Have you increased the hydraulic pressure of your BX tractor?

[NoBiffBetter]

Hey guys, I know there are TONS of threads already about increasing the hydrolic pressure on a Kubota bx using a hydro-pressure gauge and adding Shims to the relief valve but I just figured I would make a new thread about this to touch down on my specific application and questions.

I purchased a 2013 Kubota bx 2370 for a smoking deal awhile back, the tractor only came with the 60***8221; belly mower, the loader valve and the hydro-manifold. (Tractor had never seen a loader in its life). The tractor had 400hr on it when I purchased it.

About 3 weeks ago I bought a brand new LA340 loader from my local dealer and had them install it, the loader works fantastic as the does the QA loader and skid steer bucket mount.

I recently picked up a pressure tester kit from Bxpanded and quickly tested my pressure out.. I figured it was well worth the money to test as I know the relief valve spring is already 5-6 years old and since the tractor never had a loader on it I had no clue what the relief pressure would have been set to from the factory.

My initial test I got about 1,650psi which is well under spec (1750-1850psi) area. I added .7mm in shims after a few trial and errors and quickly got my operating pressure to 1,950psi! I havnt had a chance to test the loader yet as it was already off the tractor and it was getting too dark to attempt to install it so I will have to see how it feels today but I***8217;m gonna have to assume it***8217;s gonna feel quite a bit better with a 300psi jump in pressure like that.



My question to you guys is for those of you who have done this on your bx, what was the highest you left your pressure at and how long now has your loader been working well with the higher pressure? Any failures? Leaking Piston seals? Pump ok?

-I ask this question because not a lot of people actually know what the bx loader/pump can handle for a max pressure and the more info we get out of members here who have done this the more we can learn and make our own best educated guess as to what the hydrolic system can actually handle.

I have heard of one guy on this forum who says he increased his to 2100psi with no issues what so ever but I don***8217;t know if I would ever dare to go this high, I***8217;m more than likely going to leave mine at 2000psi or slightly under where it currently is after adding the shims but this would still be a great thing to know.

**Obviously heavy ballasts are a MUST when using such high loader pressures and correct use of your loader in keeping your load close to the ground and as level as possible is another great example of the safety that is required when increasing the pressure higher than spec.**

Lastly... I went from roughly 1650psi to 1950psi.. how much of a gain in lift capacity do you think I will have gained with it now being at 1950psi? I know the LA340 loader is about 50lbs heavier than the LA243 due to the skid steer QA so I am just curious of what you guys think my total lifting capacity will be now at 1950psi vs where it was at 1650psi.

Thanks guys! -Remeber the more we all share the more we can learn!

 

[NoBiffBetter]

Re: Have you increased the hydrolic pressure of your BX tractor?

I added 2 photos, the one is my first pressure test or baseline pressure, the second one is my ending pressure after adding the shims to the relief valve.

The increased relief spring tension not only gave me a higher pressure but it also helped to increase the pressure faster, before the needle on the gauge would slowly go up to 1500psi and then would very slowly creep to it***8217;s max at 1650psi but now the needle instantly jumps passed 1500-1600psi then slowly moves to 1950psi.

I felt this showed that this could really help with my loader***8217;s responsiveness now with the newly adjusted pressure.

 

[BXHoosier]

Re: Have you increased the hydrolic pressure of your BX tractor?

I raised the pressure on my BX24 to 1950psi. It has been like that for about a year with no issues. Granted, I have only put on about 20 hrs since then. I do notice the backhoe has quite a bit more power and I do not hear the relief nearly as much when digging.

 

[redfernclan]

Raised it to 1,950 psi. Almost 300 hrs on it now and no leaks, seeps or drips.

 

[JeepinMaxx]

good info! I have a BX2660 and tested the pressure with the BXPandid kit.. I'm at 1750-1800 PSI I was worried about bumping up the pressure with the shims

https://bxpanded.com/pressure-tester

 

[NoBiffBetter]

Raised it to 1,950 psi. Almost 300 hrs on it now and no leaks, seeps or drips.

Excellent guys! This is EXACTLY the type of testimony’s I want to hear from people!

There are a ton of people out there who are either too afraid to do this or who are worried about slightly going passed the spec and who are loosing out on “free power” -if you will... posts like these not only will give others a Re-assurance but also will give the guys who have already done this more confidence as well and more knowledge for future hydraulic pressure Tweeks!

That’s great to hear that you have over 300 hours on it already and not a single problem.. I feel this really shows how stout BX hydraulics can be and IMO that Kubota really only limits the pressure based on user safety concerns and that it is NOT based on the fact that the bx hydraulic components can’t handle it.


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[NoBiffBetter]

good info! I have a BX2660 and tested the pressure with the BXPandid kit.. I'm at 1750-1800 PSI I was worried about bumping up the pressure with the shims



https://bxpanded.com/pressure-tester

Hey there are tons of people that this worries. This is why I felt the need to make this thread. I was a little concerned myself to be honest but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from going to 1900-2000 with it.. I figured the worst that can happen is eventually I’ll see one of my hydraulic cylinders weeping.. and if that happened then I would just lower the pressure..

I had the chance to test my loader out last night and it felt great! When curling and lifting the boom the boom would immediately stop lifting when the bucket would max out.. now instead of the boom stopping dead when the bucket is at max curl it the boom just slows down dramatically which is 100x better then it dead stopping like it was. Now when I feel the boom start to creep+slow I quickly let off the curl and can have a more continuous/smooth motion when curling and lifting a load. I also noticed the loader feeling more responsive which was great!

We got some more snow today here in NY so I plan to do some more playing around. Also had a huge tree limb fall from 30 foot in the air so I’m gonna throw a strap around it and see if my loader has any issues lifting it lol.

If you have any questions or concerns about increasing your pressure let me know I’ll try and help tho it is pretty straight forward.

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[Orangeglow]

Great info. Not sure which tractor you have, but would you happen to have the link which shows which shim kit you bought, and which shims you added to get you there ?
I,m hoping you have a BX2360, or BX2370. LOL

Raised it to 1,950 psi. Almost 300 hrs on it now and no leaks, seeps or drips.

 

[D2Cat]

Hey guys, I know there are TONS of threads already about increasing the hydrolic pressure on a Kubota bx using a hydro-pressure gauge and adding Shims to the relief valve but I just figured I would make a new thread about this to touch down on my specific application and questions.

I purchased a 2013 Kubota bx 2370 for a smoking deal awhile back, the tractor only came with the 60***8221; belly mower, the loader valve and the hydro-manifold. (Tractor had never seen a loader in its life). The tractor had 400hr on it when I purchased it.

About 3 weeks ago I bought a brand new LA340 loader from my local dealer and had them install it, the loader works fantastic as the does the QA loader and skid steer bucket mount.

I recently picked up a pressure tester kit from Bxpanded and quickly tested my pressure out.. I figured it was well worth the money to test as I know the relief valve spring is already 5-6 years old and since the tractor never had a loader on it I had no clue what the relief pressure would have been set to from the factory.

My initial test I got about 1,650psi which is well under spec (1750-1850psi) area. I added .7mm in shims after a few trial and errors and quickly got my operating pressure to 1,950psi! I havnt had a chance to test the loader yet as it was already off the tractor and it was getting too dark to attempt to install it so I will have to see how it feels today but I***8217;m gonna have to assume it***8217;s gonna feel quite a bit better with a 300psi jump in pressure like that.



My question to you guys is for those of you who have done this on your bx, what was the highest you left your pressure at and how long now has your loader been working well with the higher pressure? Any failures? Leaking Piston seals? Pump ok?

-I ask this question because not a lot of people actually know what the bx loader/pump can handle for a max pressure and the more info we get out of members here who have done this the more we can learn and make our own best educated guess as to what the hydrolic system can actually handle.

I have heard of one guy on this forum who says he increased his to 2100psi with no issues what so ever but I don***8217;t know if I would ever dare to go this high, I***8217;m more than likely going to leave mine at 2000psi or slightly under where it currently is after adding the shims but this would still be a great thing to know.

**Obviously heavy ballasts are a MUST when using such high loader pressures and correct use of your loader in keeping your load close to the ground and as level as possible is another great example of the safety that is required when increasing the pressure higher than spec.**

Lastly... I went from roughly 1650psi to 1950psi.. how much of a gain in lift capacity do you think I will have gained with it now being at 1950psi? I know the LA340 loader is about 50lbs heavier than the LA243 due to the skid steer QA so I am just curious of what you guys think my total lifting capacity will be now at 1950psi vs where it was at 1650psi.

Thanks guys! -Remeber the more we all share the more we can learn!

He states right at the beginning what he is talking about!

 

[NoBiffBetter]

Great info. Not sure which tractor you have, but would you happen to have the link which shows which shim kit you bought, and which shims you added to get you there ?
I,m hoping you have a BX2360, or BX2370. LOL

D2cat is correct I stated that I have a 2013 bx 2370.. it also shows in my signature what I own.

Here is the kit you will want to use:

Link: https://www.google.com/amp/s/bxpanded.com/pressure-tester?amp=1

This kit will come with all the shims Necessary to properly adjust your hydraulic pressure with your relief valve.

As I stated I think in my first post, my pressure was a 1650psi and it took me .7mm in shims to bump my pressure from 1650 to 1950psi.. yours will vary because not every relief spring is created identical... depending on where you want your pressure to be it may take you .4mm or a .3mm or a .3mm with a .2mm spring to get you to where you wanna be.

For mine I used a .4mm, a .2mm and a .1mm shims to get me there.

First thing you want to do is get a baseline tho, throw the gauge on it and see where you are at, you don’t wanna just be guessing with this stuff. Each shim brings you up 40psi.

It is all very easily understandable in the directions that come with the kit and it will work on nearly all bx series tractors and definitely on your 60 series.


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[redfernclan]

Search for my write up on the BX-25. Kubota part numbers and price are there. Amount each thickness of shim and how much pressure it raises is there. All hoses and components are ratted well over 2,000 psi.

 

[phantomgeo]

It is cool to see it working with the tractors but I’m not seeing a kit compatible with the Bx 2200.

 

[TheOldHokie]

It is cool to see it working with the tractors but I’m not seeing a kit compatible with the Bx 2200.

Its just a pressure gauge, female quick coupler, and some shims. The only thing specific to the tractor are the shims. Just enter your model number in the box provided

Pressure Test & Adjust Kit - Kubota

www.bxpanded.com

Dan