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Fixing up the B6200

9K views 65 replies 18 participants last post by  glenn27 
#1 ·
I picked this B6200D a few months back.

http://www.mytractorforum.com/54-kubota/1070866-most-excellent-road-trip-b6200d.html

In the time since, I've had a good opportunity to run it, assess it and get an idea how I want to approach fixing/upgrading it. Figured I'd share the process with you. Here's a few pics of it right after getting it home, just the way I got it.













The story behind the tractor best I could tell was that it was a workhorse for a fire department sub station. Plowed snow, graded the driveway, and mowed with the rear deck. It was stored inside and serviced yearly. My impression to this point is that it was used a fair amount. By folks that didn't much care about being hard on it, or inflicting physical damage to it. Judging by the paint and finish under the dirt and grime, it was stored inside. And while it was ridden hard, it was probably maintained to a decent degree. It's a strong runner, with solid mechanicals. Also obvious was that things were added in a less than shall we say, professional manner. Cobbled, ill fitting, hacked up and poorly welded.

My goal is not to restore it. I want to make it very fit mechanically, repair what's broken, upgrade some things and make it look better aesthetically. Using what I have in stock when I can and with a frugal approach. Then use it a lot, and have fun with it. Stay tuned.
 
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#13 ·
Yes Mike, came with the machine. Around 4 foot, like new, American made!

Looking forward to seeing your plans with it!

Hey, is that a mini backhoe I see in the corner of the second pic?
That's my Kubota BX25 TLB, Austen.

Now the race is on! Kubota or LoBoy, LoBoy or Kubota?
So many choices, so little time.:sidelaugh
MikeC
Easy one Mike, this is about something that I do work with. It gets done. Toys take a seat in the back.

Looks like a surpluscenter.com hydraulic cylinder on the front. Probably the only thing that's correct about it for that application is the length and stroke. Definitely overkill on power rating for lifting a plow blade. I have one like that for the single bucket cylinder on the loader on my Ford 4000. Can lift and curl anything I've been able to fit in the bucket. It can lift the front of the tractor off the ground just by putting the bucket flat on the ground and then moving the bucket in the dump direction. Well over 2000 lbs. of force required to do that.
The whole system needs redoing. While it functions fine, it is not something I can live with. It detracts from a fine machine. I'm not looking for perfect, but it will look and work better.
 
#3 ·
Good plan Ellis! Have fun with it and don't worry about possibly spoiling a painstaking restoration.
 
#8 ·
I'm in like flint! Getting popcorn and taking a seat! ;)
 
#9 ·
All right--here we go!
I think I'll get the recliner this go-round--might be a while.....
Geez! Busting chops already--and he ain't got started yet...hehehe
 
#10 ·
Well I'm subscribed, figure we will see an update in 3-5 months..... :ROF

Looks like a good candidate for a mechanical fix and tune up.
 
#12 ·
Looks like a surpluscenter.com hydraulic cylinder on the front. Probably the only thing that's correct about it for that application is the length and stroke. Definitely overkill on power rating for lifting a plow blade. I have one like that for the single bucket cylinder on the loader on my Ford 4000. Can lift and curl anything I've been able to fit in the bucket. It can lift the front of the tractor off the ground just by putting the bucket flat on the ground and then moving the bucket in the dump direction. Well over 2000 lbs. of force required to do that.
 
#14 ·
Ok, first project. If you take a look at the spool mount, you can see the main support is the vertical tube, which is welded to a piece of angle iron that is bolted to the foot rest. In addition to that there is a piece of horizontal strap steel which is bolted to the tube and the tractors firewall. This was a home brew went wrong, imo. The mounts instability by design is forward/back. The horizontal strut has minimal affect. The real bad part was that in order to attach the strut to the firewall, the corner of the engine cover, along with it's attachment ability were cut out. Subsequently, the cover in this corner moves, vibrates and interferes with the hood closing.

I guess I could buy a new/used side cover, but I think we can make it look decent again.......and functional. In this pic you can see the strut and if you follow it right, you'll see where the corner was cut off.



Here's the cover after I welded/ground three cracks on the left side. The edge of where the corner was removed was rough and uneven, so I sanded it smooth using the radius of my belt sander. Above it is a cardboard template taken from the opposite side cover.



After searching through stuff I had lying around I found this old steel shelf divider. Older tin, thickness was super close. Using the template, I cut it so I'd wind up with a patch bigger than needed.



Took that, trimmed it closer to final size, and tacked it up.



After finish welding/grinding, I mocked up the patch and scribed it for final sizing.



Her it is welded, shaped, ground and filed a bit. Spot primed it till it's final prepped for painting. Also added slot for through bolt. Next I need to fab up the attachment bracket on the firewall.

 
#16 ·
Nice tack welds Ellis! Looks factory fix for the hack job PO did! When you dropping off one of those nice diesels for us to play with? ;)
 
#18 ·
Looking good. Im just along for the ride here :D
 
#20 ·
Thanks for the kind words everyone. I'm not a body guy, but from 10 feet it doesn't stand out, and it will stop the rattling, etc. I really dislike things rattling on my tractors.

Small progress today. The small cylindrical housing that bolts over the spring on the spool was made of diecast. The small bolting ears were cracked off. The previous solution was using a block of wood to hold in place, somewhat, at best. I had a shortish piece of stainless in the bin, and spun this new one out on the lathe. Should end any problems with cracking in the future.



 
#23 ·
Ellis, the lathe working is nothing more than we've come to expect from you. Great as always. But guys that can work with the thin steel, well that's something that I REALLY like. By the time I get something like that done, the burn through is generally bigger than the patch I start with.:sidelaugh I know, all it takes is practice and patience. I've got time for the first, none of the second.
Continue apace sir!
MikeC
 
#24 ·
I use Tig Mike, so my method with tin is to heat the rod and then introduce it to the tacking area. Normally with Tig, a puddle is produced in the material and then the rod is introduced to it. I can't say if that's textbook, I'm not formally trained, but I have gotten acceptable results doing it that way :tango_face_smile:
 
#26 ·
Got some fair time in yesterday. My boy Mike and I got to take advantage of what was a beautiful, and unusually warm, late January day. Sunny and about 50, working in a long sleeve shirt with the shop doors open. Mike was mounting and wiring up his new winch on his Suzue, and I tinkered on the B6.


My mind got pulled in several directions. But I managed to fab up a new connecting bracket for the side cover corner I repaired.



Somewhere midstream I got caught up in wanting to see what things under the hood would look like shined up. It was pretty gritty when I got it.



I took the battery out, cleaned the tray, made a mat out of treadmill belt(this stuff is gold, really durable, makes great toolbox draw liners too!) and generally cleaned/shined the engine area.



Learned a little trick on the radiator hose. I tried cleaning it with straight degreaser, but while it did take the sludge off slowly, it made for a pasty, sticky mess. Eventually, I took a piece of 0000 steel wool soaked with degreaser and scrubbed it gently. The stuff melted and wiped right off! Then I put on a couple squirts of Mike's fancy tire shine stuff, and that puppy glistened. :bananapow



You can see the new mat under the battery. Also, because I don't like metal against metal or rattling, I cut a piece of sticky backed dense foam on the bed for the air box. Shortened the two battery cables and improved the ground. Also blew out the radiator.........it was packed with dry grass and dust. You can see through it now.



Now I was going full blown "Hazel". All this shiny metal was spurring me on, so I grabbed the hood and cleaned the underside. Took a bit, but it really showed the original paint/stickers off nice. Also showed me I have a lot of dents to fix. A LOT.



This pic was taken late in the day. Started clouding up, and temps starting dropping towards late afternoon. Overall, a somewhat productive day, but Mike and I got to enjoy a really pretty day tinkering and planning. Good stuff :fing32:

 
#30 ·
Nice tip. Never tried that before. Will have to give it a try. Makes sense though as the pumice is great at cutting through dirt and grime.
 
#29 ·
And as I cast my ol' eyes upon this thread--I see results--the small, little unimportant 'things; that many skip over, are what makes a machine personal/ unique and just plain 'solid' in my opinion--the little touches...Even if they can't be seen...
Carry on=-McGiver~

glenn
 
#33 ·
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