Traction Kubota BX24 "Chatters" no power

[Volfandt]

Portcall, as others have said, it doesn't sound good and you should stop operating it to minimze damage. it sounds like the pump and/or swash plate bearing may be going out.
This link: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/204875-bx1830-vibration-loss-power.html should take you to a similar thread and it also has links to additional troubleshooting and repair. Keep in mind that the HST's on all BX models are very similar in internal design and operation.

Good luck
Dave

 

[portcall]

Agree with Art & Radioman. Stop driving it and get it serviced. I didn't, I tried getting my BX23 home but even going slow it all together just stopped moving. Pulled it home and used the BH to pull it onto my trailer. I was lucky even though it was out of warranty by a few months it got covered. If I recall it could of cost a few thousand dollars to fix mine. Also mine was in the shop for almost a month but I didn't complain hoping and being told that they were working on getting it covered under the warranty. Also while it was in the shop they also fixed my leaking front end when they saw that had cracks in the knuckles at the seals. My unit is an 05 and has over 1300 hours on it with no other major problems... maybe because I have started to take it a bit easier on it .... no not really it is because I have not been able to get much seat time.

Unhappily if it needs dealer service it has to sail on a freighter to the US.. Any non-dealer ideas?

 

[rlsmith]

Maybe find your self a shop that is willing to work on your unit. There are shop manual that should allow any knowledgeable shop to find out your problem and if the tranny needs rebuilt you will probably better off and have the transmission replaced because cost would be almost as much to remove, fix and reassemble as it would be to just change out.

 

[cdaigle430]

Maybe offer a Kubota mechanic from Canada or Northern part of the United States to come out and work on it for a couple of weeks. I'm sure they would like a nice free vacation getaway from the cold and snow

is the BX the same as my GC2410 where the hydro pump and hydrostatic transmission are seperate components? If ss, then it will be an expensive part but with a good repair manual you may be able to do it yourself.

 

[gerford]

Unfortunately that sounds exactly like the problem I had with my BX23. The front end loader and backhoe worked fine but it would chatter going forward and reverse with no power. It ended up the hydropump failed and cost about 4000 and 6 weeks to fix. There were a couple of other things on the bill so I can't say exactly how much was the pump. The cause of the pump going out was loaning my tractor to a friend who was moving dirt up a short steep hill and they were using high range to go up the hill and pushing harder on the pedal to try and coax more power, which is opposite of what you do. I think the mechanic called it "stalling" when the pump is pushing and the pressure has nowhere to go. He said if the tires are spinning, you're fine but don't EVER be pushing on the pedal and have the tires not moving. I'm guessing its the same with the front end loader and backhoe to always have the machinery moving so the pressure has some place to go. Does that sound like something that might have been done to your machine?

 

[portcall]

Thanks for this answer. Believe it or not, lending out caused my problems too.
Now to find a solution that can be done on-island with no dealer here. Anyone out there who can fix the problem and wants to visit Bonaire?

 

[radioman]

I think you need to get the WSM if you havent already. Thumb through it for hydro pump replacement and see if it something you feel you can attempt since you don't have a choice of having a local dealer to fix it.

 

[Ken]

No problems shifting. Is there a way to adjust or fix the clutch easily?

If the tractor has a clutch pedal does it feel the same as always about 1inch movement before begin to feel tension then pressure full length of travel There should be a screw adjustment to achive this .
Should the clutch feel like less or no pressure could be the throw out bearing is stuck (This is what happened to mine ) so always some pressure to release and clutch slips or chattering.
Now depending on experance in repair. If you have changed out a clutch in truck pick-up very simuler in build. I blocked the rear wheels and put blocks under transmission Had already removed the FWL. used a coffing hoist to lift engine with straps on each side of engine. slowly moved engine forward until able to see the pressure plate and throwout bearing .
If not experanced in repair of this type best hire some one that has the proper equipment and tools.
You mentioned the hydraulics was working so wouldn't expect pump and all seemed normal except going up incline or needing more power so wouldn't expect gears. or shifting problems. Let us learn what you find. it helps others
ken

 

[RaydaKub]

Ken, BX's don't have a clutch. It's all hydro.

 

[MattJ]

I was the original poster on the thread that was referred to. What you describe is exactly what I saw and I had to replace the hydro unit. Runs about $1500-$1700 in parts. You can do the labor yourself if you have the WSM and a decent set of tools. In my threads I laid out everything you need to do it and also some of the mistakes I made long the way I hope you learn from. If you have some help with lifting you can do the teardown and replacement in a day or two. Its a lot of work though. And to get it straight the chattering can be from two causes in my opinion, a faulty pressure relief valve (not likely as the forward and reverse would have to fail together to get to this situation), or the pistons wore a gap in the pump like I posted. I think Kubota had defective or under engineered parts in this BX series pumps / flow priority valves. When you get it back together add a cheap pressure gauge to keep an eye on things while running. I posted that as well.

Good luck

Matt