B2620 Mower deck problem.

[CJBOTA]

We bought a new B2620 with a 60" mower a couple months ago to use primarily as a mower. About 3 weeks ago after my wife finished mowing I noticed the left front anti-scalp wheel bracket was broke. The weld joint broke on the end nearest the wheel. (not where it welds to the deck) Upon closer inspection I made two observations, 1) It is not a great design, 2) It was a bad weld. The reason I say it is not a good design is because it necks down at the wheel. The bracket is stout at the deck but since it necks down, it is not nearly as strong at the wheel. The reason I say it was a bad weld was because of the way it broke. There was absolutely no weld fusion at the joint. It broke clean all the way around the joint.
Anyway I scolded my wife for not being careful, and paid my dealer to weld it back on.
So yesterday I was mowing and all of a sudden I heard a big cabang and saw the the wheel on the other side shoot out from under the mower deck. Upon inspection I found it was the same failure we experienced on the other side. I am 99% sure I didn't catch the deck on anything seriously severe.
I work for a heavy machine builder. (rolling mill equipment) I am going to show this failure to one of our certified weld engineers and ask for his opinion. I will probably have our weld shop weld it on correctly. I will probably tell my dealer and Kubota about the problem but I am not looking for a fight. I am 62 years old and most of the fight is out of me. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem. I am ony my 5th Kubota tractor and overall I am more then satisfied with Kubota. However, this is about my third minor problem. My dealer is great and they fixed the other two under warranty. Do you think I should just fix this or ask my dealer to correct the problem?
CJ

 

[V1Rotate]

It depends on which is more convenient, taking it to the dealer or taking it to the shop where you work.

 

[s219]

Is it possible that the brackets are intended to break that way to prevent more serious damage if a wheel hangs up? The way you describe the bracket, it almost sounds like they intentionally made a weak point. Just a thought.

 

[Gator6x4]

We bought a new B2620 with a 60" mower a couple months ago to use primarily as a mower. About 3 weeks ago after my wife finished mowing I noticed the left front anti-scalp wheel bracket was broke. The weld joint broke on the end nearest the wheel. (not where it welds to the deck) Upon closer inspection I made two observations, 1) It is not a great design, 2) It was a bad weld. The reason I say it is not a good design is because it necks down at the wheel. The bracket is stout at the deck but since it necks down, it is not nearly as strong at the wheel. The reason I say it was a bad weld was because of the way it broke. There was absolutely no weld fusion at the joint. It broke clean all the way around the joint.
Anyway I scolded my wife for not being careful, and paid my dealer to weld it back on.
So yesterday I was mowing and all of a sudden I heard a big cabang and saw the the wheel on the other side shoot out from under the mower deck. Upon inspection I found it was the same failure we experienced on the other side. I am 99% sure I didn't catch the deck on anything seriously severe.
I work for a heavy machine builder. (rolling mill equipment) I am going to show this failure to one of our certified weld engineers and ask for his opinion. I will probably have our weld shop weld it on correctly. I will probably tell my dealer and Kubota about the problem but I am not looking for a fight. I am 62 years old and most of the fight is out of me. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem. I am ony my 5th Kubota tractor and overall I am more then satisfied with Kubota. However, this is about my third minor problem. My dealer is great and they fixed the other two under warranty. Do you think I should just fix this or ask my dealer to correct the problem?
CJ

I am not familiar with the middle mount deck that attaches to the B2620. Is it a "Ground Contact" or a "Float" deck. It sounds like the deck is carrying the weight of the tractor and when you are mowing and go over a slight indentation in your lawn the deck trys to raise or go up and cannot causing damage at the weakest point, anti-scalp wheels. Park the tractor on a level source, lower the deck and turn the tractor off. Try and raise the deck with either your hands or a wooden pry source. Will the deck raise or is it locked in the down poisition? If you do not have freedom of upper movement the deck is not installed correctly and you will continue to crush the deck and damage the anti-scalp wheels with the weight of the tractor. A large un-even area could also cause suspension damage.

 

[s219]

Gator, the B series decks are floating.

 

[zook]

I have this same setup and have hit the wheels on stumps and such with out any problems with them falling off..Mine is a few years old.

 

[CJBOTA]

My dealer welded the bracket back on. That was about a month ago. I have put 100 hours on it since then and both front wheels have busted off. I am going to talk to my dealer on Monday. Not sure what to do. I think maybe I bought the wrong machine. I knew we were going to mow a lot, but I wanted something that I could also use as a 2nd tractor. Personally, I think Kubota should replace this deck. I used my 3205 cub cadet for 10 years and never lost a deck wheel.
I am going to ask them what they think about taking the wheels off? Since they don't support the deck it should work without the wheels. The reason I think they should replace the deck is because they keep breaking at the weld joint. The design is not that good because it is a highly stressed point. When you add a poor weld on top of that you will get failure every time. The welders at work tell me the weld should be as strong as the parent material. The material is not bending or breaking, the joint is breaking clean. I must say I expected better on a $14000 lawn mower
Cj

 

[AceDeuce]

I had the exact same thing happen to my bx a few years ago. And I agree about the weld quality... I know i didn't hit anything, it failed from what i would call normal use. Apparently Kubota has had this problem for a while. The dealer claimed there was nothing defective about the weld but I know better. Had them weld it back and it has held since.

I look at my tractor as a swiss army knife. It can do a little bit of everything but nothing really well. If all I needed was something to mow I would've gone with a z-turn. The mmm gets the job done. Still, no excuse for bad manufacturing quality.

 

[GPintheMitten]

I noticed one of my front deck wheels was "out of alignment". Upon closer inspection it was due to the weld breaking. I pounded it back in place and welded it. It's holding strong now.

I think your dealer should re-weld these for customers but I don't think they should replace the whole deck.

 

[Matt_Jr]

I try to mow with the deck wheels just off the ground. I don't really think they're there to support the deck, but to stop scalping when mowing over uneven terrain. since they don't swivel it puts a lot of strain on them as they dig into the dirt while going around turns.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Hmmmmm.


Off to check my welds.:thumbsup:

 

[oldballs]

I try to mow with the deck wheels just off the ground. I don't really think they're there to support the deck, but to stop scalping when mowing over uneven terrain. since they don't swivel it puts a lot of strain on them as they dig into the dirt while going around turns.

As I understand it, the anti-scalp wheels are not suppose to carry the weight of the MMM. They should be adjusted to about 1/2-3/4 inch above the ground based on where you set the mowing height. I never had that problem after mowing 3 seasons with the BX; and now with the B2620, I'll be watching for such a defect even though not much mowing occurred this past drought summer.

 

[hamiltor16]

Having same problem with B2320 left front deck wheel snapped off and right front has faile one side of weld

 

[WAB85]

Having same problem with B2320 left front deck wheel snapped off and right front has faile one side of weld

I have the exact same problem with the 60" mower deck on my B2620. Both front caster wheels have broke off more than once at the weld joint. When everything is right it mows great but those front caster wheel mounts are a BAD design.
I have this B2620 plus an L3830 with loader and BH90 backhoe, plus an RTV900, and even a Grasshopper mower wit Kubota diesel.
THIS B2620 MOWER DECK IS NOT NORMAL KUBOTA QUALITY.
kw

 

[oldballs]

My first post of Sept 2012 noted that I was instructed by the dealer to set the anti-scalp wheels @ about 1/2 inch above whatever the mowing height......which I have done ever since. And, "Yes", the front wheels have broken welds that have been repaired a couple times since.:thumbdown: The design or welds....I don't know?? My friend's welds are holding better. But it is a great tractor and does do a fine job of mowing.....just this one irksome problem.

Cheers,
Mike