Kubota b7100 FEL build on a budget

[barts]

I went back and checked my B219; the only ones w/ Zerks left are the main pins at the top of the vertical posts. I think there may have been some at the end of the cylinder rods, but they're gone/broken off. Meh. Grease what you can w/ something sticky and EP rated every so often and they'll last. Some grease of any sort is way better than no grease.

- Bart

 

[trial and error]

Thanks Bart, that's the plan, a little grease goes a long way for making things last on a tractor.
I got a long way to go and a short time to get there, before any "final assembly" and grease but I did pick up some good marine grade water resistant grease today to have on hand when this project finally gets to that stage thanks for following along and the helpfull advice

 

[trial and error]

Well, I didn't get as far today as I had hoped. Spent most of the morning picking up and delivering a washer in the rain, yay for being "the guy with a truck" after that it was basically 11 o'clock welded in my "budget bushings" to the arms and ground them down flush to the arms surface. Got the other "budget bushings" welded onto the brackets for the arm to tower hinge peices. Got one of those brackets welded onto one of the two towers as a starting point then had to get ready for dinner with the FIL (fun times). I have to get a long peice of 3/4" round bar stock anyway to get a parallel line between the other 3 brackets when mounting them to the towers and use that and the digital angle finder when clamping them in place to tack weld them so they come out as even as possible.

Just one poor picture of one of my "bushings" installed into one of the arms. I need a camera guy

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Well, I didn't get as far today as I had hoped. Spent most of the morning picking up and delivering a washer in the rain, yay for being "the guy with a truck" after that it was basically 11 o'clock welded in my "budget bushings" to the arms and ground them down flush to the arms surface. Got the other "budget bushings" welded onto the brackets for the arm to tower hinge peices. Got one of those brackets welded onto one of the two towers as a starting point then had to get ready for dinner with the FIL (fun times). I have to get a long peice of 3/4" round bar stock anyway to get a parallel line between the other 3 brackets when mounting them to the towers and use that and the digital angle finder when clamping them in place to tack weld them so they come out as even as possible.

Just one poor picture of one of my "bushings" installed into one of the arms. I need a camera guy

Did you weld on the insides of the tube?

 

[trial and error]

Did you weld on the insides of the tube?

I did not, if I can figure out how to get the gun in there I'll give that a whirl, I guess anything is better then nothing on that part

 

[barts]

> I did not, if I can figure out how to get the gun in there I'll give that a whirl, I guess
> anything is better then nothing on that part

For next time, grind a bevel on the outside of the bushings after they're cut to length such that the bevel matches the thickness of the side of the arm. When welding, fill the bevel with weld and then you've got approximately 100% penetration w/o needing to weld from the other side.

 

[trial and error]

Spent some time after work this afternoon getting started on the gussets to go between the two halves of each loader arm. I was going to forgo this step and use loft cylinder mounts together but since I still don't fully trust my welding I figure spreading the distance of the gussets over several more inches will give me a much better chance of not splitting the halves more is better in this case and they'll only add a few points to each arm. Famous last words

 

[trial and error]

Hard to believe the same guy with the same welder made these, they may not be perfect but way better then at the start of this project IMHO. now if only I could nail down consistently getting these results

 

[barts]

Hard to believe the same guy with the same welder made these, they may not be perfect but way better then at the start of this project IMHO. now if only I could nail down consistently getting these results

Yup... I remember when I started welding about 50 years ago... welding is one of those skills that the only way you get better at it is to do it. Sure, someone explaining what's going wrong helps, but there's really no substitute for just burning lots of rod or wire. Congratulations on climbing up the learning curve!

 

[trial and error]

Yup... I remember when I started welding about 50 years ago... welding is one of those skills that the only way you get better at it is to do it. Sure, someone explaining what's going wrong helps, but there's really no substitute for just burning lots of rod or wire. Congratulations on climbing up the learning curve!

Thanks Barts, it's the angle that kills me and being able to slide my arm along the surface and keep my movements consistent.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Thanks Barts, it's the angle that kills me and being able to slide my arm along the surface and keep my movements consistent.

Try welding doing it with a side to side motion.
Varying the angle towards the part that you are headed to.
This will get you better connections and bond.

 

[D2Cat]

Like North Idaho Wolfman suggested, weave back and forth from one metal to the other and go slow to get both to look like one piece. Play with your amperage setting to get the pieces to melt together.

 

[trial and error]

Made a little bit of progress between last evening and this morning, got all the lift cylinder brackets tacked on as well as the tower to arm brackets tacked on. Got my lift cylinder set to 19 degrees which should give me a decent lift capacity , I was aiming for 15 so anything more is a bonus. Pin height for bucket should be close to 68 inches. I have an event this afternoon for a couple hours so hopefully this evening I can double check everything and bomb in at least some of the brackets.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

The side plates (attachment points for the cylinders) should have been flat plate, an angle isn't helping you any and it makes it a hazard to work with and on!

 

[trial and error]

The side plates (attachment points for the cylinders) should have been flat plate, an angle isn't helping you any and it makes it a hazard to work with and on!

I wasn't sure, if I was gaining anything, but it was more of a "what material I acquired at low/no cost, now that I know im not gaining anything I will likely at minimum radius the corners or completely cut those off all depends on how ambitious I feel, I'm sure they are going to be the Bain of my existence if left the way they are

 

[Vigo]

I wouldn't be THAT much work to cut all the extraneous stuff off.

Glad you're making progress. I just gave back my buddy's tractor i posted pics of after working on it off and on for a year, and now i find myself searching for the next 'welding on a tractor' thing to do around here.. feels weird to not have a project like that after this long. I think im hooked lol.

 

[trial and error]

I will probably end up cutting off the extra stuff after I get everything bombed in , it's just not high on my list right now. Oncce I catch something on an edge while working on it , im sure itll be moved up the priorty ladder (lol) . Seriously though a few extra cuttoff wheels is not a big deal all things considered

 

[trial and error]

Got a little more dome this afternoon before it was "quittin time" got one side of the tower to front bumper "brace/strut" roughly figured out. Still some neatening up to do with it but the basic plan is laid in stone. My original calculations must have been off as the square tube I'm using won't clear the exhaust and intake for removal of the loader assembly so I had to adjust and anchor each end of the "strut/brace" with a 1/2" bolt so it can be removed, but this allowed me to tilt the brace in slightly to get better clearances on the loader arms and cylinders, so maybe my miscalculation may be a blessing in disguise.

P.s. a hoodie will catch on fire if you lay enough sparks on it while using the angle grinder and a cuttoff wheel, wish I could say this was my first time lighting a peice of clothing on fire while wearing it, but a number of years ago I lit the inner thigh of my work pants on fire using a demo saw to cut bundles of #4 rebar, needless to say that time wasn't as painless as this time

 

[Vigo]

Kinda figured 2” square tube would be real bulky for those diagonal braces but, ya know, ‘using what you got’.

Turns out my skin is more ‘FR’ than my clothes, and id almost rather get burned than get soggy working here in south texas so my usual welding attire is shorts, and most of my socks have holes in them from minor slag incidents.

 

[trial and error]

Kinda figured 2” square tube would be real bulky for those diagonal braces but, ya know, ‘using what you got’.

Turns out my skin is more ‘FR’ than my clothes, and id almost rather get burned than get soggy working here in south texas so my usual welding attire is shorts, and most of my socks have holes in them from minor slag incidents.

I do not like sweating either, at all but thankfully the weather up here hasn't been shorts and t shirt weather just yet, but it is getting closer by the day and I'm not too excited about it I prefer fall/winter
My skin is also flame retartedant, but not very burn resistant as I found out in the demo saw incident

On the braces the good news is they will certainly be strong enough, albeit a little bulkier and harder to work with