Newbie Piecing Together Belly Mower

[apn73]

Hello All,
Newbie here with a new (to me) Kubota B4200. It came with a belly mower, model RC44-42, and it is missing some parts that are keeping it from doing it's job. It was a classic situation of the original owner using the mower for a few hours, removed it and never used it again. In the mean time the guy lost the parts and pieces to attach it to the tractor. The second owner made a galiant effort in trying to recover them from the first, but to no avail and now its my turn. I have attached several pictures of what I have below, some of the various attachment links are missing as well as a section of the drive shaft between the mid-pto and mower drive head. Can anyone tell me exactly what I need to make the whole thing work? Does anyone have the used parts that they wouldn't mind selling? Doner Mower? I don't mind buying new parts if I have to, but if I can save the money then that would be better. The mower serial number is 10388 if that helps.
Thanks,
Adam.

 

[apn73]

Lets try something a bit different. I found somebody who wants to sell me there belly mower, but its a different model. Its a model RC48-62-H with serial# 10197, will it fit my B4200 tractor? Does this site or another site have a fitment guide to these mowers? The mower is complete and ready to go, and will cost less than to buy the parts to make mine work, or so I am told. Any info will be very much appreciated.
Thanks,
Adam.

 

[Fudgecreek]

The 4200 series are NOT compatible with the 61 / 71 62 / 72 hydro decks.

 

[apn73]

The 4200 series are NOT compatible with the 61 / 71 62 / 72 hydro decks.

This helps and I appreciate it. Are there other decks that are compatible with the B4200 other than the one that I have?
Thanks,
Adam.

 

[apn73]

Just an FYI - the only mower that will work on a B4200 is the RC44-42. A local dealer got my hopes up by telling me that they believed that there was some sort of adapter that can adapt new decks to old tractors, they were wrong. They said that they checked in with Kubota and that is what they found out. Also check this site, www.tractorsmart.com, they sell mid-mount mower parts as well as have a handy mower-tractor compatiblity chart.

 

[Kubota Newbie]

RC48-62 mower book says;

RC48-62-F B6200 or B7200 2WD Ser#10001-19999 & 4WD 50001 - 59999

RC48-62A B5200 2WD Ser# 20001 -up & 4WD 60001 -up AND B62 & B7200 2WD 20001-up and 4WD 60001 -up

 

[apn73]

I just figured that I would close the loop on this thread. I took the deck down to one of the local Kubota dealers and found out that its pretty much scrap. Gear box and spindles are shot, big money, more money than what the deck is worth. Anybody got a spare RC44-42 deck kicking around thats in good working order?

 

[kwfiggatt]

I just figured that I would close the loop on this thread. I took the deck down to one of the local Kubota dealers and found out that its pretty much scrap. Gear box and spindles are shot, big money, more money than what the deck is worth. Anybody got a spare RC44-42 deck kicking around thats in good working order?

I just rebuilt the spindles and gearbox on a RC44g, which looks the same as your deck except for a few different mounting brackets and the gear box is turned 180 degrees. It's wasn't bad at all - I probably have less than $100 in the rebuild. I bought the seals from Kubota, which was ~$60, but bought the bearings for the spindles and gearbox, which all use the same bearings (6305 - standard bearings) off of ebay, 10 for less than $20. I know that they are chinese bearings, but I've used them (VXB) before with good luck and it beats the heck out of the Kubota price of $18 each for 7 bearings.

The rebuild wasn't bad. No major pressing is required, in fact I didn't use a press at all, just a good size hammer and a set of sockets to act as drivers. Most of the bearings are a nice slip fit on the shafts and housings once they are cleaned up, or at most require minor tapping to install. If you have to force anything, look for a missing snap ring.

Kevin

 

[Splank]

Any chance you could tell me how is the belt pulley attached to the shaft under the gear casing?
How did you remove the shaft to replace the bottom bearing?

 

[apn73]

I just rebuilt the spindles and gearbox on a RC44g, which looks the same as your deck except for a few different mounting brackets and the gear box is turned 180 degrees. It's wasn't bad at all - I probably have less than $100 in the rebuild. I bought the seals from Kubota, which was ~$60, but bought the bearings for the spindles and gearbox, which all use the same bearings (6305 - standard bearings) off of ebay, 10 for less than $20. I know that they are chinese bearings, but I've used them (VXB) before with good luck and it beats the heck out of the Kubota price of $18 each for 7 bearings.

The rebuild wasn't bad. No major pressing is required, in fact I didn't use a press at all, just a good size hammer and a set of sockets to act as drivers. Most of the bearings are a nice slip fit on the shafts and housings once they are cleaned up, or at most require minor tapping to install. If you have to force anything, look for a missing snap ring.

Kevin

Thanks for the advice, this is something that I have been thinking about. Its good to hear that bearings are something that is commonly available, wonder if some of the other parts can be taken off of different model of deck? I've had no luck looking for one of these decks, so I'm hoping that with some tinkering I can have running mower again. Thanks again, Adam.

 

[pastortree]

I would very much like to buy an RC 44-42 mower, even without all its parts, as mine is in bad shape. If you would like to sell, please email me at pastortree@zoominternet.net. Thanks.

 

[Big Kahuna]

I think rebuilding what you have is a start, the bearings and seals are nothing special,take the belt off and see what you need, you might have one bad bearing with it, if the shell is not rusted out, which it don't look like it, then it's rebuildable. The key to dealers is some just want to sell you a new Kubota and then a real dealer that will take the time to help you out.
If you have the deck hardware on the tractor then you are only missing the half shaft? From what I can see.