7510 and 7610 fender and 3-pt hydraulics

[Koz]

My relatively new (30 hours) 7610 has two nagging issues that my dealer is saying are normal but I want to hear from other 76510/7610 owners first before I decide whether or not to stop complaining.

First, i'm sure that everyone can agree that the right/left fender round the rear tires is made of thin sheetmetal. From day 1, whenever I grabbed the right or left handle the plastic rubs against the metal and makes a lot of noise. Not an functional issue, but not what I would expect from a 15K tractor either. I tried tightening the bolts (but I didn't go berserk with the wrench because I worried I would strip the threads in the plastic handle), with no effect. I also had the dealer do the same, with no effect. I was going to let it go till I stopped at a Kubota dealer deep in WV and noticed that 3 7610's were all quiet! No squeaking at all! My dealer says that nothing can be done and that it is a problem with the design. What have you guys experienced?

Second, I keep a weight kit (around 300 pounds) loaded on my 3-pt hitch for loader use. I find that unless I completely close the "rate of drop" knob under the seat the weights drop around an inch every 5-10 minutes with the engine on. In fact, while mowing. If I do not pay attention and keep on raising the weights, the bottom of the lead weight ends up dragging on the grass. The dealer in WV told me that this occurred with the 7500 hydraulics, but should not be happening on the 7510/7610. My dealer took the tractor into the shop and told me that this is normal. They contacted the regional Kubota person and told me he agreed. Another local Kubota dealer said that Kubota screwed up by not including position control and that my only options are to install chains (to limit the drop) or to use the valve. My concern is that the WV dealer specifically said that if I continue to use the valve to stop the dropping I will ultimately have a problem with the valve as it was never intended to operate this way. He tells me that the fix is a pain in the **** and that most dealers don't want to deal with it.

If everyone else is having these problems, i'd feel a lot better. If not, i'm going to call the regional person myself.

thanks!

 

[v8dave]

With 40 hours on my 7610, there is no squeek when I grab the fender handles. Due to catching pockets on the right side controls, I almost always mount and dismount from the left side.

I have a backhoe mounted so the drooping 3PT has not been encountered.

Dave

 

[RioBlanco]

Have had a 7610 for a couple weeks.

No squeak.

But I do notice the rear 3 point hitch drifting down over 10-15 min when brush hogging (48" Squealer). Annoying and fixed by tapping the 1/4 inch valve periodically. Hasn't irritated me to the point of chains..........yet.
If there is a fix I would love to know.

Peter

 

[TresCrows]

Well, have not looked at the 7610 close but I assume it has the same fender the 7500 had. On the 2410 that fender is doubled by a metal fender flare that makes it very strong. I have no issues with either handle.

I suspect you should remove the handles and see if the handles are finished square on the ends--if not--square them up. Mine are quiet solid. I almost always get on and off from the LH side. You might also consider a thin rubber gasket at that point to allow compression. Is one of the handles stripped? J

 

[nitroxn]

My 7510 with 12 hours has started drooping with boxblade after 10-15 minutes..... No problem when new.No squeak though.

 

[mathteacher]

My 7610 has no squeak when I get on and off using the handles. I exit and mount both sides often. My box blade doesn't leak down at all. Or if it does I don't notice it. I have left it up for over an hour while I was doing some landscape work off of the tractor. It sure is funny that you get a tractor to do the landscape work but there are time when you just have to use those darn hand tools.

Donald B.

 

[DanR67]

Koz -

I just did my 50 hour service on my B7610 - no handle squeaks that I can remember.

I also keep the weight box on the 3PH for FEL work - I also noticed that it drops a bit over time - perhaps @ 3 - 4 inches from fully up - over the course of 10 - 15 minutes of FEL work.

While this isn't a huge issue for me - I too have wondered about it. As it seems a bunch of folks seem to be noticing this - then there are a few possibilities:

1) The seals in the 3PH lift cylinders leak / wear too fast
2) The clearance in the 3PH control valve is too big
3) The "center position" of the 3PH control valve is too small

Can't think of any good ways to test these theories though - as the hydraulic circuits are largely internal to the transmission / gearbox. It would be much easier, for example - to test for leakages on the FEL.

I remember noticing the 3PH drop since @ 10 - 20 hours use - can't remember if it was there from the beginning or not. If the seals were shot - I'd think the rate (ie time) of 3PH drop would accelerate / become more frequent as time goes on. In my case - I'd say it's *about the same* since I first noticed it.

Also - if the seals were "totally shot" - you should experience trouble trying to lift something heavy with the 3PH - the oil would simply bypass the seal area - instead of generating lifting force.

The clearance between the valve spool has to be enough to allow the spool to more easily - but not enough to allow leakage. This is a pretty small clearance - the equipment I work on has some precision valve spool tolerances of 0.009 - 0.015 mm (@ 0.0004"). I would think these tolerances are bigger because tractors work in a variety of environments / temperatures - as opposed to industrial machinery which works in *controlled* environments (yeah - I wish! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )

If the "center position" of the 3PH control valve is too *short* - then it is possible that even though the handle *looks* centered - it could be misadjusted so that the valve is slightly too close to the lower / drop side - depending on the *cut* of the valve spool (positive overlap - no oil flow when centered would be my guess). It would be odd if this were misadjusted on so many 3PH controls though...big quality control oversight if that's the case (but at least easy and inexpensive to correct).

So my guess would be either a small amount of seal leakage or the valve spool clearance - both of which might me *acceptable* from a manufacturers' perspective.

As everyone is using different 3PH weights / implements - it is rather difficult to compare "apples to oranges" - what we'd need is a "3PH drop standard" - a specified weight - and the time it takes for this load to drop a standard distance (ex 4" / 10 cm) - and only then could we say if the 3PH is working *normally* or not.

If this worsens over time - then I'd say we'll collectively be having some discussions with our 'Bota reps - I'll postpone any judgement for now - my B7610 has been running like a champ! On Sunday I managed to dig out (note: not lift!) a rock weighing close to - if not over 1 ton. Got to post a picture later - quite impressive!

Cheers,

Dan