Trouble Pulling Hills (BX23)

[maronha]

Hi everyone. Long time lurker first time poster. I have a 2004 bx23 950 hrs. I have been noticing lately that I don't have the normal power when mowing hills and driving up my driveway. It seems to be excessive whining and has become more and more prevalent. And yes I am using low speed. These hill used to be a piece of cake when my tractor was younger. The other morning i decided to go out and mow the hill first thing when the tractor was cold. Well to my surprise it pulled right up the hill with no problems. Anyone have the same issues OR is my tractors just starting to show its age. The problems are only when it warmed up and hot(normal operating temp). Thanks

 

[jeff9366]

Check level of hydraulic fluid ASAP.

 

[countrybumpkin]

Also when was the last time it was serviced and filters changed?

 

[maronha]

I am coming up on my service interval. I will Double check fluid level tomorrow. I will go ahead and service the tractor and see how everything works after.

 

[oldnslo]

More HST power when cold is normal. At 950 hrs something could be worn a little but without some testing it would be difficult to confirm this.

Have you checked to see if the plastic cooling fan is not broken? Is the tranny covered with grass clippings or dirt? Keeping the tranny clean will help it run cooler and last longer.

 

[maronha]

More HST power when cold is normal. At 950 hrs something could be worn a little but without some testing it would be difficult to confirm this.

Have you checked to see if the plastic cooling fan is not broken? Is the tranny covered with grass clippings or dirt? Keeping the tranny clean will help it run cooler and last longer.

I will check all that. Is the cooling fan supposed to run all the time or does it run off a temp sensor?

 

[maronha]

Went out and checked everything. The fluid level was at the first mark on the dipstick. Added some fluid to bring it up to the 2nd mark on the dipstick. The fan was all in tack with all its blades and working fine. The transmission looked clean and not covered in clipping and dirt.

 

[Recoveryhill]

A Diesel engine is an air compressor. Warm it up and check compression and you will know more than you do now. This is not a complicated or expensive test. 950 hours on a Kubota diesel is not much, even a small displacement unit. 3 cyl Kubota engines are frequently found on refrigerated containers and mean time before replacement is over 16,000 hours. Excessive whining screams transmission, btw. I assume it is hydrostatic? My L4700 whines if I forget to release the brake!

 

[maronha]

A Diesel engine is an air compressor. Warm it up and check compression and you will know more than you do now. This is not a complicated or expensive test. 950 hours on a Kubota diesel is not much, even a small displacement unit. 3 cyl Kubota engines are frequently found on refrigerated containers and mean time before replacement is over 16,000 hours. Excessive whining screams transmission, btw. I assume it is hydrostatic? My L4700 whines if I forget to release the brake!

Yes it is a hydrostatic. The brake has been left on for sure over my 15 years of ownership. Good thing is it tells on itself fast.

 

[RickB]

If the engine is maintaining RPMs while the travel speed is inhibited disregard all advise about testing and troubleshooting engine systems and components. Consider a hydraulic oil and filter change and cleaning the suction screen. If your symptoms persist, you may want to have a competent service facility do charge pressure and drive pressure tests on your transmission.

 

[maronha]

So I got around to serving my Bx today. I am right at 947 hours to be exact. Changed engine oil , hydraulic fluid and the two fuel filters. Just love changing that bottom fuel filter. Checked the strainer and it seemed like it was pretty clean with minimal stuff on it. Not sure what is considered bad but if I recall mIne always looked the same for each service. Here are a couple picture of the strainer and the difference in new and 150 hour Kubota Super UDT2. I didn’t get to put it through the paces yet but I will maybe run it around Tom oof I get a chance.

 

[Dataway]

Was having the same issue with my, admittedly poorly maintained BX2200, same loss of speed and power on hills, same whinning. I changed all the hydro fluid and filters, cleaned the suction screen, all was back to normal, nice and quiet, plenty of pull. In my case it was water contaminated hydro fluid.

 

[Leejohn]

Check the linkage going to the trans, there is a nut on the linkage at the trans arm that comes loose. Well not let you get full oil flow to the trans and it seems like loss of power. Also check you air filter.

 

[BX23D]

I have a BX23 with 860 hours on the clock. I run my transmission fluid changes to the required hours, sometimes a little longer and I have never ever been able to easily see the difference in colour between the new and used fluid. When I see the colour of your used 150 hour oil I would say it was burnt or contaminated. If I had your BX23 I would be checking for problems based on what I see with my BX23. I work my BX23 hard, I do not baby it.

 

[maronha]

Check the linkage going to the trans, there is a nut on the linkage at the trans arm that comes loose. Well not let you get full oil flow to the trans and it seems like loss of power. Also check you air filter.

I did check that and it seemed ok to me as long as I was looking at the right thing. I will check on it again. Hopefully the fluid change will be all it needed.

 

[maronha]

I have a BX23 with 860 hours on the clock. I run my transmission fluid changes to the required hours, sometimes a little longer and I have never ever been able to easily see the difference in colour between the new and used fluid. When I see the colour of your used 150 hour oil I would say it was burnt or contaminated. If I had your BX23 I would be checking for problems based on what I see with my BX23. I work my BX23 hard, I do not baby it.

I usually run mine to the required hours also but with the problem I thought I better change. It for sure is darker than the new fluid. Is it burn or contaminated don’t know but doesn’t look good. If it’s contaminated I wonder with what? I will try to get on it this evening and run it around and see what it does. The real test will be on the next mow. Spoke to my cousins who is much more knowledgeable of these than I am and he said if it still doing it after the service he would come take a look at it for me.

 

[HillStreet]

Good luck with the test you’re going to do, test mow a section while you’re at it. BTW, I have a B2650 and my hydro fluid comes out pretty clear, I would have trouble differentiating between new and old.

 

[BX23D]

I usually run mine to the required hours also but with the problem I thought I better change. It for sure is darker than the new fluid. Is it burn or contaminated don’t know but doesn’t look good. If it’s contaminated I wonder with what? I will try to get on it this evening and run it around and see what it does. The real test will be on the next mow. Spoke to my cousins who is much more knowledgeable of these than I am and he said if it still doing it after the service he would come take a look at it for me.

Are the blades still on your transmission cooling fan? If not, you can overheat the fluid. You also have wet brakes in that fluid and clutch materials that can drag and cause an over heat situation. Have you poured any of the used oil through filter paper (coffee filter) to see if the dark stuff is suspended or dissolved. Might help to determine the cause of dark oil.

 

[RickB]

Keep the engine rpms high, use the lowest range and the most pedal you can to achieve the ground speed you want. Hydros like cool clean oil. The best way to achieve that is to have it flowing through the filter at a high rate and have the cooling fan spinning rapidly.

 

[maronha]

Are the blades still on your transmission cooling fan? If not, you can overheat the fluid. You also have wet brakes in that fluid and clutch materials that can drag and cause an over heat situation. Have you poured any of the used oil through filter paper (coffee filter) to see if the dark stuff is suspended or dissolved. Might help to determine the cause of dark oil.

The fan was mention earlier and its working with all the blades intack. I will take what in that bottle and run it through a filter and see what the results are and report back.