B3030 three point hitch weakness

[areid]

I have a B3030. Twice I have had the bolts loosen in the rear diff that hold the three point hitch on. The first time I missed the issue until it was too late. That meant an entire new rear cast aluminum piece and a 2000 grand bill for the repair. This time I have been trying to keep these bolts from coming loose but lately noticed new cracks in the cast casing of the rear diff again. I am sure my rear blading and roto tiller are causing this. Some of you who do not work your machine hard may not have this issue but for those who do here is my solution. I beefed up the back end draw bar and run 4x5 x1/4" angle to the frame to reinforce the 3 point hitch arm bracket. The original design only had one welded tab which broke and started all the movement. I added two bolts on each side and beefed up the whole assemble. It took me a while to figure it all out and two days to build it all. I'm confident now that the frame will take a lot of the load instead of the cast aluminum rear end.

 

[AStanton]

Sorry to hear about your travails. I think Kubota gets off the hook by posting in every owner's manual: "Check fluids, air pressure, and all bolt tightness before operating tractor."

 

[JWR]

I know nothing of the age of your B3030, whether you got it new or used, etc. Unless it was treated very badly for a lot of hours there is something very wrong with a tractor like that failing to keep the 3pt hitch components in place. A $2000 repair followed by new cracks and start up of further problems !!?? Wow. I guess I admire your going in and beefing up the hardware to avoid further problems but something is WAY out of normal. Not enough info for me to even guess what but "somethin ain't right here."

 

[areid]

Vibration from rototilling, a lot of back blading and snow blower. I do use it harder then most I will admit. I should likely have bought an L series but I liked how compact the B was. I bought it new in 2007 I think it was. I have 1083 hours on it now. Amazing little tractor other than the loosing of these bolts which tend to go un-noticed until it's too late. Only other problem has been leaking quick couplers and loader hydraulic arm seals going. Fix one side and the other side goes.
Over all the tractor has over delivered. I just thought someone else out there may be experiencing similar cracking in the rear diff. This was my approach to repair rather that replacement. I also used lock tite this time which the dealer did not. Cost me two days work and $45 in parts along with some scrap metal I had lying around. Another $177 for filters and oils and I was back in business.

 

[Monster5601]

I use my B3030 three-point heavily, back blading, land plane, box blade (1/2 mile of gravel road maintenance), and bush hogging (4 acres). After six years, I never had one issue with the B3030 three point. I'm with JWR, something is casuing this and you only fixed the result, not the cause.

The roto-tiller and snow blower your are using, are they both sized for a B3030?

 

[areid]

Yes, 5 ft blower and 48" tiller. Not sure what else might be causing the bolts to come loose. None the less I have everything tight now and don't expect any more problems. I did lose about 3"of clearance in the process. The angle was needed to give me enough strength to make the whole procedure worth while and it hangs below the rear diff. One thing I did notice was the two bolts holes that were cracked in the rear diff were only half way in. That is to say I added slightly longer bolts and had about 1"of thread still to hold the new bolt. I was able to get what seemed like a very good new connection even in the broken holes. I'm just glad that the rear diff did not leak hydraulic fluid.
Looking forward to spreading gravel and harrowing the riding arena again once the rain stops.

 

[Gator6x4]

How much rearward pushing are you doing with the rear scrape blade?

 

[areid]

Mostly dragging with the blade. It's a 6 way blade and I have used to trench and slope at times. Lots of torque in that compound angle position. Hope others can benifit from my experience and repair. I may be the only one who has had this issue but I doubt it.