Realistically, how many hours can I get out of a BX1500?

[bxowner]

I've seen some listed for sale with 300 hours for not a whole lot less than I paid for it...

I figure I'll put ~40-50 hours per year.

At that rate, figuring I maintain it and don't abuse it, can I get 10 years out of it? 20?

 

[Mike5252]

I suspect it will rust out long before it wears out. I've always thought a well maintained diesel SCUT ought to last 2000 hrs.

 

[kwolfe]

I recall seeing a thread a while back that should bx owners with up to a thousand hours on there machines and they were still running very strong.

I don't see why you wouldn't get as many hours out of a SCUT as you would of most any other tractor. I have seen older Kubotas for sale with 3000hrs on them that are still fetching a fair price.

I hope my 1500 is the last machine I ever "have to" buy (note I said have to, not want to ).

 

[john_bud]

My OPINION, is that large diesels can go a billion revolutions. Small diesels about 1/2 that. Your power point is about 3000 rpms so you should be able to get 2700-3000 hours.

Your maintenance habits can make that dramatically lower or higher. Dirty air will wear the cylinders out FAST. Dirty oil hurts too, but not as much as dirty air.

If you put your 50 hours on a year, a unit with 300 hours on the clock should be able to go 30 more years with good maintenance. Check the air filters on the tractor. If they are dirty -- that's a bad sign. Take off the filters and white glove test (seriously) the intake passage the filtered air takes. If it is dirty that's a sign of pizz poor maintenance and one that would sour the deal for me.

jb

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

typicaly we expect about 4500-5000 hours as end of life. Occasionaly you see them going longer than that but often the owner has put money into them to keep it going.

 

[Sully2]

I've seen some listed for sale with 300 hours for not a whole lot less than I paid for it...

I figure I'll put ~40-50 hours per year.

At that rate, figuring I maintain it and don't abuse it, can I get 10 years out of it? 20?

Bottom line? More years than you'll be able to sit on it to use it!

 

[RobertN]

My B8200 was made around '85 or '86. It is a HST 4wd(It is basically the great greand parent of the B2710). It has 1025 hours on it, and works like a champ. I got it with 400 hours I think; have to look in the records. The was in 98. I used it for a side for a couple years. Otherwise, I run 50-75 hours a year. I change the fluids and filters regularily.

IF you take good care of the tractor and don't abuse it, it should last a long time. My Farmall is a '41, and still goes strong, although I mostly use it for parades.

 

[redlevel]

Your maintenance habits can make that dramatically lower or higher. Dirty air will wear the cylinders out FAST. Dirty oil hurts too, but not as much as dirty air.

Don't forget to change the air in the tires every few years.

john is right. That air filter is very important.

 

[Charliebrn]

I had an experienced diesel mechanic tell me that a dirty filter can actually be better on an engine than a new one. His rationale was that the dirt fills in some of the gaps in the media and actually leads to more dirt being picked up by the filter. He said to only change the filter when it starts causing the engine to starve for air, hence the pressure differential gauges on most diesels.(my BX does not have this, and I want to add one). He also said to never clean an air filter by blowing it out, which can damage the filter media. Only replace it. Is he right?

 

[john_bud]

I had an experienced diesel mechanic tell me that a dirty filter can actually be better on an engine than a new one. His rationale was that the dirt fills in some of the gaps in the media and actually leads to more dirt being picked up by the filter. He said to only change the filter when it starts causing the engine to starve for air, hence the pressure differential gauges on most diesels.(my BX does not have this, and I want to add one). He also said to never clean an air filter by blowing it out, which can damage the filter media. Only replace it. Is he right?

I've heard that about K&N filters mostly. But it should be true in general, once the bulk of the pores are full, there is less opening size and only smaller dirt can pass --- until the pressure delta rips a spot and your filter is passing dirty unfiltered air.


My kubota manual says to replace the outside air filter yearly or every six times of cleaning it. I would agree with your mechanic if you have a single filter system. the 'bota has an inner and outer filter. Only the outer is cleaned.

 

[Marcussen]

[/QUOTE]
My kubota manual says to replace the outside air filter yearly or every six times of cleaning it. I would agree with your mechanic if you have a single filter system. the 'bota has an inner and outer filter. Only the outer is cleaned.[/QUOTE]

My L2800 only has one filter, the inner filter is listed as optional, I plan to buy the inner filter next trip to the dealer. I would replace the outer filter once a year, and yes dirty air filters provide better filtration than clean, but with no differential pressure indication, they can fail and can dump all that dirt into your engine.

 

[art]

Dirty air filters in an engine means a hindered air flow that is restrictive so where do you get the air from when it gets to dirty? I don't even want to go there!!!!!!! There are mechanics out there that might be able to fix something, and there are technicians that do! I never in all my days and years have heard of running a dirty air filter. Sorry boys!

 

[dlinde31]

I had 2 old B1700's?, (I think that was the model number). That came in from the local railroad. These had about a 20hp 3-cylinder Kubota. One machine had 9000 hours, the other 12,000.
This might be stretching it alittle, but it's something for you to shoot for!

Good luck,

DDL

 

[AceDeuce]

Bottom line: with regular maintenance there is absolutely no reason that your machine shouldn't last a lifetime with nothing more than minor repairs here and there.

We've all heard stories about old machines and rediculous numbers of hours. I have a family member with a 22 year old L-series, stored outside, unprotected from the elements in the southtowns of Buffalo, NY (they get 140+ inches of snow per year) and the machine is not particularly well maintained. Nevertheless, it still starts up and runs great every time. As a matter of fact, it's probably out there on snow removal duty as I write this.

The sum total of problems? The fuel tank rusted out last year and had to be replaced. That's it. If anything, you might have to worry about never being able to wear the darn thing out!

 

[Taiser]

My cub cadet has a commercial Vanguard gas engine. These are rated for 2000+ hours and often go up to 3000 with no major problems from what my dealer says as long as proper maintenance is done. Mine is a 94 and is only turning 700 hours now!!!

Properly maintained diesels should run at least twice as much as that so 5000 to 6000 hours should be typical and even then it may need minor work and not a full tear down.

Lets face it, for casual home owner use like most of us (50-100 hours a year) these things will be handed to our kids in our wills!!!!

 

[Westro]

Looks like you have about 60 more years of use.

 

[Ifixcars]

The 1500 has a nice looking little motor in it. Seems like it would be worth freshening up when the time comes. I wonder what kind of rebuild parts are available for them?

 

[Captinjack]

I work in the air pollution field and service baghouses used for ventilation cleaning and for flue gases cleaning from coal combustion. Have done this for 35 yrs. now.

That said, it is well known and universally accepted by all in the industry (both users and manufacturers) that a new filter will allow higher than desired particulate (dust) to pass through the filter until a "dust cake" is established. The filter media forms the substrate for the dust cake that actually provides the filtration! While a virgin/new filter provides a certain level of filtration, that level is much lower than a properly conditioned/dirty filter.

New filters are routinely precoated with dust before being placed into service so that the maximum collecting efficiency is achieved from the start! Most filters are allowed to have a pressure drop of 6" water column and then are cleaned down to 3" or so. Over aggressive cleaning is very undesireable as the beneficial dust cake is removed and the filter media may be damaged.

The filter pressure drop (how dirty is it) can easily be measured with a U tube manometer. A very accurate "U" tube manometer can simply be made with clear plastic tubing filled with water in the shape of a U. The difference between the height of the two levels in the tube indicate the pressure drop. One end of the tube needs to be connected after the filter and the other is open to the atmosphere. A simple 1/4" tapered plastic connector could be screwed into the ducting after the air filter to connect the tubing.

This type of device, a manometer, is commonly used by motor tech's to balance multiple carburetors on engines. There are no moving parts or springs that can give erroneous readings.

A new "clean" filter does not work better at removing dirt than a filter that has been in service for a while. This may go against what we all have been led to believe, but these are the facts that are known and accepted by everyone in the filtration business. A filter is just fine and will continue to filter dust well until the pressure drop reaches that point that the air flow reduction results in an overtly rich fuel condition. Until then, a "dirty" filter works better than a "new/clean" filter.

 

[LBrown59]

I've seen some listed for sale with 300 hours for not a whole lot less than I paid for it...

I figure I'll put ~40-50 hours per year.

At that rate, figuring I maintain it and don't abuse it, can I get 10 years out of it? 20?

I have 2 Bolens Garden Tractors
40 and 41 years old and still going good.
They only cost about 800 to 1000 bucks new back then.

 

[LBrown59]

Don't forget to change the air in the tires every few years.

john is right. That air filter is very important.

especially the one for the tires