L2800 cables

[NBstunter]

in 2 and a half years and 580 hours on my kubota L2800 i have broken 2 cables to turn on the PTO and inbetween braking them i ran it for a year useing vise grips cause i wasnt putting another $75 cable on it for a few months. and the cable going from the brake to the cruse control lever [so when you hit the brake the cruse goes off by itsself] broke and i dont feel like putting a new one on for a few months. any ideas? can i get after market cables? is there a tool out there to make your own? im at a loss.

 

[ccsial]

I have 260 hours on my L3400 and have not had a cable problem yet. I'm expecting one though. When it happens I am going to engineer and make a lever that will be down on the right side floor to eliminate the cable. I have not looked at this yet but I'm sure it can be done.

 

[NBstunter]

worse part is the dealer put the latest cable on and they didnt addjust it right so the PTO barly turned on and one day a few weeks ago as i backed into snow with the snow blower i was wondering what a very loud clicking sound was and why the snow was only going half as far as it normaly would at the RPM i was at. turns out they put it on so it would just barly engage and a nut loosend off and that was the end of that. now that i have the cable in the right spot so that it engages when the lever is about half way its still making the clicking sound but the PTO is spinning at the right RPM. was something damaged? should i consault the dealer about it? im not much of a person to have other people work on my stuff but part of the offer when the tractor was bought was free servicing at my home for the first 500 hours use of it so thats why they put it on. any ideas on this?

 

[ccsial]

You probably have the old style PTO clutch and if it is clicking while engaged I'd be very concerned. I'd call the dealer and tell them that they messed it up. That is a very bad mistake for them to make. If you have to replace the PTO cam make sure you get the new style one.

 

[philipb]

Instead of "pushing" the cable to disengage the pto, the cable just kinks. You try again and again and it just keeps on kinking. Then, you learn to mess with it by "massaging" the cable through the little rubber boot at the top end of it, but it still kinks sometime, and then, it finally breaks. You get a new cable set for abt $25, put it on and find out that it's a bear to adjust, trial and error... frustration. Heavy industrial distributors make custom cables of all kinds. Not all of them do it, you have to call around. Try some of the "independent" bearing and power transmission dealers. I know of one in Louisiana, Bearing Service and Supply that makes cables. Also, one of the chains, Kaman Industrial does too, at some of their branches. I plan to take the cable off the L2800 and take it to one of these guys and get a hard wire cable to replace the mesh cable that I have. The hard wire should be stout enough to stay straight when pushed hard enough to actuate the pto lever.

What a relief to get that off my chest. This has to be better than therapy.

 

[RadarTech]

I never thought about this until I saw philipb post above..

But if you want to use the solid wire cable, why not try a small engine shop?

It has been years, but my dad used to buy wire to repair the throttle cables on push mowers and he had a crimper to make the Z crimp..
So I wonder if a small engine shop could take the cable assembly from your tractor and insert a wire and go on...

Now I have a L3400 and don't use my PTO often. (2-4 hours out of 230)...
So I have not looked at this very closely..


But what do you think?


J

 

[ccsial]

Depends on how tight the bends are. If it has to go around tight bends a hard wire is pretty stiff to operate.

 

[Chilly807]

Either Kubota changed the design radically for '09, or the cable you're talking about is only on the HST models... I just crawled under my 3400 (gear drive) and the lever goes straight into the side of the transmission, or at least the shaft it's on does. No cable whatsoever .

Chilly

 

[ccsial]

Either Kubota changed the design radically for '09, or the cable you're talking about is only on the HST models... I just crawled under my 3400 (gear drive) and the lever goes straight into the side of the transmission, or at least the shaft it's on does. No cable whatsoever .

Chilly

HST models.

 

[Chilly807]

Not to be too .. what's the word.. happy maybe, but "Give me a home, where the dry clutches roam, and the gears and PTO's are happy all day..."

I never thought I was musically inclined, but this just makes me want to break into verse..

It probably makes you want to wrap your hands around my neck, but that's a whole other story.

Seriously, I hope you guys get this sorted out, it's a pain in the a** to have something like that be an Achilles heel. Are the cables corroding then binding up, or just not strong enough to do the job?

Chilly

 

[Chilly807]

When you go to engineer your lever, if you need photos and measurements let me know. Mine has the lever through the rear of the deck close to the "hump" on the right side. I think the HST models have a flat floor deck? If the shaft going into the tranny is in the same place mine is, fitting a lever shouldn't be hard at all. I think Kubota moved the lever to the left on the HST's to declutter the deck on the right side, I have no HST pedal there to compete for space. I looked at the left side of the tranny last night too, thinking there might be a cross shaft coming through on that side, but there's not.
Do you have a picture of the current arrangement? I imagine the cable comes from the existing lever, through a bracket, to another bracket and another lever on the opposite side of the tranny.. a picture is worth a thousand words.

Chilly

 

[jenrow33]

I had the PTO cable on my 3400 begin to sieze up and begin to kink during engaging to the point that the PTO would not engage. I pulled the entire cable assembly apart and lubed everything good and it has been working great for a year.

MJ

 

[Marcussen]

Kubota changed the design of the bracket on the fender, I also take a syringe and inject a small amount of oil through the rubber booth every 50 hours or so. It seems to work. I have had the cable replaced twice and installed the new improved bracket (all under warranty)

 

[philipb]

When this rain clears up, I'll see what I can do about a picture. The mention of the lawn mower cables is just what I was thinking of. They worked great with just a little oil every couple of years. I like the idea of a lever, if one could snake it in there. Make it stout and all it would have to do is attach to and actuate the lever on the side of the rear end of the tractor. Nothing like butchering up a nearly new, out of warranty tractor...

 

[Chilly807]

When this rain clears up, I'll see what I can do about a picture. The mention of the lawn mower cables is just what I was thinking of. They worked great with just a little oil every couple of years. I like the idea of a lever, if one could snake it in there. Make it stout and all it would have to do is attach to and actuate the lever on the side of the rear end of the tractor. Nothing like butchering up a nearly new, out of warranty tractor...

This is what the gear drive setup looks like. Nothing could be much simpler, a lever (yellow handle) bent at 90 degrees with an end over a shaft...

That fresh out-of-warranty feeling is almost a relief sometimes, you say to yourself, "Finally I can change that thing that's been bothering me the past three years !"

Chilly