ZD36 Mower...makes me want to scream!

M

MountainManRobb

New member

Equipment
Kubota LX3310
Jun 25, 2021
6
1
3
SW Oklahoma
I manage a church camp in SW Oklahoma. We have a ZD36 mower that was here when I took the job. Since being here (4 years) I have rebuilt the gearbox on the deck, replaced the gearbox on the deck, had a hydraulic leak repaired (axle seal or something of that nature, stupid expensive labor), and replaced the electric fuel pump. The starter has been acting up for a year or so, and the solenoid has finally turned in its notice, and it will not start without some blunt force persuasion. So that is 500 bucks. And it is time to put new tires on the rear. And for some reason it will not use fuel from the right tank. On the up side, it only has 450 hours on it! Now some of the issues (gear box) were a problem from lack of maintenance. It was really frustrating though, because I had 2 Kubota mowers at the time, and both of them shelled out the gear box within a month of each other, which was in the first 2 months I was on the job here. The mower has a rear discharge 60" deck, and when it will actually start and run and mow, it is a fantastic machine, but it just seems like it is a little excessive to have spent $4-5k in maintenance and repairs on a mower that has not even hit 500 hours! On top of that, it started running poorly today and could not even make it back to the shed...may just be another clogged fuel filter (which it has 2), but I think it only has 10 hours since the last time that filter was changed...
I know the machine was poorly maintained the first 350 hours or so of its life, and that has led to some of the repairs, but $500 for a starter is ridiculous! Especially with 450 hours, and we have been dealing with it for the last 50 hours or so.
Is there a source for aftermarket parts for Kubota mowers? At this point I think the goal may be to just get the thing fixed as inexpensively as possible, try to keep it together for this season, and then send our low hour unit to a new home and get away from orange mowers. Any advice or words of wisdom and comfort? We have a L3301 tractor, and it is wonderful, really like it, but the mowers are wearing me out!
 
L

lugbolt

Well-known member

Equipment
ZG127S-54
Oct 15, 2015
5,207
1,894
113
Mid, South, USA
U can get the starter aftermarket for sure. I sold a ton of them when i worked at the dealer. However, I will say this. The aftermarket ones do not last forever. Nothing like the original.

gearboxes are OEM only, don't think there's anything aftermarket for those

fueling issue is likely some junk or algae down inside the tank, or in the pickup tube. Not hard to fix that. I've seen them do it at 40 hours, I've seen some with thousands and never done it. What gets me is how leaves and grass get in there in teh first place. Only thing I can think is that people don't clean the junk off around the filler neck before removing the cap, then all the junk just falls in.
 
Dave_eng

Dave_eng

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Lifetime Member

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M7040, Nuffield 465
Oct 6, 2012
5,235
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113
Williamstown Ontario Canada
MountainManRobb said:
I manage a church camp in SW Oklahoma. We have a ZD36 mower that was here when I took the job. Since being here (4 years) I have rebuilt the gearbox on the deck, replaced the gearbox on the deck, had a hydraulic leak repaired (axle seal or something of that nature, stupid expensive labor), and replaced the electric fuel pump. The starter has been acting up for a year or so, and the solenoid has finally turned in its notice, and it will not start without some blunt force persuasion. So that is 500 bucks. And it is time to put new tires on the rear. And for some reason it will not use fuel from the right tank. On the up side, it only has 450 hours on it! Now some of the issues (gear box) were a problem from lack of maintenance. It was really frustrating though, because I had 2 Kubota mowers at the time, and both of them shelled out the gear box within a month of each other, which was in the first 2 months I was on the job here. The mower has a rear discharge 60" deck, and when it will actually start and run and mow, it is a fantastic machine, but it just seems like it is a little excessive to have spent $4-5k in maintenance and repairs on a mower that has not even hit 500 hours! On top of that, it started running poorly today and could not even make it back to the shed...may just be another clogged fuel filter (which it has 2), but I think it only has 10 hours since the last time that filter was changed...
I know the machine was poorly maintained the first 350 hours or so of its life, and that has led to some of the repairs, but $500 for a starter is ridiculous! Especially with 450 hours, and we have been dealing with it for the last 50 hours or so.
Is there a source for aftermarket parts for Kubota mowers? At this point I think the goal may be to just get the thing fixed as inexpensively as possible, try to keep it together for this season, and then send our low hour unit to a new home and get away from orange mowers. Any advice or words of wisdom and comfort? We have a L3301 tractor, and it is wonderful, really like it, but the mowers are wearing me out!
Click to expand...
Is it possible the model of your zero turn is posted wrong? I am only seeing ZD326 units.

I am going to continue with my assumption being ZD326.

Kubota has a service bulletin, previously posted by another member, which I have saved and will attach to my post.
The bulletin states: This may result in poor or insufficient starting performance.

It would be most unusual for a diesel starter, regardless of degree of neglect, to fail with low hours. This service bulletin master ground issue may explain a lot of your issues.

Please look it over and then post again.

Dave
 

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M

MountainManRobb

New member

Equipment
Kubota LX3310
Jun 25, 2021
6
1
3
SW Oklahoma
You guys caught my mistake....it is a ZD326, not a 36.
As to the ground cable TSB, it looks as though the ground on mine is in the "New" position. I am fairly certain it is just a failure of the starter solenoid. I can attach jumper cables directly to the starter, and it still needs to be persuaded to work. As far as longevity on and aftermarket starter, I am not sold on the reliability of the factory starter, so I am willing to gamble on that! Is there a preferred source for aftermarket parts? I believe the mower is 7 or 8 years old, so the nearly 400 I am going to have to spend on tires for this season is not a surprise, or a huge issue...it is just the constant drip of all the other repairs this thing keeps needing to stay alive! It is also the big picture...I started with 3 mowers 4 years ago, and now am down just to this one...the other Kubota was a victim of abuse...after repairing the gear box on the deck of it, I realized that the deck was so badly damaged and warped it would not mow properly, and a new deck, just bare stamped steel, moving all of the spindles, gearbox, etc from the old deck over to the new one, was going to run $1k or better, we totaled it. Not only was the deck thrashed (several of the brackets had been broken and reworded on), but the front "axle" was bent, causing it to not "pivot" properly, and it was just completely beat. Oh yeah, just over 700 hours on that unit. Then the John Deere we had, don't remember the model, chunked its second motor at around 350 hours. The first motor was a warranty replacement at under 200 hours. It's deck was also suffering the same issue as the older Kubota. So I do admit that I am facing misuse and abuse issues here, but a starter that only lasts long enough to get 400 hours on a machine? That is ridiculous.
 
M

MountainManRobb

New member

Equipment
Kubota LX3310
Jun 25, 2021
6
1
3
SW Oklahoma
There are things about the mower that are definitely awesome, and the deck is one...much better than the deck on the older Kubota mower we got rid of. Like I said before, I really like the way it mows, and it is an absolute beast, but it is definitely temperamental and higher maintenance than I would like.
I checked out Asap tractor parts...that is what I have been looking for, a place to get non orange parts for my orange machine.
 
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