BX25-D Fuel Filter Conversion.

Wildfire

Active member

Equipment
Kubota L5740 HSTC3 and a Kubota ZG222Z, 2013 BX25D,Custom Toyota fork lift.
Well I had my attempt at doing a fuel filter conversion on the BX. I used a filter assembly from the Grand L. Most of us know that the fuel filters on the BX are just plain crap. You'd never believe what came out of my filter at 70 hours use. I show what came out of the filter in the video.

Here's a few photos.





Here's the video. Be warned. It's an hour long.
http://youtu.be/QcQUgl8rNIg
 

Eric McCarthy

New member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
Kubota B6100E
Dec 21, 2009
5,223
6
0
42
Richmond Va
I never could understand why Kubota got away from that fuel filter in the first place. My B6100 has it. It's a simple easy to change filer.
 

Wildfire

Active member

Equipment
Kubota L5740 HSTC3 and a Kubota ZG222Z, 2013 BX25D,Custom Toyota fork lift.
I never could understand why Kubota got away from that fuel filter in the first place. My B6100 has it. It's a simple easy to change filer.
Me either. They put basically a snowmobile filter on the tractor. It had no fuel cock either and then the filter was put in that God awful place where it was hard to service. 70 hours on the filter and it had plenty of crap in it plus the little filter had no capacity to hold much dirt. With the Grand L system on it there's room for an crap plus I can service it in a few minutes.
 

skeets

Well-known member

Equipment
BX 2360 /B2601
Oct 2, 2009
14,142
2,796
113
SW Pa
Looks really good guys,, and I think the reason they got away from the good filtering was due to cost, what does the little plastic filters, vs a glass bowl system you replaced it with cost,, Beaucoup Im bettin , even if they bought them by the truck loads,, Just MHO, cause while they do work, its all about the money
 

Wildfire

Active member

Equipment
Kubota L5740 HSTC3 and a Kubota ZG222Z, 2013 BX25D,Custom Toyota fork lift.
Looks really good guys,, and I think the reason they got away from the good filtering was due to cost, what does the little plastic filters, vs a glass bowl system you replaced it with cost,, Beaucoup Im bettin , even if they bought them by the truck loads,, Just MHO, cause while they do work, its all about the money
I'm thinking the same thing. It all equates down to the dollars on the filtration system. My gripe was the capacity for the little plastic filter to hold dirt. There was no room for dirt and that's why guys are reporting so many low hour plugged filters. At least with these bowl filters there's a fuel cock to turn off the fuel and a larger capacity to hold dirt plus easy access to change the filter.
I thought it was a no brainer in my case because with a full skid pan like I have getting at that little filter isn't to easy.
 

Billdog350

Member

Equipment
Kubota L3710 HST,L2230A QT,forks,Takeuchi TB125, 60" Luck Now pto Snowblower
Jan 6, 2014
468
5
18
East Hampton, CT
Guys, one point you're missing is the inability for those L filters to work well when mounted sideways. The plastic filters are also water separators. With the BX there are TWO fuel filters, one before your fuel pump and one after. The AFTER filter that's mounted by your high pressure pump/engine can be replaced by the B or L series type element filter housings, however there really isn't room under the machine to put another element filter vertically. As a result, you have debris going directly from your fuel tank into your fuel pump, causing premature wear to the pump and/or causing the pump to break up the debris and send it downstream.

I'm not saying that the plastic filters are great, not saying they have adequate room for storing debris between changes, but I am saying they do work best under the BX tractors before the fuel pump.
 

Wildfire

Active member

Equipment
Kubota L5740 HSTC3 and a Kubota ZG222Z, 2013 BX25D,Custom Toyota fork lift.
Guys, one point you're missing is the inability for those L filters to work well when mounted sideways. The plastic filters are also water separators. With the BX there are TWO fuel filters, one before your fuel pump and one after. The AFTER filter that's mounted by your high pressure pump/engine can be replaced by the B or L series type element filter housings, however there really isn't room under the machine to put another element filter vertically. As a result, you have debris going directly from your fuel tank into your fuel pump, causing premature wear to the pump and/or causing the pump to break up the debris and send it downstream.

I'm not saying that the plastic filters are great, not saying they have adequate room for storing debris between changes, but I am saying they do work best under the BX tractors before the fuel pump.
The reason there's two filters on the BX models is due to the inefficiency of one of those little plastic filters to do the full job of keeping the fuel clean to the pump and the injection pump. It needs one before the pump to protect it and one after the pump to protect anything after it such as the injection pump. I plumbed the filter assembly to come from the tank to the new filter and then back to the pump so all is protected.

Now I need to ask you? What have I missed?

Is the L filter assembly I mounted on sideways? If it is then it's also sideways on my 5740 and on my 4240.

Oh and the new filter assembly do trap water. It has much the same element as the small plastic filter the BX had but on a much larger scale. I have seen water in the filter of my 4240 and the 5740 and that's when I change it out.

So you don't think the Grand L model filter assembly is an improvement over the tiny BX filter?
 

rjcorazza

Member

Equipment
L4060 HSTC Loader, ZD326, ZD1211
Mar 9, 2016
778
22
18
Hyattstown, MD
Old thread, but I just did a similar upgrade to my ZD326 diesel mower. It had the same (2) inline filters with similar clogging issues as the BX tractors. My finished product was not quite as good as wildfire and dwk121's work, as there is no fuel shutoff or bleeder. I put a large 2u Cat 1r-0750 spin on filter before the fuel pump. Filter changes should be easy, but messy!

The L4060 has a small fuel bowl type filter / separator with what appears to be a screen filter (not sure though), followed by a spin on filter of unknown micron spec. I'll probably leave this one as is.
 

rjcorazza

Member

Equipment
L4060 HSTC Loader, ZD326, ZD1211
Mar 9, 2016
778
22
18
Hyattstown, MD
Never thought of an inline shutoff valve - thanks for the link! I think I'll add one to my zd326 setup, and get another in case I decide to add the same 2u filter to the L4060 fuel system.
The spin on filter I put on the zd326 was actually my second attempt. First I installed a Kubota bowl type cartridge filter with a built in shut off, but the junk pot metal around the valve handle cracked and was leaking diesel.
 

cerlawson

New member

Equipment
rotiller, box scraper,etc.
Feb 24, 2011
1,067
3
0
PORTAGE, WI
I did it also. Paul's original was updated. M&D has it for $68.49 15521-43015. Messic's has it for $49.64 with cartridges 15521-43160 @$3.74

Had to drill and tap once. Put lower guard to protect against mower down there.
 

Attachments

ThisIsNotaStep

New member

Equipment
2005 bx23 tlb
Nov 26, 2010
133
2
0
Ontario, Canada
Gentlemen
Sorry I am late to the party and at the risk of being flamed, our little tractors need 2 filters, one to protect the pump and another to protect the injectors from a pump failure. I am envious of all the immaculate machines and their shiny conversions, I use mine hard and try to pressure wash once a year. If the filters are plugging with dirt "too quickly" the filter was not the problem, it's repeated bad fuel handling. Really, I've had my machine for 10 years now, never changed the filters once, don't intend to unless it needs it.
 

cerlawson

New member

Equipment
rotiller, box scraper,etc.
Feb 24, 2011
1,067
3
0
PORTAGE, WI
Mr. Not a step:

Sorry to deflate your balloon. With 240 hours on mine all fueling was done through a filtered funnel. The mesh is so small that the funnel will not pass water. I blame my problems on the bio killer stuff that is supposed to prevent bacteria from growing. After a lot of grief, I even found the stuff will gel at 40 degrees F. Filters looked clean, but would not pass the diesel at the rate when tested new. The treatment is Sta-Bil
 
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ThisIsNotaStep

New member

Equipment
2005 bx23 tlb
Nov 26, 2010
133
2
0
Ontario, Canada
How is that not bad fuel management? Only use fuel you trust, only keep as much on hand as you can burn before it spoils. Kuddo's on the mesh filter though!