Advise

[Mike1955]

No offense intended, but sometimes people learn the hard way ($$$$). Small tractors (and I think a B series Kubota qualifies as small) don't like mowing tall stuff. They're too low to the ground and first knock over most of what they will eventually mow. This puts a lot fluff in the air which gets sucked right into the grill and then to the radiator. Certain times of the year are worse than others, but it all has it's effects. I don't know what you were mowing, but if it was tall enough to need mowing, it was tall enough to potentially create problems. Under those conditions, the engine temperature gauge becomes critical. Once the airflow through the radiator is reduced, temps rise quickly, and serious internal damage is not far behind. It can most certainly happen in an hour and a half.

I don't know where your dealer stands on this, or who they may or may not be looking out for. A seriously overheated engine due to a plugged radiator is not a warranty issue. That said, they stand to make more profit from a customer invoice than from a warranty claim.

Hello. I resently purchased a 26hp kubota tractor. Month and a half ago. Decided to brush hog About an hour or so into the project. White smoke blew from the hood. Overheated. Took to dealership and they stayed engine was blown and needed replaced. They also said warranty would not cover I was doing nothing that the tractor wasn’t designed to do. This was first time I brush hogged this area so was paying really close attention to the area. Glanced at gauges few times. Any suggestions.

Hello Filter. I hope you enjoy this Forum. Lots of respect goes to these posters from me. It sounds like you been learning some things about tractors and mowing. I hope you are a young man and can use your own advise on many more purchases and trades. In my thinking hay mowers are for the waist high stuff, and they are to the side so it will not be mashed down before cutting. But I’m retireded with some time on my hands, so I keep mine cut before it reaches that height

 

[ismilelots]

Hello. I resently purchased a 26hp kubota tractor. Month and a half ago. Decided to brush hog About an hour or so into the project. White smoke blew from the hood. Overheated. Took to dealership and they stayed engine was blown and needed replaced. They also said warranty would not cover I was doing nothing that the tractor wasn’t designed to do. This was first time I brush hogged this area so was paying really close attention to the area. Glanced at gauges few times. Any suggestions.

I'm not very familiar with Kubota tractors, but most new tractors have safety features built in that won't let you blow up the engine. In my opinion, you have a horrible dealer if they won't go to bat for you on this. I would ask them for a report on exactly what is wrong with your engine and what they feel the cause is. Then talk to another dealer or directly to Kubota's customer support.
I drove over a log pile with my tractor and ripped off the hydraulic return line (4hrs on the meter). The dealer got it covered under warranty.

 

[Tinhack]

If it started right up after cooling down, it probably did NOT blow the head gasket. Perhaps it just blew a radiator hose off. I'd be fixing whatever caused the "white smoke" (coolant related), fill it with coolant, check the oil and put the tractor back to work.

I'd be looking for another dealer. That one is begging to crack open your wallet in a shocking and outrageous manner.

 

[nike]

Bush hogs normally have a Shear pin or slip clutch that protects the gearbox on the bushhog.
If the tractor was overloaded by the bush hog one would think the shear pin would protect it.

I would be contacting Kubota, or a Different dealer to confirm warranty.

 

[kneedeep]

There is more to this story………….

 

[Rockbadchild]

It should be under warranty espicially with 65h as long as there was oil in the engine, even if it over heated there should be safe guards in place, unless you ignore these safe guard (warning lights and/or alarms) and keep operating it. Over heating happen you don't blow a engine as soon as over heating occurs. I would contact someone higher up from Kubota corporation office.

 

[prejudiced0ne]

Did you open the hood to check where the smoke is coming from? If there was no fire then it could only have been a disconnected cooling hose. As other have written - this does not mean the engine overheated (it will do that at operating temperatures). More-so if it drove afterwards.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Did you open the hood to check where the smoke is coming from? If there was no fire then it could only have been a disconnected cooling hose. As other have written - this does not mean the engine overheated (it will do that at operating temperatures). More-so if it drove afterwards.

When a engine overheat the coolant pressure overwhelm the thermostat causing it to bypass it thought the overflow/bypass hoses flushing the coolant out spraying it on the hot engine causing the white smoke. I would strongly suspect that's what happen here which would indicate that the engine has been overheating (in the red zone) for some time but some equipment doesn't have a visual thermostat and the alarm and flushing can happen very close to each other.

 

[Rockbadchild]

So from what I understand is the engine was/is still working ? how did they determine it was blown ? how far was it from where you where working to the house ? because over heating dose not cause eminent engine damage but operating it with low coolant level will, do you have a visual temperture gauge ? if yes did you keep a eye on it while going home? was it in red the whole time while you where going back? I would like to suspect that the engine is not blown, I would consider getting a second opinion.

 

[JBacon52]

One person has mentioned KTAC, with no response from the OP.
There must be more information, not yet given, that we need to hear...

I would think that this dealer needs to explain this ",,, engine was blown and needed replaced." in writing and dated..

 

[tundraman01]

A few of you mentioned KTAC. I bought a new Kubota last year. The dealer never mentioned insurance, maybe because I paid cash. Anyway, I just looked up KTAC. It appears to be similar to the insurance we buy for our on-road vehicles, fire, theft, collision. It specifically excludes mechanical breakdown. If I'm reading it right; it wouldn't help in this case; or are their additional riders for mechanical issues that I'm not seeing?

 

[I Piddle]

Brand new. B2601. 65 hours

That is insane. Contact another dealer and never use that dealer again. To me it seems logical that a dealer would love to do warranty work.

 

[DutchInNZ]

Hello. I resently purchased a 26hp kubota tractor. Month and a half ago. Decided to brush hog About an hour or so into the project. White smoke blew from the hood. Overheated. Took to dealership and they stayed engine was blown and needed replaced.

An overheated engine just needs a head gasket replacement and a flattening of the head. If they tell you the engine needs to be replaced they are talking square nonsense.

 

[DutchInNZ]

So from what I understand is the engine was/is still working ? how did they determine it was blown ? how far was it from where you where working to the house ? because over heating dose not cause eminent engine damage but operating it with low coolant level will, do you have a visual temperture gauge ? if yes did you keep a eye on it while going home? was it in red the whole time while you where going back? I would like to suspect that the engine is not blown, I would consider getting a second opinion.

White smoke always is a sure indication of a blown head gasket leaking coolant into the cylinder.

 

[Sid Post]

Brand new. B2601. 65 hours

B2601 owner. Watch the water temperature like a hawk in tall overgrown areas. The radiator gets plugged easily and it will overheat in no time.

Did you warp the head due to overheat?

 

[Rockbadchild]

White smoke always is a sure indication of a blown head gasket leaking coolant into the cylinder.

It depends where the white smoke is coming from, from the exhaust you are right, Op wrote ''White smoke blew from the hood'' so from that I say it's ether a blown head gasket or radiator bypass but I would like to think the radiator would bypass before blowing a head gasket, I still can't believe that tractor wouldn't restrict the RPM, flash and beep all its bells and whistle before blowing the engine up.

 

[Sid Post]

Rad screen wasn’t too bad with debri. They said due to the extreme Drought more smaller ~debri flying around could have bypassed the protection screen and straight into Rad. Again was only 1 to 1 1/2 hours into the job

I can't do 1hr of "bush hogging" in my pasture without cleaning the screen. Sounds like you potentially let the water temperature get away from you.

The B2601 tractors do fine a 3 acre lawn and will brush hog some really ugly stuff. If you are brush hogging and NOT WATCHING the gauges, bad things will happen quickly. In my case, I go from good water temperature to overtemp in ~5 minutes.

Every two "loops" around my small pasture requires me to clean the screen to keep the water temperature reasonable. Ambient temperatures of ~90F also make the overheating more likely with just one loop in the pasture.

 

[Sid Post]

White smoke always is a sure indication of a blown head gasket leaking coolant into the cylinder.

My initial thought too but, white smoke can be a sign of over fueling the engine.

Sounds like he let the radiator get plugged up and overheated the motor before he noticed it based on the incomplete picture we have at the moment.

 

[Sid Post]

There is more to this story………….

Yes, there is. What like what gear the tractor was in when bush hogging and how much radiator fluid was lost?

 

[DutchInNZ]

It depends where the white smoke is coming from, from the exhaust you are right, Op wrote ''White smoke blew from the hood'' so from that I say it's ether a blown head gasket or radiator bypass but I would like to think the radiator would bypass before blowing a head gasket, I still can't believe that tractor wouldn't restrict the RPM, flash and beep all its bells and whistle before blowing the engine up.

Yes, I wonder about that, too. Nowadays everything with an engine has warning lights and bells for everything except for overheating. Overheating is a major engine damage and a serious reason for the electronic tractor or car management to shut the engine down in time, but nothing but a silent small indicator shows that it is already too late.