Kubota K Connect Snowblower problems explained.

[S-G-R]

Took my blower off yesterday. Probably 15 hours of use and the couplers still look factory fresh.

 

[DustyRusty]

Was it your idea to put grease on the coupler or the dealers? I have never seen grease used on the coupler before, however, I also can't say that it is wrong or if it has any benefit. Only time will tell.

 

[S-G-R]

Was it your idea to put grease on the coupler or the dealers? I have never seen grease used on the coupler before, however, I also can't say that it is wrong or if it has any benefit. Only time will tell.

Factory or dealer did it.

 

[jsteinhauer]

Toward the end of the epic North Shore winter of 2022/23 I started breaking fan pins one after the other, after I hear a "thunk" from up front. It was late in March, so I lived with snow for the rest of the spring, and I disassembled and rebuilt the entire blower, replacing some parts, thinking the main shaft bearing was the problem, since it was dented in two spots. I don't have those images on this PC. I visited another orange tractor forum which was fine and friendly, but did not have this section. Epic winter of 2023/24 has one snowfall warranting a snowblower, fortunate for me, but enough to prove I had not fixed the snowblower. For grins I came hear and saw this thread. I've mostly been living far away from the snowblower and did not get to investigate until Memorial weekend. The top is the hitch. The bottom is the blower. I'm kinda mad at all the time I wasted, but at least now I know. The female shaft on the blower is about US$160 at Messick's. I have not looked locally. It looks quick enough to replace. The male shaft on the hitch is $192. But it does not look like a fast repair. Is that correct? I'm back in Minnesota to collect my BX2380, because I'm tired of mowing two acres with a walk-behind where I'm living now in south central Nebraska. Kubota in Grand Island had a mid-mount mower in the warehouse for this ten year old tractor, so I bought it. I could have bought a zero-turn for the cost of the mower and transport, but I'm not really a lawn guy and then I'd have to maintain another machine that is only good for one thing.

 

[DustyRusty]

I have a suspicion that it is not backed with anything other than a gut feeling that there is a problem with the original parts and that Kubota (or their manufacturer) has changed the material that the parts are made of, or they are having the parts hardened. This past winter we didn't see this happening like the year before. I was going to take my parts to a local shop that does hardening of gun parts to ask if they would harden them for me, but mine are not that worn. As noted in another post, the dealer had added grease to the mating parts and that one didn't show the wear that some of us have experienced. I suggest that you ask your selling dealer if they would warranty the "defective" parts. You never know how lucky you can get just by asking.

 

[River19]

I have a suspicion that it is not backed with anything other than a gut feeling that there is a problem with the original parts and that Kubota (or their manufacturer) has changed the material that the parts are made of, or they are having the parts hardened. This past winter we didn't see this happening like the year before. I was going to take my parts to a local shop that does hardening of gun parts to ask if they would harden them for me, but mine are not that worn. As noted in another post, the dealer had added grease to the mating parts and that one didn't show the wear that some of us have experienced. I suggest that you ask your selling dealer if they would warranty the "defective" parts. You never know how lucky you can get just by asking.

This is my feeling as well. @jsteinhauer pics above look like my original failed couplers (which I still have hanging around in my garage). The new replacement ones seem to be handling things as I originally intended based on my documentation of the use etc. here in this thread. The 23/24 winter was relatively mild in NH for snowfall. I cleared several storms with maybe 6-8hrs total on the blower and when I swapped to the FEL earlier in May the coupler looked good.

I have not changed my behavior in how I clear snow or engage/disengage the PTO as I was originally following all Kubota instructions and common sense.

I'm still kinda pissed I had to eat the ~$700 "fix" for what is proving to be a Kubota parts issue. I think there was a batch made of Swiss cheese.

EDIT: Does it make sense to grease those parts in the theory of "it can't hurt"?

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Are my eyes fooling me ? The 'dogs' on the newest post(3104) look 'machined' to be narrower than the post with grease( # 101 ) ! Still can't believe they get away with so little contact area. Wonder if the part number for hte pieces has changed ? That woud be a sign that 'something' has been done to the parts
,either different material or heat treated.
As for grease, a smear here and there would help, especially on the 'sliding engagement' pieces.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

Regarding the failed parts, from the rust it looks like 4140 or another steel with a carbon content allowing it to be hardened was used, but the part may not have been hardened. (Low-carbon steel tends to have more pitting, hardenable steel tends to have less pitting, so to me the rust suggests it's "probably" "okay" steel.)

The design seems fine for the task as long as the coupler is not being used as a U-joint and is greased. Regarding "slamming," remember the clutch should be engaged slowly at low RPM, so the coupler should absorb the minimal shock load just fine except in -35°F = -37°C or colder temperatures. (I'm a Design Engineer in the steel industry, though not for snowblowers, toasters, or your failed coffee pot.)

If the alignment stud was drilled off-center as the pictures might suggest (the pictures could have been taken at an angle and doing so could result in a similar looking image) the off-center alignment would cause significant wear and rapid failure.

I'd first investigate the alignment, then the steel hardness. Even without grease, off the top of my head I would guesstimate a properly manufactured coupler should not have failed in under 300 hours of use.

 

[DustyRusty]

If enough people are having problems and it is causing us to spend money as a result, possibly we have a class action against Kubota for the defective parts?

 

[jsteinhauer]

I'm not sure what to conclude or assume about whether and when a change in material or manufacturing occurred, or whether there was a faulty lot. I bought mine in 2014, so I was more satisfied that I had found a fixable problem rather than blaming anyone for anything. If it had happened in season one or two, I'd be pretty annoyed, for sure, and expecting excellent customer service. I'm more annoyed at myself for not being more observant. Marketed as a "commercial" tool, though, I do agree it should have been able to endure a hundred times what I have put it through.

I'm not sure how much use the snowblower will get down here. I unloaded it today (5/29) at the new location, 700 miles and 12 hours later. I was around here in January, from the 10th-12th and was gifted with as much winter as most could expect anywhere, but another short visit at the end of February presented me with spring.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Sadly, had the Kubota 'engineers' used an 'off the shelf' Lovejoy style coupling, no one would have had to fork out 400-700$ for new parts. When you compare their version next to a Lovejoy, you just have to shake your head and ask 'What were they thinking ?'

 

[River19]

From my cheap seats of experiencing this over the past couple seasons and forking over the $700......

While the design certainly has pros/cons this wreaks of a bad batch of couplers and just a straight up shoulder shrug from Kubota. If you have read through this thread and saw what my coupler looked like after something like 25-35 total hours of use on the blower specifically on my own property being used EXACTLY as instructed within the Kubota manual to clear my ~700' gravel driveway. My use-case was well within the capabilities of a "commercial blower" costing > $8K.

The part failed within 25-35hrs of use. For a commercial operator of any type within New England, 25-35 hrs of use is literally 2-3 storms. I cannot imagine a world where a critical part on a commercial machine should require complete replacement several times per winter season if used as intended at a cost of several hundred bucks each time.

I don't have the time or the crayons necessary to fight with Kubota over $700 but this certainly pissed me off.........