Regional service tech at a lost on BX24 fan

[kchear1]

Not isn't this grand? What he teaches his techs to do is slice the fan and epoxy the seam back after bolting so to save the customer some money. The problem is that the bolts cannot be accessed (easily). The regional service rep is at a lost when it comes to replacement of the HST fan on a BX24. He was unaware that the excellent Engineers at Kubota redesigned the fan mounting coupler to a one piece design instead of a two piece as found on the BX23 and 2350, thus leaving no space to access the bolt now. Even he stated that the only way to even get the broken fan out was to move the engine...I swear it's a conspiracy for the dealers to make money...

He did give some advice that I didn't think about and wanted to pass along to the fine people on here...if you financed your tractor and purchased the Kubota insurance (as they recommended or sometimes required), replacement of the fan can be covered by the insurance...of course that means you still have the $250 deductible but that is better than $450. In my opinion, the engineers need to read these forums more often and come up with an easy repair and Kubota sales need to cover the cost of the first repair.

 

[ejnichol]

thats good to know about the insurance.

 

[Volfandt]

Great info.
It's quite possible that an influx of claims to the insurance company re. repairing of the BX's HST fans could force a design change with Kubota on the newer BX lines. They could either make it easier to R&R and/or offer an OEM skidplate.....

 

[douce48]

All the more reason I'm going to buy the skid plates from Bro-Tek.

Your right, they should read the forums. The user information is priceless.
But then again, if they built the perfect machine that lasted forever, they would be out of business. I don't think the shareholders would like that very much.

Douce

 

[riptides]

Educate me.

I see skid plates and HST fans. Sounds like some run-over issue or a critical component not dressed to endure?

Thanks!

 

[radioman]

He was unaware that the excellent Engineers at Kubota redesigned the fan mounting coupler to a one piece design instead of a two piece as found on the BX23 and 2350, thus leaving no space to access the bolt now.

Hmm - Doesn't the bx23 fan looks the same as bx24 fan except for halving part ? Isn't the bx23 fan still available ? Could the BX23 fan fit on the BX24 ? or can it be modified for the BX24?

wouldn't this be a better fix for the 50,60 series ?

 

[mswlogo]

Does this issue still exist on bx25?

 

[Volfandt]

Educate me.

I see skid plates and HST fans. Sounds like some run-over issue or a critical component not dressed to endure?

Thanks!

It's both
re. run-over issue:
Due to the position/location of the HST cooling fan on the BX, with the MMM not installed, it's all too easy for a wayward branch, stick, tool etc., to get leveraged up into the plastic fan and shave off it's fins, redureing it ineffective in moving cooling air over the pressureizing portion of the HST assembly.
If one has the MMM installed and/or is operating in an environment that doesn't have any debris laying around, the probability of the HST fan getting damaged is highly reduced to the point of not being an issue. Unfortunately, in real world situations, these tractors are routinely operated as, well as tractors, in rough unfinished area's without their MMM mounted inorder to increase ground clearance.

re. critical component not dressed to endure:
with the MMM dismounted the HST cooling fan is definitely not dressed to endure. And neither is the equally vulnerable HST fluid filter.....
To be fair, Kubota does offer a very thin steel bracket that is called a protector but the area it supposedly covers is too small to provide any real world protection of these vital components. This bracket actually came std on my BX23 but from what I've read it is now an option for the BXXX50 & 60 series.

To correct this obvious user defined deficency, many such as myself have fabricated up a basic skidplate to afford more protection for these HST vitals when the MMM is dismounted. There are others that offer a high quality aftermarket skidplate for sale.
IMHO, if one is going to operate a BX w/o a MMM mounted they absolutely need a skidplate to provide protection to the HST vitals. As many have found out, operating without any type of shielding is just a major problem waiting to happen.......

re. R&R of the fan.
The 00 & 30 series of BX's HST fans are much easier to R&R than the newer 50 & 60 series BX's. Where the driveshaft can be manuvered to allow the fan to be R&R'ed on the 00 & 30 series, it cannot be on the 50 & 60 series, thusly making it a high $$$$ major type of repair.
A search of this forum will turn up many that have done the R&R on the various models and in all cases, the labor should be enough to convince a BX owner that some sort of protection is necessary.

clear as mud

 

[kchear1]

Does this issue still exist on bx25?

Yes, the main changes from the BX24 to the BX25 was the orange plastic changed to orange steel (most likely because of customer feedback also) and the 3-point hitch became an option. But the fan/shaft design is the same.

According to the regional rep (and this is what he taught his techs in school) on the BX23, you could access the mounting couple to loosen it from the shaft and then slide both the coupler and fan forward just enough to access the fan mounting bolts. Then you can cut that fan to remove it. Then slice the new fan and secure the fan with the bolts. Then you would apply epoxy on the slice.

Note: even though this is what they're taught to do to save the customer money on the repairs, the shop will often quote the books (4.5-5 hours labor).

 

[Gator6x4]

Not isn't this grand? What he teaches his techs to do is slice the fan and epoxy the seam back after bolting so to save the customer some money. The problem is that the bolts cannot be accessed (easily). The regional service rep is at a lost when it comes to replacement of the HST fan on a BX24. He was unaware that the excellent Engineers at Kubota redesigned the fan mounting coupler to a one piece design instead of a two piece as found on the BX23 and 2350, thus leaving no space to access the bolt now. Even he stated that the only way to even get the broken fan out was to move the engine...I swear it's a conspiracy for the dealers to make money...

He did give some advice that I didn't think about and wanted to pass along to the fine people on here...if you financed your tractor and purchased the Kubota insurance (as they recommended or sometimes required), replacement of the fan can be covered by the insurance...of course that means you still have the $250 deductible but that is better than $450. In my opinion, the engineers need to read these forums more often and come up with an easy repair and Kubota sales need to cover the cost of the first repair.

Careful of what you ask for, you may be like me and get your vocabulary and usage of the English language expanded. The product was not a tractor or Kubota related but the engineering response to the problems experienced was user, "Subjected Equipment to an Environment That Exceeded Anticipated Usage at Time of Design and Manufacture".