Kubota B2630

[Tailrotor]

Anyone ever see this happen. My neighbor has a B2630 that the front right hand wheel ( Axle ) broke off of yesterday when he was mowing grass.

He was really lucky that the wheel broke off and went down his drive way crossed the road and traffic went on to my gravel pile and leaped 30ft in the air to land a good 300 yds from his tractor unbelievable to say the least. He lives on a steep hill as do I. Thank God it did not roll over. It could of been ugly.

It looks like a bad cast job from the old rust on the axle but my question is has anyone seen this before??

Thanks

 

[s219]

I'd be curious to see a bigger image, or one that zooms in on the crack. I think I see something of interest, but can't be sure from that photo.

 

[Tailrotor]

Try this one its all I got. Sorry

 

[Verticaltrx]

There were a few years when Kubota had a few problems with their axle stubs in the B-series. My guess is this tractor also had a loader on it?

Regardless, it seems like a big problem, but it is pretty easy to fix (not much $$$ either).

 

[s219]

Try this one its all I got. Sorry

Thanks for the bigger image. So it definitely looks like there was an old crack that's been around for a long time, and it was hanging on by a thread all that time.

I can't say for sure looking from this angle, but it seems like the original failure was due to torsion. If you look at it closely, see if there are any old pockets or voids that don't seem to be related to the fracture -- it could be a sign of a material or manufacturing defect. Otherwise, it may be that the wheel suffered an impact or heavy load while rotating. I can't imagine any situation where normal forward traction could be strong enough to cause a purely torsional fracture.

It could be that the other part has some clues too, so it would be interesting to see that.

 

[rglaser]

Any idea when this tractor was built? I would like to know if mine is likely to have this weakness as well.

Thanks,
Rob

 

[Tailrotor]

His tractor is model year 2008. The shop came and pick it up today and my neighbor said they have never had that happen and were going to have a Kubota rep look at it.

He does have a front end loader on it but its just used for weight and home use.

The tractor is used for mowing grass weekly and thats about it. It looks new.

And when ever he wants something big or real heavy moved I do it with my L45. So its never been abused.

I know I will be checking my front axles on routine maintenance from now on.

With both my Kubotas.

 

[lhansman]

I don't remember the tractor model but a few months ago I read a posting from someone who had one of their front axles break in a similar manner when he was back in the bush. He managed to get the machine back home and posted several photos of the break and the repair process.