Kubota L2501 Turbo: A Journey Defined - The Tractor, The Comparison, The Modification, The Results

[2manyrocks]

Think of it as a further demonstration of your fabrication skills.

But more appealing in TX than WA.

 

[number two]

My 2021 L2501 with 20 hours has always smelled rich.
Nasty when cold,but still smelly when warm.
I admit wife and I are a little sensitive to diesel exhaust.
Compared to our B3030,the difference is night and day.

I wonder if a turbo kit would lean it out to help us enjoy our tractor more?
Great job Mike!

 

[Rdrcr]

^^^^
You might not get a significant performance increase without increasing fuel delivery but, adding the Turbo Kit would definitely lean out the air/fuel mixture and help with the exhaust fumes.

The L2501 owners that live and operate their tractors in the upper elevations will not have to increase their fuel as much and/or may even see significant gains in performance without having to add fuel with the Turbo kit installed.

Mike

 

[tradosaurus]

Congratulations on what you consider a great and low cost modification, hopefully everything keeps working the way you like it to work !

personally I would have just spent the money for a bigger tractor, my newest tractor is T4 and now has 300 trouble free hours on it but I have no problem running it following the owners manual recommendations .

$3K to double the hp on a non DPF tractor is a good investment vs losing money on the the sell of the L2501 and spending much more on a larger tractor.

I was lucky selling my L3301 (bought for $22k new) a few yrs ago and upgrading to the MX5400 ($31K new) as I was able to use the 20% NCHA discount which is no longer available.

 

[90cummins]

I added a turbo to my 1720 Ford SSS years ago because I love the tractor just wanted more hp.
I never had a dyno but I had 60” snowblower that required frequent use of the clutch to avoid stalling. After the turbo installation there was no more bogging down the improvement was huge and that was well over 1000 hours ago. The power is there to power thru situations and get me back in my warm house.
90cummins

 

[rScotty]

^^^^
You might not get a significant performance increase without increasing fuel delivery but, adding the Turbo Kit would definitely lean out the air/fuel mixture and help with the exhaust fumes.

The L2501 owners that live and operate their tractors in the upper elevations will not have to increase their fuel as much and/or may even see significant gains in performance without having to add fuel with the Turbo kit installed.

Mike

I'm wondering about injector timng: any need for? discussion? Results?
Maybe it is there and I missed it. I've just started started reading your incredible modification article & am bouncing around. I'll go back and read some more, but you have sure made my mechanical day.
Thanks,
rScotty

 

[Rdrcr]

I'm wondering about injector timng: any need for? discussion? Results?
Maybe it is there and I missed it. I've just started started reading your incredible modification article & am bouncing around. I'll go back and read some more, but you have sure made my mechanical day.
Thanks,
rScotty

Thank you!

The injection pump timing on the L2501 is retarded from the factory to meet tier 4 emissions standards. Since the injection timing has already been retarded, it makes this engine a really good platform for turbocharging.

There is another turbocharged L2501 and that owner advanced the injection pump timing and increased the RPM limiter but, his tractor hasn’t been dyno’d so I can’t make a fair comparison.

Mike

 

[rScotty]

Thank you!

The injection pump timing on the L2501 is retarded from the factory to meet tier 4 emissions standards. Since the injection timing has already been retarded, it makes this engine a really good platform for turbocharging.

There is another turbocharged L2501 and that owner advanced the injection pump timing and increased the RPM limiter but, his tractor hasn’t been dyno’d so I can’t make a fair comparison.
Mike

It is? By how many degrees? What is normal? And how in the world would retarding the timing help make it meet tier 4 emissions standards?

I'm asking because in a gas engines, retarding the timing shortens the burn time which causes incomplete combustion and a more sooty exhaust - you can literally tell by the smell that the timing is retarded. I assume that retarding burn time causes more soot in diesels too.

BTW, it sounds like you sure put a lot of study into this. Congrats.

rScotty

 

[Rustyiron]

Great "story", idea and results! Thanks for posting this and I completely "get it". Blending all the facts (costs, gains, wants) coupled with the mechanical challenges and the undeniable cool factor you've set a high bar here for customizing and modifying!

 

[Rdrcr]

It is? By how many degrees? What is normal? And how in the world would retarding the timing help make it meet tier 4 emissions standards?

I'm asking because in a gas engines, retarding the timing shortens the burn time which causes incomplete combustion and a more sooty exhaust - you can literally tell by the smell that the timing is retarded. I assume that retarding burn time causes more soot in diesels too.

BTW, it sounds like you sure put a lot of study into this. Congrats.

rScotty

I would need to dig into my notes to retrieve the actual figures….

Here are the D1703 Tier2 stats;

For the L2501 (25HP @ 2,400 RPM), Kubota restricts the D1703’s fuel consumption, limits the RPMs and retards the injection pump timing to meet Tier 4 emissions standards.

The injection pump timing is retarded to reduce power. On a diesel, retarding the injection timing is one of the best ways to reduce power and it actually improves fuel efficiency. So, for Kubota, it is a great method to meet Tier 4 emissions.

Indeed. Lots of study was required to put this package together.

Mike