Defective wheels on new L47 kubota tractor

dow stough

New member

Equipment
backhoe, grapple bucket
Sep 6, 2018
3
0
0
hot springs arkansas
I have a 2 year old kabota L47 with low hours. the warranty expired in march 2018. My wheels pop and crackle after use, we noticed this within one month of purchase {new}. Recently we noticed the noise became worse and discover the wheel cracks. This isn't a new issue and the wheels were defective from the factory. I have read post from others with similar complaints. I think Kabota should come clean and admit they have a factory related problem. They refused to replace mine but offered "some assistance".
How many other L47 owners are having this problem?
 

skeets

Well-known member

Equipment
BX 2360 /B2601
Oct 2, 2009
14,094
2,755
113
SW Pa
Re: DEfective wheels on new L47 kabota tractor

Ahhhhummm first thing I would do is check the torque on the lugnuts !!!! They will and do back off allowing the hub to move eve so slightly and make a creeking sound,, And just why didnt you have the dealer come out and check it BEFORE the warranty ran out if it has been making noise since it was new????:confused:
 

rbargeron

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L5450, L48, L3250, L345 never enough attachments
Jul 6, 2015
1,136
211
63
western ma
Re: DEfective wheels on new L47 kabota tractor

Wheels are put on by the assembling dealer - TLB's usually have heavier-duty wheels. Maybe your L47 doesn't have the right ones?
 

rademamj

New member
Apr 9, 2017
43
0
0
Waco, Texas, USA
Re: DEfective wheels on new L47 kabota tractor

Wheel cracks? Can you provide photos of the problem. Honestly, I not heard of such problems before with a Kubota or any tractor. My kioti will loosen lugs from normal use and so about every 50 hrs I check and tighten if necessary.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 

North Idaho Wolfman

Moderator
Staff member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3450DT-GST, Woods FEL, B7100 HSD, FEL, 60" SB, 743 Bobcat with V2203, and more
Jun 9, 2013
28,286
4,852
113
Sandpoint, ID
Re: Defective wheels on 2 year old L47 kubota tractor

First: If your going to knock something, spell it right, it's not Kabota it's Kubota, doing that makes one wonder if you actually own a Kubota or are just trying to sling mud over the fence?

Second: I'll have to go with Skeets on the next 2 points, did you ever do anything to remedy the issue, like re torque the lug nuts/bolts, did you remove the tires and rims, did you take it in to the dealer or have the dealer come out and check it out?


Third: Why did you wait till after the warranty expired to try and fix it? :confused:

I know this is not a common issue or a manufacturing defect issue or we would have heard about it with all the posts we get. ;)
 

dow stough

New member

Equipment
backhoe, grapple bucket
Sep 6, 2018
3
0
0
hot springs arkansas
Re: Defective wheels on 2 year old L47 kubota tractor

well I don't type very well thus the spelling. I do not perform the maintenance on the tractor nor do I intend to start. We have had it in for all regular check ups but everyone missed it. There are other post on L47 wheel cracks I found online so I know its out there.
This is a factory defect or was due to too tight instillations of lug nuts.
 

North Idaho Wolfman

Moderator
Staff member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3450DT-GST, Woods FEL, B7100 HSD, FEL, 60" SB, 743 Bobcat with V2203, and more
Jun 9, 2013
28,286
4,852
113
Sandpoint, ID
Re: Defective wheels on 2 year old L47 kubota tractor

well I don't type very well thus the spelling. I do not perform the maintenance on the tractor nor do I intend to start. We have had it in for all regular check ups but everyone missed it. There are other post on L47 wheel cracks I found online so I know its out there.
This is a factory defect or was due to too tight instillations of lug nuts.
Replying gives you a complete pass on spelling... ;)

It's too loose of nuts/bolts that causes the problem, not too tight.
The popping and crackling is a definite sign of too loose of nuts.

I can point out a hundred or so of that type of rim failure and probably 98% are attributed to loose nuts/bolts on the wheel.

Did you specifically tell the dealer about the issue when you took it in for checkups?

You also need to understand that tractors are not like automobiles, defects in materials is subjective, use effects life of all components. I'm not saying they were not a bad design or defective but during the warranty period is about the only time you have any fight to get things replaced.
If they are offering you any deal at all on the parts I would take it and run as they are really under no obligation or commitment to do anything about it.
 
Last edited:

dow stough

New member

Equipment
backhoe, grapple bucket
Sep 6, 2018
3
0
0
hot springs arkansas
Re: Defective wheels on 2 year old L47 kubota tractor

okay
that is all great information. They are offering to help so I appreciate that.
Thanks
 

edritchey

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
A bunch of cute little Kubotas
Jul 19, 2014
1,059
731
113
Wellsville, PA
Re: Defective wheels on 2 year old L47 kubota tractor

I hope it works out for you it sucks to put out that kind of money and to have problems so early on.

okay
that is all great information. They are offering to help so I appreciate that.
Thanks
 

RCW

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
BX2360, FEL, MMM, BX2750D snowblower. 1953 Minneapolis Moline ZAU
Apr 28, 2013
8,282
3,866
113
Chenango County, NY
Dow Stough - - welcome to the forum!

Great bunch of folks here, from those with zero experience to expert mechanics and operators.

When I saw your post about popping/creaking sounds, my immediate thought was to tighten the lugs. Especially since it was new.

Then I saw the replies from Skeets and Wolfman. I wish you came here 2 years ago, and we might have been able to help "head it off at the pass."

It's great the dealer will help out. Hope it all works out.

Again, welcome - - Don't be a stranger, lots of good information and help here.

Best wishes.
 
Last edited:

gullibull55

New member
Jan 23, 2020
1
0
0
Center valley pa
We have lost 6 rear rims on Kubota L47 TLB in 6 months..... if anything we check lug nuts too often , maybe make em a bit too tight , mark em to make sure they donÂ’t move .....and still the rim slips ovals out the holes and cracks.....

Dealer says itÂ’s abuse, customer slamming the machines forward and reverse to get unstuck....to which we say itÂ’s the same guys running our other TLB units and we donÂ’t loose any rims on those ever ..... JD 110, L39, B26 all fine
 

whitetiger

Moderator
Staff member

Equipment
Kubota tech..BX2370, RCK60, B7100HST, RTV900 w plow, Ford 1100 FWA
Nov 20, 2011
2,542
1,058
113
Kansas City, KS
We have lost 6 rear rims on Kubota L47 TLB in 6 months..... if anything we check lug nuts too often , maybe make em a bit too tight , mark em to make sure they donÂ’t move .....and still the rim slips ovals out the holes and cracks.....

Dealer says itÂ’s abuse, customer slamming the machines forward and reverse to get unstuck....to which we say itÂ’s the same guys running our other TLB units and we donÂ’t loose any rims on those ever ..... JD 110, L39, B26 all fine
How are you torquing them?
 

dlundblad

Member

Equipment
G5200, L2501, ZD1211
May 16, 2009
503
10
18
IN
It has been my understanding that they crack when not torqued after the first 25 or so hours of rim installation.

I can understand an L47 killing the rims faster given that they are a much tougher machine than the standard L models and thus used much harder.

I dont think the L has upgraded rims, but I could be mistaken.
 

SidecarFlip

Banned

Equipment
M9000HDCC3, M9000HD, Kubota GS850 Sidekick
Oct 28, 2018
7,197
546
83
USA
I wonder how many owners even use a torque wrench and torque to the spec listed in the owners manual? Probably not many and I bet even fewer bother reading the owners manuals at all....

Torque wrench= Impact gun or breaker bar.....:rolleyes:
 

ETurner

New member

Equipment
Kubota L47
Jul 14, 2023
2
3
3
Kentucky
"Defective" is misleading. The wheels aren't really defective, but the engineering was (or more likely, the corporate decision-making was defective). These wheels simply aren't strong enough for the backhoe application, especially in a real construction environment. I'm a utility (telecom) contractor and we use this machine on the job. The reason the lug nuts like to go loose is because the wheels have too much flex when subjected to the typical side-to-side lateral forces they experience when coming onto and off the outriggers, re-positioning the machine with the backhoe (like all backhoe operators do constantly) and occasionally having to use the hoe without the outriggers down, etc. These wheels are probably OK enough for a Homeowner Bob situation, but they won't stand up to the real uses this machine was supposedly designed for.

Mine started loosening up often pretty early on (less than 50 hrs) and the spider cracks were noticed not long after. Others I know have had the same issues. As the cracks kept appearing and spreading on both wheels (by 500 hrs) and I figured out why it was happening, I approached dealer with the problem (had the 5-year bumper-to-bumper) and they wouldn't fix it under warranty because it wasn't from an 'accident', and there was/is no factory recall.

So, with fine cracks spreading out several inches from every lug on both wheels, and not wanting to try and weld all of that and couldn't have expected that to be successful anyway, I got out the plasma cutter and drill, and fabricated some plates out of 1/4" steel (see pic attached). It took a bit of regular re-torqueing over a few real-world machine hours to finally get them properly cupped into the wheel curvature, and I haven't really had any problems since. Lugs stay tight and it pretty much halted the cracking for quite a long time.

Over 1600hrs on the unit now and I'm just beginning to see that a couple of the already-existing cracks that I sandwiched in with the plates have finally made it out past it on one wheel and I'll be re-placing both rims before long. Plates let me get over 1,000 more hrs out of rims that were already heavily damaged & otherwise beyond repair. I will absolutely be re-installing them on the new rims and hopefully prevent the issue from happening again.

As noted above; These factory rear wheels just aren't up to the task they've been given. I'm sure they are used on other models/applications without much issue, which I assume is why there hasn't been a recall because the overall failure rate is probably fairly low all told) but they just can't handle the typical abuses of a backhoe.

So, for you other l47/L45 owners and fleet guys, here is the DIY 'fix' that has worked out fairly well for me so far. Hope it helps.
L47 rim plates.jpg
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users

fried1765

Well-known member

Equipment
Kubota L48 TLB, Ford 1920 FEL, Ford 8N, SCAG Liberty Z, Gravely Pro.
Nov 14, 2019
6,311
4,001
113
Eastham, Ma
"Defective" is misleading. The wheels aren't really defective, but the engineering was. These wheels simply aren't strong enough for the backhoe application, especially in a real construction environment. I'm a utility (telecom) contractor and we use this machine on the job. The reason the lug nuts like to go loose is because the wheels have too much flex when subjected to the typical side-to-side lateral forces they experience when coming onto and off the outriggers, re-positioning the machine with the backhoe (like all backhoe operators do constantly) and occasionally having to use the hoe without the outriggers down, etc. These wheels are probably OK enough for a Homeowner Bob situation, but they won't stand up to the real uses this machine was supposedly designed for.

Mine started loosening up often pretty early on (less than 50 hrs) and the spider cracks were noticed not long after. Others I know have had the same issues. As the cracks kept appearing and spreading on both wheels (by 500 hrs) and I figured out why it was happening, I approached dealer with the problem (had the 5-year bumper-to-bumper) and they wouldn't fix it under warranty because it wasn't from an 'accident', and there was/is no factory recall.

So, with fine cracks spreading out several inches from every lug on both wheels, and not wanting to try and weld all of that and couldn't have expected that to be successful anyway, I got out the plasma cutter and drill, and fabricated some plates out of 1/4" steel (see pic attached). It took a bit of regular re-torqueing over a few real-world machine hours to finally get them properly cupped into the wheel curvature, and I haven't really had any problems since. Lugs stay tight and it pretty much halted the cracking for quite a long time.

Over 1600hrs on the unit now and I'm just beginning to see that a couple of the already-existing cracks that I sandwiched in with the plates have finally made it out past it on one wheel and I'll be re-placing both rims before long. Plates let me get over 1,000 more hrs out of rims that were already heavily damaged & otherwise beyond repair. I will absolutely be re-installing them on the new rims and hopefully prevent the issue from happening again.

As noted above; These factory rear wheels just aren't up to the task they've been given. I'm sure they are used on other models/applications without much issue, which I assume is why there hasn't been a recall because the overall failure rate is probably fairly low all told) but they just can't handle the typical abuses of a backhoe.

So, for you other l47/L45 owners and fleet guys, here is the DIY 'fix' that has worked out fairly well for me so far. Hope it helps.
View attachment 107232
Innovative fix idea,..... but your documentation proves that there IS a legitimate problem, and Kubota SHOULD be providing a factory fix.

P.S. I have a 2006 L48 TLB with only 260 hours.
Mine is for personal use, and always babied.
Should I assume that I have the same wheels as the current L47 TLB?

I torque my wheels to the 1/2" impact wrench "Gutentite" spec.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user

ETurner

New member

Equipment
Kubota L47
Jul 14, 2023
2
3
3
Kentucky
Innovative fix idea,..... but your documentation proves that there IS a legitimate problem, and Kubota SHOULD be providing a factory fix.

P.S. I have a 2006 L48 TLB with only 260 hours.
Mine is for personal use, and always babied.
Should I assume that I have the same wheels?
We bought our L47 new in 2019, but it's entirely possible they were still using the same wheels from '06, or probably not much different.

I very much agree that Kubota should step up and fix the problem, or at the very least offer some more robust wheels or other solution(s) for those of us with these machines who are dealing with the failure.

It's really the only complaint I've have with the unit. I had to replace the ECM (because an employee kept trying to crank it winter-before-last with an almost dead battery and fried it) but other than that it's been pretty much trouble free and it has seen a lot of use in the last 5 years, especially with several different construction workers in the seat, if you know what I mean.

In any case, good luck.
 

GreensvilleJay

Well-known member

Equipment
BX23-S,57 A-C D-14,58 A-C D-14, 57 A-C D-14,tiller,cults,Millcreek 25G spreader,
Apr 2, 2019
9,669
3,916
113
Greensville,Ontario,Canada
curious.... wonder if the tires are 'loaded' ? If so I can see the need to inspect/test wheel nuts far more often.
 

SDT

Well-known member

Equipment
multiple and various
Apr 15, 2018
3,084
923
113
SE, IN
I have a 2 year old kabota L47 with low hours. the warranty expired in march 2018. My wheels pop and crackle after use, we noticed this within one month of purchase {new}. Recently we noticed the noise became worse and discover the wheel cracks. This isn't a new issue and the wheels were defective from the factory. I have read post from others with similar complaints. I think Kabota should come clean and admit they have a factory related problem. They refused to replace mine but offered "some assistance".
How many other L47 owners are having this problem?
Most likely improperly torqued lug nuts, and not uncommon.

Dealers are supposed to properly torque lug nuts upon installation and owners are supposed to check/retorque periodically as per Operator's Manual.

Many dealers do not properly torque lug nuts upon assembly and few owners check/retorque as per manual.