What could cause an F2100 to start eating clutch disks?

[the mean fish]

I was able to pull the rear tires off and decided to pick up a new pair instead of dealing with tubes or anything like that. I'm going to clean up the wheels, grind everything smooth and hit them with a nice coat of primer then Kubota Orange from TSC. They should look like brand new when I'm done.

I picked up tubes to put in the front tires. I plan to pull them next, clean the rims up and give them a new coat of paint then put everything back together.

Not sure what I'm going to do about the hood, it's pretty beat up but a replacement would cost about $250 more than I paid for the whole tractor.

I put a brand new Interstate battery on her and replaced the main battery cables with some custom cables I made.

Once I replaced the battery cables, installed the new battery and spent about 30 minutes cleaning up old wiring connectors I hit the key, warmed the glow plugs and she fired up like she was fresh off the showroom floor. I let it run for about 30 minutes to get everything nice and warm, I found a small hydraulic leak at a low pressure hose fitting that shouldn't be hard to fix. I also found that the previous owner installed a simple push button momentary switch because the main key switch failed or something like that. The button is rusted and won't move so I had to kill it manually. I picked up a new switch today to fix that problem.

 

[eserv]

Way back in 1995 Kubota issued a bulletin about an improved clutch disc for the F2100-2400. It had a different lining and a hardened spline area. If you get your parts from Kubota you would automatically get this new disc. If you get your parts from __________ (fill in the blank) you most likely would not get the improved disc! OEM parts most often ARE better!
Ed

 

[kuboman]

Interesting on how poor it looks but how well it runs. I wonder if the new ones are built this good?

 

[the mean fish]

Way back in 1995 Kubota issued a bulletin about an improved clutch disc for the F2100-2400. It had a different lining and a hardened spline area. If you get your parts from Kubota you would automatically get this new disc. If you get your parts from __________ (fill in the blank) you most likely would not get the improved disc! OEM parts most often ARE better!
Ed

We found that service bulletin when I went to order the clutch from my local Kubota repair location, mine does fall in the serial number range of units that needs the upgrade kit so I'm going to let them do it along with the new clutch and everything. I'm glad I did some digging, the guy at the counter was just going to sell me the clutch disk and bearings until I started asking questions.

 

[the mean fish]

Interesting on how poor it looks but how well it runs. I wonder if the new ones are built this good?

I don't know, I was a little worried at first but I figured I'm pretty ugly and still put in a hard days work so why not give the old girl a chance.

 

[eserv]

I sold my F2100 this past summer and purchased a used F2560. There are a few features I really miss! I miss the foot clutch, the individual brakes and the two pedal hydrostatic! I do like the extra power with the F2100 but beyond that I often wish for my F2100 back!
Ed

 

[the mean fish]

I sold my F2100 this past summer and purchased a used F2560. There are a few features I really miss! I miss the foot clutch, the individual brakes and the two pedal hydrostatic! I do like the extra power with the F2100 but beyond that I often wish for my F2100 back!
Ed

Did you ever have any major problems with yours? I've spent most of today looking over this thing pretty closely and the worst I've found is a bad u-joint on the shaft that powers the rear axle.

It looks like a really well built mower, a lot heavier than most of the zero turn crap I see on the new market today. This thing has so many pedals and levers it might take me a month to figure out how to drive it because all the stickers are faded off.

 

[eserv]

No, I didn't have even any minor problems, and the original owner didn't either! I only sold it because I got an excellent offer for it. Mine looked almost new. My F2560 works real good too but it is an E model ( two wheel drive) sure miss the 4X4 in the winter with the snowblower! I don't need four wheel drive in the summer though to do my lawn. Sold the F2100 with 72 inch deck for $7500 and bought the F2560 for $2000 . F2560 needed a new piston and rings. An injector had failed overheating a piston.
Ed

 

[the mean fish]

No, I didn't have even any minor problems, and the original owner didn't either! I only sold it because I got an excellent offer for it. Mine looked almost new. My F2560 works real good too but it is an E model ( two wheel drive) sure miss the 4X4 in the winter with the snowblower! I don't need four wheel drive in the summer though to do my lawn. Sold the F2100 with 72 inch deck for $7500 and bought the F2560 for $2000 . F2560 needed a new piston and rings. An injector had failed overheating a piston.
Ed

$7500 That's $7500 more than I paid for this one but it doesn't look anywhere near like new.

 

[the mean fish]

Progress you can actually see, got the back wheels cleaned up and hit them with some red oxide sandable primer then 3 coats of Kubota Orange compliments of my local TSC. They've got some pretty good pitting on the inside but I think they'll be ok. I cleaned up the bead surface with a flapper wheel and got everything smooth, I'm pretty sure they'll hold air but if they don't I'll just throw some tubes in the tires.

 

[dusty-t]

This is quite a project you have on the go. I am green with envy. Please keep us posted with lots of pics. Dusty

 

[kuboman]

Does the F2100 have a pusher engine fan or the standard puller

 

[the mean fish]

Well this might be the best update I could have ever dreamed of, I've been working out of town for a couple weeks so I've made no progress on the F2100 until today. I'm cleaning and painting some wheels so I can get them on the front so I could take it to Kubota for a new clutch... after I painted them I started cleaning up the tractor to be nice to the service guys and I noticed that there's a connecting rod that's not hooked up. I trace it back and sure enough it's the clutch rod. I hooked it back up, adjusted it and fired up the engine (it's sitting on jack stands because I don't have front wheels/tires). The thing works perfectly, the clutch isn't out at all. I first realized it because I noticed the center shaft spinning while it was running. I'm not sure what the previous owner did or thought was wrong but I'm thinking I may have fixed the drive issue all together with a .10 cent cotter pin. I need to get the wheels on to be sure, update coming.

 

[meanjean]

Great post to read.
I'm really hoping you've got it figured out.
Good on you for noticing that.

Quote
I'm cleaning and painting some wheels so I can get them on the front so I could take it to Kubota

Got to dress her up to take her out?
Ha!

 

[the mean fish]

WOW!

that is awesome! I read every post on this purchase and repair twice, great input guys. I'm eager to find out if that did the trick!

Vic I've gone over the factor service manual and the operators manual a few times and I can't for the life of me figure out why the previous owner didn't catch this. I know him personally and know that he replaced a clutch himself right before it "went out" this time at which point he literally drug it to his back yard and parked it for a year. He knew the machine, it's pretty easy to lift the seat and see the center shaft spinning when she's running...

I still have a bunch of odds and ends to get fixed, I ordered about $150 in small parts that are either worn out or missing today from my local Kubota shop and I may still take it to them to adjust all the linkages unless it really feels good when I get it rolling tomorrow.

I ordered a new deck belt just to have on hand, a new fan belt for the motor, new pedal rollers for the forward/rev pedals which are completely gone, oil and fuel filters, brake pedal covers and new u-joints for the rear drive shaft.

 

[the mean fish]

I almost forgot, here are a couple updated photos of the "new" front wheels post paint and the tractor as she sits tonight.

I should have the ROPS sand blasted and painted in the next day or 2 along with a few other large parts that I have off of it now. I'm also going to weld up a new battery box because the old one is just about rusted through, that's the only real bad rust on the entire tractor.

 

[the mean fish]

Well I jumped the gun, it appears that the center of the clutch broke away from the disk but it got hung up enough for me to drive it around for a minute or 2 today before it let go and she was dead again. Looks like I do need the clutch work done, at least she's rolling and I can get it on a trailer now.