Hey guys. I've surfed these forums for a while, and I've found some useful info on here. I, however, have a new issue that I can't seem to find anything on...
I recently inherited a Kubota BX2200 with 1500 hrs on it, give or take. It needed some minor maintenance, like the hydraulic lines cracked, the 60" mower deck front mount frame had been bent over time so I straightened it, etc. It runs nicely, and other than feel like there is a little bit of a hydraulic pump whine (minor, will change filter eventually), I had no major concerns until recently.
About two months ago I paused my mowing to jump off and pick up a golf ball. As I hopped back on, I noticed a very rapid pulsation in the tractor. I thought maybe I had stopped in a place where one of the blades was scalping the yard on a small bump or something, so I raised the deck and the pulsation went away. I thought nothing of it, started back up, finished the yard. This pattern of me sort of noticing it every once in a while, raising the deck, lowering it, kept happening.
About three weeks ago, I started noticing it as I was cutting, which had never happened before. It is a very rapid pulse, not like a surging sound or feeling. So, I stopped, raised the deck, and it quit. I lowered the deck...it came back. Raised it, stopped. Lowered it, heard and felt it again, and it almost sounds like it comes from the rear of the tractor in the hydraulics.
I thought maybe this was the old blades being out of balance; I had gotten a little too deep into some brush on this new property, and whacked god knows what pretty hard. I took those off, sharpened them, checked balance the best I could, remounted. It got worse. So, I did the logical next step and bought new blades from the Kubota dealership which is conveniently by my work. It got even worse. So, it isn't blades, or at least I don't think, and now I have a garbage set of blades if I want to go blasting through the heavy stuff.
I checked out the deck belt: it was worn with a couple of small holes, but the Vs were still completely intact. Picked up a cheap on online ($25), put that on two days ago. The pulsing is muted with a newer, tighter belt, but it is still there.
The last piece of this puzzle that I have noticed is that the pulsation goes away when I throttle down just a hair. Same thing as I'm cutting -- if I bog down a bit in heavy grass, the pulsation stops. If I'm flying around in low grass I can feel it and hear it.
In sum:
Full throttle, deck lowered, rapid pulsation...wumwumwumwumwumwumwumwumwum. Feels like it is tied to the rotation of the blades, to be sure, but it is like the lash from it causes a pulse in the hydraulics.
Raise deck, full throttle, purrs like a kitten.
New blades, new belt.
Hydraulic levels seems to be good everywhere.
Front loader works well.
There is a small but noticeable hydraulic whine when operating, but I cannot say if that is just how this machine normally sounds.
I appreciate any help in advance, because short of heading to the dealership, I have no idea what to try next, and, frankly, I really like working on this on my own...
I recently inherited a Kubota BX2200 with 1500 hrs on it, give or take. It needed some minor maintenance, like the hydraulic lines cracked, the 60" mower deck front mount frame had been bent over time so I straightened it, etc. It runs nicely, and other than feel like there is a little bit of a hydraulic pump whine (minor, will change filter eventually), I had no major concerns until recently.
About two months ago I paused my mowing to jump off and pick up a golf ball. As I hopped back on, I noticed a very rapid pulsation in the tractor. I thought maybe I had stopped in a place where one of the blades was scalping the yard on a small bump or something, so I raised the deck and the pulsation went away. I thought nothing of it, started back up, finished the yard. This pattern of me sort of noticing it every once in a while, raising the deck, lowering it, kept happening.
About three weeks ago, I started noticing it as I was cutting, which had never happened before. It is a very rapid pulse, not like a surging sound or feeling. So, I stopped, raised the deck, and it quit. I lowered the deck...it came back. Raised it, stopped. Lowered it, heard and felt it again, and it almost sounds like it comes from the rear of the tractor in the hydraulics.
I thought maybe this was the old blades being out of balance; I had gotten a little too deep into some brush on this new property, and whacked god knows what pretty hard. I took those off, sharpened them, checked balance the best I could, remounted. It got worse. So, I did the logical next step and bought new blades from the Kubota dealership which is conveniently by my work. It got even worse. So, it isn't blades, or at least I don't think, and now I have a garbage set of blades if I want to go blasting through the heavy stuff.
I checked out the deck belt: it was worn with a couple of small holes, but the Vs were still completely intact. Picked up a cheap on online ($25), put that on two days ago. The pulsing is muted with a newer, tighter belt, but it is still there.
The last piece of this puzzle that I have noticed is that the pulsation goes away when I throttle down just a hair. Same thing as I'm cutting -- if I bog down a bit in heavy grass, the pulsation stops. If I'm flying around in low grass I can feel it and hear it.
In sum:
Full throttle, deck lowered, rapid pulsation...wumwumwumwumwumwumwumwumwum. Feels like it is tied to the rotation of the blades, to be sure, but it is like the lash from it causes a pulse in the hydraulics.
Raise deck, full throttle, purrs like a kitten.
New blades, new belt.
Hydraulic levels seems to be good everywhere.
Front loader works well.
There is a small but noticeable hydraulic whine when operating, but I cannot say if that is just how this machine normally sounds.
I appreciate any help in advance, because short of heading to the dealership, I have no idea what to try next, and, frankly, I really like working on this on my own...
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