L260 head removal by new owner--HELP

stevej725

New member

Equipment
L260 snow plowing,brush hogging,pulling,pushing,hauling
Jul 1, 2011
7
0
0
Confluence,Pennsylvania
removed everything except the studs from the head. head is still on the block. we have pried,tapped, and lifted but no seperation from block.do studs have to be double-nutted and removed also? any advice will be greatly appreciated.
 

fj40dave

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
B2650, LA534, BH77, TPD35, RCF2060, BB1566, RGA1258
Sep 24, 2009
421
256
63
Yelm, WA
If you have all the bolts and two nut's off, I imagine it should come off.....I bet ServiceDeptVIC can tell us though! :D
 

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stevej725

New member

Equipment
L260 snow plowing,brush hogging,pulling,pushing,hauling
Jul 1, 2011
7
0
0
Confluence,Pennsylvania
I'm about completely stumped. We took off all 9 nuts and the head won't budge. We tried to lift it with a come-a-long on an overhead beam and the whole front end started to lift. It's been soaking with penetrating oil around the studs for two days. The head still won't budge. If the gasket is still holding it that tight then NASA needs that sucker for building space vehicles.
 

bruceatlam

New member

Equipment
B20, FEL, box blade, flail mower
Aug 20, 2009
410
4
0
Camarillo, California
Sounds like you missed something --- shouldn't be that hard to pull. Are you working from a manual that tells you where all the nuts and bolts are??
 

stevej725

New member

Equipment
L260 snow plowing,brush hogging,pulling,pushing,hauling
Jul 1, 2011
7
0
0
Confluence,Pennsylvania
Vic, I was pulling a brush hog running 2000 in 2 high ,PTO at 4th. It started pulling hard. I raised the 3 point hitch thinking I was dragging. Still pulling hard. I kicked in the clutch,threw the PTO out of gear. The motor died. It's locked up tight.pulled the access on the bottom right after draining fluids. Didn't see anything broken or any filings in the oil. That's why we're trying to pull the head.Guess I'll pull the studs(I was replacing them anyway, I've never re-used them in a gas engine and my understanding is that diesels develop a lot more pressure). I'll probably be pestering you again as I'm new to diesels and my friends that are helping on this are almost as lost as me.
 

stevej725

New member

Equipment
L260 snow plowing,brush hogging,pulling,pushing,hauling
Jul 1, 2011
7
0
0
Confluence,Pennsylvania
Finally got the head off.Pistons seem to be in place and in one piece.I'd be scratching the hair on top of my head in consternation except that there's nothing there to scratch.I'm guessing my next move will be to drop the pistons and see if the crank is snafued?
 

Kytim

New member

Equipment
B6000DT, B7100DT,Snowplow, RM360, Scoop, Cultivator, Carryall,Disk, plow
Aug 14, 2009
848
13
0
Western Ky
Hi there,
Have you tried to rotate the crank now with the head off using the front crank bolt? If so, how difficult?
 

Orange Tractors

Member

Equipment
L175 w/Woods L59, Allis Chalmers WD
Jul 19, 2009
323
4
18
Butler, MO
Engine slowing down then stopping suggests to me either the cooling system wasn't coping, allowing the enginge to overheat and seize up, which I think you would notice, or the oil pump quit lubricating for some reason.

Did any warning lights come on? Or was it just gradual bogging down?

I would try to turn the crank like Kytim suggested.

Robert
 

stevej725

New member

Equipment
L260 snow plowing,brush hogging,pulling,pushing,hauling
Jul 1, 2011
7
0
0
Confluence,Pennsylvania
Engine slowing down then stopping suggests to me either the cooling system wasn't coping, allowing the enginge to overheat and seize up, which I think you would notice, or the oil pump quit lubricating for some reason.

Did any warning lights come on? Or was it just gradual bogging down?

I would try to turn the crank like Kytim suggested.

Robert
It's a very used tractor I bought. I check the fluids religiously 'cause there are no functioning warning lights. I did replace the headlights , trees in the dark are very solid.
It turns now with the head off. No resistance until the front piston is about 1/4 inch from the top,then a slight resistance is felt. My friend is thinking a possible bent piston rod? He thinks our best bet at this point is to pull the front piston and see if that eliminates all resistance, I'm guessing if it does I would be replacing the front rod. Any and all comments and suggestions are appreciated.
 

stevej725

New member

Equipment
L260 snow plowing,brush hogging,pulling,pushing,hauling
Jul 1, 2011
7
0
0
Confluence,Pennsylvania
I'm up to my neck in alligators it seems.The crank either needs replaced or machined,(I'm thinking replaced so bearings don't have to be oversized),new rods,wrist pins,head gasket,head studs and nuts, searching the net for parts or whole engine.Call to local Kubota dealer gives news that crank and many other parts are not available through Kubota. Must be a really old tractor.
 

stevej725

New member

Equipment
L260 snow plowing,brush hogging,pulling,pushing,hauling
Jul 1, 2011
7
0
0
Confluence,Pennsylvania
It seems that my old Kubota L260 is so obsolete that parts are almost impossible to obtain. I have been told by several people that the best course for me is to re-assemble it as is and sell to a collector who will either have others available for parts, or have more spare time and resources to scrounge up parts.At this time ,I have to agree with them. The Kubota was a good tractor but in the future I think sticking with newer machines will be less frustrating when it comes time to find parts.