Got to take my roof off.... again

[SidecarFlip]

The climate control blower motor relay took a dump and of course it's underneath the roof so I need to remove it again (2 times this year actually.), What a miserable job. 12 hold down screws and 2 people on step ladders to remove / replace it.

Relay set me back 56 bucks but I need the blower to run when plowing snow, which is coming, not that I really want to but I have to plow the rentals out.

Always something. Least I can do it indoors, in the shop. Both tractors stay inside all the time. Getting time to mount the rear blower too. Have to extract it from the weeds and service it....lol

 

[D2Cat]

Maybe you need to build some kind of apparatus to hang from the roof trusses to hold the top while you work. A couple of anchors, a couple of pulleys, and some rope! Better then falling off of a ladder.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Maybe you need to build some kind of apparatus to hang from the roof trusses to hold the top while you work. A couple of anchors, a couple of pulleys, and some rope! Better then falling off of a ladder.

Not a bad idea actually. I may investigate that. It is a long way down to the concrete and I'm an old fart. Most certainly a 2 person job getting it off. Don't weigh but maybe 10 pounds but it is cumbersome.

Was kind of surprised when I ordered the relay in as much as Dennis (my Kubota mechanic) told me he'd never heard of one failing and it was in stock in Grove City distribution which kind of amazed me in as much as it's a 2004 M9. I can her the relay click but no blower. Actually there are 2 relays the same up there.

Had it in 2 days delivered to the farm. I rarely have to go there for parts. They almost always deliver them to me. Nice touch actually. They are 35 miles from me.

 

[Timmer92]

Maybe you need to build some kind of apparatus to hang from the roof trusses to hold the top while you work. A couple of anchors, a couple of pulleys, and some rope! Better then falling off of a ladder.

Very good idea, but I'd use cabling. I have had bad luck with rope stretch, twists, and weak points. I was just dealing with it just yesterday. I have a 19' shed and have some stuff hoisted for storage purposes. I was cursing a rope and pulley system. I went to undo the rope off the hook, I have over 170lbs in the air, it doesn't lower whatsoever. I ended up getting on a ladder and feeding twisted rope through pulleys, while looking at the other side of the shed where I have items hosted on cabling and wishing I had spent a few extra bucks on this side and used cable.

 

[Thunder chicken]

Could you snap a pic with the roof off if you have a chance? I’m curious to see what’s up there
I dunno if my 7060 would be the same, I know some of the climate stuff is under the seat. But i got a smell from the AC that ain’t me and I dread tearing it apart to clean it.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I can do that. ALL my stuff is on top and it's CROWDED up there. It always amazes me they fit it all in and neatly too.

I'd never want to bugger up the roof section and believe me I'm always careful looking where I'm going far as overhead clearance is concerned. Just the roof on mine is 1500 bucks alone. I dread to think what the components up there would cost to replace.

Just getting the roof to come free of the fasteners is a job. The hold down screws, screw into compressed brass crimp fasteners crimped to the lower section of the roof (the roof is actually 2 pieces, vacuum molded together.) and they like to rotate in their holes so you have to hold them with a putty knife with a V shaped notch cut in it, while backing the screws out and there are 12 of them. 12 roof hold down screws and 12 headliner fastening screws.

Always a job getting it off and on is difficult too. It has to line up perfectly on the ROPS cage or you cannot screw in the hold down screws.... and the base gasket is 90 bucks and the corner pads are 10 bucks each or 40 bucks. I know, I just replace all of them this spring.

My original base gasket was all hard and cracked and the pads were shot. The base gasket sticks to the underside of the roof as well as the pads and of course when I took the old one off, half of it stayed on the underside of the roof and I had to scape it and the old adhesive off. What a job.

Think I will hang it from the roof trusses. Problem is, the trusses are 16 feet up there.......

 

[moesfarm]

I can do that. ALL my stuff is on top and it's CROWDED up there. It always amazes me they fit it all in and neatly too.

I'd never want to bugger up the roof section and believe me I'm always careful looking where I'm going far as overhead clearance is concerned. Just the roof on mine is 1500 bucks alone. I dread to think what the components up there would cost to replace.

Just getting the roof to come free of the fasteners is a job. The hold down screws, screw into compressed brass crimp fasteners crimped to the lower section of the roof (the roof is actually 2 pieces, vacuum molded together.) and they like to rotate in their holes so you have to hold them with a putty knife with a V shaped notch cut in it, while backing the screws out and there are 12 of them. 12 roof hold down screws and 12 headliner fastening screws.

Always a job getting it off and on is difficult too. It has to line up perfectly on the ROPS cage or you cannot screw in the hold down screws.... and the base gasket is 90 bucks and the corner pads are 10 bucks each or 40 bucks. I know, I just replace all of them this spring.

My original base gasket was all hard and cracked and the pads were shot. The base gasket sticks to the underside of the roof as well as the pads and of course when I took the old one off, half of it stayed on the underside of the roof and I had to scape it and the old adhesive off. What a job.

Think I will hang it from the roof trusses. Problem is, the trusses are 16 feet up there.......

10-4 on the fasteners turning. I have 2 cab Kubotas that have the a/c compontants on top. Wonder what we could do to keep the fasteners from turning in the thin plastic roof?

 

[GreensvilleJay]

so... are you going to replace the OTHER $56 relay now while it's all apart or wait until it fails.....3 days after you've 'buttoned up' the roof.....
it'd be interesting to know why the relay failed. Blower motor might be 15-20 amps, not a lot but then I like SSRs..last forever.

 

[SidecarFlip]

10-4 on the fasteners turning. I have 2 cab Kubotas that have the a/c compontants on top. Wonder what we could do to keep the fasteners from turning in the thin plastic roof?

In reality they are soft brass Huck fasteners and what Kubota should have done (but didn't) was back each of them up with a flat washer on each side (top and underside) and the compress the fastener. Without the backup washers, there is no way they can compress the fasteners sufficiently to keep them from turning without cracking the plastic roof.

I dealt with that too. I had cracks around most of the fasteners in the plastic, do I cut fiberglass matting and glassed the fasteners in which helps but don't entirely cure the issue.

When I remove the roof, I take a putty knife and slide it between the roof and the fastener and secure the fastener from rotating as I back the screw out. I use a putty knife with a V ground into the blade so the fastener don't turn. Not the ideal solution but it works.

I actually made a couple new fasteners from aluminum bar stock. I drilled and threaded it to fit the screws and then externally threaded each one to take a larger piece of bar stock that screws over the new threaded 'fastener' I made and firmly secures it to the roof. Took a bit of machining but far as I know the 'huck' fasteners are not available from Kubota for replacement.

Why I don't like removing the roof, it's a PITA.

 

[SidecarFlip]

so... are you going to replace the OTHER $56 relay now while it's all apart or wait until it fails.....3 days after you've 'buttoned up' the roof.....
it'd be interesting to know why the relay failed. Blower motor might be 15-20 amps, not a lot but then I like SSRs..last forever.

No. The other identical relay energizes the ac compressor and the draw is much less. Kubota does some interesting things to control blower speeds. They use a nichrome resistor to reduce the current to the blower motor so the relay is seeing maximum amperage all the time. I may jump on DigiKey and see if I can source a solid state relay with the correct base to fit....and...Kubota only had one in the warehouse in Grove City.

it's not apart yet. I'm in the procrastination stage right now. Has to be done and will be but not instantly.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

I've used this style of SSR...

25A SSR-25DD Solid State Relay Module DC 3-32V To DC 5-200V

Only US$6.99, buy best 25a ssr-25dd solid state relay module dc 3-32v to dc 5-200v sale online store at wholesale price.

www.banggood.com

... for years ( 4 decades +-) ,even made my own, when they were 10X the cost, 30 years ago.
Digikey have them, though I don't know about the cost, I do get overnight deliveries for them( faster than from Toronto...30 miles away !)

You could take a dead relay, gut it, use the 'pins' as your plug to wire the SSR into the factory connector.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Once I get the roof off, no hurry putting it back on. Don't need the tractor until it snows anyway. Not about to plow snow with my open station....lol

 

[Henro]

Once I get the roof off, no hurry putting it back on. Don't need the tractor until it snows anyway. Not about to plow snow with my open station....lol

Flip,

As a fellow procrastinator, I can probably help here. You will not need the AC until spring if you crack open a window slightly to let humidity out during winter...why not just wait until spring to fix the AC issue?

 

[SidecarFlip]

It's not the ac or the heat, those work fine. It's the blower relay so no heat or ac, no air circulation.

 

[GeoHorn]

Once I get the roof off, no hurry putting it back on. Don't need the tractor until it snows anyway. Not about to plow snow with my open station....lol

WUOOSE!

 

[SidecarFlip]

WUOOSE!

That right, I am and I admit it.

 

[Henro]

It's not the ac or the heat, those work fine. It's the blower relay so no heat or ac, no air circulation.

Oh! I guess I was thinking of your last event with the AC...Oh well, just trying to help! LOL

 

[dvcochran]

Interesting; I only have trouble with the two screws on the front of the roof. They have a bracket that is held on with rivets and the 'nut' always wants to spin so I have to either reach in with long needle nose pliers or pry up with something. But pulling the roof always seems pretty easy, just very bulky for one person.
Earlier this year the on/off button for the air conditioner went bad and I have to pull the roof.
My M9 has been a great tractor but it has had more than it's share of A/C problems. Hopefully that is all behind me.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Since I lined the roof with Reflectix and had the ac recharged, mine freezes me out on fan1. Interestingly the relay is a Nissan part for an Altima. I crossed in on the net.

Tomorrow I have help so it will get done. I think I can get away with undoing only one side of the roof and lifting it enough to get to the relay. It's on the right side by the ROPS.

I could probably make a good buck making replacement screw in female fasteners to replace the Huck fasteners in the roof but they are a PITA to machine.

 

[michigander]

Once I get the roof off, no hurry putting it back on. Don't need the tractor until it snows anyway. Not about to plow snow with my open station....lol

We had snow coming down today !!!!