Tony H
Platinum Member
Neighbors 3540 tractor: He's got some bad Zerk fittings. I have a Draw full of Zerks that I collected over the years. Is the thread sizes on the kubota, standard, metric or British?
5030
Epic Contributor
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2003
- Messages
- 26,992
- Location
- SE Michigan in the middle of nowhere
- Tractor
- Kubota M9000 HDCC3 M9000 HDC
Tractor will be metric as are most pto driveline fittings. If it's a Kubota loader they will be as well.
Smokeydog
Elite Member
I first got flustered with used M5030 loader that was probably made in Canada. Not SAE so bought a metric assortment. They didn’t work either. They were 1/4” British taper threads. 1/8” SAE and 1/8” BTT are very close and the latter used in my current tractors. Have a nice assortment of metric fittings that I have yet to been able to use on the Kubota tractors. Some attachments are metric.
Bought four new pins for the M59 loader bucket linkage. Bought new zerks from dealer and they were BTT. Dealer doesn’t know what thread pitch they are. They go by part number.
Keeping track of three different thread pitches and multiple different sizes is a headache. Bought a thread pitch guide to help. A tractor with attachment could have three different types of fittings!
For a single tractor probably just better to get few extra fittings from dealer and label a pill bottle.
Bought four new pins for the M59 loader bucket linkage. Bought new zerks from dealer and they were BTT. Dealer doesn’t know what thread pitch they are. They go by part number.
Keeping track of three different thread pitches and multiple different sizes is a headache. Bought a thread pitch guide to help. A tractor with attachment could have three different types of fittings!
For a single tractor probably just better to get few extra fittings from dealer and label a pill bottle.
5030
Epic Contributor
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2003
- Messages
- 26,992
- Location
- SE Michigan in the middle of nowhere
- Tractor
- Kubota M9000 HDCC3 M9000 HDC
I'd advise against getting Amascon (Chinese grease fittings), they are of poor quality. Never had a fitting failure but I use synthetic grease, not the cheap clay based grease that hardens in the fittimgs and plugs them up.
Not the pins that are subject to excessive wear anyway, it's the steel dog bones that get oval and if you reverse the pins (if they are worn) you then ride on a new surface. Had that issue with one of my M9's, so I had my dealer get me one dog bone and I did a CAD workup of it and cut them all on my Shop Saber CNC plasma table from flat stock. Much cheaper than buying 8 of them at almost 100 bucks each from Kubota. I cut 8 for about 30 bucks of steel flat plate. Onner and outers are all the same btw. I enlarged the pivot holes in the dog bones to accept bronze bushings I machined in the shop. The 660 CA bronze bushings will wear and can be replaced as needed. I made them an interference fit so they retain their position but can be pressed in and out when worn. How Kubota shoud have made them in the first place actually. I cut 8 and I've cut maybe a dozen more that my dealer has retrofitted to sloppy loaders he get's in as well. For some reason the upper dog bones oval out faster than the lower ones but the steel on steel is a bad design.
Not the pins that are subject to excessive wear anyway, it's the steel dog bones that get oval and if you reverse the pins (if they are worn) you then ride on a new surface. Had that issue with one of my M9's, so I had my dealer get me one dog bone and I did a CAD workup of it and cut them all on my Shop Saber CNC plasma table from flat stock. Much cheaper than buying 8 of them at almost 100 bucks each from Kubota. I cut 8 for about 30 bucks of steel flat plate. Onner and outers are all the same btw. I enlarged the pivot holes in the dog bones to accept bronze bushings I machined in the shop. The 660 CA bronze bushings will wear and can be replaced as needed. I made them an interference fit so they retain their position but can be pressed in and out when worn. How Kubota shoud have made them in the first place actually. I cut 8 and I've cut maybe a dozen more that my dealer has retrofitted to sloppy loaders he get's in as well. For some reason the upper dog bones oval out faster than the lower ones but the steel on steel is a bad design.
