B3200 - where do the shims go for increasing hydraulic pressure?

Teikas Dad · Oct 25, 2019

OK, I'm confused....but that's not a hard thing to do. I bought the pressure testing kit from Bxpanded to check what kind of pressure I was getting on my loader. It's low, so I want to add one or more of the shims that came in the Bxpanded kit.

This is where it gets confusing. According to the B3200 Workshop manual, the shims go in on the bottom of the hydraulic valve body through the small hex head screw. (click on the photos to enlarge them)

Here's the diagram from the WSM:

But, the info sent from Bxpanded shows the shims being mounted in one of the side connection points.

If I understand all of this correctly the WSM is detailing how to increase the loader pressure and I believe the Bxpanded info is showing how to increase the pressure on the entire hydraulic system. I only want to increase the loader pressure, the 3 point hitch works fine for what I need.

So, for those of you who have a B3200 and have done this, which road do I take? The small hex head screw on the bottom of the valve body or the larger port on the side of the valve body?

Thanks

100 td · Oct 28, 2019

If your loader valve is in circuit before the main relief valve in the hydraulic block, you can adjust the loader relief to what you want. If it is after the relief of the hydraulic block, you can only increase up to the main relief pressure. Personally, I would recommend setting the main relief to OEM specifications first, then see how your loader performs. If it is not up to scratch you can increase it (depending on where it is in the circuit) either up to the main relief setting, or higher if the main relief is not in circuit. Be aware that increasing above OEM specifications could create problems, bend/break/damage etc.

Teikas Dad · Oct 31, 2019

OK, answered my own question yesterday. I took out the plug indicated in the diagram on the Kubota workshop manual for the B3200. There was nothing behind it, no spring, no poppet, no shims, nothing. It looks like the the hex head plug is just that, a plug for draining the valve body. Apparently Kubota made an error in their WSM? Or, did they change the design of the valve body and not update the WSM? Anyway, at least now I know where I need to go to put the shims in. Take the wheel off and go in from the side as in the photo from Bxpanded.

moship · Oct 31, 2019

Maybe you can photograph and post to aid others in the future.

BX23S-1 · Nov 4, 2019

Teikas Dad said:
OK, answered my own question yesterday. I took out the plug indicated in the diagram on the Kubota workshop manual for the B3200. There was nothing behind it, no spring, no poppet, no shims, nothing. It looks like the the hex head plug is just that, a plug for draining the valve body. Apparently Kubota made an error in their WSM? Or, did they change the design of the valve body and not update the WSM? Anyway, at least now I know where I need to go to put the shims in. Take the wheel off and go in from the side as in the photo from Bxpanded.

So how did this shim kit work out for you (?)
Were you able to raise the pressure you were looking for?
Did you use a gauge to see what your pressure was running before & after?

Teikas Dad · Nov 5, 2019

PaPow said:
So how did this shim kit work out for you (?)
Were you able to raise the pressure you were looking for?
Did you use a gauge to see what your pressure was running before & after?

I was at 1900ish PSI and factory minimum is supposed to be 1950 up to 2200 PSI. Rather than killing myself trying to jack up the tractor to remove the wheel I'm going to wait until I put the backhoe on and use the outriggers to help me a bit. I've never wrestled with a rear tire on a tractor but I know bigger truck tires can be a PITA.

Teikas Dad · Nov 5, 2019

Ryan at Bxpanded just sent me an email.

"I apologize if this is a duplicate response but the cap in the attached photo is the one you should use for the pressure adjustment; it will manipulate the pressure of the whole system. I believe the one in the bottom is actually just a plug that at some point previously was used to isolate the loader function. This particular valve has been used on MANY tractors and has been around a while so it's possible there may have been updates that were not taken into account when the diagram was copied and pasted into the manual for your machine."

That answers the question completely!

Rock Crawler · Nov 5, 2019

Your hydraulic block looks identical to the one on the B2650/B3350.

Kubota B2650 / B3350 Loader HST Pressure Adjust - YouTube

clarky711 · Nov 6, 2019

Teikas Dad said:
I was at 1900ish PSI and factory minimum is supposed to be 1950 up to 2200 PSI. Rather than killing myself trying to jack up the tractor to remove the wheel I'm going to wait until I put the backhoe on and use the outriggers to help me a bit. I've never wrestled with a rear tire on a tractor but I know bigger truck tires can be a PITA.

I have a larger tractor, L3540 with filled rear tires. I used a good bottle jack and it was no problem to remove the rear wheels, just make sure they don’t fall over!

And I’ll be curious if you will be able to see the six percent difference in pressure after the increase. Please keep us posted.