B2650 hydro pedal creeps out of neutral

PHPaul · Aug 20, 2018

I haven't looked into it yet, so the solution may be as simple as a linkage adjustment, but my B2650 wants to creep forward when I take my foot off the pedal.

I can "tap" it back to the neutral position and watch it slowly creep down until the tractor starts moving forward. With the brake set, I can hear it loading up the engine.

I plan to pull the tractor into the shop tomorrow and see if I can figure out what's going on, but thought perhaps someone here has "been there and done that" and could save me re-inventing the wheel.

rkidd · Aug 20, 2018

Hey Paul. Mine did the same thing a year or so back, and all I had to do to mine was lube all of the pivot points and linkage for the hst and have had no problems ever since. Hopefully yours is that easy.

CharlieFoxtrot · Aug 21, 2018

This is an often reported problem with the B2650 pedal. I have had the tractor stall on me when I dismount because the pedal was slightly off center and even have had to rock it back and forth to restart because it would not sit dead center to actuate the safety switch.

The only fix I could find is -- as described above -- to lubricate all of the HST pedal joints. In my experience, however, this is only a temporary fix and the problem reoccurs within weeks, or even sooner during very cold weather.

I would like to see Kubota address this issue.

wacnstac · Aug 21, 2018

Have the same issue. Will have to try greasing the pivot points. What troubles me is that it was this way pretty much when it was new.

SAITCHO · Aug 21, 2018

My B26 TLB was doing the exact same, I had the dealer come and fix it under warranty. The tech adjusted it but 2 weeks later its was doing the same again, always creeping and hard to start. This spring I decided to dismantle all the linkage I could, clean everything and lube it and its been perfect all summer so far. Seem this will be part of the yearly maintenance from now on.

PHPaul · Aug 21, 2018

After some investigation, and a peek at the WSM, here's my thoughts:

When you release the pedal, the Neutral Holder (#3) ramp is supposed to move the Neutral Roller (#2) to the center and place the Neutral Arm (#1) and swash plate in the neutral position.

It appears to me that the Spring (#6) assists with this.

My thinking is that dry, sticky linkage overcomes the ability of the spring to center the neutral roller and arm.

Greasing the main pivot and oiling all the various pivot points helps, but as we know that's a bandaid, not a fix.

I need to get back under the tractor and see if the spring tension can be snugged up a bit or possibly install a stiffer spring.

EDIT: I just looked at that spring. It is a "pull" spring and with the pedal in the neutral position as currently set up, the spring is completely relaxed, with the coils touching each other. It appears that the bracket can be rotated somewhat which should place a little tension on the detent in neutral. I'll try that tomorrow and report back.

D2Cat · Aug 21, 2018

Paul, send a PM to White Tiger. He probably has first hand experience with your situation.

Butch · Aug 21, 2018

About a year ago I tore into why my HSD creeped when the peddle was released. Found out it was a bearing that rode the shifting cam. The little bearing was about the diameter of a quarter and three quarters thick. The Kubota costs for the bearing was $19.

I fixed myself... I put a post on this site complete with pics if you are interested.On my B2410 the fix was simple... but getting to it was a bitch...

I just saw PH Paul's WSM picture ... look at (2) that is the bearing I was talking about... my throttle is perfect now... good luck!

eipo · Aug 22, 2018

On mine, I was binding at #1. The arm wouldn't travel back to its neutral position and allow the pedal to creep into the forward position.

PHPaul · Aug 22, 2018

Butch, you have a link to that post or remember the post title?

Mine has a cab so yeah, I can see getting to it being a problem.

jqc99 · Aug 22, 2018

I had that problem as well. It was the safety switch on mine. This thread explained it: http://www.orangetractortalks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36221

BAP · Aug 22, 2018

I am not sure how the B2650 foot pedal is setup versus my B2920. On my B2920 The centering spring is hooked on an adjustable eye bolt, which I was able to add a little more tension to make it go back to self centering.

Butch · Aug 22, 2018

PHPaul said:
Butch, you have a link to that post or remember the post title?

Mine has a cab so yeah, I can see getting to it being a problem.

PHPaul... here are a few pics of replacing the little

quarter size bearing... about 5 hours tear down and six hours reassembly... still trying to figure out if the site allows me to see all my threads

Butch · Aug 22, 2018

Butch said:
PHPaul... here are a few pics of replacing the little View attachment 37712 quarter size bearing... about 5 hours tear down and six hours reassembly... still trying to figure out if the site allows me to see all my threads

Take a look at the tear down picture... zoom in on the water bottle and just below it you can see the newly installed bearing... Normally you would have to split the tractor to access it,,, even though you can see 2/3's of it... I used a small hole saw to to cut a 1/2 moon allowing access to the bearing... used a dremal tool with small grinder to pop the inner race (Harbor Freight) ... it slid right off with needle nose pliars

PHPaul · Aug 24, 2018

After greasing/oiling the pivot points in the linkage the problem was, if anything, worse.

I'm not willing to go to the effort of getting at the neutral roller and linkage, I strongly suspect it would involve removing the cab. NOT gonna happen.

So, in the finest traditions of shade tree mechanics everywhere, I farmer-engineered a solution. Using a couple of zip ties, I hooked a spring from the greasable pivot forward to the brake linkage pivot. The spring pulls the linkage towards the neutral position with just a bit of tension to hold it there.

Haven't done any exhaustive testing but a quick ride from the shop to the tractor shed seems to indicate that it will work. I need to "toe" it up to neutral from the forward position, but once there it stays there.

I'll try to remember to report back after living with it for a while.

Butch · Aug 27, 2018

Thumbs up PHPhil... when I tore into the tiny bearing... I found myself too far into the apparent solution to back out then. I have a 100% operative shop with one mechanic ... me. And to be perfectly honest.... I had to "git'er done. Ya see my wife looked at the then partial tear down ans commented. "You best better know what your are doing... cause if you don't you just might be sleeping with it... "

PHPaul · Sep 6, 2018

Today was the first time I've needed to use the tractor since I cobbled up my spring "fix".

Results are mixed:

The Good - Once I return the pedal to the neutral position, it stays there. Letting off the pedal after traveling forward seems to let it return to neutral on it's own.

The Not So Good - Letting off the pedal after traveling in reverse does NOT return it to the neutral position. The tractor continues to creep backwards. A little tap with the toe to put it in neutral works, but it can be a little disconcerting to have it continue to travel after you take your foot off the pedal.

Especially the first time...

Mister · Sep 9, 2018

This is ridiculous. My new MX5800 has done this since I got it 160 hours ago. If I went through the hassle of trailering it an hour away to the closest dealer, what do you bet they would just lube it and be done with it, only to have the problem return a week later.

Is this issue going to be the equivalent of the Toyota gas pedal issue? Kubota better get a handle on this quick. It's not only annoying, but technically somebody could get hurt or die. My machine is hard to get in gear, most likely because of this issue, which technically means it could pop out of gear easily too. I was backing down a hill the other day, when suddenly it slipped out of gear and in to neutral and started moving quickly towards a drop off. Took me a few seconds of butt puckering to figure it out.

Also, half the time I stand up from the seat, it thinks the accelerator is on and tries to kill the engine. I end up having to do this stupid crouch and hover move every time I stand up so I can quickly plop back down to keep it from dying. Jiggle the pedal, and usually I'm good to go, but not always. End up having to rinse and repeat.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

PHPaul · Feb 22, 2019

Happened to be in town near the dealer I bought the tractor from and yakked with the Service guy for a while.

Not a new issue or restricted to the 2650 apparently.

He talked me through the linkage adjustment procedure, which I'll try, and also mentioned that they've had a couple come in where the cruise control linkage was the issue, so I'll try disconnecting that.

If, as has been mentioned, it's the neutral detent bearing, the repair is a non-trivial exercise. Lift or completely remove cab, possibly cut and re-weld a notch in the frame. SWAG (Scientific Wild-Arsed Guess) was $1100 to $1500, more if they ran into issues.

Aaarrrrgggh. I'm REALLY starting to regret going with a hydro. Shoulda listened to my gut and stayed with a GST.

PaulL · Feb 23, 2019

There's a big difference between failing to return to neutral, and creeping into gear from neutral without being touched.

Failing to return to neutral, as many people have said, comes down to the spring that returns to neutral (which has a tensioner), lubing, and the bearing. And a few other obscure causes.

Creeping into gear when it was in neutral would suggest that the centre isn't set properly, so the spring is returning it to a position that isn't neutral. That's quite a different problem to fix, and most of the suggestions on here wouldn't do it. As you note, lubing it will make it return to where it thinks neutral is even better - but if where it thinks neutral is is actually in gear, then lubing it will make your problem worse.

Are you sure it's creeping into gear, and not just failing to return?

B2650 hydro pedal creeps out of neutral

Well-known member

Active member

New member

Member

Member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Active member

Active member

Well-known member

New member

Well-known member

Active member

Attachments

Active member

Attachments

Well-known member

Active member

Well-known member

Member

Well-known member

Well-known member