Kubota L3130 : Gear damaged. Can I still use it?

[pmsmechanic]

OK so here's what you could do for now. If those are the gears I think they are (final drive on the front axle) then you could swap them side for side since you have both sides apart anyways. They would have new wearing surfaces because the gears would be turning in the opposite direction. They would still be wearing in the poor surfaces in reverse but that's not a biggie. This would give you time to either trade the tractor off or save for new gears. Yes I know it means redoing your work all over again at some point in time but while it's not a fun job it's not the worst of jobs either.

PS If the gears on each side have different part numbers then this idea probably won't work.

 

[MHarryE]

I’d go with them, maybe replace the small. The surface where not worn - it is not a polished surface. Ground gears have best life. Shaved gears reduce life. Your gear appears as forged but with machining where it fits on the shaft. Not at all like my L5740 when the bearings failed.

 

[5030]

I’d go with them, maybe replace the small. The surface where not worn - it is not a polished surface. Ground gears have best life. Shaved gears reduce life. Your gear appears as forged but with machining where it fits on the shaft. Not at all like my L5740 when the bearings failed.

Actually, they are made on a CNC gear hobbing mchine.

 

[ptsg]

Actually the final drive gears on the front axle are made using a sintering process. Hence the not polished or ground finish.

AMES Group sintered gears

Powder metallurgy is an ideal technology for manufacturing sintered gears because it creates the geometry of the teeth directly in the compacting operation. It also allows the manufacture of gears of different sizes, profiles and shapes, of steels with different alloying grades, finished with...

www.ames-sintering.com

 

[hendr1x]

Alright guys...thanks all for the thoughts/info. I think I'm just gonna jb weld it and call it a day.

I kid, I kid. I'm gonna think about this a bit more. I'm leaning towards just replacing the bottom gear. Honestly though, I'm not sure...I'm trying to be smart even though it never comes off that way.

I'm sure I'll be seeing everyone around. Thanks again.

 

[Tinhack]

Looks like they sat with water/moisture in the housing. That doesn't look like wear. Maybe some of the bearing material got between the gears. I'd reuse the gears and upgrade the oil. Change it again in about 20-30 hours and look for metal particles. Be sure the housing is CLEAN! Or you'll be changing bearings again.

Added: If this was a road vehicle, I'd say change them both. This is not and the gears turn at a very low RPM. Use what you got.

 

[mike peyerl]

I have a 3130 and had to do bearings at 1500 hours and that's because I seriously over worked the loader yeah$500 in parts is painful but it's better than buying a new tractor

 

[jonsstihl]

I'm not familiar with sintered gears which is why I mentioned spalling but now that someone mentions it. It does look similar to corrosion as well. Usually corrosion is isolated but spalling will sometimes show up on multiple gear teeth or you will atleast have some form of wear on most teeth even if only just one tooth is spalled. The type of wear associated with spalling would be a frosty appearance on the loaded contact surfaces of the gear and may or may not be visible with the naked eye. You may need a good magnifying glass and definitely lots of light to see it.

I work in repair and overhaul of airplane engines, some of our gears cost thousands of dollars and we don't weld on the gear teeth

You still got 2000 hours out of it. Decrease your oil change interval for the front axle and increase your rear counterweight when doing loader work.