My first Kubota tractor B7100D

[jix]

We get a lotta snow here, My previous blower was a BERCOMAC on a 650 KAWAI 4x4 ATV. It is not satisfactory, so I picked up a used B7100D with a rear blower and a front blade.
I am having a custom ROPS cab made, with a heater and wipers, plus a few mods to make more room for my feet. I am a gimpy older man with pretty poor mobility and weak muscles from diabetic complications.
The Kubota B7100D is a good compromise and it has a strong 5' rear blower. With 4x 4 capability I forsee no problems with dealing with the darn snow that the government plow shoves across my highway access and the mailbox. The Kubota is small but very powerful in standard transmission model D. My tractor has only 400 hours of use on its meter, so iot should last as long as I will.
Good, used, small Kobota tractors with cabs are very scarce around here...and surprisingly expensive.. maybe I got lucky.:laughing:

My custom-made, steel, insulated cab will have 8 safety glass windows, full width doors, seals, lights and wiring, and with a port-side boarding step and the seat re-mounted further aft, plus hot water, forced- air heater and safety lights, flood lights. Also included were mods to train the blower chute electrically from inside. Another bonus was installing a joystick hydraulic control console beside the seat.:laughing:
The custom ROPS cab will cost $3500 Canadian, all in.

My research tells me that is a bargain for turnkey installation hereabouts. All in, the tractor, attachments, mods and cab will cost me $10,300 (Canadian).

Heh, Heh..now I am farming SNOW!:laughing::laughing:

I am told that it will use about 4 imperial gallons of diesel per winter, plus oil and filter changes.

I have already used the tractor grader blade (which has down pressure and twist hydraulics) to remove some pretty gnarly well established lilac roots. That little tractor surprised me with its power. I think I am going to like it for landscaping and driveway grading.... but not riding into town...lol.

Jix

 

[fbeach73]

Ironic we r both from same town and posting to same topic on this board! Best of luck jix hit me up anytime!

 

[Egon]

Consider chains all around to complete the unit. Also remember the dynamo has limited capacity so battery loads have to be watched.:thumbsup:

How will the cab heater circulation be designed?

 

[newbury]

Welcome aboard.
4 gallons a winter?
How much for a summer?

 

[PILOON]

Since you only have a dynamo consider only LED lighting.
If a heater is considered use a computer type blower as they use 1 amp or less.

 

[jix]

Hi Fbeach73. I wish that I could have afforded a Kioti CK35 with cab and blower, but nope. Maybe in a cupple years. I live in Tracyville, near the pole plant. Retired on a few crusts a day from the army, but getting by. Snow is bad here cuz the gummint plow fills me in twice every storm and my driveway is 125 feet long.
I hope the B7100 D and rear blower will cope better than the BERCOMAC and ATV did last winter with no cab...brrrr!

Thanks for saying hello, keep touch.

 

[jix]

Since you only have a dynamo consider only LED lighting.
If a heater is considered use a computer type blower as they use 1 amp or less.

I dunno what the current output of my tractor is, PILOON, but it has 600 amp-hr battery. I gotta find that out before I hook up the lights, 5 INCH sealed beam floods x3, switched singly. Use one at a time.
I rarely blow snow in the dark, tho. The heater is an automotive type..used car part probably 5 amp. I will need to put a voltmeter across the battery and watch it. The tractor has a generator driven by a fan belt from the engine, not a magneto. (Is that a Dynamo)

 

[Travelover]

I am putting heater on my B7100, but since it has no water pump I'm using an electric Bosch heater water pump designed specifically for that purpose to drive water through the heater core. I cut the upper and lower radiator hoses and inserted a length of copper pipe with a 1/2" nipple soldered into the center to tap off hot water.

 

[fbeach73]

great jix, Im sure that unit will serve you well! I was fortunate enough to set aside some web earnings and am now pushing ahead with some land I bought this year at Lake George.
I know your approx whereabouts and can imagine you get the brunt of storms with plows filling you in.
I live off the woodstock road in town, I won't be here much longer though we are hanging windows and finishing up steel siding this week then I can begin the finishing on the inside... Few months away from living OUTTA town
Definitely keep in touch, Ill be following your posts bud, good luck and thanks for having served us!

Hi Fbeach73. I wish that I could have afforded a Kioti CK35 with cab and blower, but nope. Maybe in a cupple years. I live in Tracyville, near the pole plant. Retired on a few crusts a day from the army, but getting by. Snow is bad here cuz the gummint plow fills me in twice every storm and my driveway is 125 feet long.
I hope the B7100 D and rear blower will cope better than the BERCOMAC and ATV did last winter with no cab...brrrr!

Thanks for saying hello, keep touch.

 

[deerseeker001]

Welcome from Wisconsin

 

[jix]

Consider chains all around to complete the unit. Also remember the dynamo has limited capacity so battery loads have to be watched.:thumbsup:

How will the cab heater circulation be designed?

Hi Egon: Thanks for the tip about the dynamo capacity. I cannot find out about that with only the operator manual or the parts book that I got with the tractor. It looks as if there is a generator on this tractor, as for a car type. This generator is located below the air cleaner in the space where the belt tensioner pulley is shown to be, so it is a mystery at the moment. THe seller told me that he thought that this tractor was manufactured in 1988 or 89, but it defginitely is a b7100d with a manual tranny with high and low ranges and selectable 4wheel drive. So I may need chains evan thoiugh my driveway is level, you think.

the heater will be connected to the bottom coolant hose, in series with the coolant circuit and the existing coolant block heater. That work is to be done by the mechanic who is making my custom cab,(He also owns a B7100D) and the core of the cab heater will have some kind of a fan behind it that will blow warmed air around in the the cab at a low point. I dunno how much it electric current it will draw yet, but now I am concerned about that. Tomorrow in daylight I must go and look more closely at the generator and also try to find the serial number of the beast. I must follow this up. There is something different about the generator, I do not think it is a dynamo, and it is not an alternator either. It may be a mod installed by the previous owner, who was a mechanic for Thomas equipment in Florenceville, NB. Thomas was a Kubota dealer a few years back.

Please do stay tuned. I may be asking more questions and will appreciate any helpful info you may offer. That will be critical, I feel.

 

[jix]

I just dunno how much in the summer. Not a lot, cuz I prolly wont use it much in the summer, Newbury. The engine is about the size of a four slice toaster. 21 hp. Previous owner said that all he ever put in it since new was about 16 gallons total. Tank only holds 2.6 gals US.. Little tusker holds less fuel than a cigarette lighter...lol..

 

[Egon]

Jix, the dynamos fits on the hub of the fan blade. As you have a different setup my comments just may be adding unnecessary worries/confusion that are not warranted.

 

[Travelover]

I found that a copper T fitting that is 1 1/4" on each end with a 1/2" nipple works great in the lower radiator hose to feed a 5/8" heater hose. I found this at Lowes.

 

[jix]

Re: My first Kubota tractor B7100D Defining, searching, designing, heater progess

:laughing:I found a new Bosch 12v auxillary coolant pump on the internet in Carson, CA. for 40 bucks delivered. It would be for a VW. Not a bad price. I also found that my tractor has a 20-amp belt driven generator. Now searching for a heater core and fan box (scrapyard) to put in the cab. Now, if I can run my lights and heater, and if the little diesel makes enuff heat I should be nice and dry and warm in the cab. The safety glass for the windows is going to be 1200 bucks, with the rubber gaskets that hold them in the metal cab and two wipers. The fabricator will start work next Tuesday week and it will be all finished NLT 7 Oct. Putting in a ROPS too. Not as tuff, nor maybe as stupid, as I useta be. lol.. Wee little tractor weighs 1100 lbs nekkid!

Might try to find some wheel chains for it, not sure they are required, but cannot hurt to have 'em. Any body got some for sale? rear:8-16-4PR front 6-12-2PR

Zippity doo-dah! This might be fun.:cool2::cool2:

 

[jix]

Hey, Travelover...thanx for the fitting tip. Gonna need them...and sum pipe insulation too. Stainess hose clamps, n' stuff. Its the nickels and dimes that getcha.

 

[Travelover]

I found a heater core (new but surplus) at the metal recycler. You can also buy a new one on eBay or from an auto parts store for not much. I started with a 5" computer fan, but found it didn't move much air through the core, so I replaced it with a small fan off a RV stove hood exhaust. I used plywood to make a box for the core and fan and I will mount it vertically to the left of the engine and just in front of the foot rest. I also added a variable PWM speed controller so I can run the fan at any speed. I expect it to bake me out of there. 6V 12 24V 10A Pulse Width Modulator PWM DC Motor Speed Control Switch Controller | eBay

 

[jix]

Jix, the dynamos fits on the hub of the fan blade. As you have a different setup my comments just may be adding unnecessary worries/confusion that are not warranted.

Egon...there is never a thing that adds unnecessary worry. Confusion motivates me to learn more and better information, and fires my imagination to discover innovations that lead to progress. Your posts do help me, as do others. I learn pretty quickly, and best when I must overcome doubts. one important fact I have learned is that my tractor has no water pump in the coolant circuit to drive hot coolant into the heater I propose. I overcame that today by discovering an aux pump made by Bosch for Volkswagens. I bought one today from California for only 40 bucks. Carpe Diem!

 

[Egon]

Jix, on the chains think about two lader for a better ride.

On the B7100 I had rear chains really made a difference. Adding chains to the front also really helped with the steering.

Rad covers for cold weather to keep temps up but with a cab you may not hear the whistle if overheated.

If yours has the old style rear hubs that loosen and let the wheel move around there are new hubs that work.

Overfilling the fuel tank means you'll get a soaked clutch.

 

[jix]

G'mornin' Egon. Soaked clutch?? Well, I'll be darned.Can't figger that mystery.Hmmm. How full is overfull? PO kept it half full, judging from the discoloration of the plastic tank. I filled it up to the bottom of the filler tube filter, is that too much? Dread an empty fuel line. Nasty air bubbles...not in the *@%!! wintertime

Rad covers without a temp alarm or guage..poor idea. Gotta install a guage, or an idiot light. If she is hot enuff to whistle, she's way too hot. Little tractor has very few gauges..only hour meter. Needs temp, oil pressure, voltmeter. depth of bank account gauges. A tach would be nice, but difficult. Hmmmm.. mebbe trade her in on a new KIOTI k25 with factory cab..be cheaper??

Back to reality..keep the oil up..use her sensible. Drive her as built (except for a heated cab) till I drop dead. Keep it simple. Its not a game of gadgets. Practice good PM habits always.


Gotta find a just-right brick-sized heater core and smallish fan at a junkyard somewhere.... EBay guys are quite pricey, tryna get rich offa the net. E-bay has gone nuts past five years. I like junkyards better...sumtimes.

Make a heater box outa a square cookie tin, Currier and Ives-like...Hmmmm. Would smell good for awhile.

Just keep on head-scratching, it'll come.

Chains...hard to find in the right size in this locale. They need lotsa cross links on Ag tires, I s'pose. Chains are a pain, usually...unless you get stuck. Mebbe a 5000 lb winch, A la ATV. Nope..a big come-along. I got one awreddy..8 ton pull. Look for chains, sedately. meanwhile. :dance1: