Turbo Charger Upgrade for Older Kubota

[rocketman128]

Folks,

Does anybody know if there is a third party company that makes a Tubo Charger Upgrade for older Kubota, ie. L225DT.

I am going to be using my tractor at 10,000 feet, and the power I am going to lost due to the thin air is going to be a problem. If I could get a tubo kit with a mild boost of say 8-10 lbs would be a big help.

Tx,

Bob

 

[gsxr1100]

I know there is one site that had a turbo on an older (fist) Bx2200. I tried to find the site about 6 months ago. nothing.

 

[BubbaJr]

You might check out using Nitrous Oxide. If you kept the flow rate down you might get decent power without going through a bottle real fast. It would probably be cheaper than a turbo. I've seen a couple shows where they used nitrous on a diesel truck, and even added propane to one of them.

Just keep in mind that I am thinking out loud, and sometimes that can be dangerous. Well OK, a lot of times it can be dangerous. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[rocketman128]

I have been considering propane. Would be fairly cheap to install. Not sure if I can regulate it low enough. Still checking. I know the custom plumbing for a turbo is going to be expensive. Also, since the injector are mechanical I am not sure if you can adjust the inject volume or vary it based on load.

 

[KennyV]

Propane will not help you at altitude… You don’t have the air flow to burn diesel, adding another gas that requires oxygen will not cause things to burn better. There is no cheap fix, turbo, supercharger, larger engine, different tractor…KennyV

 

[EquipmentJunkie]

I don't want to discourage you, but adding a turbo to a L225 may be a lesson in futility. Adding a turbo may be easier than I think it is going to be, but do your research thoroughly.

I would guess that it would be less expensive to upgrade to a good used tractor with 10 additional horsepower than to add a turbo the the L225.

How about a Deere 1050? That tractor had a turbo as standard equipment which is very unusual in a compact tractor. There are two listed on IronSearch right now.

 

[RobJ]

With a turbo you would have to make sure the engine could take it. Then get the fuel pump re-calibrated, 1) for the altitude and 2) for the turbo. It's not a simple add on unless there is a like machine that the specs can be obtained from.

 

[rocketman128]

my initial thought was to just boast it enough to bring it back to sea leval. I have been told that at 10,000 feet, I am loosing about 1/3 of my total horsepower. It's starting to look like it would be cheaper to just upgrade the entire tractor like the previous post recommends.

But it sure would be a interestin science project. My exhust goes straight up, so plubming into that would not be very hard. Getting some custom mufler pipe bent for the intake side should also be easly.

Hard parts are the oil lines to lube the turbo, and as previously stated, changing the full curve for a mechanical injector setup.

 

[cp1969]

I don't think you'd have to do anything to the pump if all you're trying to do is maintain sea level power.

I am surprised that the engine would lose 1/3 of it's power at 10k feet. Diesels are less susceptible to power loss at altitude than a gas engine and I didn't think a gas engine lost that much power. A diesel runs with a surplus of air, and losing some should not lower power all that much because the amount of fuel being injected is unchanged. It might smoke a little more, but the power shouldn't really fall off like a gas engine. The gas engine has to reduce the amount of fuel in proportion to the amount of reduction of available air; the diesel doesn't.

Another thing to consider is that the Kubota has a compression ratio in the low to mid-20's where most turbo'd diesel are much lower than that. A 10 psi boost on that engine is going to raise engine pressures a lot more than you think.

 

[RobJ]

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Diesels are less susceptible to power loss at altitude than a gas engine and I didn't think a gas engine lost that much power. A diesel runs with a surplus of air, and losing some should not lower power all that much because the amount of fuel being injected is unchanged. It might smoke a little more, but the power shouldn't really fall off like a gas engine. The gas engine has to reduce the amount of fuel in proportion to the amount of reduction of available air; the diesel doesn't.
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Never heard any of this. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif If your comparing vehicles on the road then just about all diesels have a turbo. Ford, Dodge, Chevy, etc. Less air is less air. Never heard that a diesel runs with a surplus of air??? Diesels must have more air because it's used to ignite the fuel. Again which is why diesels with some size on them are turboed.