Tractor Literally shaken apart!

[Alan L.]

My brother-in-law borrowed my B2710 with KK 60" tiller this week to lightly till about 1.5 acres of very hard, dry clay. When I got it back today I noted the following:

1. A bolt came out of the side gear housing on the tiller. He noticed this and tightened all the others VERY tight, so tight that the rubber gasket is now squeezed out the sides. The hole left by the bolt is open to the gearbox, which probably allowed dirt to enter the gearbox. I checked the gear oil level and it appeared fine.

2. Chain link on the tiller that holds up the back door = gone, vibrated off I guess.

3. Barbed wire wrapped around the horizonal tine shaft next to the gear box. Due to good design on the part of KK by extending the gear housing out over the shaft a few inches, hopefully this did not damage. I'm also not sure it wasn't there already when I delivered the tractor last week.

4. Noticed that both sheet metal fenders on the tractor are wobbly. Noted lose bolts, but also serious stress cracks around other bolts that didn't loosen, probably due to the whole thing shaking violently.

5. Adjustable stop on the lift lever = gone. Vibrated off I guess. Since I need it for mowing, BIL offered the one off his 2410 which he didn't use because the drive shaft was too long for his tractor, plus the 60" is as much as the 2710 can handle, so probably too much for the 2410. I took it, so I'm OK there.

6. Fuel cap gasket = gone. Every time I fuel the tractor I think about how poor a design this in that it is a loose part you have to keep up with every time you remove the cap. But I managed it for 7 years and now its gone.

7. Tractor EXTREMELY dirty. I can only imagine the dust storm while the work was being done.

In hindsight I should have declared the conditions too harsh for my equipment. However, My BIL has been helpful to me for my entire life (he's about 15 years older), so you know how it is.

I plan to visit the Kubota dealer tomorrow and get the replacement gasket for the fuel cap, a new fuel filter (I'm afraid the missing gasket could have allowed dirt to enter the fuel tank), and air filters. I plan to drain all the fuel and replace the filter and hope no damage has been done with dirt in the fuel.

I plan to get a new side gear housing gasket for the tiller, take the panel off and make sure it is clean inside, and replace with new gasket and the missing bolt, and refill with gear oil.

I will then need to make sure all bolts are tightened on the tractor, no telling what else has been damaged internally by the shaking. As for the stress cracks, I don't know what to do about that other than hope they hold up after the bolts are all tightened.

Any more suggestions?

 

[gordon21]

Many years ago, a very wise 8 year old told me this. It may be the most prophetic thing ever said to me about relationships.

You can pick your nose
and you can pick your friends,
but you can't pick your family...............

Think about that for a minute and remember this came from an 8 year old boy.

Alan: pay the $30 for the parts and move on with life. He will still be your BIL.

 

[Mike_Lipke]

Hmmmmm...........
My Dad told me that you can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't eat your friends.

I'm not sure which is the better saying.

 

[gordon21]

And I thought I was the only sick person on TBN.

I see I am not alone.

 

[john_bud]

Alan,

Yep your tractor got a shaken and a baken. Some stuff got broke, bent or mutilated. But, isn't the tiller larger than the maximum K specs for your tractor? For some reason, and I may be wrong, I thought K spec'ed less than 60" for the "B" series. Oh, is the slip clutch on the tiller free to slip? It sounds like yours is froze up from rust. The thrashing is much less when the tiller is allowed to slip at the clutch. I know it can beat me up in tough ground using an "L" tractor if the slip clutch is stuck or too tight.

Anyway, The stuff on the tiller has occurred on mine too. Same KK gear drive tiller. It's a good unit but, the Italian company that makes the tiller for KK should have used loctite on the gear cover bolts. I think you can just take the cover off, clean it out then hit it with brake cleaner/degreaser and use RTV on both sides of the gasket. Mine was clean after the exact same deal, except I lost 2 bolts. Be sure to get all the oil out, it will take more than one 16 oz can of brake cleaner and use loctite blue 242 on the bolts.

You will need to weld the cracks on the sheet metal, or they will continue to grow. Just a dab of metal, even a 110v mig will do a good job. Then some touch up paint -- good as new.

And don't be too hard on the BIL, a work'n tractor is gonna get a few battle scars.

jb

 

[Alan L.]

Yes, the KK tiller is rated too big for my tractor. However there were so many on here with the same HP using this tiller I went ahead and got it instead of the 48". Probably a bad move, although it has seemed to handle it fine under most conditions. I should have vetoed his situation, VERY VERY hard clay. He said he could have tilled the asphalt road in front of his house easier.

I suspect the slip clutch needs adjusting. I have never touched it since I bought the tiller a year ago. Maybe it was too tight to start with. Anybody have instructions on how to adjust it.

I just checked KK's website and they don't list a gasket, but do sell the entire gear box for > $400. I have sent them an email hoping they will sell just the gasket. If not I'll salvage the old one or make one.

So, I should clean out all of the oil and the gears with brake fluid?

 

[Alan L.]

By the way, jb, where did you get the 2 replacement bolts? Real KK parts, or did you take one and match it somehow?

 

[ccsial]

My rule is simple. If you borrow my tractor I throw in the operator. ME.

 

[deere_x475guy]

Alan as others have already stated those bolts on gear box cover won't stay tight withour locktite. Mine were always coming loose last year so this spring as part of preparing the tiller for this seasons use I took all the bolts out, cleaned the holes and threads on the bolts and loctited them in place. About 20 hours on the tiller so far this season and now bolts have come loose. Also I think you will be fine re-using the old rubber gasket unless it is torn someone. Hope this helps and good luck.

Bob

 

[JJT]

"VERY VERY hard clay. He said he could have tilled the asphalt road in front of his house easier."

1) You should have done the tilling and 2) you should have waited for some rain to soften things up. I've easily tilled 100 acres in the past 7 years with my Kubota and 72" KK tiller. Almost all in heavy clay. The only thing to vibrate lose were the tines, new lock washers and locktite solved that problem. There's nothing worse than dry hard clay.