Safety and Design Concern on Kubota

John_NY · Oct 28, 2002

For the third time the clutch activation arm (lever) that connects to the round shaft that actuates the clutch within the bell housing on my Kubota L305DT broke. The shaft is a piece of flat stock welded to the round shaft that extends into the clutch bell housing. The first time the weld cracked I rewelded it, but that weld eventually broke again. The next time I welded it, I put considerably more heat to it and yesterday when it broke again, the weld held but the arm (flat rod) cracked below the weld. Not only does this problem interrupt my work, but it requires me to tow my tractor to the shop for repairs. The other concern is the safety concern involved when the rod unexpectately breaks causing the tractor to move without control. Someone could get killed or property could be damaged. Has anyone heard of this problem and is there some permanent solution to the problem?

cchoate · Oct 29, 2002

Is that tractor under warranty? I would probably take it to a dealer either way. They may have some kind of retro fit or recall part, you never know.

John_NY · Oct 30, 2002

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I posted this problem on Yesterday's Tractors and this site. With the exception of your response, I have had no other comments. Sometimes it makes me wonder if I'm the only one that is experiencing this problem. That's hard for me to believe! The tractor is a 1983! I rewelded the break and this time I re-inforced the lever with another piece of flat stock extended around the round actuation shaft. I also contacted Kubota via their electronic feedback on kubota.com. I haven't heard back from them yet. I have to replace a rear engine seal this winter, so I'll re-evaluate the whole situation at that time, since I'll be working in the clutch area. Thanks again!!

JATO_RaT · Oct 30, 2002

John, what is a 305DT? It sounds like a force that this lever cannot deal with. One of two things may be happening. Excessive force beyond what is normal such as a binding throwout bearing or clutch springs that are incorrect, the latter is hard to believe. The other is that the arm should not be welded as the part may have been heat treated. The more heat you apply the weaker it gets. The leverage on the typical clutch lever is pretty high when you consider the force it takes to disengage that many springs on the clutch pressure plate. I may be way off the mark here and not understanding of the problem, but repeated problems like yours which has also involved a "home" repair may very well be quite isolated to just a few, if it was symptomatic of all clutch levers on the L305DT, a recall would typically follow. Good luck with the solution, it should be there. Rat...

rbargeron · Oct 30, 2002

Hi John - I remember the L305DT - a nice tractor. I believe the 2-stage clutch on these has a swing-down stop for limiting pedal travel when you're not using the pto? But when the pedal goes full-travel, the linkage bottoms against the second clutch (pto clutch). The lever will maybe last longer if the stop is used whenever full travel isn't needed. But your reinforcment may well cure it forever anyway.

I had a L345DT of the same vintage - some of the welded levers did tend to crack near the heat-affected zone at the welds. But I don't think it was a big enough problem to get Kubota's attention up to the point of a re-call. My clutch lever was ok, but the 4wd/2wd lever cracked, as did the draft control lever to the top link.

But overall, those tractors are pretty durable.

John_NY · Oct 30, 2002

You're right!! There is a pivot down stop - and after using the PTO, I routinely forget to swing that down. That would take a lot of pressure off that lever. As you stated, the secondary clutch is not needed except when using the PTO. I used the stop for a while and then I got out of the habit of using it. The reinforcing job may do the trick, but, as I stated earlier, I'll re-evaluate that whole situation when I put in the oil seal. The original connection was a weld by the manufacturer that eventually failed. There is a LOT of pressure on that arm when extended all the way down for the secondary clutch. Makes me wonder why I didn't think about that stop again - guess it's just a case of habit!!! Thank you!