Help with BX2200 and Hydraulic Hose for FEL and Snow Blower Setup

[moship]

Background:

I am trying to help my Dad out with his BX2200 to make it easier to swap out the FEL and front mounted snow blower. He originally purchased the BX2200 used with a mid-mounted mower deck and LA211 FEL. After some time he purchased a used Kubota front mounted snow blower, and the headaches began. The headaches stem from him not remembering how the hydraulic lines are routed and his current system not being optimal to accommodate the swaps.

75% of the time the tractor is used as a mower without any other attachments.
25% of the time the mid mower is removed and the snow blower attached.
The FEL doesn't get used because he cannot remember how to attach the various hoses, plus attaching the FEL is a pain given the way the FEL has to be removed. The 4-way controll lever & spool assemble is directly attached to the FEL upright support and is designed to stay with the FEL. Given the 4-way control lever and spool assembly is needed for snow blowing he ends up removing the FEL arm and cylinder pins and leaves the upright post attached (see picture)

To complicate matters a number of hoses and/or couplings have broken over the years, so he often steals hoses off the FEL to make the snow blower work... It is a real mess.

Questions:
1. Does Kubota have an alternative arrangement so the control lever and spool assembly can stay on the tractor? P/N's or pictures would really help. I'm guessing it will be extremely expensive if they do, so if anyone has a homemade design I would like to learn about it.

2. Three metal hydraulic lines come out of the tractor (See photo). Two are currently looped together to complete the circuit, but the third has nothing attached. Is this correct when using just the mid mower? Is the third line ever used for FEL or SB operation?

3. Can anyone forward a page or two from the FEL Owner's manual detailing the hose connections? (or snow blower manual)

I do not live close to him, so P/N's, photos, etc. will go a long way in my effort to be efficient in improving this situation for him.

Goal:
To make the easier for my Dad to be able to swap out the implements, so he can take full advantage of its potential.
Desired configurations include:
1. Mower only
2. FEL w/wo mid-mower
3. Snow Blower only

Thanks in advance for your help

 

[dennisgw]

I am really puzzled by your setup. I too have a BX2200 and LA211 FEL. The joystick valve with 4 male connectors stay with the tractor. The FEL just slips into the uprights that are on the tractor. Hoses just plug into the 4 male connectors mounted on the upright. They are color coded. Takes all of 5 min to take on and off. You do not have to take anything off the FEL as I see in your second photo. Do you really have an older mount 210 I believe that came off the tractor????? Things just don't look like my LA211.

 

[moship]

dennisgw,

Thanks for commenting. The way yours works is what I'm looking for. I'm encouraged it is possible and now must wonder what parts are needed.

Is there any way you can photograph a picture of how your joystick mounts to the tractor? You'll notice that my Dad's joystick mounts to the FEL itself and thus creates the problem when mounting the snow blower. (reference 1st photo in post #1)

 

[Leejohn]

After he sends a picture I'll be taking the tractor to get a bracket made and welded onto the subframe leg.
I can see the trouble he is having. That should make it as easy as your 3130.

 

[rbarker]

I have what your Dad has so I know what you are talking about. I don't have a blower and didn't get one because of the issues with pulling the loader off but leaving the controls on. I don't know of any kit that can be purchased to address this. I have just purchased a BX 25 and this issue was part of the reason. That said, your hose connections without the loader or blower attached don't match mine. You are correct in assuming that only two hoses are used to create a bypass but on mine they are the two closest to the operator platform. When you hook up the loader the bypass hose comes out of the middle and goes to the loader and two hoses come down from the loader and connect to the other two ports that come out of the tractor. My loader is not on right now but I'm probably going to attach it tomorrow so I can take some pictures for you so at least you will know how to hook up the loader if you want. The book isn't super helpful as far as showing which hose goes where.

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

Mo,

I have the set up your Dad has, I also have a front snowblower. The valve has to come off the loader and relocated to the tractor each time you do your fall snowblower set up and then again in the spring mowing , a REAL pain!!

The set up for the loader valve if you are looking at the valve is as follows:

Left Top: Blue
Right Top: White
Left Bottom: Red
Right Bottom: Yellow

The hoses on the loader side should be color coded and connected as noted above colors.

When you connect the blower the front lift is connected to the Blue and Red on the loader valve as noted above.

I will not set up the tractor for winter until around Thanksgiving. I will take photos when I do that for you.

Hope this helps.

 

[moship]

Thanks for all the great responses and I look forward to any photos (even if they are months away).

dennisgw seems to have the setup all of us desire, so I'm hoping he can provide a few pictures or any other details that will either lead to the alternative Kubota parts or how to rig something up.

NY_Yankees_Fan: Thanks for the color codes.

 

[dennisgw]

Just went to garage to get some pictures. I believe I have the LA211 with the 4 position valve. The valve stays with the loader mounting bracket on the tractor. I have taken a picture of this. Could you weld a bracket onto your mounting bracket to support your valve? 3 hoses come from the metal lines under the tractor and go into the valve. 4 vertically inline male connectors are used to connect the FEL. Only 2 of the lines are used for lifting the snowblower. You can also see the color coding on the protective caps. Right now the FEL is not connected to the mounting bracket. I just drive in close to the FEL. Hope this helps you visualize what my system is like. The black tubular thing on the back of the valve is used to support the crank that goes out to manually rotate the chute on the blower. The plastic part broke and I replaced with a metal ball swivel. Do you know if you have the 3 position or 4 position joystick valve?? I think you should be able to modify your valve to be permanently mounted to the loader mounting bracket. It really makes life simple when using the FEL.

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

Mo,

I posted some photos a few years ago here
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/134843-bx-2200-fel-snowblower-valve.html#post1809970 You can see the blue and red hoses connected from the front lift.

I actually picked up a valve from craigslist that dennisgw has with the intention of making the semiannual change over easier BUT never got around to it :smiley_aafz:

 

[rbarker]

Thanks for all the great responses and I look forward to any photos (even if they are months away).

dennisgw seems to have the setup all of us desire, so I'm hoping he can provide a few pictures or any other details that will either lead to the alternative Kubota parts or how to rig something up.

NY_Yankees_Fan: Thanks for the color codes.

Here's pictures of the tractor without loader and with loader. It's pretty hard to get a decent photo once the loader is attached so I'm afraid they might not be very helpful.

Bob .B.

 

[dennisgw]

Wow, I can see why you guys would like to go to permanent loader mount. That does not look friendly. It really became cleaned up with my version of the LA211 (Oct 2003). I remember the dealer saying I was lucky with my FEL. At the time I didn't really pay much attention or appreciate.

 

[rbarker]

Wow, I can see why you guys would like to go to permanent loader mount. That does not look friendly. It really became cleaned up with my version of the LA211 (Oct 2003). I remember the dealer saying I was lucky with my FEL. At the time I didn't really pay much attention or appreciate.

LOL, it's not quite as bad as it looks but it is certainly part of the reason I'm upgrading to a new BX 25. If you don't mount it for a while it can leave you scratching your head for a few minutes trying to remember what you did.

 

[rs191]

Here are cheat sheets that I've used/improved(?) since buying my BX2200 with loader, snowblower and 60" mower back in 2000. I haven't tried to rewrite them for you, so if they don't make sense, I can try to answer questions.
The hose hookup diagram was done in Excel. Trying to copy the data into a Word doc caused too many changes, so I inserted a screenshot of the spreadsheet into a Word doc.
The writeup for the mower hookup would require a rewrite to be of any use to others. If you want that doc, I can update it and post it.
The snowblower hookup is a series of easy steps, except for the part that separates the right loader vertical and hydr. control level off the loader. Using rope to tie the hydr. cylinder to the horiz. bar above it and then using a 1/2" extension bar to knock out the two pins are the extra steps that worked for me. It's still awkward, but doable.

 

[rs191]

The three attachments as Adobe docs. This "Snowblower Hookup..." chart is a corrected version. The one I posted as a Word doc was a skewed version of the Excel original. The instructions for mounting and removing the snowblower are unchanged.

 

[techman]

On the BX 22xx series, the loader arm with the valve must be removed from the loader and attached to the tractor to use the snowblower (lift cylinder). On the BX23xx series they moved the valve to be permanently attached to the tractor. When you move the arm, you disconnect 4 fittings. The snowblower hooks into 2 of them. I do not remember which ones on my BX22 as they are color coded. As my colored tape fell off, I put on colored tie wraps. The other way is put on the loader and get the hoses installed to where the loader works correctly. Now LABEL or mark the hoses on each end of the QD. Note the fittings for the bucket UP-Down (not curl). Those are the connections for the snowblower.

It does take an extra 15 minutes to remove the arm and valve from the loader and put it on the tractor, but once at the beginning of each winter season is not a big deal.

paul

 

[dennisgw]

Not quite. I have a BX2200 with LA211 loader. The loader brackets stay with the tractor, no need to keep removing loader arm. The valve is permanently attached to the loader brackets. I thought all of the LA211 loaders worked this way but I am gathering some of the early versions of it did not. If you are lucky you have the version that I got. I got my system in 2003.

 

[moship]

It took a while, but I'm finally getting around to modifying my Dad's tractor. The joy stick has been moved away from the FEL arm and 4 hydraulic hoses have been made, but need two more made up. Napa didn't have all the required fitting. I'll take pictures when it's all finished.

 

[moship]

The tractor end and snow blower have been modified to work with the repositioned joy stick/spool valve assembly. The FEL hydraulic hoses need to have quick connects added along with color coding the hoses. As with any project I'd probably do a number of things over, but it can be reverted back to original if needed. (Keep in mind tool access was very limited at my Dad's house)

What I'd change:

1. Cut the sides off the metal mounting plate for the joy stick/spool valve assembly. This would provide wrench and hand clearance.

2. Make the FEL and Snow Blower hydraulic hoses longer to account for the repositioned Joy stick/spool valve. This would reduce the number of joints and make the installation a bit less complicated.

3. Would angle the joy stick/spool valve assembly more vertical. This would give better hand position. (Currently at 45 degrees)

The bottom line is my Dad is happy with the conversion and it makes swapping implements a whole lot easier.

Thanks to all who contributed.

New position without the FEL support Arm in place:



With FEL support arm:

 

[Jeff F.]

Nice job. I am sure he appreciates it. The function will now be there for when ever he needs it. Does he like having it closer to him?

 

[moship]

Jeff F.

Yes, my Dad likes the joystick being closer to him. He had shoulder surgery a number of years ago and it now in a better position for him. If after some use he finds it unfavorable, I can always move the lever/stick by cutting, shaping and welding the approximately 1/2" diameter joystick.

Everyone,
I hope in the end those with a similar setup are inspired to modify their tractors for more convenient use.

Something I didn't mention above on what I'd change in the earlier post.
1. With regard to hydraulic hoses: I would have bought a length of hose say 30 feet and a number of ends prior to starting. This way the particular hose and fitting being stocked/used by your local hose maker can be mocked up as they all seem to bend differently. After all the hoses are trial-fitted they could be taken for final crimping. Trying to guess the actual hose length using existing hoses, fittings gets you in the game, but there are a number of hoses that I'd like to be either an 1" or 2" longer/shorter for better fitment.