Allen2
Bronze Member
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2005
- Messages
- 60
- Location
- Westmoreland County, SW PA
- Tractor
- 2005 Kubota BX23 w/MMM, 1986 Simplicity Sunstar w/MMM & Blade
First removal of FEL and BH, first service, first "bath", first use of the MMM, and first reinstall of the FEL and BH - all in one weekend. Picture is of the stripped down BX23 after its bath.
Got up to 54 hours early last week. I didn't want to stop in the middle of the job I was doing so I ran over a little. I decided to do the service myself, especially since my dealer is over 100 miles away and no trailer. Went back to the dealer for the first time since buying the tractor to get the parts I needed. I can't praise this dealer enough. I called the parts guy the day before I went there to make sure he had what I needed. He checked and had everything on hand. When I got there, he had everything in a box waiting for me. The price was comparable to web prices. The salesman came out for a chat and even the girl who runs the office came over to say hello. What a great place and really nice people.
I decided to take off the FEL and BH for the service, plus the wife was threatening to sell the MMM if I didn't use it and use the money for a new sewing machine. Took the BH off using the dollies like another poster here had shown. Initially I had trouble getting the unit to tilt back far enough to clear the fenders. Rereading one of the posts I saw that I had to extend the dipperstick way out to let it tilt more. In the end it all worked out, just took some time. I rolled it to the side then took the FEL off without any problems. The little wheels on my dollies didn't roll very well under the weight of the BH. I will have to build one with bigger wheels.
The 50 hour service was rather uneventful. I read enough about it here on TBN that I wasn't worried about trying it. Number 2 son (10-year-old) even showed an interest in seeing it done and hung around for most of it. He was most entertained by the 3 gallons of SUDT coming out of it. I had picked up a 5-gallon drain pan specifically for this purpose, and it worked well. Turns out I didn't have a 26mm socket for getting out the transmission screen. I gave a quick try with a cresent wrench, but it didn't budge. I had to run out and get a set of the larger sockets, which I had never needed before now. The screen had some of the typical metal flakes on it. One side on the far end of the screen had something on it that looked and felt like vaseline. It washed off easy enough. Anyone else ever encounter something like that? The SUDT that came out looked like new. Overall took a better part of the afternoon, including the trip for the sockets and answering a million questions from my son.
Put the MMM on to try some mowing. Followed the adjustment procedure in the manual. It took some time to get within the specs they gave, but I eventually got there. Without the FEL and BH on, it was like driving a sportscar! Wow, what a difference. The mower did a great job, more lift than my older mower. No problem with the ag tires tearing up the yard. However, I have some work to do before I use this mower full time. I have alot of trees in and around the yard. The low hanging limbs were reeking havoc with the ROPS. I was expecting this so was trying to avoid them as much as possible. What I WASN'T watching for were some of the trees whose trunks were leaning over a little from vertical. As I mowed next to one the top of the ROPS caught the edge of the trunk and lifted the front of the tractor up a little before it slipped off. That was a rude awakening. Now that I am more aware of that issue, I will be more careful. Anyway, I have alot of trimming to do.
Off with the mower and a quick bath for the tractor. I told it not to get used to it because there won't be many of these. Then back on with the FEL and BH. The FEL was uneventful. I drove up to it, connected up the hoses, tilted it back, put in the pins and it was done. I had a small issue with the BH which I blame on the heat. I rolled it over to the tractor and lined it up with the mounts. Connected the hoses and used the stabilizers to lift it off of the one dolly. Backed up the tractor and dropped it into the lower mounts. Retracting the dipperstick to tilt it into the upper mounts only let it go so far. So I thought I just need to push down with the boom to make it go the rest of the way (which is the correct thing to do). However, it would only go to within about an inch of the final position and stop. I could feel it hitting something. I looked all over for what it was hitting and couldn't find it. The 3PH was up and out of the way, hoses were clear, there was nothing there. OK, those of you who know what's wrong, I can hear you laughing - hey it was my first time give me a break, plus it was hot out like I said. It had also been several days since I had taken it off, so the memory was already fading. And don't forget the heat. Anyway, when I had taken it off, I put the stabilizers up and pulled the boom and dipperstick in to keep the thing as small as possible so I could still fit in the garage. To help it stay that way, I had put the transport pin back into the boom. So, once I discovered that and took the pin out, the boom went down like it should, the unit tilted up and snapped into place. I think it will go much easier and faster next time.
Well this turned out to be a rather lengthy post. However, I have learned much from reading these forums and wanted to contribute something back. Hopefully, some other TBNers can benefit from my experiences. The BX23 has been a great tractor for me so far. Every time I finish a project, I have to say to myself "I should have gotten one of these years ago!". It should be Kubota's slogan.
Allen
Got up to 54 hours early last week. I didn't want to stop in the middle of the job I was doing so I ran over a little. I decided to do the service myself, especially since my dealer is over 100 miles away and no trailer. Went back to the dealer for the first time since buying the tractor to get the parts I needed. I can't praise this dealer enough. I called the parts guy the day before I went there to make sure he had what I needed. He checked and had everything on hand. When I got there, he had everything in a box waiting for me. The price was comparable to web prices. The salesman came out for a chat and even the girl who runs the office came over to say hello. What a great place and really nice people.
I decided to take off the FEL and BH for the service, plus the wife was threatening to sell the MMM if I didn't use it and use the money for a new sewing machine. Took the BH off using the dollies like another poster here had shown. Initially I had trouble getting the unit to tilt back far enough to clear the fenders. Rereading one of the posts I saw that I had to extend the dipperstick way out to let it tilt more. In the end it all worked out, just took some time. I rolled it to the side then took the FEL off without any problems. The little wheels on my dollies didn't roll very well under the weight of the BH. I will have to build one with bigger wheels.
The 50 hour service was rather uneventful. I read enough about it here on TBN that I wasn't worried about trying it. Number 2 son (10-year-old) even showed an interest in seeing it done and hung around for most of it. He was most entertained by the 3 gallons of SUDT coming out of it. I had picked up a 5-gallon drain pan specifically for this purpose, and it worked well. Turns out I didn't have a 26mm socket for getting out the transmission screen. I gave a quick try with a cresent wrench, but it didn't budge. I had to run out and get a set of the larger sockets, which I had never needed before now. The screen had some of the typical metal flakes on it. One side on the far end of the screen had something on it that looked and felt like vaseline. It washed off easy enough. Anyone else ever encounter something like that? The SUDT that came out looked like new. Overall took a better part of the afternoon, including the trip for the sockets and answering a million questions from my son.
Put the MMM on to try some mowing. Followed the adjustment procedure in the manual. It took some time to get within the specs they gave, but I eventually got there. Without the FEL and BH on, it was like driving a sportscar! Wow, what a difference. The mower did a great job, more lift than my older mower. No problem with the ag tires tearing up the yard. However, I have some work to do before I use this mower full time. I have alot of trees in and around the yard. The low hanging limbs were reeking havoc with the ROPS. I was expecting this so was trying to avoid them as much as possible. What I WASN'T watching for were some of the trees whose trunks were leaning over a little from vertical. As I mowed next to one the top of the ROPS caught the edge of the trunk and lifted the front of the tractor up a little before it slipped off. That was a rude awakening. Now that I am more aware of that issue, I will be more careful. Anyway, I have alot of trimming to do.
Off with the mower and a quick bath for the tractor. I told it not to get used to it because there won't be many of these. Then back on with the FEL and BH. The FEL was uneventful. I drove up to it, connected up the hoses, tilted it back, put in the pins and it was done. I had a small issue with the BH which I blame on the heat. I rolled it over to the tractor and lined it up with the mounts. Connected the hoses and used the stabilizers to lift it off of the one dolly. Backed up the tractor and dropped it into the lower mounts. Retracting the dipperstick to tilt it into the upper mounts only let it go so far. So I thought I just need to push down with the boom to make it go the rest of the way (which is the correct thing to do). However, it would only go to within about an inch of the final position and stop. I could feel it hitting something. I looked all over for what it was hitting and couldn't find it. The 3PH was up and out of the way, hoses were clear, there was nothing there. OK, those of you who know what's wrong, I can hear you laughing - hey it was my first time give me a break, plus it was hot out like I said. It had also been several days since I had taken it off, so the memory was already fading. And don't forget the heat. Anyway, when I had taken it off, I put the stabilizers up and pulled the boom and dipperstick in to keep the thing as small as possible so I could still fit in the garage. To help it stay that way, I had put the transport pin back into the boom. So, once I discovered that and took the pin out, the boom went down like it should, the unit tilted up and snapped into place. I think it will go much easier and faster next time.
Well this turned out to be a rather lengthy post. However, I have learned much from reading these forums and wanted to contribute something back. Hopefully, some other TBNers can benefit from my experiences. The BX23 has been a great tractor for me so far. Every time I finish a project, I have to say to myself "I should have gotten one of these years ago!". It should be Kubota's slogan.
Allen
