New to me B6000

[Checkthisout]

So this tractor is new to me and was given to me by my father in law. In 2005, I finally coaxed him into letting me fix it. He was rototilling with it in 1988 when the bolts that held the rototiller to the tractor worked loose bending the PTO shaft in the process. One hole stripped and part of the boss on the lower corner stripped. He attemped to drilll out one hole and repair it and just apparently found better things to do and lost interest.

So back in 2005 we talked and he gave me the tractor which included a convoluted FEL from a Craftsman tractor and the tiller. I found a PTO shaft and bearing and then well, life got in the way and never did anything with it. Fast forward it to two weeks ago.

I went over and decided to get that tractor working because I need to rototill my yard to put my lawn in and spread gravel and such. I checked the coolant level, the 22 year old (if not older) coolant is still green and clear, the diesel was a little odd looking but still stunk like diesel and wasn't cloudy, the oil was of course dirty but there was no moisture in it or condensation on the stick. The transmission has no oil it because the PTO shaft was not installed.

I hooked jumper cables up to it. I turned the key on and immediately the little electrical fuel pump began to tick. Cool! I thought. I cranked it over and began to get some white smoke. BADASS! I thought. Injectors still work and diesels ok. Well, I kept dinking with it and it would want to go and then falter. I finally figured out that I needed to glow it for about it 30 seconds. It would then go and die. Damn it! I pulled the line off at the electric fuel pump and no fuel. I went to the other side of the tractor and hmm I thought. I flipped the fuel shut off lever and fuel began to pour out of the fuel pump feed hose. The fuel was just shut off! Apparently "on" is with the petcock 90 degrees to the line instead of parralell. (everything is in Japanese) . I pulled the rubber hose off at the injection pump and verified fuel delivery. I reintstalled the hose, glowed for 30 seconds and presto! It runs like a top on the 22 year old Diesel fuel.

I quickly shut it down. I put the ramps on the tailgate of my truck and fired it back up again and drove it up the ramps and brought it home.

So here I am now.

This looks like the PTO Reverser everyone speaks of. The pulley on it is for the belt that drives the pump for the FEL.

Rice Paddy Tires?

The steering sector box had water coming out of it. It looks like some water ran down the steering shaft, pooled and then froze inside the box causing it to crack. I think JB Weld should be adequate for this.

I have a used shaft to replace the bent PTO shaft and a new bearing. Napa cannot get the 25 x 38 x 8 MM Seal for the shaft so I need to look around. Any tips?

1)How does the air filter work? The bottom was full of oil so I assume it's an oil bath.

2)What type of for the transmission case?

3) Where can I get new tines for the tiller?

I'll post pics of the accessories later but I need to get the PTO fixed and make sure the engine is going run some hours before I spend money on this little beast.

 

[TopGear]

Hi

Congrats - you just got given the best tractor Kubota ever made Well in my opinion. Like you mentioned you can't kill them with a stick!

As mentioned check out/search previous posts. There are links for manuals and a lot of information on here related to the B6000. In relation to the oil seal download the manual and get the part number. Also just try your local kubota dealer with the part number for the b6000. Its not a grey market as they were imported into the US by kubota so provided you have a part number your dealer should be able to get the seal or see Vic.

Air filter is an oil bath. Remove the whole unit and soak in petrol/kero to clean the upper part and then dry it out. Re-fill oil in lower part to the line level in the clear bowl.

Manual will give oil types etc for the b6000 - search earlier posts for links to download this. Its also worth downloading the B6100 manuals as they are close to the B6000 (motor different - 2 cycl vs 3 cycl.) but most of the other stuff is the same.

Anyway congrats on the B6000 and welcome to a special club (B6000 owners). I think the B6000 crew are having a bi-annual conference in Vegas next year as well now you own one you can come

Cheers John

 

[cappys tractor]

Your questions DO have answers!

The steering box does have some replacement parts. The trouble is finding someone who is parting out their B6000.

I would think JB weld would be able to mend the box, but I am not certain how to ensure NO jbweld would get onto, and into the gears themselves. then you would have a huge wad of useless gear, jbweld and no steering!

The rear gear case acts as both the gear case lube, and as the supply for the Hyd pump, to operate the 3PH. It uses Kubota UDT, or super UDT oil. BUT, like I do, it is simply 90 wt gear oil available at autozone or Napa for about half the cost.

The oil should be changed too, the drain (right side, under the secondary fuel filter) is below the oil filter. the filter is a simple nut, with a screen and magnet to clean. you must loosen, and unscrew the filter about 1". the housing has a really long thread to make it have a double seal for the oil path.

The oil bath air filter needs cleaning and reoiling.

Kubota DOES stock parts for these... some items are out of stock, some in, you have to ask.

P.S. what about a vegas conference? I never heard of one? have I been missing something?

NEVER and I mean NEVER let the radiator get lower than the top of the upper hose.

this tractor uses a method of cooling called thermosyphon.

this depends on having the level of the antifreeze FULL, using the principle that hot rises, and cold sinks. so the circulation of your coolant depends NOT on a pump, but by simple heating and cooling of the antifreeze.

I was told, and have seen it work, that 45 seconds of preheat, then starting will make the engine start up almost every time. but sometimes it needs more time preheating the glowplugs.

I make a winter blend of 3 gl diesel and 1 gl of kero to keep the fuel gel free. have had NO problems starting in the coldest weather (other than preheating longer)

and last but not least. DO NOT ever EVER run it out of fuel..........

It is a pain to bleed and get the injectors clear to get it to run. BTDT

 

[Checkthisout]

Sorry I took so long to get back but I have been doing other things.

I have also been using the info in your replies and fixing the tractor!

I got the bearing installed on the PTO shaft, found a seal and installed the shaft, topped it off with gear oil, drained the fuel tank and flushed the system with fresh diesel.

I let it run for about 1/2 hour and drove it around the yard.

What a great little machine! It climbs all over everything! This is a serious little machine!

I put it back into the pickup and took it to work. The rear wheels were rocking so I tightened down the big nuts that clamp them to axle shafts, torqued the front lugnuts and a couple of the steering links, installed a new battery, changed the oil with Mobil1 and cleaned the filter, topped off the oil bath and tightened up the little clips to hold the bowl on better and steam cleaned it off. .

One thing I noticed is that this tractor is loud as hell and that the little cooling fan really rips the air through the radiator! Charging system is putting out 15.3 volts so I think I have a good little unit here that is worth putting some more time and effort into.

I went ahead and ordered a time-sert kit to repair the 4 bolt holes.


More questions:

1) The front axle moves about 1/8th of an inch back and forth on the pivot bolt when you steer. Is there anyway to tighten this up?

2) I noticed what looks like a little fill plug just ahead of the front driveshaft boot. The twin of this plug is on the underside of the assembly and looks to be a drain plug. WHen I took the upper plug out, nothing came out. What goes in here if anything? In other words what maintainence/fluid levels should I be checking as they pertain to the front axle? The CV joints look like you simply pump them full of grease but I am concerned about the differential etc.

3) There is a linkage and rods that go into the top of the valve cover. It looks to be some sort of compression release? It's frozen and won't move. Should I even bother freeing it up so that it will work?

 

[Checkthisout]

Tiller Tines Please

Here are some pictures of the tiller. If I need to find a Serial Tag or Stamp let me know. I counted 22 Tines? Vic, P&A on these Tines please. .

Everything is there. There is a hole in the beam of the tiller on the back. Is that for a depth stake? If so does anyone have a picture of what a complete tiller assembly should look like?

 

[Rust Addict]

Real quick on the fuel system. Pick up some filters, change both the paper water seperator, cheap on line part to order, this is the one in the tarnished clear plasitc bowel, and head to the auto parts shop with the particle filter mounted closer to the injector pump. New filters and a can of injector cleaner and you'll drop some engine vibration and free up some more power. Thats about it for an engine tune up, other than some new glow plugs to shorten your start up waiting. Try jabbing the throttle a bit before you glow the plugs and crank for a second, then hit the glow plugs. That little charge of fuel will get super heated by the plugs and should get you fired up sooner.

Good luck, and keep the rear wheel hub lock bolt torqued up to 100 foot lbs or you'll wear the hubs out and look like the axles are bent, not good.

There are lot of posts on the B6000 here, nearly enough to rebuild a basket case with out the service manual. hehehe

 

[Checkthisout]

Tines are damn expensive on these gray market tillers

$440.00 worth of tines. I DO have to THINK about that BEFORE I go ahead. Are there any aftermarket options that are less $$$$$$$?

This extra single wheel carries a significant weight load and better balances the tiller and the tractor so the tiller is not just hung off it's bolting plate. Your tiller is missing the rubber dirt skirting that is normally attached to the metal hinged flap on the tiller body, and it would have a slot in it to allow the single wheel and it's axle post to pass through it.

Thank You! Analyzing what you said, I bet this missing part contributed to the original failure that made the tractor unuseable for so many years. I am going to be beating the hell out of this Tiller bringing softball-sized rocks up to the surface so I can rake them up and put in a lawn. I wonder where I can acquire a wheel assembly? It sounds and looks like the single wheel would be easy to fabricate.

And yes.....I'll think about those tines. That's a lot to bite off right at the moment. I am sure you hear that a lot!

 

[Checkthisout]

Real quick on the fuel system. Pick up some filters, change both the paper water seperator, cheap on line part to order, this is the one in the tarnished clear plasitc bowel, and head to the auto parts shop with the particle filter mounted closer to the injector pump. New filters and a can of injector cleaner and you'll drop some engine vibration and free up some more power.

Thanks for the tips. One thing I noticed is a lot of of black smoke under any sort of load at any RPM. I think I need to clean the air filter better.

Thats about it for an engine tune up, other than some new glow plugs to shorten your start up waiting. Try jabbing the throttle a bit before you glow the plugs and crank for a second, then hit the glow plugs. That little charge of fuel will get super heated by the plugs and should get you fired up sooner.

It seems like it takes about 8 seconds of cranking when cold before I even get fuel as is evidenced by fuel smell accompanied a few rotations later by white smoke before she begins to fire. I was told the lever that goes into the top of the valve cover is a compression release but no one on here has verified that's what it is yet. Having this operable seems like it might save some starter wear and battery life. What do you think?

Good luck, and keep the rear wheel hub lock bolt torqued up to 100 foot lbs or you'll wear the hubs out and look like the axles are bent, not good.

The in-law told me that this thing was wobbly and thought the "narrow wheelbase" was the cause and that he didn't find the tractor all that comfortable to use because it would always sway back and forth. The front wheel lugnuts were loose and the big nuts that clamp the back wheels to the axles were also loose JUST AS YOU STATED!!. The holes that the axles go through are slightly wallered-out JUST AS YOU ALSO STATED but a 22MM socket on the end of the 36" breaker bar tightened those wheels right up.

Two pitman arms were also loose in their holes and walking around. It was a night and day difference in the way it drove and steered after lubing everything up and torquing all the fasteners.

The FEL works good too only it's sort of a pain because the pump is PTO driven and thus the loader does not move unless the clutch is engaged. Thank Goodness for granny gear when pulling up to a pile!

Flipping it out of gear with one hand while simultaneously steering, operating the loading and switching between Hi/LO while clutching with one foot and braking, differential braking and using my heel on the diff lock with the other makes me feel like I am having a threesome with some ladies with a foot fetish!

This tractor develops impressive pulling/pushing power with the 4wd engaged and the diff locked. It should improve even more once I install the rear wheel weights.

 

[jwalk]

get yourself a bottom plow. They work far better than a tiller breaking new ground. They pull up small rocks but dont break when you hit large ones. I use the plow first to bust the sod then go over it afterwards with the tiller to smooth everything out. If you have a welder you can find a tag along plow for a shiny nickel then weld up a 3ph quite easily. You wouldnt need to fix the shaft right off either. This is my setup http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUxH5uYvyLc

 

[Checkthisout]

Well, after about 30 hours of use, the 4-wheel drive has stopped working.

It had been popping occassionally but now simply won't engage at all. With it "engaged" the shifter gets pushed pushed backed to the disengaged position.

I suspect the shift forks, and collars are worn out.

What do you guys think?

How hard is it to replace these parts? With an FEL, this tractor gets stuck on flat ground without 4WD and is basically useless until I can fix it.

 

[Ach]

Time to pop open the transmission and take a look see at the shifter methinks. Vic probably has your parts right here, or try West Kentucky Tractor Parts to see if they have them used.

Agreed that the 4wd is pretty necessary with the loader. How much weight do you have on the back? B6000s want a few hundred pounds (say 150 in the tires and 350 on the 3ph?) keeping them grounded, especially with a fel.

The lever you're talking about is the compression release lever.

 

[HickoryNut]

If you are in a pinch for the compression cable and can't free it up with PB or whatever penatrant you use. Grap a universal choke kit and rob the cable. Ditto on the dig into the transfer case

 

[Kytim]

If you are in a pinch for the compression cable and can't free it up with PB or whatever penatrant you use. Grap a universal choke kit and rob the cable. Ditto on the dig into the transfer case

I would go the choke route too. good luck on the trans case.

 

[troyhedges72]

i have a b6000 2wd that i used the engine and radiator from. i purchased itoff ebay and was lucky to get a good one. i have the whole rear section and steering plus front end.. everything you need to fix yours right up.i am asking 200.00 . i can send you picks of it and i will even gaurantee the trans works great. ( i ran it around my field and woods for a few days before removing engine for my 4 wd. ) i agree with you, these are great tractors.