Kubota B21 TLB complete driveline rebuild

[dfkrug]

Your $5500 gamble looks like it will pay off nicely for you! Were you able to get a used back half or is parts and pieces cheaper? I've found that on 30+ year old iron, used whole assemblies are often much cheaper than repairing what's broke.

jb,
I would love to have found a used gearbox or whole B21, as I am sure that
good used reusable gears and shafts would have been more economical vs.
the new ones I bought.

In the past I have not been able to find used parts for recent (< 10yo)
CUTs. I did not even try this time around, except for replacing my lost
engine rear crank seal holder. I was afraid I could not get one from Kubota,
so I explored the used Kubota eng world. Kubota eventually came thru,
however.

Remember, the B21 has been in production from about 1996 to 2006, so
it's pretty new iron.

 

[dfkrug]

I bought 100 or so parts, most from the parts diagrams.

Final assembly was tricky at times, because I did not take everything
apart myself. Fasteners were all thrown into a large cardboard box by the
guy(s) who took everything apart. When I have these kinds of larger
projects that I disassemble myself, I will have as many as 50 plastic bottles
and tuna cans labeled for each subassembly. Esp if it is going to be months
waiting for parts or other distractions.

YUBBY: I did remember ithe HST pedal spring, but I neglected to get the
charge pump hard line on before re-joining the tractor halves.

I ordered a few extra shims to set the ring and pinion gear teeth. I stained
the teeth to look at the contact pattern.

 

[yubby]

I bought 100 or so parts, most from the parts diagrams.

Final assembly was tricky at times, because I did not take everything
apart myself. Fasteners were all thrown into a large cardboard box by the
guy(s) who took everything apart. When I have these kinds of larger
projects that I disassemble myself, I will have as many as 50 plastic bottles
and tuna cans labeled for each subassembly. Esp if it is going to be months
waiting for parts or other distractions.

YUBBY: I did remember ithe HST pedal spring, but I neglected to get the
charge pump hard line on before re-joining the tractor halves.

I ordered a few extra shims to set the ring and pinion gear teeth. I stained
the teeth to look at the contact pattern.

Dave,

Looking at the effort you have went through, I was glad to spend $10k on the 2000 B21 I picked up from the local rental yard. Other than it missing the 3 point hardware ($950 from Lebanon Kubota) it was in one piece and worked solid for 2 years-before my diff rebuild. Interesting enough the main reason the rental yard was selling it was that renters had broken the L-M-H shift forks three times in three years. (they would try to shift on the fly-yours sounds similar)

I never did check the gear pattern on my diff, got the shims close (with some play) and put it back together, but yours do look great!

Just out of curiousity, did you have to pull the front end off to get at the clutch?

Looking great though!
-Lucas

 

[dfkrug]

Looking at the effort you have went through, I was glad to spend $10k on the 2000 B21 I picked up from the local rental yard. Other than it missing the 3 point hardware ($950 from Lebanon Kubota) it was in one piece and worked solid for 2 years-before my diff rebuild.

Thx, Lucas
That is a VERY low price for a serviceable tractor with hoe. You did
extremely well.

Interesting enough the main reason the rental yard was selling it was that renters had broken the L-M-H shift forks three times in three years. (they would try to shift on the fly-yours sounds similar)

I never did check the gear pattern on my diff, got the shims close (with some play) and put it back together, but yours do look great!

Very interesting about the forks breaking on the rental. That means they
must have cracked the tractor to fix each time. $$$! Most CUT gears I have
seen are straight-cut and unsynchronized. That means shifting is not
always easy. (I know there are SOME tractors with synchros, but not mine.)
Renters would force the shifters, for sure.

The rental company I bought my earlier rentals from found out the hard way
that they do not want tractors with clutches, and they disable the higher
range(s) in the gearbox (no range shifting).

Just out of curiousity, did you have to pull the front end off to get at the clutch?

One of the pix I posted shows removing the midframe from the clutch housing.
If you ONLY needed to get at the clutch, you could separate the tractor
only at the front of the midframe, instead of at the rear like I did. The clutch
housing on this tractor is sealed, BTW. I do not know how common it is with
tractors, but I have seen plenty of dry clutch housings that have drain holes
and vents. If this particular B21 had a drain hole, there is a good chance that
the small main seal leak would not have pooled up high enough to soak the
friction disk. Of course, that's just my opionion....I could be wrong.

 

[machmeter62]

DAVE: I have my old literature on the B-21, and here is Kubotas spec:

TL 421 LOADER SPECIFICATIONS

ASAE rated lift capacity..........................................926 lbs.
ASAE rated breakout force:....................................1543 lbs.

Net weight (Approx.):.............................................650 lbs.

I don't want to be a (PITA), but I assume Kubota means the complete loader package is 650 lbs.?

You stated in your first post, a statement about the 4-n-1 is about 550 lbs., I think? The picture you posted in #1 shows a TL 421 Loader, and only the bucket difference from a STD. Kubota bucket? My question: Will the 4-n-1 have less net lifting (weight) capacity than the original bucket, because of the increase of the bucket weight only, or approx 100 lbs. more? I thought the 4-n-1 would be constructed heavier, reducing lifting weight capacity?

I like your work ethics; you are going to have a quality tractor when finished!
LEE

 

[dfkrug]

TL 421 LOADER SPECIFICATIONS

ASAE rated lift capacity..........................................926 lbs.
ASAE rated breakout force:....................................1543 lbs.

Net weight (Approx.):.............................................650 lbs.

I don't want to be a (PITA), but I assume Kubota means the complete loader package is 650 lbs.?

You stated in your first post, a statement about the 4-n-1 is about 550 lbs., I think? The picture you posted in #1 shows a TL 421 Loader, and only the bucket difference from a STD. Kubota bucket? My question: Will the 4-n-1 have less net lifting (weight) capacity than the original bucket, because of the increase of the bucket weight only, or approx 100 lbs. more? I thought the 4-n-1 would be constructed heavier, reducing lifting weight capacity?

Yeah, those TL421 #s are right. I do not think they include the bkt, however.
The OEM bkt is prob about 180#. My 4n1 bkt is 510#. That means I can only
lift 926-510 = 416# to max height. That is quite a limitation of the lift
capacity.

 

[yubby]

Yeah, those TL421 #s are right. I do not think they include the bkt, however.
The OEM bkt is prob about 180#. My 4n1 bkt is 510#. That means I can only
lift 926-510 = 416# to max height. That is quite a limitation of the lift
capacity.

Dave,

I believe they include the bucket, I have lifted 900 lb pallets of cultured stone off my flatbed (on the ends of bucket forks). Also figure 1/3 cu yd capacity bucket mounded with dirt =~ 1000 lbs. I would say your 4in1 shaves off a couple hundred pounds but it looks good doing it ;-)

--Lucas

 

[dfkrug]

I believe they include the bucket, I have lifted 900 lb pallets of cultured stone off my flatbed (on the ends of bucket forks). Also figure 1/3 cu yd capacity bucket mounded with dirt =~ 1000 lbs. I would say your 4in1 shaves off a couple hundred pounds but it looks good doing it ;-)

I shoulda weighed the FEL before I mounted it. The manual does not say if
the 650# weight is with or without the bkt, as I recall. At this point I have
not re-mounted the 4n1 bkt yet. I just finished draining old hyd fluid from
the FEL. The TL421's lifting capacity at the bottom is probably 200# or so
more than its 926# limit at the top.

 

[jimmer2880]

I know it's apples & oranges, but for comparison, I just installed a koyker 80 FEL (~900lb lift) on my Yanmar. The FEL was drop-shipped to my door. Everything on 1 skid (48" bucket) weighed close to 500 lbs.

 

[machmeter62]

DAVE: I penciled out the weight of the entire loader, including the standard bucket, and compared the ratio of loader weight to loader lifting capacity to full height......The B21...TL421 shows a lifting capacity of 926#, and because it was designed for commerical use mainly; it also had a bolt on "bucket saver" as standard equipment like my L35 has, I think?...which added 100# to my loader tip, and maybe 80# to yours? Since that was on the leading edge, you maybe surprised by your lifting capacity? Again, I maybe wrong?

My L35 with the TL720 loader..(metric) x 2.2=1653# to full height, and the entire loader weighs 1202#......this maybe more info than you want!? Maybe based on structural strength of the entire loaders weight, plus an additional 30% for that figure, or for the front tires capacity, etc?
LEE