Guys! As my first post I would like to contribute my King Kutter FM-72-Y restoration. I had recently purchased a L3301 with a FEL and Grader Scraper. I was looking for a way to further utilize the tractor. My first thought was to buy a finish mower and that it would help with the break in process. So, off to Craigslist I went. Being relatively new to tractors I was fairly shocked at how expensive finish mowers were (and are). But I suppose my timing was just right. I found the King Kutter about 8 miles from my house. I met with the guy talked him down to 200$ and away I went with my new(old) finish mower. It was missing a the front tires and that was all.
So, began the next part of the restoration I hooked it up to my PTO of my tractor and tested it out. Well that ended up in a big cloud of smoke. At the end of the night I needed a new belt and realized i had a seized idler pulley and a couple of bad spindles. So i took to the internet ordered the parts and began my restoration.
Disassembly:
I completely dissembled the mower. this task would of been brutal if it would of not been for my Air Cat impact and a lot of PB blaster. All in all it was not too hateful of a job. I was not concerned with saving the bolts as i planned on putting new ones on anyway. I took care to place all of the bolts in plastic bags and labeled them to their respective locations. As with any disassembly i feel this is the most permanent part.
Now it came time to get all of the rust out. This was the most tedious task (as with any project). I ended up buying a corded grinder from Home Depot (Life saver as i was swapping out batteries every 10 min) and enlisted my DA sander. I probably spend around 12 hours sand blasting, sanding and grinding all of the parts. Aluminum Oxide was my friend when it came to cleaning the gear box.
Knowing that unless I had the whole thing hot dipped I would not be able to get all of the rust off. Again off to the internet I went. Home Depot sells a rust inhibiting primer and I knew it would be perfect for this project. With keys in hand off I went to Home Depot. I ended up buying 8 cans of primer and was crossing my fingers it was enough. The primer went on easy and smooth I laid down 2 coats. Wiping the surface in between coats.
On to the Paint.
I ended up using Majik Impeliment paint from Tractor Supply. Of course I painted it Kubota Orange. For any one who cares the mixture I sprayed with was 8 Oz paint, 1 oz reducer and .5 oz hardener. I ended up spraying 3 coats on all of the surfaces.
Reassembly:
after a quite pricey trip to several hardware stores i found all of the hardware i needed. It was quite difficult to find full thread 5/8 in bolts 4.5 inches long. I upgraded all the hardware to new 8.8 bolts and used nylon locking nuts on everything. From the Factory I cannot believe their lack of belief in using washers. I used them on everything i could. Surprisingly reassembly was very simple. The only thing that threw me off was the fact that I had to use my old spindle pulleys. The new ones were not the same size as the old ones.
Turns out my PTO shaft was also seized up also. A little heat and a torch fixed this. I tried to save the PTO shield that was on it but it was a failure. I ended up buying a new PTO shield as well. Cutting and assembling it was a breeze. While measuring the PTO shaft i ended up having 9" overlap between the shafts well withing the manufacturers suggested 6".
All things considered in got about 600 in it total and a new finish mower. It was a well worth while project.
Thanks for reading!
So, began the next part of the restoration I hooked it up to my PTO of my tractor and tested it out. Well that ended up in a big cloud of smoke. At the end of the night I needed a new belt and realized i had a seized idler pulley and a couple of bad spindles. So i took to the internet ordered the parts and began my restoration.
Disassembly:
I completely dissembled the mower. this task would of been brutal if it would of not been for my Air Cat impact and a lot of PB blaster. All in all it was not too hateful of a job. I was not concerned with saving the bolts as i planned on putting new ones on anyway. I took care to place all of the bolts in plastic bags and labeled them to their respective locations. As with any disassembly i feel this is the most permanent part.
Now it came time to get all of the rust out. This was the most tedious task (as with any project). I ended up buying a corded grinder from Home Depot (Life saver as i was swapping out batteries every 10 min) and enlisted my DA sander. I probably spend around 12 hours sand blasting, sanding and grinding all of the parts. Aluminum Oxide was my friend when it came to cleaning the gear box.
Knowing that unless I had the whole thing hot dipped I would not be able to get all of the rust off. Again off to the internet I went. Home Depot sells a rust inhibiting primer and I knew it would be perfect for this project. With keys in hand off I went to Home Depot. I ended up buying 8 cans of primer and was crossing my fingers it was enough. The primer went on easy and smooth I laid down 2 coats. Wiping the surface in between coats.
On to the Paint.
I ended up using Majik Impeliment paint from Tractor Supply. Of course I painted it Kubota Orange. For any one who cares the mixture I sprayed with was 8 Oz paint, 1 oz reducer and .5 oz hardener. I ended up spraying 3 coats on all of the surfaces.
Reassembly:
after a quite pricey trip to several hardware stores i found all of the hardware i needed. It was quite difficult to find full thread 5/8 in bolts 4.5 inches long. I upgraded all the hardware to new 8.8 bolts and used nylon locking nuts on everything. From the Factory I cannot believe their lack of belief in using washers. I used them on everything i could. Surprisingly reassembly was very simple. The only thing that threw me off was the fact that I had to use my old spindle pulleys. The new ones were not the same size as the old ones.
Turns out my PTO shaft was also seized up also. A little heat and a torch fixed this. I tried to save the PTO shield that was on it but it was a failure. I ended up buying a new PTO shield as well. Cutting and assembling it was a breeze. While measuring the PTO shaft i ended up having 9" overlap between the shafts well withing the manufacturers suggested 6".
All things considered in got about 600 in it total and a new finish mower. It was a well worth while project.
Thanks for reading!
