Kubota K Connect Snowblower problems explained.

[GreensvilleJay]

I'm using the prices guys paid here, last year.
KubCda ,male piece(tractor) , is $212 CDN today and they want $32 for each bearing !!!

Still $400 USD for something that should NOT wear out for decades is not nice.

 

[mikester]

it's a very complicated design probably due to making it 'universal', still $700 part should NOT wear out !

Maybe it's designed by millennials who are used to having to buy a new $1500 cell phone every 2 years after a software update "breaks" the phone

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Curious,went to Lovejoy's sire ,downloaded their info/calc sheet.
Seems an 'L090' coupling is good for 400 in-lb which works out to 15 HP it can transfer.
Kub Cda parts says the shafts are 1", so L090 is the perfect fit.

update: seems you can buy the L-099 units with 1" bore, good for 31 HP !!!!
cost... $25 for each coupling, $30 for the spider..so less than $100 out the door,in Canada,eh !


Would probably need to customize the male shaft for proper length.

So anyone know how many HP the 50" blower needs, or what the MM PTO will supply ?

 

[River19]

I'm using the prices guys paid here, last year.
KubCda ,male piece(tractor) , is $212 CDN today and they want $32 for each bearing !!!

Still $400 USD for something that should NOT wear out for decades is not nice.

For clarity........

Blower and K Connect were taken to the Kubota Dealer as it was under warranty.......which of course was determined this was a "wearable item" and therefore not a warranty item. With it already at the dealer and with them already having dug into the implement (ie. labor) the final bill for parts and labor from a dealer is $700.

 

[River19]

Curious,went to Lovejoy's sire ,downloaded their info/calc sheet.
Seems an 'L090' coupling is good for 400 in-lb which works out to 15 HP it can transfer.
Kub Cda parts says the shafts are 1", so L090 is the perfect fit.

update: seems you can buy the L-099 units with 1" bore, good for 31 HP !!!!
cost... $25 for each coupling, $30 for the spider..so less than $100 out the door,in Canada,eh !


Would probably need to customize the male shaft for proper length.

So anyone know how many HP the 50" blower needs, or what the MM PTO will supply ?

I think on my B2601 PTO is 19HP or thereabouts......with my 48" blower.....

 

[GreensvilleJay]

I understand the PTO power spec, just wondered what a snowblower needs.
my cats are rubbing off on me...curious....

 

[ve9aa]

As promised, here's a couple pix I took while installing my k-connect blower yesterday. It's impossible to know the exact # of hours on it the last few winters, but it's likely to be 35-40(?) and as stated before in various threads, I certainly don't baby it. I bought the big $$ one, to have that beefiness and hopefully reliability.

 

[River19]

As promised, here's a couple pix I took while installing my k-connect blower yesterday. It's impossible to know the exact # of hours on it the last few winters, but it's likely to be 35-40(?) and as stated before in various threads, I certainly don't baby it. I bought the big $$ one, to have that beefiness and hopefully reliability.
View attachment 115443 View attachment 115444

I dream of mine looking like this after use lol

 

[ve9aa]

Other than that weird scratch on one of the "dogs" (whatever you call them) mine has nearly no wear (that I can tell....maybe I don't know what to look for). (I think I backed into it in the summer and hit it with the 3pt or weight box and put a mark on it).

I can only imagine that perhaps yours was either out of round (like J said) or made out of Chinesiumalloy.

(just thinking out loud here) Is there any chance at all, once you engage the springs (watch out for the fingers), that yours are not mating fully. ie: something in a shaft length is 1/4" too short or something?

Normally I am full of good ideas. (and some not-so-good-ideas) but I am baffled by this and kinda have a guilty feeling if I am being honest. Almost seems like 1/2 of us think they are POS and the other 1/2 think they're great.

 

[River19]

Other than that weird scratch on one of the "dogs" (whatever you call them) mine has nearly no wear (that I can tell....maybe I don't know what to look for). (I think I backed into it in the summer and hit it with the 3pt or weight box and put a mark on it).

I can only imagine that perhaps yours was either out of round (like J said) or made out of Chinesiumalloy.

(just thinking out loud here) Is there any chance at all, once you engage the springs (watch out for the fingers), that yours are not mating fully. ie: something in a shaft length is 1/4" too short or something?

Normally I am full of good ideas. (and some not-so-good-ideas) but I am baffled by this and kinda have a guilty feeling if I am being honest. Almost seems like 1/2 of us think they are POS and the other 1/2 think they're great.

In the next couple weeks I will swap out the FEL for the blower and I will over validate everything is together as intended and will take some pics etc.

If this new part wears more correctly than the original dogs, I will place my chips on the Chinesium metallurgy as well.......

 

[Snowman7]

In the next couple weeks I will swap out the FEL for the blower and I will over validate everything is together as intended and will take some pics etc.

If this new part wears more correctly than the original dogs, I will place my chips on the Chinesium metallurgy as well.......

Does not look like there will be any snowblower action in northern lower peninsula of MI. for at least two weeks.

 

[River19]

Does not look like there will be any snowblower action in northern lower peninsula of MI. for at least two weeks.

We are getting a mix of crap overnight that will wash away with rain during the day......that being said I pulled the tractor out of the Morton so I can put the Ram 2500 in there when my wife gets home from the barn this evening.......then the tractor goes in back of the truck.....why let the truck get covered in ice and poop right?

Come March I will probably adopt the "meh it's only a dusting and it will melt"........and get lazy and not put the truck away........lol

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Wife's car hasn't been in the warm garage for 4+ years......
.and I don't scrape off the ice or snow either

 

[River19]

Wife's car hasn't been in the warm garage for 4+ years......
.and I don't scrape off the ice or snow either

Let's be clear here......the Ram 2500 is my truck.......and she is temporarily driving it as I take over the 2009 GX470 SUV with hunting gear during the season with the dogs.....as I refuse to let her stink up the new 2023 Toyota Highlander with her horse crap and equine gear.......and I also give her some hell if the truck is poop laden......

So really this is me wanting to put my truck in the Morton........

 

[River19]

Well, mounted the blower up this morning.......pulled the safety cover from the coupler to get a few pictures of the virgin replacement coupler prior to use......

It's together per instructions just like every year so far......

 

[Snowman7]

Curious,went to Lovejoy's sire ,downloaded their info/calc sheet.
Seems an 'L090' coupling is good for 400 in-lb which works out to 15 HP it can transfer.
Kub Cda parts says the shafts are 1", so L090 is the perfect fit.

update: seems you can buy the L-099 units with 1" bore, good for 31 HP !!!!
cost... $25 for each coupling, $30 for the spider..so less than $100 out the door,in Canada,eh !


Would probably need to customize the male shaft for proper length.

So anyone know how many HP the 50" blower needs, or what the MM PTO will supply ?

Well the 3310 mid pto is 27hp

 

[River19]

First Storm Update:

We finally got enough snow to need to actually do something with it. 12-14" of powder yesterday here in NH. While the tractor was warming up I pulled the cover and verified the couple was matched up nicely and didn't get bumped around some how (eliminating all possibilities).

I treated it with kid gloves per usual and for the first 15mins I couldn't help but feel like it was just going to snap more shear bolts under load but it worked flawlessly in about 60-90mins of total use.

We got another 1" overnight so I went out this morning and did a little cleanup with the back blade primarily but hit a couple areas with the blower.......always careful to engage and disengage at idle per usual etc.

When I was done I cleaned things off as best I could and removed the guard again to check for wear. From what I saw the couplers looked new still, no signs of wear. But I will hit it with the camera later to document.

 

[River19]

Just to keep documenting things as we go along here in Winter 2023/2024.......

Here is a pic of the new couplers as of this morning with about 2-3 total hours of blower run time so far since replacement.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

I'd have expected that the 2 couplings would 'overlap' or 'mate' better. More material on the 'fingers' to transmit the energy.Kubota only has 4 fingers,partially overlapping compared to a Lovejoy having 6 fingers, 100% overlapping.
Time will tell......

 

[acruxksa]

I just disconnected my snow blower (most likely for the season) I have not noticed any wear on the K - Connect Coupling. Tractor has 19hrs on it, 18 of those hours were moving snow with the snow blower or box blade. I frequently engaged/disengaged the pto for the blower. Although, I engaged the pto primarily at idle, I never idled down to disengage. Also, I frequently had the blower lifted as high as it would go to clear objects and uneven terrain. I would estimate the snow blower was operating at least half the 18hrs, so around 9hrs of blower operation.

Just posted for informational purposes as I anticipate issues eventually.

.