transmission fan shot.

[bp fick]

David, on a different thread the other day, I casually mentioned that there might come a day when I would again downsize to the BX. But, I also said, however, that as much as I loved, really loved, my previous BX, I'd not buy another, in the future, unless KTC upgrades the machine, starting with the trans and it's fan.

I don't think KTC designed the machine intentionally to create this mess, but rather, failed to design the machine, taking this unintended consequence into account. One wonders, at what point in the design and testing did this become obvious to the team? At what point did someone NOT notice and exclaim, "oh, cr@p!!!" (in proper Japanese, of course), "Look what we did here. We locked in a 3 Yen, plastic fan that, surely will fail, but cannot be repaired in a reasonable way."

If KTC is interested in some owner feedback, we'd all be happy to provide it for the next-gen BX.

 

[TripleR]

David, on a different thread the other day, I casually mentioned that there might come a day when I would again downsize to the BX. But, I also said, however, that as much as I loved, really loved, my previous BX, I'd not buy another, in the future, unless KTC upgrades the machine, starting with the trans and it's fan.

I don't think KTC designed the machine intentionally to create this mess, but rather, failed to design the machine, taking this unintended consequence into account. One wonders, at what point in the design and testing did this become obvious to the team? At what point did someone NOT notice and exclaim, "oh, cr@p!!!" (in proper Japanese, of course), "Look what we did here. We locked in a 3 Yen, plastic fan that, surely will fail, but cannot be repaired in a reasonable way."

If KTC is interested in some owner feedback, we'd all be happy to provide it for the next-gen BX.

One of the reasons I would probably buy a Deere 1026R over a BX once the tractor has a proven track record.

Our John Deere 2305 also has the exposed fan, but I don't know the degree of difficulty in replacing it.

 

[milkman]

I replaced the fan on my BX2200 from underneath without removing all the stuff the WSM says has to be removed. I used a crowbar to shift the engine forward enough to get the shaft out. The engine shifted forward enough without taking the motor mounts loose. I then made a skidplate so I don't have to do that again.

 

[dodge man]

I know a lot of people cut the new fan in half and put it on that way and have good luck with it. Someone posted not to long ago and made his own fan, it was a much heavier one, but still plastic. He was talking about marketing them.

I had kind of a smart alec answer at first, but usually it looks worse than it is. Usually once you start to take something apart, it goes well and works out easier than you think it will.

 

[David s Von Gieserbrechta]

I know a lot of people cut the new fan in half and put it on that way and have good luck with it. Someone posted not to long ago and made his own fan, it was a much heavier one, but still plastic. He was talking about marketing them.

I had kind of a smart alec answer at first, but usually it looks worse than it is. Usually once you start to take something apart, it goes well and works out easier than you think it will.

Dodge Man This is wood cutting season here in Manitoba and whilst I can machine a new fan and dismantle the tractor to put it on, the problem is that I just don't have the time to play around with Kubota's Bullsh#t. So what I'm going to do is get a new and NOT improved plastic fan, put it in the lathe remove the inside of the hub of the fan and then cut it in half. Then with the engine running and using the tractor as a lathe and chisel for the wood lathe I'm going to lathe the original hub down just a tad to smooth out the bumps left by the fan blades Then I'm going to epoxy the new and improved fan over the old hub. Yes it will be slightly out of round but who cares.

It's a cheap and dirty fix but it will be fast and it will work and I'll be back cutting wood..

When wood cutting season is over and i have more time I WILL make a NEW and REALLY improved fan with a splined shaft if for no other reason than that I can improve on Kubota's design, AGAIN.

 

[wawajake]

David
In regards to your o ring problems, please do a search of my posts and you will see where Kubota did provide proper tube flares for me and it must of been because they had a tech bulliten on file....or maybe my dealer was just a good one. But the new flares tubes have completely solved my blown oring problems and I worked the FEL extra hard this summer !

 

[bp fick]

Dodge Man This is wood cutting season here in Manitoba and whilst I can machine a new fan and dismantle the tractor to put it on, the problem is that I just don't have the time to play around with Kubota's Bullsh#t. .................

It's a cheap and dirty fix but it will be fast and it will work and I'll be back cutting wood..

When wood cutting season is over and i have more time I WILL make a NEW and REALLY improved fan with a splined shaft if for no other reason than that I can improve on Kubota's design, AGAIN.

This is why I sort of wince at the "tractor as toy" conversations.
Many guys on TBN really need to depend on their equipment. If one farms, or cuts wood as David does, or if one market gardens as we do, having the machine go down at an inopportune time is a royal pain.

DsVG, your plan is a good. Get 'er back and running. You can fuss with the better fix later.

 

[David s Von Gieserbrechta]

This is why I sort of wince at the "tractor as toy" conversations.
Many guys on TBN really need to depend on their equipment. If one farms, or cuts wood as David does, or if one market gardens as we do, having the machine go down at an inopportune time is a royal pain.

DsVG, your plan is a good. Get 'er back and running. You can fuss with the better fix later.

This crap machines like cheese, as a matter of fact I didn't even have to fabricate a steady rest, just held the chisel free hand, now all I have to do is go to town and get a new fan, lathe out the hub cut it in half and glue er on. dunn deal and just as good as the shop manual version but a whole lot quicker and I didn't even have to pick up a wrench.:thumbsup:

 

[dennisgw]

No beating around the bush.... Nice solution. I will keep it in mind should the unfortunate ever happen to me. Do you know if the fan blade is nylon or some other plastic? Getting things to stick to some plastics is tough. Nylon would have been a good choice for the fan, ie could provide some heat resistance, etc. AND lots of things stick to nylon.

 

[David s Von Gieserbrechta]

No beating around the bush.... Nice solution. I will keep it in mind should the unfortunate ever happen to me. Do you know if the fan blade is nylon or some other plastic? Getting things to stick to some plastics is tough. Nylon would have been a good choice for the fan, ie could provide some heat resistance, etc. AND lots of things stick to nylon.

Dennis, somehow I don't think that it's nylon, firstly if indeed it was nylon these fans wouldn't break like they do, the fan blades would bend. I tend to think that the material is a very cheap grade of polyethylene. or the same crud that kubota uses for their fenders and hoods. Problem with polyethylene is that nothing really likes to stick to it, epoxy works if one scores the surfaces slightly with a torch to give the epoxy something to bite into. And with the large surface area involved here and the very light weight of the fan blades and hub, the epoxy really doesn't have to hold that much as there is very little torque involved and it's not screaming like a Dremel tool. What I have done is stick two of the old fan blades together to see how the epoxy holds. Even if the epoxy doesn't stick too well a couple of small screws along with the epoxy will take care of that problem. Anyway I look at this it's better than pulling the tractor apart.