rScotty
Super Member
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2001
- Messages
- 9,722
- Location
- Rural mountains - Colorado
- Tractor
- Kubota M59, JD530, JD310SG. Restoring Yanmar YM165D
There are a couple of other places on the M59 Kubota - and maybe other models of Kubota as well - that can benefit from some innovative greasing. These are all sliding and pivoting joints that would work much better with periodic grease or oil, Kubota didn't make provisions for greasing them.
But it's just grease, and we can do it ourself. Some of the places are difficult, but I doubt that any are outright impossible.
1. The tie rod ends on the Kubota M59 are similar to several other models in that they have no grease fitting. Apparently they are designed to be "self-lubricating" with a plastic bushing. That turns out to be either optimistic or just plain wrong. Tie rod ends need grease.
1. The tie rod ends on the Kubota M59 are similar to several other models in that they have no grease fitting. Apparently they are designed to be "self-lubricating" with a plastic bushing. That turns out to be either optimistic or just plain wrong. Tie rod ends need grease.
For a good discussion on lubing the tie rod ends, Go to:
Hmm... come to think of it, I think I was being a bit too generous in saying that plastic bushing tie rod design is "optimistic". I haven't looked at mine, but that self-lubing tie rod end design has been tried in a variety of machinery for over 30 years that I can remember.... By now pretty much everyone mechanical knows that is simply the wrong way to build a heavily stressed tie rod end. Get some lube in there.
2. And while you are down there at the front of the tractor is a good time to take a look at the front axle center pivot. Kubota did put a zerk fitting on that pivot joint to put some much-needed grease in that center axle pivot. Good for them. But the zerk is hard to spot and get to. Good thing grease guns come with adapters. Might as well tighten up the free play while you are there. The pivot itself is an unusual cone bushing type and should be tightened just enough to make all the play go away.
3. A sort of odd place that one could add some beneficial lube is to the control cable under the right foot board that goes from the HST foot throttle back to a rotating drum - I think it is part of the auto throttle setup. Mine broke at about 600 hrs and required replacing the cable. No big job, and the new cable wasn't expensive...., but it is a completely unnecessary repair if only there had been provision to lube the cable in the sheath. When I examined my broken one it was dry and failed in tension rather than in flex. That is a sign of no lube. Since it is a sealed cable and the rubber bellows is small, I'm thinking this might be a job for a hypodermic syringe and gun oil. A shot of oil every few years ought to do it.
4. Another place on the M59 that needs lube looks to be harder to deal with. I haven't figured out how to lube it yet on mine....
Here is the story: My loader control was beginning to feel different in one direction than the other so one day I decided to pull up the rubber cover and grease the loader valve pivots. Seemed easy enough because I thought that my loader control valve was probably under that rubber cover on the control stick. But what I found there instead are bell cranks & wire control cables that run down the control stick to the real loader control valve which turn out to be bolted to the frame under the right floorboard and behind a steel cover. After lying down beside the machine and taking that cover off the loader hydraulic control valve appeared to view....along with the control cables & associated small threaded end-play adjusters. Photo below.
I've been a mechanical guy for 60 years, and that is the most crazy complicated way to actuate a loader control valve... I've never seen anything quite like it and cannot fathom why they would do it that way. Not only is it a lot of unnecessary monkey motion, but it is down where dirt and mud accumulate. But do it that way they did. And of course those control cables are all eventually going to need lube. Mine are already working a little bit stiff in one direction. The problem is how in the world can we lube those cables? I'm open to ideas on this.
Can we force some lube up the cables from the bottom? Getting to the upper end of the cables is more difficult than you'd think.
3. A sort of odd place that one could add some beneficial lube is to the control cable under the right foot board that goes from the HST foot throttle back to a rotating drum - I think it is part of the auto throttle setup. Mine broke at about 600 hrs and required replacing the cable. No big job, and the new cable wasn't expensive...., but it is a completely unnecessary repair if only there had been provision to lube the cable in the sheath. When I examined my broken one it was dry and failed in tension rather than in flex. That is a sign of no lube. Since it is a sealed cable and the rubber bellows is small, I'm thinking this might be a job for a hypodermic syringe and gun oil. A shot of oil every few years ought to do it.
4. Another place on the M59 that needs lube looks to be harder to deal with. I haven't figured out how to lube it yet on mine....
Here is the story: My loader control was beginning to feel different in one direction than the other so one day I decided to pull up the rubber cover and grease the loader valve pivots. Seemed easy enough because I thought that my loader control valve was probably under that rubber cover on the control stick. But what I found there instead are bell cranks & wire control cables that run down the control stick to the real loader control valve which turn out to be bolted to the frame under the right floorboard and behind a steel cover. After lying down beside the machine and taking that cover off the loader hydraulic control valve appeared to view....along with the control cables & associated small threaded end-play adjusters. Photo below.
I've been a mechanical guy for 60 years, and that is the most crazy complicated way to actuate a loader control valve... I've never seen anything quite like it and cannot fathom why they would do it that way. Not only is it a lot of unnecessary monkey motion, but it is down where dirt and mud accumulate. But do it that way they did. And of course those control cables are all eventually going to need lube. Mine are already working a little bit stiff in one direction. The problem is how in the world can we lube those cables? I'm open to ideas on this.
Can we force some lube up the cables from the bottom? Getting to the upper end of the cables is more difficult than you'd think.
rScotty
