Tilt Wheel Fuction Not Working.

[Foxrunfarms]

Hello,

I just bought an open station lx2610 kubota. I'm having issues with the tilt/lock function for the steering wheel. Randomly about every 10 seconds, or 2 minutes the wheel tilts up like I pressed the lever. At 1st I thought I did, and thought maybe it was my speed or terrain but it didn't matter. It just got very annoying and dangerous too mowing ditches.

I looked around on line and did see a post around 3 years ago about others having similar issues. 1 gentlemen said he added a spring, a few suggested lubrication......(which attaching my mower took some effort being new and pins not wanting to slide in due to extra paint). Others said it'll just take time to wear in. I don't really want to open up the dash to check it out, or feel like I really should have with something that has 4 hours on it. I do under stand some times things need to be adjusted.

Just wondering if anyone else experienced this or has an update from that last post.

I was going to talk to the dealer tomorrow and see their thoughts.

Thank you.

 

[MOOTS]

I was probably the one that added an extra spring. Can’t remember if I posted it here or not.
Pretty simple to do and seemed to have worked. Sold tractor not long after.

 

[Foxrunfarms]

I talked to my sales guy today. He was very apologetic. Of course 1st time he ever heard of the issue. He thought maybe the paint was the issue as mentioned. He offered pick up and to look at it under warranty but it'd be a bit. Or for 50 hour service that'd look at it. He printed off some diagrams if I wanted to look at. Looks like 4 bolts.

 

[Showmedata]

I have the same problem on my LX3310. My guess is the notch for the detent is too shallow. I haven't yet gotten annoyed enough to open it up and file open the notch. Mine is under warranty but I don't have a trailer big enough to haul the tractor the 40 minutes to the dealer.

 

[Foxrunfarms]

I have the same problem on my LX3310. My guess is the notch for the detent is too shallow. I haven't yet gotten annoyed enough to open it up and file open the notch. Mine is under warranty but I don't have a trailer big enough to haul the tractor the 40 minutes to the dealer.

It's a cold rainy afternoon. I might take a gander at mine. I'll post a couple of pictures for others with the same issue. My Kubota dealer is 10 minutes away and trucking is under warranty but if something is an easy fix where I don't have to give up the tractor I'll do it myself

 

[Foxrunfarms]

This afternoon I went out to the shop and took a look at the issue.

My sales guy said:

Raise the hood

Remove the side panals

Losen 4 (2 on each side) 10 mm bolts with a socket and extension.

The dash is supposed to wiggle right out he said.......it was loose and some play but didn't " wiggle right out"

I climbed up onto the tractor and removed the steering wheel boot and the spring was right there!

The spring was a lot bigger than expected and had a ton of tension. One thing I noticed on the tractor tilting the wheel forward I let it slide through my hand and it slammed up.............I'm pretty sure I could launch a cat, or fruit or something across my property with the amount of tension the steering wheel has letting it slam forward.

Looking at the latch it seemed grooved out and no paint obstructing it.

I decided to remove the spring all together. Yes Kubota put it there for a reason but I feel like I can push a steeringing up 2 inches. I'd rather do that, then keep pulling it down every 10 seconds to 2 minutes. It was rainy so I only took the tractor for a quick 2 minute ride. I bounced around in high gear with it staying. So maybe problem solved. Too short of a spring, making tension pulling the the steering wheel up?

 

[Showmedata]

nice. thanks for the writeup. I've had the dash cover off when I installed an accessory lighting switch; I don't recall exactly how it came loose, but it did.

 

[Foxrunfarms]

nice. thanks for the writeup. I've had the dash cover off when I installed an accessory lighting switch; I don't recall exactly how it came loose, but it did.

No problem. Figured maybe someone else will benifit from it. Isn't that something you(any of us) can get stuff off, but don't recall how. The bigger challenge is trying to get it back on lol.

 

[Foxrunfarms]

Bit of an update. I mowed for 3 hours today and not once did the wheel slam up. So I'm guessing the spring was too short or strong.

 

[Showmedata]

Bit of an update. I mowed for 3 hours today and not once did the wheel slam up. So I'm guessing the spring was too short or strong.

Thanks for the update!

 

[PaulL]

Bit of an update. I mowed for 3 hours today and not once did the wheel slam up. So I'm guessing the spring was too short or strong.

Unwanted thoughts, since you're already happy. Yes, string may be too strong, but that must also mean the lock was not working properly. If it's locked down properly, it shouldn't really matter how strong the string is (within reason). But you can let the dealer fix that at 50 hours.

 

[Foxrunfarms]

Unwanted thoughts, since you're already happy. Yes, string may be too strong, but that must also mean the lock was not working properly. If it's locked down properly, it shouldn't really matter how strong the string is (within reason). But you can let the dealer fix that at 50 hours.

Yes kind of my thoughts. If the spring wasn't needed Kubota wouldn't have added it. My cousin is an engineer for JD he said every year they sit down and see what they can turn into plastic or remove. If the true fix for the non stop tilting was to remove the spring. Kubota could save about 3.00 per unit not installing them. Any real farm tractor I drove never was spring loaded for the tilt, so I wouldn't have even knoticed if the spring was missing or not. Im sure with technology and 500 k farm tractors theres a buttom that automatically tilts the wheel or sensors in the seat that adjust the seat and wheel to the drivers weight and height haha.

 

[PaulL]

Yes kind of my thoughts. If the spring wasn't needed Kubota wouldn't have added it. My cousin is an engineer for JD he said every year they sit down and see what they can turn into plastic or remove. If the true fix for the non stop tilting was to remove the spring. Kubota could save about 3.00 per unit not installing them. Any real farm tractor I drove never was spring loaded for the tilt, so I wouldn't have even knoticed if the spring was missing or not. Im sure with technology and 500 k farm tractors theres a buttom that automatically tilts the wheel or sensors in the seat that adjust the seat and wheel to the drivers weight and height haha.

Damn. How did I get string instead of spring twice? I'm blaming autocorrect somehow. Although perhaps string would work instead of a spring.

 

[mikester]

This afternoon I went out to the shop and took a look at the issue.

My sales guy said:

Raise the hood

Remove the side panals
View attachment 102025

Losen 4 (2 on each side) 10 mm bolts with a socket and extension.
View attachment 102026

View attachment 102027
The dash is supposed to wiggle right out he said.......it was loose and some play but didn't " wiggle right out"

I climbed up onto the tractor and removed the steering wheel boot and the spring was right there!

View attachment 102028
The spring was a lot bigger than expected and had a ton of tension. One thing I noticed on the tractor tilting the wheel forward I let it slide through my hand and it slammed up.............I'm pretty sure I could launch a cat, or fruit or something across my property with the amount of tension the steering wheel has letting it slam forward.

Looking at the latch it seemed grooved out and no paint obstructing it.

View attachment 102030

I decided to remove the spring all together. Yes Kubota put it there for a reason but I feel like I can push a steeringing up 2 inches. I'd rather do that, then keep pulling it down every 10 seconds to 2 minutes. It was rainy so I only took the tractor for a quick 2 minute ride. I bounced around in high gear with it staying. So maybe problem solved. Too short of a spring, making tension pulling the the steering wheel up?
View attachment 102032

Great post!

Now here's the how to add oil to you engine!

https://media.tenor.com/The2RVdO7NkAAAAC/car-girl.gif

 

[Foxrunfarms]

Damn. How did I get string instead of spring twice? I'm blaming autocorrect somehow. Although perhaps string would work instead of a spring.

On the farm, got plentying of baling twine/string. Usually have a foot piece balled up in the back pocket.........you never know what you might find needing a band aid fix to get you back to the shop.

 

[GrizBota]

On the farm, got plentying of baling twine/string. Usually have a foot piece balled up in the back pocket.........you never know what you might find needing a band aid fix to get you back to the shop.

I was probably 15 before I realized you could buy new parts. Growing up with little money and a lot of make do know how was actually a good thing.

 

[Foxrunfarms]

I was probably 15 before I realized you could buy new parts. Growing up with little money and a lot of make do know how was actually a good thing.

Talking with old time farmers who grew up during the depression they learned how to get by or use what they had and still live by that. I had a buddy in high school you couldn't even get into their driveway so many old trucks and tractors parked all over " cause of parts" or " some day we'll use it" . I just do band aid fixes to keep moving or atleast back to the shop. Where I work the half owner/mechanic is so cheap he does band aid fixes, beer cans, zip ties, duct tape as a real fix then complains when it comes back broken.

 

[MudMaster]

This thread is spot-on. I’m maybe a month (and about 10 hours) into my LX2610 open station and started experiencing the exact same thing. No rhyme or reason as to when the wheel just pops up into a totally flat position. It’s impossible to correct when I’m in the middle of working the grapple, so I usually just finish what I’m doing with a pizza pie as a steering wheel.

I’ll be looking at the offending spring next rainy day. One question: I assume the detente doesn’t require the tension (from the spring) to stay engaged at the chosen tilt angle? Said differently, if the root cause is apoorly designed detente that doesn’t stay where it’s supposed to, then the wheel will just drop instead of pop up. Hopefully not the case, but thought I’d ask. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Foxrunfarms]

This thread is spot-on. I’m maybe a month (and about 10 hours) into my LX2610 open station and started experiencing the exact same thing. No rhyme or reason as to when the wheel just pops up into a totally flat position. It’s impossible to correct when I’m in the middle of working the grapple, so I usually just finish what I’m doing with a pizza pie as a steering wheel.

I’ll be looking at the offending spring next rainy day. One question: I assume the detente doesn’t require the tension (from the spring) to stay engaged at the chosen tilt angle? Said differently, if the root cause is apoorly designed detente that doesn’t stay where it’s supposed to, then the wheel will just drop instead of pop up. Hopefully not the case, but thought I’d ask. Thanks for the tip!

I'm glade but also disappointed to hear/read I'm not the only one with the issue. The tractor is at 42 hours since the spring has been removed and not once has it tilted up or DOWN on it's own.

 

[Showmedata]

Well, well, well, look at what just landed in my inbox:


Good Morning valued Kubota Customer,



I wanted to send you a quick email regarding a mandatory safety campaign on your Kubota. We are going to have a technician in your area and available to come out and make the corrections to your tractor at no cost to you. The recall work will take about an hour and it entails adding a spring to the steering wheel tilt mechanism. Please respond back to this email or give us a call at 970-535-3310 so we can set up a date and time to have a technician come make these repairs. Thank you for choosing Wickham Tractor Co. and have a great day!



Looks like Kubota has recognized a problem and is setting about fixing it!

I made an appointment for them to do it 2 weeks from now.