mower height adjustment stuck on bx2380

Pezman

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Bx2380
Apr 28, 2023
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Ohio
Newbie on this forum. I cannot adjust height control knob on my bx2380 with 120 hrs. Seems stuck. Help please.
 

ve9aa

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TG1860, BX2380 -backblade, bx2830 snowblower, fel, weight box,pallet forks,etc
Apr 11, 2021
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Are you turning it clockwise?

IIRC (I stand to be corrected), you have to turn it clockwise (even if you want the grass cut lower...you go clockwise, then come back around to 1, 2, 3 etc.) at least that's the way it is on my TG1860 (which I do 95% of my mowing with) and I think I recall the BX2380's mower is the same. It has to do with the cams built into the screw (control)

I hope I am right on that....if wrong and corrected, I'll delete this.
 
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85Hokie

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Newbie on this forum. I cannot adjust height control knob on my bx2380 with 120 hrs. Seems stuck. Help please.
You may need to "jack" up the deck itself to relieve some pressure off of the control arms.
Then again you may need to wrap a towel around the knob and get nasty with it! Big pair of adjustable pliers and give it a spin.
 

GreX

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BX2380
Jan 8, 2023
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43
Maine
This helped me understand (
) you need to have the rear pto in the top position to enable lowering or raising of the deck with the height adjustment knob.
 
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Pezman

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Equipment
Bx2380
Apr 28, 2023
4
0
1
Ohio
Thank you to GreX for the youtube video that explains the mechanics behind the operation
of the height adjustment knob on my bx80. You would think Kubota would put that in their
ops manual. Everything works great and its time to mow! Good to have the support from
you all! Pezman
 

GreX

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Equipment
BX2380
Jan 8, 2023
173
119
43
Maine
Thank you to GreX for the youtube video that explains the mechanics behind the operation
of the height adjustment knob on my bx80. You would think Kubota would put that in their
ops manual. Everything works great and its time to mow! Good to have the support from
you all! Pezman
Yeah.. this was somewhat infuriating for me, now twice, first time was to raise it, and the second to lower it (figured gravity would help lower) - but now it's pretty easy, although I have to watch it when raising it all the way, the grass keeper starts to rub/push on the back fender. Glad to hear it's working for you now.
 

JimDeL

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BX2380; R4 tires; 54" MMM; FEL w Pirahna bar; Ballast Box; BXpanded skid plate.
Aug 31, 2022
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Austintown, Ohio
The simpler explanation (as mentioned in the manual for the deck) is the deck must be fully raised in order to be able to turn the adjuster knob.

BTW - regarding the video - if he'd raise the under-armor plate, then rotate the knob to the "Top" position, it'd stay up regardless of the 3PH position.

Also BTW - The BXpanded underarmor plate is great! It goes on my BX2380 whenever the mower deck comes off. Great underbody protection, and costs way less than a fan replacement.
 

atitus

Member

Equipment
BX1880+FEL,MMM,Blower
Feb 11, 2019
144
21
18
Worcester, MA
Yeah.. this was somewhat infuriating for me, now twice, first time was to raise it, and the second to lower it (figured gravity would help lower) - but now it's pretty easy, although I have to watch it when raising it all the way, the grass keeper starts to rub/push on the back fender. Glad to hear it's working for you now.
When you say this are you referring to rear bagger? It should be attached to fixed mount points, not the movable 3pt hydraulic lift arms.
 

GreX

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BX2380
Jan 8, 2023
173
119
43
Maine
When you say this are you referring to rear bagger? It should be attached to fixed mount points, not the movable 3pt hydraulic lift arms.
Very interesting - I don't have the instructions for this, and do have it mounted via the 3-point hitch arms - but found this video (
) that shows it in a fixed position. Do you or anyone have the manual for this thing, wondering if I'm causing it harm the way I have it mounted?
 

atitus

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Equipment
BX1880+FEL,MMM,Blower
Feb 11, 2019
144
21
18
Worcester, MA
GreX here is a post I made a while back. Picture shows what the 3 point arms should look like, attached to the fixed mount brackets. When you buy the collector (bagger) should come with these.

 

Sawdust&Shavings

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Apr 25, 2023
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I have the GCK60-23BX grass catcher on my BX1870-1 and it came with a mounting bracket that is left on the tractor. It does not use the 3-point hitch; in fact, the 3-point hitch has to be removed in order to use the bagger.

I have seen an extremely similar Kubota bagger system on others BXs that are attached at the 3-point hitch but I have no information on that variant.
 

atitus

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Equipment
BX1880+FEL,MMM,Blower
Feb 11, 2019
144
21
18
Worcester, MA
I can't comment on Sawdust's post because I only have the 80 series BX, but that sounds like a pretty shocking difference. On the 80 series you definitely don't remove the three point hitch. You can see in the picture in my post I linked above there are pins that you simply pull out (no tools needed) to swap the three point over to the fixed mount brackets. The actual hydraulic part of the three point remains there, unused. The three point arms and the top link are used to attach the bagger to the tractor like any other implement, the only difference being it's fixed in place. The bottom mechanism of the three point is unmodified in any way.
 

atitus

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Equipment
BX1880+FEL,MMM,Blower
Feb 11, 2019
144
21
18
Worcester, MA
I'll throw one more thing out there, the bagger package included for me a second adjustable three point arm; I think the base tractor includes only one adjustable. You could probably make it work without that , but it does help greatly in getting it on and off smoothly.
 

GreX

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Equipment
BX2380
Jan 8, 2023
173
119
43
Maine
Super interesting, I'll have to take a look at this set up after I get done with work today. I'll also grab a few photos of it 'set up' using the normal 3-point mounting - it has worked for two mows now, so maybe its a change for next year, unless it does indeed cause any issues..
 

atitus

Member

Equipment
BX1880+FEL,MMM,Blower
Feb 11, 2019
144
21
18
Worcester, MA
I'll be honest that I don't have a great many years of experience with agg equipment so maybe others here will chip in as to how impactful this is, but: the PTO shaft for the bagger is very short. When the bagger is properly mounted to the fixed mounts, the PTO shaft is dead straight shot from the tractor to the implement. As you raise and lower the mower deck for obstacles, etc, the bagger does not move. PTO always straight. If you attach the bagger to the 3 point hydraulics it will raise and lower the unit with the mower deck. This increases likelihood the bagger might impact the terrain. It also means the PTO shaft won't be straight. It doesn't take much of a lift or drop to get a significant angle on a shaft that short. Puts stress on the shaft and it's joints. How much of a deal is that? No idea. If you can afford it I would order the parts. Swap them in at the next opportunity. Imho it's going to be way cheaper than risking it. The system is designed to be run in a fixed position.
 

GreX

Active member

Equipment
BX2380
Jan 8, 2023
173
119
43
Maine
I'll be honest that I don't have a great many years of experience with agg equipment so maybe others here will chip in as to how impactful this is, but: the PTO shaft for the bagger is very short. When the bagger is properly mounted to the fixed mounts, the PTO shaft is dead straight shot from the tractor to the implement. As you raise and lower the mower deck for obstacles, etc, the bagger does not move. PTO always straight. If you attach the bagger to the 3 point hydraulics it will raise and lower the unit with the mower deck. This increases likelihood the bagger might impact the terrain. It also means the PTO shaft won't be straight. It doesn't take much of a lift or drop to get a significant angle on a shaft that short. Puts stress on the shaft and it's joints. How much of a deal is that? No idea. If you can afford it I would order the parts. Swap them in at the next opportunity. Imho it's going to be way cheaper than risking it. The system is designed to be run in a fixed position.
Makes a lot of sense. I did get some extra bits and pieces (another fixed link arm) since I bought this used - maybe I can figure it out, I got the bagger mounted, although incorrectly, without the manual, lol. I see your photos, I do have those hard mounted ears, so should be able to figure it out - I am a bit worried about moving it around to a fixed position, are the legs long enough to do that? It was a major pain to get mounted, the way I have it now, by myself.
 

atitus

Member

Equipment
BX1880+FEL,MMM,Blower
Feb 11, 2019
144
21
18
Worcester, MA
Short answer to your question is yes, it's meant to be fixed mounted, legs are right length. Once you have it on the 3pt, lift up a bit on the bagger to take the weight off and tighten the height adjustment on the 3pt. This will take the weight off so your can stow the legs. If you can't lift, put a sheet of 1/2 or thicker plywood under the legs before you mount it. Tighten up the arms best u can then pull out the plywood. You pretty much HAVE do it on even ground, preferably concrete or it's a real nightmare.
 

atitus

Member

Equipment
BX1880+FEL,MMM,Blower
Feb 11, 2019
144
21
18
Worcester, MA
To make life easier consider wheel mod. That's what I did. Drill holes in the feet and add free rotation wheels. You also have to drill new holes in the legs to offset the height added by the wheels. Should be a factory option IMHO. Not difficult with the right tools. You need drill bits made for hard steel, and either a drill press or jig to ensure the holes get made straight.
 

GreX

Active member

Equipment
BX2380
Jan 8, 2023
173
119
43
Maine
To make life easier consider wheel mod. That's what I did. Drill holes in the feet and add free rotation wheels. You also have to drill new holes in the legs to offset the height added by the wheels. Should be a factory option IMHO. Not difficult with the right tools. You need drill bits made for hard steel, and either a drill press or jig to ensure the holes get made straight.
Thanks for the assist with this, since it was on the 3-point hydro arms, I was able to easily raise it up, drop the legs, but then struggled to get the pressure off, so threw a car jack under the bagger assembly, raised it up, shortened both the arms and then it was in place. The pto connection on the bagger assembly is still about 1/2-1" lower than the tractor pto connection, but its now fixed in place and the deck can easily be adjusted at the rear pto top height. Also, took about 45 minutes, as I'm slow and still new to this thing.