How many hours on your tier 4 tractor

[travlitt]

Branson 8050... 80 Hrs. No issues..no Regens

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Kubota MX4800. 8mos old. 198hrs. Regens every 20-35hrs. No problems at all.

 

[sandyc]

Kubota B 3350 hsdc. 112 hours with 2regens since I bought it with 65 hours. Only problem I had was op error when the regen light came on I reduced rpm and caused the need for a parked regen. I now know that wot is not a problem......let r rip!

 

[toy1]

R630 I region around 45 hours, have 55 on it and all is running well. dealer installed a kit on it last fall that is supposed to help eliminate some issue on the regen.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

That's different. I've not heard of regen cycles that frequent before.

My Kioti NX6010 tractor now has about 250ish hours.

My tractor was sold to me as regenerating about every 50 hours with an expected life of the DPF of 2000-3000 hours.

In actual use, the tractor was regenerating every 8-12 hours meaning that 40 to 60 regeneration cycles would have me replacing the DPF at 320 to 480 hours.

Stock, the engine engine would never warm up in cool to cold ambient temperatures unless I was doing ground engagement tasks or traveling in high gear. Since most of my work is easy loader work, the engine would not warm up and would remain in the engine management system's warm up fuel map and run in a rich state that put more exhaust soot through the diesel particulate filter leading to increased frequency of regeneration cycles. Because the engine was not warming up, the engine management system was not flagging the need for regeneration and this led to greatly reduced power until I was able to get the engine warmed up so as to allow the system to regenerate.

This was a major headache that left me seriously discouraged about my purchase.

I read up on the problem with other OEM's DPFs and learned that those of us in colder climates were having a similar experiences as myself. Fleet managers especially were deeply concerned. Frequently OEMs refused to acknowledge the problem, but for those OEMs that did, their field fix was to install a thermostat that allowed the engine to further warm up before opening.

Thankfully, as a former auto tech, I still know people running massive jobber parts stores, and so a friend and I sat down measuring the stock T-stat, and looking for alternatives that would fit, and also feature a bypass like the stock thermostat (a bypass allows coolant to bypass the T-stat when the throttle is opened up).

I then compared the stock T-stat with my alternative T-stat in water brought to a boil so as to confirm both fit and performance.

To be clear, the fully open temperature of 180°F of the new T-stat is the same as the stock T-stat. All the new T-stat does is begin opening at 170°F rather than 160°F and what a positive improvement it is! I am now regenerating every 20-40 or so hours instead of every 8-12 hours because the engine can warm up quicker to normal operating temperature rather than remaining continually on the warm-up fuel map, run rich, and in so doing rapidly clog the exhaust diesel particulate filter (DPF) with soot. Just to be clear: no matter what temperature the engine is running at, it runs with the factory fuel map, and all I've done is shorten the warm-up cycle, a cycle that the stock T-stat would prolong because most of my work is low-stress loader work that is performed frequently during cool to cold ambient temperatures. Under a load, with a warm engine, my solution runs no hotter than the stock T-stat.

You can see from my zillion videos, that the engine still runs at the normal operating temperature regardless of ambient temperature.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Full on road grading for miles in warmer ambient temperatures and the engine is still running at the proper warmed up temperature.

 

[murphy1244]

My Kioti NX6010 tractor now has about 250ish hours.

My tractor was sold to me as regenerating about every 50 hours with an expected life of the DPF of 2000-3000 hours.

In actual use, the tractor was regenerating every 8-12 hours meaning that 40 to 60 regeneration cycles would have me replacing the DPF at 320 to 480 hours.

Stock, the engine engine would never warm up in cool to cold ambient temperatures unless I was doing ground engagement tasks or traveling in high gear. Since most of my work is easy loader work, the engine would not warm up and would remain in the engine management system's warm up fuel map and run in a rich state that put more exhaust soot through the diesel particulate filter leading to increased frequency of regeneration cycles. Because the engine was not warming up, the engine management system was not flagging the need for regeneration and this led to greatly reduced power until I was able to get the engine warmed up so as to allow the system to regenerate.

This was a major headache that left me seriously discouraged about my purchase.

I read up on the problem with other OEM's DPFs and learned that those of us in colder climates were having a similar experiences as myself. Fleet managers especially were deeply concerned. Frequently OEMs refused to acknowledge the problem, but for those OEMs that did, their field fix was to install a thermostat that allowed the engine to further warm up before opening.

Thankfully, as a former auto tech, I still know people running massive jobber parts stores, and so a friend and I sat down measuring the stock T-stat, and looking for alternatives that would fit, and also feature a bypass like the stock thermostat (a bypass allows coolant to bypass the T-stat when the throttle is opened up).

I then compared the stock T-stat with my alternative T-stat in water brought to a boil so as to confirm both fit and performance.

To be clear, the fully open temperature of 180°F of the new T-stat is the same as the stock T-stat. All the new T-stat does is begin opening at 170°F rather than 160°F and what a positive improvement it is! I am now regenerating every 20-40 or so hours instead of every 8-12 hours because the engine can warm up quicker to normal operating temperature rather than remaining continually on the warm-up fuel map, run rich, and in so doing rapidly clog the exhaust diesel particulate filter (DPF) with soot. Just to be clear: no matter what temperature the engine is running at, it runs with the factory fuel map, and all I've done is shorten the warm-up cycle, a cycle that the stock T-stat would prolong because most of my work is low-stress loader work that is performed frequently during cool to cold ambient temperatures. Under a load, with a warm engine, my solution runs no hotter than the stock T-stat.

You can see from my zillion videos, that the engine still runs at the normal operating temperature regardless of ambient temperature.

What stat did you change to?

 

[MinnesotaEric]

What stat did you change to?

I will preface this by having people ask their Kioti dealer about the T-stat swap as what I did is not Kioti doctrine.

During summer, with the new T-stat my regen cycles lengthened out to 50 hours or so from the former 8-12 hours, and during the cool to cold times, the regeneration cycles become more frequent (a little over 20 hours being the shortest interval I observed in -5°F ambient temperatures), which is congruent that increased frequency of regeneration cycles is due to longer warm-up times and increased running on the ECU's warm-up fuel map, which according to the math, is expected to greatly shorten the life of the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF).

Here is a copy of my follow-up on the T-stat swap:

At 138.3 hours, 50 some hours since my last regeneration cycle back in late winter when I was burning brush, I had my first regeneration cycle since the swap.

Also, I have not experienced last summer's reduction in power since the thermostat swap. Combined with faster warm-up times, no noticeable increase in operating temperature (even under full load in summer temperatures), and greatly reduced DPF regeneration cycles, I'm super pleased with the swap. For those who are interested, to make the switch, pick up a Stant 48808. It will look slightly longer than stock. I've taken the time to measure everything on my stove to confirm suitability. That said, the new 180°F T-stat's bypass spring is stronger than the stock spring, so take a map gas torch and hit one of the bypass spring's windings to "detemper" the spring with heat. Keep the heat away from the wax cylinder. Don't reuse the existing stock T-stat gasket, it'll leak even with RTV, so make a new one or get a new one.

 

[dalroo]

I also commented on this in OTT thread - 39.5 hours - 90% at PTO speed and no regen yet. I've been expecting since I approach 20 hours, but still waiting.

 

[dchemphill1]

L3901 with about 12 hours with no regen yet.