BX24 Cheap Plastic Hood Shattered to pieces

wizbandit

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Sep 15, 2019
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I got a quote for a new Plastic Hood for my BX24 of over $500. Not gonna happen. Mine shattered into about 40 pieces that I glassed back together for now.
My brothers BX2360 has a nice steel metal hood. Does anyone know if you can make this work on a BX24 with some mounting changes?
The local Kubota dealer won''t even try and help me figure this out. The engine shroud also shattered into about 50 pieces so I don't have one now.
Nice engineering for a $20K Tractor. Oh, the plastic fender assembly also is busted, it was replaced on a recall but still busted.
 

SidecarFlip

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Go buy a green or blue one next time and bust them up. All the same in smaller units. You must be doing something out of the ordinary because I've rarely seen anyone on here with a busted anything.
 

Palmettokat

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Recently bought my third Kubota. One thing I noticed during my deciding on 2nd JD or 3rd Kubota was Kubota's saying how they had steel hood compared to JD not being metal. It does seem very unusual to have the problem you are. Any chance your machine was sprayed with something that made it brittle?
 

GeoHorn

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Plastic is good for small bumps and knocks because it can take them...but it’s difficult to repair for big ones when they finally fail. It’d not be so bad if they didn’t charge a fortune for replacements. One of the things about my ‘96 M4700 that I appreciate is that it’s all STEEL.

(But I’m not so sure a replacement metal hood would be any less expensive.)
 
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SidecarFlip

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Plastic is good for small bumps and knocks because it can take them...but it’s difficult to repair for big ones when they finally fail. It’d not be so bad if they didn’t charge a fortune for replacements. One of the things about my ‘96 M4700 that I appreciate is that it’s all STEEL.

(But I’m not so sure a replacement metal hood would be any less expensive.)

You don't want to know George... :rolleyes:

I priced a replacement bonnet (hood) for my open station I bought last spring. The original owner rolled something on the hood (I suspect a round bale in the bucket) and dented it and broke off the telescopic bucket level indicator. I replaced the indicator (Kubota), 30 bucks, but the hood (which on mine is a 3 piece affair). Just the upper part is $900.00, the sides are $350.00 each x 2 and the grill is $150.00. I had the local body shop remove the dents and repaint it for $200.00 and I replaced the grill which was buggered up as well.

So no, it's not a cheap date by a long shot.

I really don't like looking at dents.

One thing about a metal hood is, if it gets scratched, it will rust, plastic don't.

Almost forgot, the insulation inside the hood toward the back is an additional 65 bucks. Had to replace that as well.
 

SidecarFlip

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I wonder if letting a plastic (polycarbonate) hood unit sit in the sun causes it to get brittle and crack?
 
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GeoHorn

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Metal can be bodyworked easier than plastic, IMO. FLip, it only rusts if the scratch is not cleaned/painted. Metal will outlast plastic. How many classic Saturn automobiles do you see?
(My wife had a Saturn. She hit a deer the first week. It took SIX MONTHS for them to fix the body damage despite their claims the plastic body would either “bounce back” or be “quickly replaced”. BS! SIX MONTHS!
My ’51 Bulletnosed Studebaker Starlight Coupe still looks new!
And there are PLENTY of 8N/9N Ford and Poppin’ Johnny, IH, Oliver, and other tractors which are parading like new. We’ll see how many plastic ones are still around in another 20 years.
 

rentthis

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I got a quote for a new Plastic Hood for my BX24 of over $500. Not gonna happen. Mine shattered into about 40 pieces that I glassed back together for now.
My brothers BX2360 has a nice steel metal hood. Does anyone know if you can make this work on a BX24 with some mounting changes?
The local Kubota dealer won''t even try and help me figure this out. The engine shroud also shattered into about 50 pieces so I don't have one now.
Nice engineering for a $20K Tractor. Oh, the plastic fender assembly also is busted, it was replaced on a recall but still busted.

The hood "shattered into about 40 pieces"? Were you driving along and the hood started breaking up or did a tree fall on it. If the latter, how do you thing a steel hood would have faired? I have wished for years that Kubota would use plastic hoods on my rental tractors. The steel ones don't do well at all when someone drops a load of bricks on them out of the loader.
 

SidecarFlip

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Metal can be bodyworked easier than plastic, IMO. FLip, it only rusts if the scratch is not cleaned/painted. Metal will outlast plastic. How many classic Saturn automobiles do you see?
(My wife had a Saturn. She hit a deer the first week. It took SIX MONTHS for them to fix the body damage despite their claims the plastic body would either “bounce back” or be “quickly replaced”. BS! SIX MONTHS!
My ’51 Bulletnosed Studebaker Starlight Coupe still looks new!
And there are PLENTY of 8N/9N Ford and Poppin’ Johnny, IH, Oliver, and other tractors which are parading like new. We’ll see how many plastic ones are still around in another 20 years.

I kind of surmised you were a 'Stude' person.:p
 

GreensvilleJay

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re: My brothers BX2360 has a nice steel metal hood. Does anyone know if you can make this work on a BX24 with some mounting changes?

gee, 'borrow' it and see how it fits onto your 24.......

reminds me I need to make a PROPER grille guard for my BX23S..'stuff' manages to get between loader frame and the 'tin', foldable OEM grille.....

repairing 'plastic' is just as easy as steel, IF , you know how and use the correct 'glues'.....
 

GeoHorn

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repairing 'plastic' is just as easy as steel, IF , you know how and use the correct 'glues'.....
That ”depends”. If plastic is shattered... yes. But if it’s deformed/compressed/melted.... No, unless it’s completely cut-out and if the surrounding area is not s t r e t c h e d ....
 

SidecarFlip

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That ”depends”. If plastic is shattered... yes. But if it’s deformed/compressed/melted.... No, unless it’s completely cut-out and if the surrounding area is not s t r e t c h e d ....

Just be like all the lawnmower people with lawn tractors, when the hood craps out, run it sans hood....
 

lugbolt

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you are not alone.

I once bought a John Deere LX188 mower. Sweet little riding mower, loved everything about it and I mean everything. Silky smooth running, quiet, comfortable, but a little slow. Big deal. More time to have a glass of tea.

Anyway I gave $400 for the mower and it looked brand new. The transmission pulley was shot, replaced it and used it for a while. Then one afternoon my brother wanted to ride the 4 wheeler and I kept the mower parked behind the 4 wheeler in the summer since the ATV never really moved til about August, but the mower got used every 3-4 days from April through late August, then about once a week from Aug-Nov. So he gets on my mower, backs it out and hung the side of the storage building with the hood, broke the hood. Ok big deal I'll fix it (soldering gun). That lasted exactly one cycle of opening the hood to check the oil, then it just shattered, cracked all over the place. Great I get to buy a new hood and of course it wasn't just the lower part, it was also the upper that cracked. So I called Deere dealer locally (actually worked there & was able to get a little break on the parts). $900 for all the pieces. For a $450 lawn mower. Well the rest of the mower looked literally brand new, so I bought & sold a bunch of, well, junk (yard sale stuff, storage unit contents, etc) and saved up the money. Ended up buying one off of Ebay, every single part including the headlights, harness, bulbs, screws, nuts, decals, sponges, everything-for a little less than dealer wanted, and it all came as a "kit" (not a "Deere" kit, but it was all Deere parts thrown together as one order). A few hours after receipt, I had it back going again. Sold it a few weeks later for $1700, didn't want to but a guy seen me mowing the grass at the house & offered me $1700 for it. Mind you, almost $800 JUST FOR THE GREEN HOOD. It is so common that some of the eBay sellers offer the hood as a 'kit' just the way I got it, all genuine deere parts but all put together as one order. I have rarely seen a Deere LX series mower that didn't have a broken hood, that's how bad they were and still are, though the LX series is long gone now (replaced by the X series I think)--and my neighbor's got an X330 I think it is, and yes you guessed it, busted hood. little over a year old now, he got it for Christmas 2018. I didn't bother asking how much. He's a die hard Deere guy and very proud of his green broken hood. Google search "john deere plastic hood broken". They are famous for it.

Remember, there's an engine thingy under that big green plastic (actually polycarbonate) hood, and the PC gets brittle with age, temperature, cold, oxidation, basically anything that doesn't run down the perfectly manicured roads with no vibration and stored in a climate controlled room, and removed when hot, will cause it to crack at some point, guaranteed! So yes, PC is the absolute wrong material to use for a tractor or mower hood. Basically the perfect example of what NOT to use, if you will.

Kubota did have a fun of a few broken hoods and fenders on the bx's and they were replacing them for a while. Now all of the BX's are metal, which they (IMO) should've been all along. They were just trying to compete with other brands and competing sometimes means cutting a cost somewhere to keep the price down, and it just happened to be the hood & fender assembly on some of the BX's for a year or two. I used to do service management and filed a lot of goodwill claims where someone thought a machine that was 5 or 6 years OUT of warranty should get it paid for (Lifetime warranty??). I mean lots of them, and I didn't mind doing it for most folks. There were a couple exceptions that come to mind but that's a different subject. So Kubota was buying hoods and fenders for bx's that were several years old, on goodwill, and at 100% reimbursement. That cow dried up, due to the age of that particular generation of BX's, which are now closing in on 10 years old. It is, IMO, unfortunate, that they chose to use PC for a hood, like Deere did and still does, and it's very unfortunate that it costs a lot of money to replace. Now, there is a very (and I mean VERY) remote possibility that a dealer that you really like might get you some help with the cost of it....BUT keep in mind that "goodwill" is likely going to be a shared cost, meaning you'd be buying 2/3 of the hood (used as an example) where Kubota might only put up 1/3 of it.
 

GeoHorn

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.... Now, there is a very (and I mean VERY) remote possibility that a dealer that you really like might get you some help with the cost of it....BUT keep in mind that "goodwill" is likely going to be a shared cost, meaning you'd be buying 2/3 of the hood (used as an example) where Kubota might only put up 1/3 of it.
The favor...if any of a particular dealer... of getting you another hood at some huge “discount”.... is a mirage. The dealer normally makes “mark-up” on any parts he orders for you. If he gives the part to you for “2/3”... the favor he’s doing is of little or no cost to him, as his dealer-cost is what he passes on to you. ;)

Neil from Messicks had a comment when comparing the John Deer-1 to the Kubota BX regarding plastic... here’s a quote: “As we move back into the tractor itself, we could start here by flipping up the hood. John Deere famously stands behind their use of plastic in tractors. I'm never so much a fan of the Rubbermaid hoods, but that's me. My impression is, metal can be painted easier, stands up better as things age and that kind of thing. Plastics tend to become brittle,...”
 
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MinnesotaDude

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Kubota BX24
Nov 27, 2022
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Hi. did anybody ever find any solution to this?

I have the same issue. The guys that defend plastic parts have no idea.

The sun makes this plastic extremely brittle. My hood, fender, wrap are all in pieces and right now about $3k to replace... with the same junk.

They may be dented or faded by the sun, but metal will still work decades (or a century) later.

By the way, my understanding is Kubota also decided plastic was a bad idea after the BX24...

Dennis
 

GreensvilleJay

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depends on the plastic....bumpers on cars get a LOT of sun on them, can be 'crunched' yet they are easily repaired. kid next door does a LOT of them......
the hood on my 5 year old BX23s is cut,scratched,sliced but still in one piece,spends 1/2 it's life(the daylight portion ) outside. Sure kind of faded a bit. But then I bought it to be used and abused not to become a 'trailer queen'.