not right but with doing it in a manner that is not like other Hydro Kubotas it can be done but should not have to be done so easily/gently. It's not right!! It's even worse if you've owned one of the other ones that are right. Maybe yours was the worst of the worst and mine is the best of the worst. I wish Kubota would give me a 60 series for my 50. I agree that it's not the Kubota norm.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

My neighbor had a BX1800 and traded it 2 years ago for a BX2350. He now has 105 hours on it. I just went over to his house and bought my Kubota tiller back from him. I asked if he had problems with his jerking when backing up. He said maybe some but had to think about it. I asked to try it and I believe his is worse than mine. He does not participate on any Kubota forums. He seemed to think his loses power backing up his really steep back yard and he says he can easily pull his boat with his forward but doesn't have enough power to back up with his boat. I backed up his hill on mine (drove it over to pick up the tiller) and never had a bit of problem. Maybe some are worse than others. I don't know but I mowed some after dropping the tiller and mine will still ease to a stop forward or backward going up or down hill but I do not have it in high gear. Also it requires a easy foot and when not paying attention and not easing up on the pedal it jerks.

 

[kevinj]

John,

I am a bit opposite. I mow and snowblow mostly in high range. Low is not quite fast enough and for snow blowing sometimes I back up a fair distance so I want more speed.

 

[BotaBigot]

For me, the abrupt reverse stop is always a bother...sometimes really annoying. I've managed to buffer it somewhat by not lubricating the pedal as often as recommended...

I'm very careful backing down inclines...but then I'm also careful traversing them, and keeping the FEL bucket low when full, which has nothing to do with abrupt stops...

Would I like a fix? You bet. Since Kubota engineered this "feature" in, they know how to engineer it out. I'm guessing the fix will cost more than Kubota is willing to spend...

 

[kevinj]

Would I like a fix? You bet. Since Kubota engineered this "feature" in, they know how to engineer it out. I'm guessing the fix will cost more than Kubota is willing to spend...

I am guessing you are right. Between me and my dealer Kubota just wanted to shut us up! The first time I filled in a customer survey and cited this as a safety issue I got a call right away from the field rep and was on radar!!!

It took 3 years till a new model came out to get it resolved but I am now a happy Kubota owner again.

 

[Doug in NNY]

I bought a new BX2350 eleven months ago. From the beginning I noticed the abrupt stopping problem in high range when coming out of reverse. This is not a problem in low range.

I've mentioned this in other threads on this subject, so this is a repeat. I began a discussion August 2008 with my dealer and eventually with an area rep. I am given to understand that there are only eight internal parts that differ between the 50-series and the 60-series HST, and the external linkage differs, also. The area rep authorized changing the external linkage. This occurred last fall. My subjective view is that the problem was corrected by half or more, but not wholly.

I have asked my salesman to provide me with a list of the parts with part numbers so that I could share them with others. I have not as yet obtained that information (for those of you who have asked, I'm not avoiding my responsibility to other BX 50-series owners, I just haven't heard back as yet).

This thread is about the HST, but the video of the BX1850 backing down a hill with weight on the back and no counter-weight on the front and then jumping to a stop feeds into what I perceive is a distorted view of the issue. How about a video on level ground with proper weighting and counter-weighting?

While some on TBN have traded away from 50-series units, I am not aware of any collapse in the value of the 50-series. And I am not aware of any hard numbers to support the idea that a significant number of owners have traded or are planning to.

I have about 65 hours on mine just now. Most of those hours are mowing, but I am finding a lot of uses for the loader. I simply pay attention to coming out of reverse in high range, feathering it with little or no problem. I have used it with a BushHog 3ph tiller and a Kodiak landscape rake (both in low range -- no problems at all). Where I live we got over 220 inches of snow last year (that is not a misprint), so two months ago I bought a used 48" 3ph Loftness snow thrower (next winter I'll use it of course in low range, so no problem).

My BX2350 is a workhorse. It delivers everything I could ask for. I support every responsible effort to address this systemic issue with Kubota, but I do not support amplifying the issue our of proportion to reality. To overdo is to undo.

Doug

 

[Sully2]

This thread is about the HST, but the video of the BX1850 backing down a hill with weight on the back and no counter-weight on the front and then jumping to a stop feeds into what I perceive is a distorted view of the issue. How about a video on level ground with proper weighting and counter-weighting?

Your exactly right. I dont own a BX ( and didnt want one either) but there are enough "safety warnings" in the owners manual...etc..etc...that if Kubota thought it was a REAL problem...it would state for people to NOT attach "X" on the rear of them WITHOUT front counterweights!

I went back and looked at the video and see that the bagger attachment is jacked WAAAYYYY to the rear ( looks like its attached to the 3 point hitch?) That just aggravates an off center / out of balance situation. I have a similiar bagger device on a Simplicity "grass cutter" and its mounted right up close to the mower....cant be more than 3 or 4 inches rearward.

 

[pintodeluxe]

When I first had my BX22 there were a lot of complaints that the tractor wouldn't always stop when you let your foot off the pedal. Mine did that too, one time it would stop, and the next time it might not in the same way at least. I think Kubota responded to those complaints by tightening up the valving, or something, and perhaps went a bit the other way. I will say that my Simplicity Legacy can be pretty abrupt too, and will get your attention at times if you forget, especially in reverse, and I doubt that the 50 series BX's are any worse. It is a matter of understanding the beast.

I agree with ChuckinNH. This is obviously a responce by Kubota to an earlier safety concern. I bet they just changed the pedal return spring. Has anyone tried a slighlty less robust spring? If a $3 trip to the hardware store would fix the problem we would all be happy.
Good luck Guys