B2650 with a mid-mount-mower that won't raise well

[rkillcrazy]

As the title states, I have a B2650 with a mid-mount mower deck (model RCK60) that won't raise very well. It comes up a couple inches but will not top out like it used to. I looked underneath, hoping to find something stuck in the linkage like a rock or stick but there doesn't seem to be anything impeding the movement; it just stops short. There's no excessive noise coming from the engine either. The lift arm seems to go all the way up and I don't have any slack in it so I don't think I need to adjust the feedback rod.

Not sure if this is any help or not but I've also noticed that when I move the control lever up (1-8, I think is what's stamped on the slide-gauge's decal.), it doesn't really engage until about 5. However, when I drop it, the lift arms won't go all the way down unless to drop the control lever all the way down to 1. I think it did this - to a point - since I got it (new) from the dealership in 2015.

 

[sardillim]

i would start with the hydraulic oil level, then take a look at the 3 point lift arms as the lifting levers work off off of them

 

[LONGBOW42]

I also have a B2650 with same MMM and mine doesn't move up as much as I would expect; maybe 4-5" tops. I found the best way to control height of grass to be cut, were the wheel adjustments on the MMM, you can adjust about 4" or so.

 

[rkillcrazy]

I also have a B2650 with same MMM and mine doesn't move up as much as I would expect; maybe 4-5" tops.

It's not that it doesn't move as much as I'd like per se`... You should be able to top the deck out to where you can put two pins through it and the frame (just underneath the cockpit's deck) and lock it in the topped-out position. The deck never even comes close to that point. As of a couple weeks ago, it did... I'll post photos later but, if this thing raises 2 inches, I'll be surprised. It's easily a few inches away from the aforementioned lock-out holes. There are certain areas where I used to raise the deck so I could get over obstacles. I can no longer do that; the deck drags across those areas if i dry to go over them.

 

[rkillcrazy]

I've attached four photos. I notated them so look for that in the photos. As I mentioned before, the lift-arms on the 3-point go all the way up so I don't think it's a lack of fluid. However, just for grins, I've added some (Two of the typical red solo cups were what I used for my precise measuring. ) this morning and it didn't make a difference. I show no evidence of leaks either. The dipstick shows oil on it as well. Nothing else seems to be affected by this.

 

[beckmurph]

The aluminum/shinny link looks to be slipping.
In your highest lift photo, it looks like the bolt is loose, and not lifting your deck.

Just my observation.


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[beckmurph]

This.


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[rkillcrazy]

The aluminum/shinny link looks to be slipping.

That is normal. Those links have slots in them and they have pins (no bolts there); I think they are there to allow the deck to have a little slop while it's bouncing up and down underneath.

 

[rkillcrazy]

Think I fixed it...

I adjusted the threaded part noted in the one of photos; I'm not sure what it's called. What has got me puzzled is I've never adjusted them before. The lock-nut was so tight, I was certain I was trying to turn it the wrong way so, I know it wasn't loose and therefore the cause of my issue. However, once I adjusted them, the deck moved up and down just as it did before. I can now insert the pins to lock out the deck in the uppermost position so I can leave it mounted and use a brush hog or box-blade on the back.

I'm not sure what happened or why it needed to be adjusted. As I said before, those adjustment pieces were very tight. The rods aren't bent either...

 

[steinpiaz]

As the title states, I have a B2650 with a mid-mount mower deck (model RCK60) that won't raise very well. It comes up a couple inches but will not top out like it used to. I looked underneath, hoping to find something stuck in the linkage like a rock or stick but there doesn't seem to be anything impeding the movement; it just stops short. There's no excessive noise coming from the engine either. The lift arm seems to go all the way up and I don't have any slack in it so I don't think I need to adjust the feedback rod.

Not sure if this is any help or not but I've also noticed that when I move the control lever up (1-8, I think is what's stamped on the slide-gauge's decal.), it doesn't really engage until about 5. However, when I drop it, the lift arms won't go all the way down unless to drop the control lever all the way down to 1. I think it did this - to a point - since I got it (new) from the dealership in 2015.

 

[steinpiaz]

If you're still having problems with this, I just went through the exact same thing with my B2650 and RCK60. It took me two days of fussing with adjusting the main rods, but on mine it did turn out to be the feed back rod, so you might give that another look.

 

[rkillcrazy]

If you're still having problems with this, I just went through the exact same thing with my B2650 and RCK60. It took me two days of fussing with adjusting the main rods, but on mine it did turn out to be the feed back rod, so you might give that another look.

Where/what is the feedback rod?

 

[19thSF]

As the title states, I have a B2650 with a mid-mount mower deck (model RCK60) that won't raise very well. It comes up a couple inches but will not top out like it used to. I looked underneath, hoping to find something stuck in the linkage like a rock or stick but there doesn't seem to be anything impeding the movement; it just stops short. There's no excessive noise coming from the engine either. The lift arm seems to go all the way up and I don't have any slack in it so I don't think I need to adjust the feedback rod.

Not sure if this is any help or not but I've also noticed that when I move the control lever up (1-8, I think is what's stamped on the slide-gauge's decal.), it doesn't really engage until about 5. However, when I drop it, the lift arms won't go all the way down unless to drop the control lever all the way down to 1. I think it did this - to a point - since I got it (new) from the dealership in 2015.

It sure seems like the lift linkage ( NO. 10, 70, 80 and 20) )has gone out of adjustment. Your owners manual for the mower gives the specified net length. Might be a good idea to check it.

 

[steinpiaz]

It's kind of hard to explain. Look at the online Kubota parts finder for B2650 parts. Go to the "pump/motor system" section. There's a diagram labeled J33001 Feed Back Lever. On that diagram it's part 030. It's a threaded rod that controls the hydraulic control (it mechanically connects the lift lever to the 3 pt lift arm hydraulic case). There are 8 mm bolts on both sides and you adjust it using these. IDK exactly how it works, but there must be some kind of gate valve inside the case that controls the flow and different flow rates give different heights. This gets set at the factory and mine worked fine when it came, but over time these bolts backed off until it would no longer lift more than a couple of inches. To adjust it to raise higher you need to adjust this towards the rear of the tractor. LOL, it took me forever to figure this out, so hopefully that will save you some time.

 

[rkillcrazy]

It sure seems like the lift linkage ( NO. 10, 70, 80 and 20) )has gone out of adjustment. Your owners manual for the mower gives the specified net length. Might be a good idea to check it.
View attachment 62812

Yes, I adjusted #070 and #080 to fix my issue. I guess I'll have to do that now and then. As I said, I had never touched them before and they had enough dirt on them to make me believe they had not moved at any point recently.

 

[steinpiaz]

Yeah, I found it puzzling. I never touched this, but over a couple of years it got more and more out of adjustment. IDK, I might try locktite on it as it simply seems to vibrate out of adjustment over time.

 

[rkillcrazy]

It's kind of hard to explain. Look at the online Kubota parts finder for B2650 parts. Go to the "pump/motor system" section. There's a diagram labeled J33001 Feed Back Lever. On that diagram it's part 030. It's a threaded rod that controls the hydraulic control (it mechanically connects the lift lever to the 3 pt lift arm hydraulic case). There are 8 mm bolts on both sides and you adjust it using these. IDK exactly how it works, but there must be some kind of gate valve inside the case that controls the flow and different flow rates give different heights. This gets set at the factory and mine worked fine when it came, but over time these bolts backed off until it would no longer lift more than a couple of inches. To adjust it to raise higher you need to adjust this towards the rear of the tractor. LOL, it took me forever to figure this out, so hopefully that will save you some time.

I found and took a look at parts 30, 40 & 50 in your diagram. (Where is this online parts finder you speak of?) I saw no evidence of excessive play or loosening. As with the other parts, it too has dirt on it and looks like it hasn't moved since it was installed.

 

[steinpiaz]

Here's a link to the parts finder off Messick's website. https://www.messicks.com/wiki/kubota/b2650. Same here, it didn't look like it had moved, but bolts do have a way of vibrating out of adjustment and readjusting it definitely fixed my problem. The lift linkage adjustments seem to be more for leveling it side to side. You can get it a bit higher by adjusting those, but not by much. The main adjustment for raising and lowering the PTO is the feed back lever.

 

[steinpiaz]

BTW, I didn't find any evidence of it being loose either, it was just a last ditch effort on my part as that was the only remaining thing I hadn't adjusted. Just play around with it and you can get a feel for it right away.

 

[rkillcrazy]

Here's a link to the parts finder off Messick's website. https://www.messicks.com/wiki/kubota/b2650. Same here, it didn't look like it had moved, but bolts do have a way of vibrating out of adjustment and readjusting it definitely fixed my problem. The lift linkage adjustments seem to be more for leveling it side to side. You can get it a bit higher by adjusting those, but not by much. The main adjustment for raising and lowering the PTO is the feed back lever.

Oh, Messicks; I have one not too far from me. I've used their site for parts before. I was worried you had found some official Kubota page that I had not yet stumbled upon.

I'll have a look at the lever adjustment you messed with. I'd actually like to tighten the whole system up a bit. It seems like I only get movement of the mower deck from positions 6 through 8. Seems like a lot of slack from 1-6 until it actually does something.