Well I think this project is coming to an end,
I am still awaiting a lead on Japanese Decals
(I know he is busy now, fingers crossed)
or I will have to go with the L175 US equivalents
and I need a stock rear view mirror.
All in all things went pretty smooth considering the condition when I got her.
I first saw and spoke to the previous owner about this tractor back in February of 2015. I was set to go pick it up on a Friday,
however we were due for snow, so I called Thursday and postponed it until that Saturday. Well that same Thursday I got laid off,
so I made another call to cancel the deal. Once I was employed again I again started to contact the owner and work out the deal.
When I finally picked up this tractor in November of 2015, it was in good shape relatively speaking. It came with a 4' Great Bend
front end loader, a 5' Rhino rear blade, a 4' Atlas rear box blade a 4' Brush Hog mower and a pair of 28" forks. It was not abused
or misused, but was neglected and definitely lacking general maintenance and care. It had no reverse and a terrible noise in 3rd gear.
Not one of the grease fitting had seen grease in years, nor would most any take grease as they were plugged up.
The project took longer than expected, it started out as a lets fix it up project but soon turned into a restoration project.
I started out with the wiring, all of it was pulled out and the coverings replaced, along with any terminals that needed to be redone.
With that off and out of the way, it was time to split the tractor this was the first tractor I had ever worked on, and that went very smooth.
The input shaft, reverse gear and the gear that had 3rd gear on it were replaced. While it was in three pieces, I repainted the engine,
transmission and rear end with factory Kubota Blue Acrylic Enamel.
All of the sheet metal was cleaned, straightened, de-rusted, repaired, primered and painted with factory Kubota Orange Acrylic Enamel.
The steering wheel was a restoration project in itself, and was time consuming, but I ended up with a very nice original steering wheel.
The headlights were converted from the sad 25W motorcycle style incandescent bulbs to LED high power lights.
All external hardware was replaced with stainless steel where it was available.
I have documented the process with plenty of photos and created a facebook blog that can be seen here;
https://www.facebook.com/thekubotaproject/photos/?tab=albums
A big thank you to all who have helped with technical, logical , and all other issues I came across.
There are too many here to mention, and if I were to start, I know I would leave someone out.
You all know who you are, so thanks again
So now I will try to help out some of the newbies,
like I was with what little knowledge I have gleaned from all of the experts here.
and
of course continue to enjoy and ? modify ? my little Bota
I am still awaiting a lead on Japanese Decals
(I know he is busy now, fingers crossed)
or I will have to go with the L175 US equivalents
and I need a stock rear view mirror.
All in all things went pretty smooth considering the condition when I got her.
I first saw and spoke to the previous owner about this tractor back in February of 2015. I was set to go pick it up on a Friday,
however we were due for snow, so I called Thursday and postponed it until that Saturday. Well that same Thursday I got laid off,
so I made another call to cancel the deal. Once I was employed again I again started to contact the owner and work out the deal.
When I finally picked up this tractor in November of 2015, it was in good shape relatively speaking. It came with a 4' Great Bend
front end loader, a 5' Rhino rear blade, a 4' Atlas rear box blade a 4' Brush Hog mower and a pair of 28" forks. It was not abused
or misused, but was neglected and definitely lacking general maintenance and care. It had no reverse and a terrible noise in 3rd gear.
Not one of the grease fitting had seen grease in years, nor would most any take grease as they were plugged up.
The project took longer than expected, it started out as a lets fix it up project but soon turned into a restoration project.
I started out with the wiring, all of it was pulled out and the coverings replaced, along with any terminals that needed to be redone.
With that off and out of the way, it was time to split the tractor this was the first tractor I had ever worked on, and that went very smooth.
The input shaft, reverse gear and the gear that had 3rd gear on it were replaced. While it was in three pieces, I repainted the engine,
transmission and rear end with factory Kubota Blue Acrylic Enamel.
All of the sheet metal was cleaned, straightened, de-rusted, repaired, primered and painted with factory Kubota Orange Acrylic Enamel.
The steering wheel was a restoration project in itself, and was time consuming, but I ended up with a very nice original steering wheel.
The headlights were converted from the sad 25W motorcycle style incandescent bulbs to LED high power lights.
All external hardware was replaced with stainless steel where it was available.
I have documented the process with plenty of photos and created a facebook blog that can be seen here;
https://www.facebook.com/thekubotaproject/photos/?tab=albums
A big thank you to all who have helped with technical, logical , and all other issues I came across.
There are too many here to mention, and if I were to start, I know I would leave someone out.
You all know who you are, so thanks again
So now I will try to help out some of the newbies,
like I was with what little knowledge I have gleaned from all of the experts here.
and
of course continue to enjoy and ? modify ? my little Bota
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