B8200HST Hour/Tach drive access?

[murky]

I bought a new tach/hour meter drive and thought it would be a simple matter of removing four nuts and the gasket and putting the new one in.

But there is another metal part with coolant hoses attached at both end that shares the lower two studs with the tach drive. I would need to pull that forward an inch in order to get the old drive out and the new one it.

What is that part and will I have to remove or at lease detach and free the radiator in order to move it? I was planning to replace the radiator hoses and fan belt eventually but was hoping to get the tach working before that and thought it would be pretty straightforward.

 

[murky]

I was hoping to get a response. Is this something that would be spelled out in the service manual?

 

[Kytim]

Sorry I guess I missed this first time around. I actually put a B8200 drive on my B7100 but, I didnt have that cast water pipe to deal with. I did have to pull the one rad. hold down bolt on this side to twist it around some what to gain clearance. Looking at the pic, is it possible to do the same without removing the hose near the centerline of the engine? maybe there will be enough "flex" to swap the drive out.

 

[murky]

Thanks Kytim,

I saw your response. I was hoping to get a chance to try and see and then report back to avoid making extra posts in my own thread, but I haven't yet had the chance.

Perhaps Saturday I'll get to look at it and see if I can tell where the radiator is attached and how much play there is in the hoses.

I have all of the replacement hoses now, don't really have containment and storage of the old coolant arranged yet. I still have a few gallons of used motor oil I need to dispose of responsibly. But I'm wondering if I'll just need to bite the bullet and let the fluid out.

I just want to make sure I do everything I need to while I have the radiator out of the way. That includes replacing the fan belt but I don't know what else.

 

[murky]

So how do I move the radiator forward on my B8200HST? I want to replace my fan belt and do the tach drive. I'm also replacing 3 of the radiator hoses. I have the hoses off.

It looks like the radiator is held down by two cotter pins. Do I just pull those and lift?

It is also tethered to the separate little radiator that I think is for the transmission. Can I just unbolt the bracket that connects the two and leave that aux radiator in place?

I have the WSM in a PDF, its very difficult to search. I've flipped through every page twice but don't see anything to help.

 

[lsmurphy]

Sorry I guess I missed this first time around. I actually put a B8200 drive on my B7100 but, I didnt have that cast water pipe to deal with. I did have to pull the one rad. hold down bolt on this side to twist it around some what to gain clearance. Looking at the pic, is it possible to do the same without removing the hose near the centerline of the engine? maybe there will be enough "flex" to swap the drive out.

I want one............where'd you get yours?

 

[phildac]

Murky,

I replaced the drive on my B8200E and I don't remember having to drain any coolant. I think I was able to get enough clearance by pulling the cast pipe toward the front of the tractor to where I had enough room to get it by the studs. Might have had to loosen the radiator, can't remember. To remove the radiator, pull the two pins and then you will be able to unbolt. The pins are there to prevent the bolts from vibrating out on their own. Glad you brought this up, I went out to double check my instructions and I was missing the pins in mine. When you replace the tach gear drive, be sure to put a little grease on the shaft that goes into the engine before you install and also put a little on the output shaft where the cable screws down. Can be a little tricky getting the cable rotated to the correct keyed direction when reinstalling.

 

[murky]

Murky,

I replaced the drive on my B8200E and I don't remember having to drain any coolant. I think I was able to get enough clearance by pulling the cast pipe toward the front of the tractor to where I had enough room to get it by the studs. Might have had to loosen the radiator, can't remember. To remove the radiator, pull the two pins and then you will be able to unbolt. The pins are there to prevent the bolts from vibrating out on their own. Glad you brought this up, I went out to double check my instructions and I was missing the pins in mine. When you replace the tach gear drive, be sure to put a little grease on the shaft that goes into the engine before you install and also put a little on the output shaft where the cable screws down. Can be a little tricky getting the cable rotated to the correct keyed direction when reinstalling.

Thanks Phil,

I was able to install the fan belt after disconnecting the upper radiator hose. I didn't need to mess with the raditor bolts for that.

But to remove the bottom hose and to get that pipe out of the way, I removed the radiator. Mine is an HST so there is another little radiator attached to the front of the radiator. That can be detached by 2 bolts and the radiator can be lifted up leaving that one behind.

I took a couple hurried pictures in case I have any trouble remembering where things go since I've had to spread this over a couple of days when I find spare time.

Thanks of the tips on greasing. I assume it isn't too important what kind of grease I use. It won't get into the crankcase from there, right?

 

[phildac]

Murky,

I just used some multipurpose on mine. Just a light coat.

 

[murky]

Yay, the tach works! I've been under-revving for PTO use. The rated RPM is near full throttle.

I also installed the oil pressure gauge. It's 40 psi at idle and goes up to around 60 at full throttle. That sounds good to me.

I've got new coolant, hoses and fan belt.

On one of the test drives I discoverd that my seat hinges have rusted and failed. That could have been a dangerous discovery.

 

[phildac]

Awesome, glad to hear the tach's working! Got pics of the rusted hinges?

 

[murky]

Awesome, glad to hear the tach's working! Got pics of the rusted hinges?

I was thinking about just using some 14 gauge angle iron. It might not be as stable with the "pin" going through just one hole, but it should be stronger.

 

[phildac]

Murky,

Yeah, those hinges have seen better days. Looks like that might be an aftermarket seat. The spacing between the rubber grommets is about 1-3/16". I used some 1/8" thick 1-1/4" flat steel for the center piece that bolts to the seat and then some 1/8" thick 2" flat steel for the sides that the pins go through for the hinge. Works perfect! Still need to paint it to keep from rusting.

 

[murky]

Looks like those brackets must be a common problem.

That brackets look very sturdy. Well done. I wish I could weld. I was thinking if I could find some 1-1/2" U-channel I could drill some holes in it and use a socket extension to drive the bolts into the seat.

Those brackets don't show up in the part diagram. Apparently they are part of the seat which doesn't have a parts breakdown.

The vinyl and steel pan of my apparently aftermarket seat look to be in very good shape, but the wood backing holding them together isn't in the best shape.

I'm thinking about buying a cheap aftermarket seat too, but I still need to figure out what to do about the bracket.

I also need to measure the distance between the hinge journals. 7-1/2" seems to be a common spacing for the aftermarket seats.

 

[lsmurphy]

Looks like those brackets must be a common problem.

That brackets look very sturdy. Well done. I wish I could weld. I was thinking if I could find some 1-1/2" U-channel I could drill some holes in it and use a socket extension to drive the bolts into the seat.

Those brackets don't show up in the part diagram. Apparently they are part of the seat which doesn't have a parts breakdown.

The vinyl and steel pan of my apparently aftermarket seat look to be in very good shape, but the wood backing holding them together isn't in the best shape.

I'm thinking about buying a cheap aftermarket seat too, but I still need to figure out what to do about the bracket.

I also need to measure the distance between the hinge journals. 7-1/2" seems to be a common spacing for the aftermarket seats.

Perfect fit and comes with brackets and about as cheap as they come, $90
http://www.tractorsupply.com/compact-tractor-seat-black-2780004

 

[murky]

Thanks Ismurphy,

That seat looks fine, but the brackets look like they will only attache to one side of each hinge journal, so it doesn't look like it would be a very stable and durable fit.

This one is less expensive, a little wider, comes with brackets, and sold a number of places but has the same problem.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/COMPACT-TRA...474?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item1e68ca594a

 

[phildac]

Murky,

Yes, 7-1/2" is perfectly dead center of the hinges. If you can get some 1-1/4" or 1-1/2" C-channel that would be perfect. You could mark the seat holes and drill them out on the C-channel right down the middle.

 

[murky]

Murky,

Yes, 7-1/2" is perfectly dead center of the hinges. If you can get some 1-1/4" or 1-1/2" C-channel that would be perfect. You could mark the seat holes and drill them out on the C-channel right down the middle.

I haven't had any luck yet finding the C-channel but this seat looks tempting and it looks to have th right mounting features.

My only concern, aside from cost and shipping time, is that on my current seat the pivot point is in front of the seat and on this one it is under the seat. It makes me worry that the seating position may be too close to the steering wheel and the pedals.

But maybe it just has a larger seat bottom and the distance from the back to the pivot would be the same.

It looks like it has 3 holes to choose for the pivot pin to go through for a couple of inches of adjustment plus maybe the brackets could be mounted one more hole forward if there is another hole hidden under the bracket.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/160783110770?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

 

[phildac]

Murky,

That is the same exact seat I got from Rural King for $100. I then made the brackets. Basically the guy on eBay is buying the seat for $100 or less then charging $50 for shipping and the two brackets.

http://www.ruralking.com/iowa-export-import-compact-tractor-seat-black-53000-bk.html

Tractor Supply has them for $89
http://www.tractorsupply.com/tractor-seats/compact-tractor-seat-black-1012108

Or you could just get a new original for $150
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kubota-Seat-B4200-B5100-B6100-B7100-B8200-L175-L185-/200810510761?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec13d39a9

 

[murky]

Funny, I just ordered it from Rural King with free shipping a few hours ago . Great minds and all that. I appreciate you sticking with me until I figured this out.

I decided to buy some 14 gauge square perf tube and cut off one side with the angle grinder.

I used it to kludge a temporary mounting of my current seat until the new seat gets here. I offered $120 for the $150 seat on Ebay and they countered with $146 or something like that. I asked them if they would sell just the brackets and they said $30.

$30 is only about double what they should be, but between the fact that they would take a week or so to arrive and that I wasn't sure they offered enough range of adjustment to make sure the seat wasn't too close, I decided to make my own.

I called Coastal Farm and Ranch and half convinced myself that the one they had in stock was the same one, but when I got there it wasn't even close.







Notice the zip tie. I didn't want to drill an extra hole that would weaken the bracket, just to fit this seat for a week. The new seat has the 7.5" holes on 2 inch centers like the perf pipe.