Kubota backhoe cylinder fitting welds are horrific

[Ackman]

My BH92 backhoe is 5 years old. Since new the welds at all the cylinder fittings have been deteriorating rapidly. First the paint disintegrated. Now chunks of corrosion are falling off.
Visited a buddy today who has owned a Wood backhoe since 1992. The same cylinder welds on his tractor are pristine including the original paint. What the???Clearly I’ll need to replace the welds at my expense which is a bit ridiculous in my opinion.
Can anyone chime in on how this came to be? Surely the welders and metallurgists at Kubota know what they’re doing so then I ask how could they be so far off the mark? And most importantly how can I make certain this never happens again??

 

[Ackman]

Apparently the galvanic reaction of mild steel (weld) to ss fitting is the culprit. Time for new…..

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

Have you contacted Kubota to see what they say? Sometimes manufacturers will fix things which are obvious defects. They might want the cylinders, to figure what went wrong, and give you new ones in exchange.

 

[Ackman]

That’s a great idea. Never know until we ask. Thx for suggestion- appreciated.

 

[TMGT]

Kubota doesn't make most if any of the cylinders on the attachments, they are sourced from a vendor (part of why the loader cylinders and wheels will fade quicker on most tractors since the vendor paints may not be to the same quality).

That does look pretty bad, I would also contact Kubota but I doubt you'd get anywhere unless it's a known bad batch from the supplier and they decided to cover it.

Also that fitting isn't stainless unless it's been changed, it's plated steel.

Good luck with a resolution.

Sent from my SM-G715U1 using TractorByNet mobile app

 

[ultrarunner]

Paints have changed in many places to be VOC and other standards compliant with the push to water base in many cases.

I can see an old Enamel or similar being much more durable than today's counterpart.

 

[mcfarmall]

The welds look fine. It's the threaded bung that's rotting away.

 

[Smokeydog]

Looks like the threaded fitting welded to the cylinder is corroded. The weld looks good. Not sure why? I would either spray the corroded areas with CorrosionX every year or clean, phosphate prime and paint.

 

[dougtrr2]

If it is the threaded insert that is rusting, you might want to swap it out now. It will not get better or easier to remove with time. It will wait until the most inopportune moment to fail. It could already be shedding rust into your system.

Doug in SW IA

 

[etpm]

My BH92 backhoe is 5 years old. Since new the welds at all the cylinder fittings have been deteriorating rapidly. First the paint disintegrated. Now chunks of corrosion are falling off.
Visited a buddy today who has owned a Wood backhoe since 1992. The same cylinder welds on his tractor are pristine including the original paint. What the???Clearly I’ll need to replace the welds at my expense which is a bit ridiculous in my opinion.
Can anyone chime in on how this came to be? Surely the welders and metallurgists at Kubota know what they’re doing so then I ask how could they be so far off the mark? And most importantly how can I make certain this never happens again??

The weld is fine but the welded in part is not. If it was my tractor I would clean to bare metal and paint with the cold galvanizing paint. This type of paint has so much zinc in it that a can of it is remarkably heavier than a can regular paint the same size.
Eric