Question To B7500 Owners

GregJ · Dec 14, 2002

I have had my B7500 since mid September. I've put about 75 hours on it. Recently I started noticing a creaking/clanking sound coming from my right rear wheel. At first I assumed I needed to torque all of my wheel nuts. I did this and the sound persisted. I use ear protection all the time I am using the tractor, so I really hadn’t noticed how loud this sound is. It is fairly loud. I don’t know if I just didn’t notice it before because all the sounds were new to me and it took a while to filter out all the normal sounds, or if this sound is really indicative of a problem. It also seems to me that the hydrostat "braking" is not as effective in high range. I have to have it in low range for it to really brake and stop the tractor. Once again, I don't know if this is perception or the way it has always been. The easiest solution would be to go to the dealer and drive a new B7500 and listen to it, but they are about 2 hours away. I know my dealer would be very helpful with this, but I thought I would pose these questions to the group first. Does your B7500 right rear wheel make a creaking sound when you are moving? Is this a common sound for the Kubota hydrostat? How effective is your hydrostat "braking" in high range? Thanks for any feedback.

Greg

chim · Dec 14, 2002

Greg, try tightening the bolt that holds the rim to the axle - the one with the wedges (aka "cotter) that grip the hex part of the axle. These should be checked periodically. Mine worked loose and creaked. My guess is they have a history of working loose, because Kubota has those pins and clips to keep the whole wheel from slipping off if the bolt becomes too loose.

The Operator's Manual has pics on page 46........chim

GregJ · Dec 14, 2002

Chim,
I did tighten those bolts, but I was not able to accurately torque them. All I have is an old bar type torque wrench and I was unable to use it because they are so hard to get to, so I used the old "calibrated wrist" technique. I guess this is my excuse to go buy a good torque wrench. So, let me confirm, you don't have any different sound coming from your right rear wheel?

Thanks,
Greg

TresCrows · Dec 14, 2002

Greg, my B2410 has the same type of wheel. It needs to be retorqued. You may have to remove it and then reseat it. There is a shim in there that may have been damaged by letting it stay loose. Check the wheel nuts also. My left wheel adapter was replaced under warranty, it was out of round and caused the wheel to wobble. If it is torqued properly maybe let the dealer look. I suspect the shim maybe worn if that is what it is called. J

GregJ · Dec 14, 2002

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I will remove the wheel and inspect it. I was able to torque the wheel nuts properly with my bar type torque wrench, but the bolt behind the wheel was hard to get to, so I had to guess. Also, like you said, it may have damaged the shims from being loose. I was surprised that I was able to tighten all of those nuts. They were a little loose.

Greg

MikeFLA · Dec 14, 2002

Greg,

I had the exact same problem.

Read this entire thread. I am confident if you follow Kubmech's advice your problem will dissapear.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=owning&Number=130541&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1
>http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin...=owning&Number=130541&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1
</A>

chim · Dec 14, 2002

Yup. That's the way I did mine. The sound it made was simlar to rubbing your thumb over a partially-inflated balloon, and the frequency of "SQUARKS" (hard to spell the sound, but you get the idea) depended on the speed of the tractor.

When I tightened mine, I did take a hammer and tap the assembly several times as I went along to make sure the parts were seating well..............chim

GregJ · Dec 14, 2002

Thanks for the help. Hopefully I'll get a chance to service the wheel and hub soon. I'll let you know how it comes out.

Greg

GregJ · Dec 15, 2002

I just removed the rear wheels this morning and I couldn't believe how loose the hub bolts were on both sides. I took it all apart, cleaned it up, lubed it and retorqued the whole assembly. Not a sound comes from it now. So, I learned that the only way to tighten and torque that hub nut is to remove the rear wheels, and that's not a very big job. Thanks for all the advice.

Greg