A salute to Kubota durability.

[freewheel3]

Picked up another B7100 HSTD the other day, 1230 Hours on it. A twin to the one I already have, right down to the LA300B loader. Bought it from an older gentleman who bought it new, but hadn't used it in 5 years due to health issues. Stored inside since day one.

Threw a battery in it, checked the fluids and fired it up. Purrs like a kitten. Test drove it, threw some cash at the guy, and hauled it home.

Went to the dealer the other day and grabbed a round of filters, some coolant, some oil and some UDT to give it a complete service.

Changed the engine oil, which didn't actually look too bad, so I'm thinking there wasn't too many hours on the oil. Drained the fuel tank and refilled with fresh diesel. Then changed the fuel and air filters, which both didn't look bad either. Drained the rad and refilled with fresh 50/50 coolant. Changed oil in the front axle and hubs. Changed the oil in the steering box and lubed every grease zerk on it.

Saved the transmission for last. Popped all three plugs, no sign of water but the oil was slightly dark and had a greenish tint to it. Pulled both suction screens, the HST one had a fair bit of metal flakes and debris on it, the other one was clean. I noticed they looked like neither one had ever been off before. Then I popped the cover off to get at the filter and lo and behold, it still had the factory filter on it!!! Painted grey and no visible writing or numbers on it. Swapped the filter out, refilled with Premium UDT, ran it a bit and rechecked everything, all good.

It amazes me that the HST and hydraulics seem to work perfectly considering it seems that the system had never been serviced in 31 years and 1230 hours. That goes to show you what good design, engineering and quality materials will do in the long run.
Long live Kubota!

 

[SidecarFlip]

In as much as most owners use (and abuse) their smaller Kubota tractors way beyond their designed capabilities, They are very durable units. Easy to see why the B series Kubota's are the best selling smaller units in North America. My local dealer sell a bunch of them every year.

 

[GeoHorn]

There’s good reason Kubotas are popular (and it ain’t because they are cheap!)
Thanks for the report and congrats.

 

[shootem604]

I saw a picture on social media from a local small engine repair shop about Kubota quality. They noted that on a 3cyl diesel engine, the third cylinder was totally scored, piston almost ruined, and compression was very low, but there was no noticeable loss of power, no change in the sound of the engine. Not even sure why they picked up on it.

 

[SDT]

Picked up another B7100 HSTD the other day, 1230 Hours on it. A twin to the one I already have, right down to the LA300B loader. Bought it from an older gentleman who bought it new, but hadn't used it in 5 years due to health issues. Stored inside since day one.

Threw a battery in it, checked the fluids and fired it up. Purrs like a kitten. Test drove it, threw some cash at the guy, and hauled it home.

Went to the dealer the other day and grabbed a round of filters, some coolant, some oil and some UDT to give it a complete service.

Changed the engine oil, which didn't actually look too bad, so I'm thinking there wasn't too many hours on the oil. Drained the fuel tank and refilled with fresh diesel. Then changed the fuel and air filters, which both didn't look bad either. Drained the rad and refilled with fresh 50/50 coolant. Changed oil in the front axle and hubs. Changed the oil in the steering box and lubed every grease zerk on it.

Saved the transmission for last. Popped all three plugs, no sign of water but the oil was slightly dark and had a greenish tint to it. Pulled both suction screens, the HST one had a fair bit of metal flakes and debris on it, the other one was clean. I noticed they looked like neither one had ever been off before. Then I popped the cover off to get at the filter and lo and behold, it still had the factory filter on it!!! Painted grey and no visible writing or numbers on it. Swapped the filter out, refilled with Premium UDT, ran it a bit and rechecked everything, all good.

It amazes me that the HST and hydraulics seem to work perfectly considering it seems that the system had never been serviced in 31 years and 1230 hours. That goes to show you what good design, engineering and quality materials will do in the long run.
Long live Kubota!

Wow! That's abuse.

Still, quite a testimonial.

I bought my B1750HSDT new in 1993, and last summer I made the very first repairs. The return-to-center spring on the HST pedal failed due to metal fatigue and I replaced the key switch after it became intermittent resulting in increasingly common no-crank conditions. Prior to that, nothing aside from routine maintenance and tubes in the front turf tires after they would no longer hold air properly.

Not bad for 27 years.

SDT