Kubota L2501 Turbo: A Journey Defined - The Tractor, The Comparison, The Modification, The Results

[2manyrocks]

Think of it as a further demonstration of your fabrication skills.

But more appealing in TX than WA.

 

[number two]

My 2021 L2501 with 20 hours has always smelled rich.
Nasty when cold,but still smelly when warm.
I admit wife and I are a little sensitive to diesel exhaust.
Compared to our B3030,the difference is night and day.

I wonder if a turbo kit would lean it out to help us enjoy our tractor more?
Great job Mike!

 

[Rdrcr]

^^^^
You might not get a significant performance increase without increasing fuel delivery but, adding the Turbo Kit would definitely lean out the air/fuel mixture and help with the exhaust fumes.

The L2501 owners that live and operate their tractors in the upper elevations will not have to increase their fuel as much and/or may even see significant gains in performance without having to add fuel with the Turbo kit installed.

Mike

 

[tradosaurus]

Congratulations on what you consider a great and low cost modification, hopefully everything keeps working the way you like it to work !

personally I would have just spent the money for a bigger tractor, my newest tractor is T4 and now has 300 trouble free hours on it but I have no problem running it following the owners manual recommendations .

$3K to double the hp on a non DPF tractor is a good investment vs losing money on the the sell of the L2501 and spending much more on a larger tractor.

I was lucky selling my L3301 (bought for $22k new) a few yrs ago and upgrading to the MX5400 ($31K new) as I was able to use the 20% NCHA discount which is no longer available.

 

[90cummins]

I added a turbo to my 1720 Ford SSS years ago because I love the tractor just wanted more hp.
I never had a dyno but I had 60” snowblower that required frequent use of the clutch to avoid stalling. After the turbo installation there was no more bogging down the improvement was huge and that was well over 1000 hours ago. The power is there to power thru situations and get me back in my warm house.
90cummins

 

[rScotty]

^^^^
You might not get a significant performance increase without increasing fuel delivery but, adding the Turbo Kit would definitely lean out the air/fuel mixture and help with the exhaust fumes.

The L2501 owners that live and operate their tractors in the upper elevations will not have to increase their fuel as much and/or may even see significant gains in performance without having to add fuel with the Turbo kit installed.

Mike

I'm wondering about injector timng: any need for? discussion? Results?
Maybe it is there and I missed it. I've just started started reading your incredible modification article & am bouncing around. I'll go back and read some more, but you have sure made my mechanical day.
Thanks,
rScotty

 

[Rdrcr]

I'm wondering about injector timng: any need for? discussion? Results?
Maybe it is there and I missed it. I've just started started reading your incredible modification article & am bouncing around. I'll go back and read some more, but you have sure made my mechanical day.
Thanks,
rScotty

Thank you!

The injection pump timing on the L2501 is retarded from the factory to meet tier 4 emissions standards. Since the injection timing has already been retarded, it makes this engine a really good platform for turbocharging.

There is another turbocharged L2501 and that owner advanced the injection pump timing and increased the RPM limiter but, his tractor hasn’t been dyno’d so I can’t make a fair comparison.

Mike

 

[rScotty]

Thank you!

The injection pump timing on the L2501 is retarded from the factory to meet tier 4 emissions standards. Since the injection timing has already been retarded, it makes this engine a really good platform for turbocharging.

There is another turbocharged L2501 and that owner advanced the injection pump timing and increased the RPM limiter but, his tractor hasn’t been dyno’d so I can’t make a fair comparison.
Mike

It is? By how many degrees? What is normal? And how in the world would retarding the timing help make it meet tier 4 emissions standards?

I'm asking because in a gas engines, retarding the timing shortens the burn time which causes incomplete combustion and a more sooty exhaust - you can literally tell by the smell that the timing is retarded. I assume that retarding burn time causes more soot in diesels too.

BTW, it sounds like you sure put a lot of study into this. Congrats.

rScotty

 

[Rustyiron]

Great "story", idea and results! Thanks for posting this and I completely "get it". Blending all the facts (costs, gains, wants) coupled with the mechanical challenges and the undeniable cool factor you've set a high bar here for customizing and modifying!

 

[Rdrcr]

It is? By how many degrees? What is normal? And how in the world would retarding the timing help make it meet tier 4 emissions standards?

I'm asking because in a gas engines, retarding the timing shortens the burn time which causes incomplete combustion and a more sooty exhaust - you can literally tell by the smell that the timing is retarded. I assume that retarding burn time causes more soot in diesels too.

BTW, it sounds like you sure put a lot of study into this. Congrats.

rScotty

I would need to dig into my notes to retrieve the actual figures….

Here are the D1703 Tier2 stats;

For the L2501 (25HP @ 2,400 RPM), Kubota restricts the D1703’s fuel consumption, limits the RPMs and retards the injection pump timing to meet Tier 4 emissions standards.

The injection pump timing is retarded to reduce power. On a diesel, retarding the injection timing is one of the best ways to reduce power and it actually improves fuel efficiency. So, for Kubota, it is a great method to meet Tier 4 emissions.

Indeed. Lots of study was required to put this package together.

Mike

 

[Smokeydog]

Impressive modification. Well researched and written. Be interesting long term results.

Like gauges to help monitor. Be nice to have some parameters especially on heat rejection. Monitoring HST oil temp under high loads on my to do list.

Be nice addition to a heavy little tractor like a B26.

 

[2manyrocks]

You've explained your reasoning for putting the turbo on the L2501 and up series, but do you have any other brands in mind that would be "ripe" for the installation of a turbo as well?

 

[Rdrcr]

Monitoring HST oil temp under high loads on my to do list.

Be nice addition to a heavy little tractor like a B26.

I'll need to look into monitoring the HST oil temps. Please let me know how you get on with that project. I'll do the same.

Absolutely. This is a great modification for an underpowered and/or heavy tractor.

Mike

 

[Rdrcr]

You've explained your reasoning for putting the turbo on the L2501 and up series, but do you have any other brands in mind that would be "ripe" for the installation of a turbo as well?

Yes.

Mike

 

[tacticalturnip]

Finally finished reading the whole write-up, and wow! 35 PTO horsepower, up from 19? That's absolutely awesome!

This was a great endeavor, thank you for sharing the journey.

 

[tacticalturnip]

Yes.

Mike

Like maybe, oh, the Kioti CK2610?

 

[Rdrcr]

Like maybe, oh, the Kioti CK2610?

Indeed.

Mike

 

[Kiboti]

Indeed.

Mike

I just bought a CK2610HST and haven't even taken delivery of it yet. I really like the write up and details you shared and was thinking this could probably be a option pretty easily with how similar the l2501 and the ck2610 are.

 

[Rdrcr]

I just bought a CK2610HST and haven't even taken delivery of it yet. I really like the write up and details you shared and was thinking this could probably be an option pretty easily with how similar the l2501 and the ck2610 are.

They should be similar but, it’ll take some research to determine how the engine, transmission and PTO train will respond to the power increase. The L2501 is unique in that it shares virtually all identical components with its more powerful brothers. We’ll just need to make sure the CK2610 will be able to handle the increased loads. I’m assuming it won’t have any issues but, we’ll need to dig into the specifics to confirm that.

Mike

 

[Frisbee]

I recently moved from a fairly flat property to a 40 acre timbered property on the side of a mountain in Southern Idaho. I had planned to change the injection pump shims on my L2501 this spring, but after reading this I would love to take this approach. I am not at all concerned with how the tractor will hold up to this power change, and agree with the reasons you have given on why this will not affect the tractor. I am not a mechanic, but can follow instructions if properly given, I would love to give a kit a try if you ever put one together. Better yet, if you need to install one a 2nd time in order to properly put your kit together or or write instructions I will haul my tactor your way.