A full belly...pan

[lugweld]

Here is a project that I am working on. Should be through tomorrow. Forgot the camera yesterday so the pics start a little after the beginning. Some of you may remember the Limb cage that I bid on...this is from the same dealer. He called needing a belly pan for a tractor he had just sold. The customer jabbed a stick through the oil filter into his radiator. The teats on the tires aren't even rubbed off good yet. They just fixed it and I am putting it on. Plate is 3/8" x5'x10'.

The rough cut notch is for the tire to make a full turn. It has a lot of oscillation and swings greatly. You can see the indention on the gray part of the engine cover that they have to accomodate the tuning of the wheel and pivoting of the axle. It was necessary to notch, because the engine needs as much protection as possible. You can se the filter in the first photo that was knocked off.

[lugweld]

Here are some more. You can see the loader control valve is a sitting duck for anything to wipe it out. behind that is a hydraulic filter, a mass of wires, hydraulic lines, and several delicate solenoids. Kubotas are quality built tractors, but their design and engineering are as bad as they come. Serious farmers won't use them because of all the claptrap and stuff literally hanging off the tractors , begging to be knocked off, with some scant little 18 gauge sheet metal gaurds barely protecting vital systems. The close ups are of the front plate that mounts to the front of the tractor, slanting down and is welded to the belly pan to protect the front of the tractor.

[lugweld]

last pic for today.

[farmersamm]

How will it be attached

What are the provisions for changing oil, front end lube, etc.

That's gotta be one heavy Motha

[farmersamm]

Originally Posted by farmersamm

How will it be attached

What are the provisions for changing oil, front end lube, etc.

That's gotta be one heavy Motha

Sorry Lugweld, I jumped the gun, didn't see the next batch of pics comin' down

[farmersamm]

Ok, same questions

[lugweld]

The full plate weighs about 750 pounds. Trimmed up, I guess more like 400.

There are three drain plugs. One for the transmission/rear end, and two for the engine(it has a deep U shaped oil pan for the front drive shaft to attatch to). A small hole will suffice for each, no more than 3" in diameter, enough space for a socket and fingertips to operate in. All filters are mounted on the side, and above the pan. Zerks are pointing straight out so nothing is covered up.

I finished the most of the attatchment points in the dark tonight. But the last pics are the front attatchment, bolting up where the brush gaurd/ weight bracket will go. The others will bolt to the engine frame and will share in common the loader to tractor mounts. The outermost mount will actually be to the loader itself for support.

If you look at the pics, you can see little yellow lines. These are the places for the attatchment points to be welded. Above them are the bolts where they will be attatched. Most should be visible if you get out your cheaters.

[farmersamm]

I see the yellow lines now!!

Sounds like the oil pan is like the one on Mom's old 89 Crown Vic. 302 V8. Had 2 drain plugs, front, and back with a sorta horseshoe thing in the pan to fit around the axle, or crossmember, or some damn thing.

Is there a way to enlarge the holes under the drain plugs. That damn oil has a mind of its own when you first open the plug. Sometimes it goes as much as 6" out of plumb when it first starts comin' out. That sh#t might be runnin' all across the belly pan, and over the side somewheres.

[lugweld]

If I remember right,the drain plugs on these tractors extend down sort of like a funnel to the plug and seem to drain well. I think everything will be alright, but the plugs will only be an inch or so from the opening of the hole.

[farmersamm]

Sounds like it ought to work.

Crazy thing about this computer crap. Ya got people thousands of miles away from each other second guessing other peoples work.

Aw Hell, good way to kill an evening

[farmersamm]

Lot more fun to get a bunch of friends over, drink ungodly amounts of beers, and shoot the sh%t.

Pissin' on the project ain't allowed, ceptin' for the dog

[lugweld]

Well the good thing about this kind of communication, no matter how many beers or other beverages are drunk between friends, no one goes home with a black eye.

[Sandy]

Wow, some of that stuff looks like it was put there to be ripped off. Down time is time folks just don't always have. It's gotta have a plate but plates can be dust and trash catchers too.

Good work.

[farmersamm]

Never had a black eye in my life, thank you very much

I run too goddamn fast!!!!!

[lugweld]

Me neither, oh wait, I did get a cut above my eye once. We were throwing rocks on the playground at each other in the 4th grade. Stayed out of trouble since.

[lugweld]

Sandy,

That is a problem that is common with Kubota. No one designs the tractors from an experienced point of view. It must all be done on computers. I doubt if the designers could actually even get one of these beasts into gear. The shifter is on the left down below the seat. It really is a range selector. It has a clutch pedal, but it is a hydrostat. The forward reverse pedal is tied into the throttle so when you hit the forward or reverse rocker pedal, it automatically increases engine rpm. It does have a override though, just down and just out of reach on the right. The rpm lever is set up like a lawnmower on the dash I could go on and on about the poor designs. It is hard to believe the quality that goes into everything and then you see the design. They are paradoxical.

[farmersamm]

Good philosophy on life

I'd rather be hittin' it, than be gettin' hit

[David R]

Nice work, big stuff. It will do the job. And if the guy gets stuck, he can hook the chain to the bellypan to pull it out!

David

[mla2ofus]

Well, maybe I was asleep,but I have to ask whatever came of the cab guard project?
I agree w/ ya, I don't see how they can build such a good tractor and have so much vitals exposed to the vagaries of "workin' in the brush". When ya build a 4wd tractor ya gotta figure it's gonna go places other than a flat field or mowin' the grass on some suburban estate!!!
Good job, Lug. The owner will have to be creative to tear that off, however, always remember it's hard to make anything "idiot proof"!!!
Mike

[lugweld]

Made progress today. Need to remount for final fit and drill and tap holes for access plates to the drain plug so they can be screwed back into place on Monday. Too cold for the paint to dry.
Notice in the last pic on this post, the "junk" hanging off the tractor and particularly the filter placement is inches in front of the wheel and extends out into the track of the wheel area.

[lugweld]

Here are some of the pics after I removed for painting. I had some industrial enamel I mixed up for another project, completely unrelated to this one, which I hadn't painted yet. I knew I had enough paint for both so I used it to save money. The dealer said any dark color was fine, particularly black. I had this paint custom mixed for direct to metal industrial paint from Sherwin Williams. At the time I had played with the color for the other project until I came up with this custom mix. When I opened the can again today, it hit me dead square between the eyes...It WAS KUBOTA GREY!!!! An EXACT match!!! Besides finding what a poor job I did on cleaning out my spray gun from the last time I used it, the day went well. Final post Monday I hope...

[eyeball engineer]

looks like a real life size rc 10, I dig it

[Craig in Denver]

Wow, that's big.

Cityslicker here. But smart enough to know that's no place for a filter. Thanks for pointing it out.

So, how do you get it back under the tractor, drive over it? Or will it 'wiggle fit'?

[G3farms]

Looks pretty good!!

Will the froont grill guard still bolt on??

Theres only one other thing I would do, trim that sharp edge off of the mounting tab. If he hits something like a stump and the pan shifts a little it will cut a hole in the filter.
see post 20 5th pic.

G3

[lugweld]

Thanks for the suggestion G3, but the way the particular tab is fixed, there can be no movement forward. The only way it will shift will be a catastrophic event great enough to break the tractor in half, which in this case I don't care about the filter. But if you examine post 21 pic 3 you will see in the far left, mid part of the picture between the forks, I believe, I welded a "shield" to protect the filter from any debris coming over the tire or any thing that might wedge itself in there between the tire and the filter.

Yes, the front grill gaurd will still bolt on. In fact, it will take less than ten minutes to take this pan on and off. The only alteration that has to be done to any part of the tractor is the mounting brackets have to have longer bolts to accomodate the 3/8" plate.