L245DT Hydraulics

[ford 8N]

My friend has a Kubota model L245DT and is having trouble with the shaft that drives the hydraulic pump. With research I have found that Kubota no longer provides the flexible shaft that drives this pump. Someone has modified this tractor for a Type L Shaft Coupler.
The issue is that the Spider for this Coupler keeps failing. He really only uses the Kubota to clear snow & I am thinking that the cold may be a reason for the rubber Spider failures.
I have seen pics showing that others may be using a chain coupler and I am curious what others are doing.
Thanks in advance!

 

[007kubotaguy]

My friend has a Kubota model L245DT and is having trouble with the shaft that drives the hydraulic pump. With research I have found that Kubota no longer provides the flexible shaft that drives this pump. Someone has modified this tractor for a Type L Shaft Coupler.
The issue is that the Spider for this Coupler keeps failing. He really only uses the Kubota to clear snow & I am thinking that the cold may be a reason for the rubber Spider failures.
I have seen pics showing that others may be using a chain coupler and I am curious what others are doing.
Thanks in advance!

Hello
The easy thing to do is run it off the tractor hydraulic system . It will be a little slower. But still work fine. You will need a block to tap into to the tractor hydraulic system.

 

[eserv]

My friend has a Kubota model L245DT and is having trouble with the shaft that drives the hydraulic pump. With research I have found that Kubota no longer provides the flexible shaft that drives this pump. Someone has modified this tractor for a Type L Shaft Coupler.
The issue is that the Spider for this Coupler keeps failing. He really only uses the Kubota to clear snow & I am thinking that the cold may be a reason for the rubber Spider failures.
I have seen pics showing that others may be using a chain coupler and I am curious what others are doing.
Thanks in advance!

You can buy brass spiders for those. they are a little noisy but much stronger!

 

[ford 8N]

thanks!

 

[ruger1980]

As @eserv said they do make brass inserts but they also make a nylon type that is somewhere in-between the two. The most important thing though is to make certain the alignment is spot on. That is the primary cause of failure in a lovejoy coupler.

 

[TheOldHokie]

My friend has a Kubota model L245DT and is having trouble with the shaft that drives the hydraulic pump. With research I have found that Kubota no longer provides the flexible shaft that drives this pump. Someone has modified this tractor for a Type L Shaft Coupler.
The issue is that the Spider for this Coupler keeps failing. He really only uses the Kubota to clear snow & I am thinking that the cold may be a reason for the rubber Spider failures.
I have seen pics showing that others may be using a chain coupler and I am curious what others are doing.
Thanks in advance!

The jaw type couplers are a little light duty for this application which may explain the failures.

I personally like the chain couplers for crankshaft driven pumps because they are heavy duty and inexpensive but OEMs used Morflex (made by Morse) elastomeric couplers extensively on many older agricultural tractors. Ford, Dearborn, and Wagner all used them on FELs for everything from the 9N through the Thousand series. Also used by Midwestern on their FELs. Davis used chain couplers on their loaders.

Morflex is a bit pricey (3x) compared to chain couplers but heavy duty, a little more compact, and tolerant of misalignment .

My advice would be to dump the jaw coupler in favor of chain or Morflex.

Dan

 

[ford 8N]

Morflex is a bit pricey (3x) compared to chain couplers but heavy duty, a little more compact, and tolerant of misalignment .

My advice would be to dump the jaw coupler in favor of chain or Morflex.

Dan

My friend has asked for my help on this because of the failures. I agree that the L type Coupler is not the best choice and that is why I am asking the question here. I like the Moreflex and thinking that the cost is not as important as dependability. When the Kubota goes down he is stuck in snow and then has to try and get it home maybe a 1/4 mile away.

The first thing I asked him to do was to remove the coupling from the Pump and the Crankshaft so that I could check the alignment. After that is proven he can decide how much money he is willing to invest. But I will not be involved if he gets too cheap!

Steve

 

[TheOldHokie]

My friend has asked for my help on this because of the failures. I agree that the L type Coupler is not the best choice and that is why I am asking the question here. I like the Moreflex and thinking that the cost is not as important as dependability. When the Kubota goes down he is stuck in snow and then has to try and get it home maybe a 1/4 mile away.

The first thing I asked him to do was to remove the coupling from the Pump and the Crankshaft so that I could check the alignment. After that is proven he can decide how much money he is willing to invest. But I will not be involved if he gets too cheap!

Steve

Morflex claims they can accommodate 10 degrees of angular misalignment. Chain and jaw couplers are 1 degree. That is a BIG difference. The 302 Morflex coupler in the YT picture costs $120 BUT it only fits 3/4" shafts. If you need a different size it can add $100 per connection. That is not insignificant.

Dan

 

[ford 8N]

Morflex claims they can accommodate 10 degrees of angular misalignment. Chain and jaw couplers are 1 degree. That is a BIG difference. The 302 Morflex coupler in the YT picture costs $120 BUT it only fits 3/4" shafts. If you need a different size it can add $100 per connection. That is not insignificant.

Dan

Agreed, but then a broken tractor isn't worth much, he hasn't pulled the couplings yet. I am concerned about the Moreflex and freezing weather though. I'll start doing more research after I know what to buy.

 

[TheOldHokie]

Agreed, but then a broken tractor isn't worth much, he hasn't pulled the couplings yet. I am concerned about the Moreflex and freezing weather though. I'll start doing more research after I know what to buy.

The Morse catalog says the Morflex elastomer operating temperature range is 0F to 200F. That is probably conservative. There are tens of thousands of them in use and many in very frigid climates. Unless you are planning an Antarctica expedition I would not worry in that regard.

Dan