kubota steering repair.

firemanpat2910 · Sep 3, 2008

Help I have no idea what Im getting into. a buddy has a 35 or so hp 4x4 kubota, steering went nuts. a pivot pin maybe 2'' across and 5 inches long fell out. Owner says it happened before years ago and another friend fixed it. Well he went and died on us and now Im the best choice for a fixit guy. Looks like the pin has a groove cut out so a plate holds it in, it has a zerk on it and looked like its been greased. I hate to ask ignorant questions but Im going by to try and fix it thursday afternoon and thought some one here might know what I was talking about and have an easy fix.

firemanpat2910 · Sep 5, 2008

update.. Its a B2900 there is a center pin that acts as a pivot. there is a metal plate held in with 2 bolts that holds the pin in place. Previously the metal plate wore out the pin fell out and to repair it they left the worn out plate installed, and welded the pin to it!! In the process he slaged up the bolt heads, welded one side of plate to frame, and generaly made a mess. I was able to remove all the parts grind out the welds on frame, make a new plate and repair it correctly. But I need to find out if the frame is supposed to have a bushing in it. Its very sloppy but I couldnt see any "ridge" or eveidence of a worn bushing.

the bear · Sep 6, 2008

the same thing happened to my 8950 not a real big job have to remove the tin work and loose the rad bolts its obviuos once your in there , there is a bolt and a clip that holds the pin in flip it over and put it back together no problem unless its wore too bad then you have to make another clip or plate or what ever you want to call it but it is an easy repair just rember that kubota is not mechanic friendly hope this helps the bear [don]

the bear · Sep 6, 2008

well it sounds like you got in there all right and yes there is a bushing at least on my 8950 and it is greasableso it has to go in the right way a typical problem with kubota

dirt clod · Sep 8, 2008

Just got through rebuilding all the steering on my L3300.
The crazy thing is the parts that had the LEAST amount of wear was made with bushings. Most of these parts could be replaced. There is two large pins that go through frame on mine. One hole was worn pretty bad and it is part of the frame, not replaceable or removeable for machine work. Anyhow that one pin(new) I welded to the plate that bolts to the frame. Sounds like the B series is like that. I think the pin and the mount should have been one piece to begin with. As it is the only thing it does is hold the pin up and limit spinning in frame. It will allow side to side movement though.The pins turn in bushings in the steering linkage, but in the frame there is no bushings. Once they wear some the mount allows the pin to move in the frame and wallow it out to a egg shape. Once they move side to side and the hole is egg shaped they can fall out. Mine had so much slop that it would shear off grade 8 bolts on the pitman arm and break the steering cylinder shaft from the parts knocking rather than turning! Maybe thats whats wrong on this one?

firemanpat2910 · Sep 11, 2008

yes sounds like they are made the same, I know welding it will hold it but I hate to weld it. What if something else needs to be replaced later on? If I weld the pin and bracket in place you cant disassemble the unit to work on it

dirt clod · Sep 11, 2008

Not what I meant to say. Wouldn't do that either. I bought a new pin as the old was worn, I bought a new bracket as it was worn also. The pin has a notch in the bottom, the bracket slides into this notch and then bolts to the frame. The hole in the frame was egg shaped. The bracket as it is made only keeps the pin from falling out. It does very little to prevent side to side movement and does allow a very small amount of rotation. This pin should have no movement in the frame it should rotate on the bushings in the linkage. So I BOLTED on the bracket and marked how they fit together. After removing these to parts, I put the bracket in the pin as it was marked and then welded these two parts together. Now rather than putting the pin in and holding it while I bolt on the bracket, The pin is slid into place with bracket welded to it and BOLTED on to the frame useing factory bolts and holes. No welding done to tractor frame. These parts are removeable and replaceable. Maybe mine is differant though.This worked real good.

sandman2234 · Sep 13, 2008

Can the part be disasembled and set up to drill, ream and bush? I would think a machine shop of any size would have a mill that would handle a front end from a tractor. I would almost consider putting it on a Bridgeport, although it might be a little large for it. Just got to find the right machine, owned by the right owner to get it done at the right price.
David from jax