Kubota K Connect Snowblower problems explained.

[River19]

Would think if it’s in the manual not to raise the snowblower, probably best to disengage pto before raising it. Still dumb but if that stops replacing this part every year at $700 a pop, then I would do this.

It is NOT in the manual for either the blower or K-Connect......

And think about what that user process would look like.

1. Drive to area of snow to be blown
2. Lower blower
3. Pull throttle back to idle
4. Engage PTO
5. Throttle back up to full throttle
6. Drive forward blowing snow
7. Throttle down to idle
8. Disengage PTO
9. Lift blower
10. Throttle back up
11. Back up and reposition
12. Lower blower
13. Throttle back down to idle
14. engage PTO
15. Throttle back to full
16. Blow snow

I would be more efficient clearing snow with a serving spoon......!!!!

 

[River19]

I raise and lower mine every time I go forward or backwards., My blower is the BX2830 (no, not a typo)

Out by the (very busy) road, I even backdrag with downpressure (like you would with a bucket)
Front wheels of BX sometimes right off the ground.

I probably have 35-40hrs on the blower itself.

No wear (or not much, afaict)

I cannot explain how mine seems to be in at least "good" shape. I never baby the thing and boy do we get snow here in NB, Canada.

I have not done extensive testing, but I don't believe there is measurable movement at this coupling when I raise/lower the blower. I could always be wrong.

Same here. Exactly the same.

As you and I established earlier in this thread, we basically use the same blower (BX2830) in the damn near same exact way, which is perfectly within the expected use case for this "commercial blower", yet mine ate itself.

Which, brings me to where my head is at now.......while we can all agree the design has some "opportunities", the fact that some people have catastrophic failure/wear and others have normal or no wear under very similar usage suggests to me there may have been a difference in coupler casting depending on when the blower/K-connect was made. I received my blower in the fall of 2020, which I would assume was probably made before the pandemic shortages and supply chain changes but you never know......

If that hypothesis holds true, this replacement coupler should fall into the "little to no wear" category under my residential use case. That is the reason I am going to track and document the wear of this new coupler this season.

 

[Michford]

I have no dog in this fight since I have the older snowblower tab A into slot B connection but have been following this thread out of curiousity. The attached photo is from one of river19 posts showing one of the couplers straight from then end. To my eyes it appears to be eccentric between the O.D. where the teeth are centered and the I.D. where the center pilot positions the mating coupler. If it is this far off center, that is causing one tooth contact at all times during operation mimicking running it all the time with the shafts miss-aligned. It is being forced to act like a universal joint without being a universal joint.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

I finally found the 4 point lift PDF and a 50" blower, and they say '.....use in FLOAT position only, may momentarily lift. Wished I'd stored 'snowblower' files in a subfolder...filenames aren't descriptive of what they are, sigh. I did see that rotating the blower up-dn will NOT change the clutch operation. if it's engaged , it's engaged, can't move, as there's a small driveline shaft with 2 u-joints.
What I don't know, as I don't have one physically in front of me, is IF the driveline sections can't slide, will that pull the tractor side coupler back from the blower side coupler ? If it can, then there's a big gap, less surface of the 'teeth' to transmit power.
it's a very complicated design probably due to making it 'universal', still $700 part should NOT wear out !

 

[River19]

So in checking my own sanity I went and read the snowblower manual again this morning and I found a really interesting nugget.

The MANUAL actually RECOMMENDS RAISING THE SNOWBLOWER to remove the top layer of snow in deep snow.
Check out the sentence starting with "For best results...."

So I call 110% BS on any communication or notion the blower should not be raised while the PTO is engaged......the manual friggin' suggests that as a best practice for deep snow......

I crap you not.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

looking at the 4 point lift manual, it's clear the tractor side coupler is held onto the plate so can't slide in or out....but maybe, just maybe the 'engage/disengage' mechanisme can. yes, it's held 'engaged' by 2 springs and an 'over center' arm but.....maybe it's partially disengaging ?
Hopefully someone with the unit can test just how much 'muscle' IS needed to disengage.It might be possible to use gearclamps to 100% be sure it cannot disengage.
I've use a front mtd blower for 20+ years, and though different design ,have done the 'blow top half, then btm half' technique more than a few times .
I'm pretty sure the coupler design is flawed.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Just thinking out loud here.

There must be some reason to mill those "dogs" at an angle.

I can not believe they went through the expense to do that for no reason.

Is it possible that the "angled" parts are supposed to "engage one another, then slide a wee bit" to avoid/minimize the impact of those "'dogs/teeth/lugs" ?

Is the part that goes into the "center" of that joint spring loaded? (where Mitchford circled it in red)

 

[River19]

Just thinking out loud here.

There must be some reason to mill those "dogs" at an angle.

I can not believe they when through the expense to do that for no reason.

Is it possible that the "angled" parts are supposed to "engage one another, then slide a wee bit" to avoid/minimize the impact of those "'dogs/teeth/lugs" ?

Is the part that goes into the "center" of that joint spring loaded? (where Mitchford circled it in red)

Nothing is spring loaded.......just two solid pieces, male/female......

 

[GreensvilleJay]

You could 'straight cut' those ,with 1/16" gap and they'd probably last forever. I've got smaller dog clutches that are 50+ years old,still work fine. You engage the dogs THEN apply power.
There's two problems. Actual design( machining) of the dogs and the grade of steel / heat treating. hmm that's 3...

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Could the actual problem be something else and the teeth/dogs/lugs breaking be the "symptom"?

Is there a bushing/bearing that is loose/worn out somewhere else in the system, that could be the problem?

 

[GreensvilleJay]

from the BX2810_4_point_hitch.PDF ( too big to post+-7.5MB).. the tractor side is supported by 2 bearings and held by the U-joint going to the driveshaft. It's really doubtful there's any 'slop' , forwards/backwards.
If you can find last year's posts there's several good pictures of the coupling ( dog clutch), before and after.

 

[S-G-R]

I picked up my LX 2980 in a crate, assembled and installed myself. The blower is made in Canada. the driveline crate had a big label “MADE IN CHINA”. Hope mine lasts .

My driveline crate said made in Canada. It came into the dealers in June or July they just dropped it off this afternoon.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

so the CRATE was 'made in Canada', eh !!

 

[Michigankubota]

My driveline crate said made in Canada. It came into the dealers in June or July they just dropped it off this afternoon.

View attachment 115241

I take that back, my K Connect was made in Canada, the driveline (drive shaft) was made in China.. The top box is the drive shaft.
I can’t upload pics as they say there to big 🫤

 

[S-G-R]

so the CRATE was 'made in Canada', eh !!

For sure

 

[S-G-R]

I take that back, my K Connect was made in Canada, the driveline (drive shaft) was made in China.. The top box is the drive shaft.
I can’t upload pics as they say there to big 🫤

Gotcha, that one I don't know.

 

[ve9aa]

Actually, the 2 dogs (gears?) do go together with a pretty HD spring/springs. There's huge warning pix on it for pinching your hands when you engage it. (once/season). I think you can see Neil @ Messicks engage them in a video. (I'll go look for it now)>> see link below

Sorry- I don't have an e-version of my manual to post a pic and I am nowhere close to the physical blower.>> see link below

I might be installing it this w/e and will try to remember to take a picture if I do.

That said, I doubt it's the springs. They're pretty strong. (unless you got weak ones and they bounce?)

Gotta be like someone (Jay?) said with different metals.

EDIT: Almost exactly at the 5 minute mark springy dog action (also see the 6:30 mark for another mention of the springs)

 

[River19]

Actually, the 2 dogs (gears?) do go together with a pretty HD spring/springs. There's huge warning pix on it for pinching your hands when you engage it. (once/season). I think you can see Neil @ Messicks engage them in a video. (I'll go look for it now)>> see link below

Sorry- I don't have an e-version of my manual to post a pic and I am nowhere close to the physical blower.>> see link below

I might be installing it this w/e and will try to remember to take a picture if I do.

That said, I doubt it's the springs. They're pretty strong. (unless you got weak ones and they bounce?)

Gotta be like someone (Jay?) said with different metals.

EDIT: Almost exactly at the 5 minute mark springy dog action (also see the 6:30 mark for another mention of the springs)

Oh I thought the spring question was talking about something within the dogs etc......you are 100% right with the external spring on the engagement lever........I read that original question wrong, thanks for the clarification and correction.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

River19's #34 post pictures,lower one explains WHY they fail.,Well one reason....

If you look at the actual contact surface area, only 1/2 of the 'teeth' are mating ! That means ALL the force/power is being concentrated on 1/2, or less of the area that it should be.
I'd have to have the parts in hand but I suspect the 'pointy part' of the male ( the pilot pin and bevelled shaft section ) are NOT allowing the 'male' coupler to fully engage the female coupler.
Think of the couplers as 2 toothed gears, if they were 1/2" thick, you want ALL of the 1/2" width to engage the other gear. If you run them '1/2 enaged', over time , power WILL grind them down.
The more I look at actual photos, the better I understand HOW and WHY they are failing. 1st, not enough teeth ( Lovejoy has 3 per side, so 50% more) and 2nd, actual 'tooth to tooth contact surface area is 1/2 of what it should be(Lovejoy is 80-90% ). I use Lovejoy as my 'reference' as I have lots of them here.
Yes, I'd have to have real parts to measure but pretty sure my logic is good.
Jay

 

[Michigankubota]

As I posted last winter,it is possible to install 'Lovejoy ' style couplings...seems 'Lovejoy' is a brand,like Xerox for photocopy... I know I saw some ( 2 halves and the 'rubber') and less than $200. Back then I was pretty sure the 'coupling' does NOT need to bend as there's a Ujoint before and after it,so Kubota saying to NOT raise the blower didn't make any sense.
I don't have that setup, neighbour does, so I'll probably see it in 2-3 months when his fails. I KNOW he won't want to spend $700 for the 3 parts, that WILL fail.

I just looked up these parts on MESSICKS. One is $192 and The other is $159.