Think I broke 4wd

[wade simpson]

I just bought a 5' box blade on Fri and used it for about 4 or 5 hrs. Everything worked great. Later on that night I went out to start working on a new part of the road. everything was working fine then I noticed the tractor seemed to be bogging down more, I just thought I was losing traction . It was dark so I couldn't really see much so I packed it in for the night.

Next morning, back at it. As soon as I started pulling I knew something was wrong. The tractor could barely pull the BB without spinning the rear tires, I checked to make sure I was in 4wd. The front tires were not spinning with the rears. I took the bb off and put on the rear blade, same problem, will barely pull the blade, even in loose soil, without spinning the rear tires.

I lifted the front and spun the tires, the differential seemed to work but not always. It seemed like I could make one wheel turn without the other turning. I put the bucket flat and moved slowly fwd while lifting the fronts off the ground, at first the front seemed to be turned under power, the second time they didn't turn.

I bought the BB from the same dealer I bought the tractor from and asked a few times if the tractor could handle that size, he said it could. I always work in low range, stop to shift, never force the shift but move the tractor a little to let it slip into gear.

Anyway, off to the mechanic, hope it is not too expensive if it turns out to be misuse.
Any similar experiences?

 

[SPYDERLK]

Does the 4wd engagement lever feel normal? How old is the tractor and much 4wd use? Maybe engagement has never been right and its started popping out. Maybe the linkage just now got bent by a piece of debris ...
larry

 

[wade simpson]

110 hrs, I checked the lever, it seemed OK. I even had to ease the tractor a little to get it to shift, as usual. I use 4wd alot but shift it out if I'm just moving around. It feels right when it engages just seems like no power to front wheels

Lately I've been hearing a whirring sound, like the sound misaligned gears make, from the front end. Only when in 4wd and only when the gears were loaded, ex..going up hill or loaded bucket and that was occasional. But it did prompt me to check the front axle oil which was a bit low (I added 0.5 lt to top it up).

 

[SPYDERLK]

Sounds like a warranty issue. Good luck.
larry

 

[wade simpson]

Thanks

 

[kubotalinc]

110 hrs, I checked the lever, it seemed OK. I even had to ease the tractor a little to get it to shift, as usual. I use 4wd alot but shift it out if I'm just moving around. It feels right when it engages just seems like no power to front wheels

Lately I've been hearing a whirring sound, like the sound misaligned gears make, from the front end. Only when in 4wd and only when the gears were loaded, ex..going up hill or loaded bucket and that was occasional. But it did prompt me to check the front axle oil which was a bit low (I added 0.5 lt to top it up).

this same thing happened to me twice it broke the front axel carrier

 

[wade simpson]

Did that turn out to be a warrenty issue?

 

[kubotalinc]

yep it only had 40 hrs on it and at 50 hrs it broke again it has a whole new front end in it now , but with the back hoe on I don't use 4wd at all , the first time it broke I had box blade on and the second time I had bush hog I know that the axel carrier is very small and they were back ordered maybe they are having some issues with the front ends in these little tractors???

 

[wade simpson]

Geez, has the tractor been OK since? Man, I hope I don't get started in one of those loops, fixing the same problem several times.

 

[kubotalinc]

I have only had it back a couple of weeks since but i am being super careful of the front end