Gambled on a G5200 Today

[joleat]

Without doing much research on the G5200, I took a gamble on one today for $1300. It has 1235 hours and looks better in person than it does in the picture (seller's picture). I need to clean it up a bit and snap a few pictures of my own before I dive into maintenance.

My old Cub Cadet LTX 1042 is on its last leg, so I've been keeping an eye on marketplace for a couple weeks. I didn't have a particular model in mind, but I knew I wanted to move into something more robust. I was watching for a Gravely or an old Ford, but had hopes of maybe landing on a diesel Kubota or Deere. Time will tell if the gamble was worth it.

I look forward to learning about it. If anyone has experience with this model and wants to share anything I should know, please feel free to do so.

 

[lmichael]

Good lookin machine there. Looks like it's all there. Many times on old machines all the missing things are the hardest thing to go through. And you're right that is a FAR more robust machine than the little Cub you're replacing. These Kubotas are like tanks. Thick steel, heavy drive shafts grease fittings everywhere you look, and they weigh way more than you might expect. Mine (G2160) replaced a nice little Honda 4514 (really nice little machine like a tank in it's own right) but just the mower deck from my G2160 weighs almost as much as the entire Honda machine did.
Of course I am really feeling that weight and size at my age.
In any case you will grow to love the music of that little diesel humming away as well. Congrats on the "new" machine.

 

[Like Tractors]

Without doing much research on the G5200, I took a gamble on one today for $1300. It has 1235 hours and looks better in person than it does in the picture (seller's picture). I need to clean it up a bit and snap a few pictures of my own before I dive into maintenance.

My old Cub Cadet LTX 1042 is on its last leg, so I've been keeping an eye on marketplace for a couple weeks. I didn't have a particular model in mind, but I knew I wanted to move into something more robust. I was watching for a Gravely or an old Ford, but had hopes of maybe landing on a diesel Kubota or Deere. Time will tell if the gamble was worth it.

I look forward to learning about it. If anyone has experience with this model and wants to share anything I should know, please feel free to do so.

I bought one new in 1993, I now use it occasionally, just because I like running it. A BX2380 and a B2650 with a rear finish mower do the job most of the time.

 

[lmichael]

I bought one new in 1993, I now use it occasionally, just because I like running it. A BX2380 and a B2650 with a rear finish mower do the job most of the time.

That looks great!

 

[joleat]

Thanks all! Like Tractor, you have a real gem there!

The guy I bought mine from told me it can be a bit difficult to start after being parked for a while. According to him, the original owner told him it's been like that for a while. Sure enough, it took some cranking to get going this evening, but I was able to fire it up without starting fluid. I suspect maintenance has been deferred for a while. The guy I bought it from bought it last year, but he is disabled and it was just too much for both him and his property.

I snapped a few more pictures when I got in from work. I haven't had a chance to do anything to it yet, so these pictures represent the condition it was in when I bought it. It was, at least, garage kept, so it's in pretty good condition in terms of looks.

So far, I know I'm going to be looking at new tires (dry rotted), new filters, and new fluids. The steering has a bit of slop, but nothing compared to the Cub Cadet being replaced. I can live with it for now. I need to dig into the PTO lever linkage and belts to see what kind of adjustments can be made. At this point, my seat time is obviously minimal, but I noticed the deck belt sometimes still receives slight power with the PTO lever in the disengaged position.

 

[lmichael]

Word of caution NEVER NEVER NEVER use starting fluid on a Kubota engine. Even the tiniest hint of it will ruin the engine.

 

[joleat]

This gamble may not pay off.

It took a couple minutes to get it started this evening. Once again, without ether, but man it took a while. The battery is good and it seemed to crank fine. It had a periodic puff of white/light gray smoke, but most puffs were black. Prior to starting, I held the key in the glow plug position for at least 30 seconds -- the glow plug indicator didn't illuminate.

So here's where I am...

When I first got to the seller's house, he told his grandson to stay off of the tractor because it was hot. However, it wasn't running at that time. I didn't think anything of it because he may not have wanted his grandson to climb on it or maybe he had just moved it out of the garage and it truly was hot. I hate this feeling, but he knew I was on my way and it sure does make sense now that he brought it to temp before I arrived so the rings would expand (raising compression) and it would be easy to restart. And it was. I shut it off and restarted it a couple times and it was immediate.

I don't have a compression gauge capable of 400+psi. Local parts stores only have compression check kits for gasoline engines (250-300psi). Harbor Freight is a little out of the way (over an hour), but they have a diesel compression kit for $99. That may be my next move unless someone here has other suggestions for troubleshooting.

It looks like rebuild kits are $400-$600, but I don't know how far down the rabbit hole I want to go since I'm already in it for $1300. Fluids and filters will put me around $1500, so I would be in it over $2000 after a rebuild. That is assuming I can call in a favor from a diesel-loving family member to assist with the rebuild.

Thoughts? Well wishes? Haha.

 

[lmichael]

Don't be throwing the baby out with the bath water just yet. The hard starting may have nothing to do with a bum engine (unless the previous owner had hit it with ether). It's well documented (including in the manuals) to never hit them with ether. If someone did pretty much guaranteed something in that engine is bent.
But I'd gamble on a compression kit $100 is pretty low risk) and check it out.
Watching with popcorn

 

[joleat]

Don't be throwing the baby out with the bath water just yet. The hard starting may have nothing to do with a bum engine (unless the previous owner had hit it with ether). It's well documented (including in the manuals) to never hit them with ether. If someone did pretty much guaranteed something in that engine is bent.
But I'd gamble on a compression kit $100 is pretty low risk) and check it out.
Watching with popcorn

I appreciate your optimism. I'm definitely taking a glass half-empty stance at the moment. The fact that the seller told me it can be difficult to start, and the original owner told him it had been difficult to start for a while, makes me lean even further toward the rings being either worn naturally or cracked from ether starts. Ether is the "easy" way, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if one or both of the previous owners used it.

I wish I would have put this all together before buying it. I was just stricken by the fantastic appearance and figured the difficult starts were from glow plugs, clogged filters, or something else that would be easily solved. I really do hope I'm wrong about the rings.

 

[lmichael]

I sure hope not for that little diesel's sake. Because if you can get it sorted out they make nice "music". Good luck waiting to see what you find out

 

[sandman2234]

I am thinking that you should get a test light and check to see if the glow plugs are actually getting power to them. When you said you held the key for 30 seconds, I thought, hmmm, two of my tractors have a limit of about 10-15 seconds and then they automatically stop the power to the glow plugs. On one of them, I have to cycle the key to the glow plug setting every 15 seconds, and it takes 3 times before the tractor fires up. Yours could easily be that way, which just requires a learning curve, no money! (we can hope, right?)
Good luck, and check the easy stuff first! I wonder if a magnetic block heater will work on one of those engines? It would already be warm before you try to start it. (I live in Florida, we don't use block heaters at all in our two weeks of winter down here!)
David from jax

 

[joleat]

Do you happen to know if the glow plug indicator receives current independent of the glow plugs? I haven't looked at the circuitry yet, but it would certainly be a promising feeling if the glow plugs only received current through the indicator. My indicator does not glow at all.

 

[CalG]

The engine on my B7200 is VERY COLD BLOODED! It will not start without a good amount of time on the heaters. Count of ten MIGHT get it to go in summer, count of 25 to 30 in winter.

The "glow" coil on the B7200 is in circuit with the heaters.

I would start with getting that preheat working before I looked at engine condition.

 

[Lavender Valley]

I appreciate your optimism. I'm definitely taking a glass half-empty stance at the moment. The fact that the seller told me it can be difficult to start, and the original owner told him it had been difficult to start for a while, makes me lean even further toward the rings being either worn naturally or cracked from ether starts. Ether is the "easy" way, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if one or both of the previous owners used it.

I wish I would have put this all together before buying it. I was just stricken by the fantastic appearance and figured the difficult starts were from glow plugs, clogged filters, or something else that would be easily solved. I really do hope I'm wrong about the rings.

I would remove the injectors and glow plugs and have them checked and serviced.

 

[Aussie Cargo]

Check the glow plugs, they can be tested without removing. I would do that before anything else.

 

[RBsingl]

And I will add to the others to get the glow plugs working before you go further because these little Kubota engines are extremely cold natured.

I mowed for years with my Deere 955 (1.4L Yanmar diesel) and it only needs a few seconds on glow plugs in the winter and never in the summer. When my Kubota F2690 took over mowing duty a couple of years ago, I was amazed that it needs a few seconds on glow plugs in the summer to start quickly while the 955 fires right off with no waiting once it is up in the 50s.

Rodger

 

[Cycledude]

Recommend buying a $8 bottle of injector cleaner and pour the proper amount in fuel tank

 

[arto98607]

This gamble may not pay off.

It took a couple minutes to get it started this evening. Once again, without ether, but man it took a while. The battery is good and it seemed to crank fine. It had a periodic puff of white/light gray smoke, but most puffs were black. Prior to starting, I held the key in the glow plug position for at least 30 seconds -- the glow plug indicator didn't illuminate (I assume the wire loop in the peephole is supposed to glow, but nothing).

So here's where I am...

When I first got to the seller's house, he told his grandson to stay off of the tractor because it was hot -- but it wasn't running at that time. I didn't think anything of it because he may not have wanted his grandson to climb on it or maybe he had just moved it out of the garage and it truly was hot. I hate this feeling, but he knew I was on my way and it sure does make sense now that he brought it to temp before I arrived so the rings would expand (raising compression) and it would be easy to restart. And it was. I shut it off and restarted it a couple times and it was immediate.

I don't have a compression gauge capable of 400+psi. Local parts stores only have compression check kits for gasoline engines (250-300psi). Harbor Freight is a little out of the way (over an hour), but they have a diesel compression kit for $99. That may be my next move unless someone here has other suggestions for troubleshooting.

It looks like rebuild kits are $400-$600, but I don't know how far down the rabbit hole I want to go since I'm already in it for $1300. Fluids and filters will put me around $1500, so I would be in it over $2000 after a rebuild. That is assuming I can call in a favor from a diesel-loving family member to assist with the rebuild.

Thoughts? Well wishes? Haha.

Since the engine ran OK when it was warn, I think it's little premature to talk about piston rings, compression, engine rebuild etc. until you repair glow-plug system and make sure it works as designed...

I have two mowers with Kubota Diesel engines and they certainly need working glow-plugs in order to start decently, even during summer!

Same with my Ford 1310 tractor.

 

[joleat]

I'll happily eat crow.

I just assumed glow plugs are a luxury and that the little Kubota would start without them in the summer. I pulled them today and two out of three were bad (no heat at all). All three cylinders are slightly over 400psi.

I know I'm not out of the woods yet, but I have hope now. I'm picking up new glow plugs tomorrow and will be changing the engine oil/filter, hydro fluid/filter, draining the fuel system, cleaning the tank, and changing the fuel filters. My plan is to put a small amount of Sea Foam in the oil and fuel and run it a bit after the new glow plugs, but before I drain all the old fluids. I'm used to gas engines and that's pretty standard operating procedure, so feel free to stop me if that isn't such a good idea for the diesel.

I'll post an update when, or before, I get all the kinks worked out.

 

[joleat]

I swapped out the glow plugs earlier today and it fired right up. The glow plug indicator lamp still doesn't work, but I haven't had a chance to get into the dash wiring yet.