Kubota BX1800 Tachometer

[ArmyAviatr]

I purchased my new to me BX1800. I believe That this tractor sat in the south west sun for 10 years after the owner destroyed the transmission by stomping on the differential lock when the right rear tire was spinning. The result was the final drive, brakes and Main transmission case were destroyed. After rebuilding the transmission with a mixture of new and used parts I now have a low hour BX1800 with FEL and Befco tiller for less that the cost of a used engine. One thing I hated was the instrument panel and light switch. So after some research I realized that if I replaced the dynamo with an alternator I could get a reliable tach signal. So I started accumulating the parts such as a BX1860 light switch, tachometer for marine applications from Amazon, Bosch automotive connectors, and some idiot lights from China. Below are my before and after pictures.

 

[Roadworthy]

It appears you are quite capable when it comes to scrounging stuff, congratulations. It does appear your resurrected BX could do with a steering wheel.

 

[ArmyAviatr]

I left it off for a better picture. I also changed the steering wheel out for a BX1880 Steering wheel, it is sturdier and taller. I put a suspension seat frame on the tractor to save my back and the old wheel felt like it was below my knees.

 

[ArmyAviatr]

Here are pictures of the steering wheel differences on the tractor.
Old Steering Wheel



New Steering wheel

 

[milkman]

WOW, I like what you did to the dash, especially the tach. I felt the same way about the steering wheel and I changed mine too.
I've had a TinyTach for at least 10 years and still works, but I like the analog one you have. How did you get it to work, where does the drive come from?

 

[ArmyAviatr]

WOW, I like what you did to the dash, especially the tach. I felt the same way about the steering wheel and I changed mine too.
I've had a TinyTach for at least 10 years and still works, but I like the analog one you have. How did you get it to work, where does the drive come from?

I am not familiar with the tiny tach but I am guessing it gets its signal from a alternator. If I had to do it over again I would get an alternator with the three prong plug on the back. I had to take the cover off the back and run a wire from one of the screws from the windings. This video shows how to do it on a larger alternator, all alternates look the same on the inside, ours are just smaller. How to Install a Tachometer Signal Wire on your Diesel Alternator - YouTube. The instrument cowling was the tricky part because I had to cut off all the idiot light brackets on the back. then I took a 18 gauge piece of steel and shaped it so it fit inside the recessed area where the idiot lights shine through. then I layed out my instruments on the metal plate and cut holes for everything. Next I had to fill in the holes that were left from the idiot lights. I did that by cutting plastic pieces from the left over scrap to fill in the holes not being used, You could probably skip that part because the steel plate gives enough strength to hold everything together. The steel plate didn't work out like I initially planned. I wanted it to have a brushed metal look. I started by sandblasting the steel plate and the powdercoating KUBOTA on it in Black. My next step was to clear coat it but the clear coat I got was actually white. At that point I said screw it and I had some Carbon Fiber for an automobile dash that I never completed that I shaped and stuck on the steel plate and then put KUBOTA in white on that. Because I filled in all the holes the gauges actually hold every thing together, but I was prepared to hot glue it together. I used the same technique for the light switch (cause I hated the rocker switches) but had to hot glue the switch in place. My guess is on the 1860 there is something on the back of where the switch goes that holds it in place. I can take some pics of the back side if you are interested. Here is the Tachometer I used https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NA00CA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It is adjustable. I think I set the main switch to position "B" and then used a laser RPM gauge and fine tuned the RPMs so they were close.

 

[milkman]

Thanks for that write-up, nice detailed work. The Tiny Tach is triggered by a transducer on one of the injector lines and works well. The tach has an internal battery that supposedly lasts about 10 yrs, but I know mine is at least 17 yrs old, will probably die now that I have bragged about it.

Diesel Tiny-Tach | Design Technology, Inc., Home of Tiny-Tach