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New here. Bought a B6000 today.

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CoryEG

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
A the title says I'm new here, and new to the world of garden tractors as well.

I got sick and tired of breaking my riding mowers trying to mower my yard. All the "pro" units were well beyond what I was willing to spend and I happened upon this B6000. After I saw it and asked about it a little I came home and spent the next week pouring over the internet to learn more about it. I also went to the Kubota Dealer to inquire.

First things first, I'm confused about the whole "grey" market thing. The B6000 is on the "list" for grey market but with an *. So, I did some more digging and found that the B6000 was also imported "legally" by kubota themselves and sold in the usa.

Now the tricky part, which do I have? a "Grey" or an non grey? All the labels on mine are in english. Operational labels, warning labels even the labels on the engine and fuel tank.

The riveted on shifter plate is all in english, listing it as a Kubota B6000E.

Now, when I went over to the local dealer even the mention of the name b6000 brought down the wrath of god on me. They told me it was an illegal replica that they refused to service yada yada... How can this be true when even Kubota own website has the ROPS option for it as a safety recall? Either I'm confused or they are.

Back to the machine.

So, after spends many countless hours doing the research, learning all about the reverse spinning pto etc It still seems like a good deal at 1050 bucks with the attached White RM42 mower. The Guy I bought it from had done quite a bit of repair work to it, including all new fluids, new rear brakes, now fuel filter, belts etc. I test drove it around his place and did some mowing with it and it seemed pretty cool.

It defiantly needs some weight added to the front. You can pick up the mower and do a wheelie pretty easy. In fact it's so light up front that it's almost like having power steering...

So, I got it home and tried it out. mowed a couple acres with it, and it seemed to run great. I did make the mistake of running the pto at full speed (which I just learned you should run it at it's lowest setting for the mower) opps. All in all this think is like a mini tank!

Well, on to the pictures...
 

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#3 ·
I don't know about the gray market either, but I agree, it looks like a good machine.

Someone with far more Kubota knowledge than me will be along soon and be able to answer your questions.
 
#4 ·
Welcome aboard CoryEG. Your research is correct. The B6000 was also legally imported, that dealer has the same problem as many others unfortunately. Theres good dealers and theres not so good. Some just won't service anything they didn't sell.

The B6000 is a stout tractor. You have a good find. Keep your eyes pealed as FEL's for them come up every now and again.
My guess is that your model is the legal version since it's all in English.

Find out from the previous owner where he got his oil filter and any other parts as this may save you some legwork.

Keep the tractor & mower properly serviced and you'll get yrs of great service out of it.
Nice pics btw, don't be a stranger.
Dave
 
#5 · (Edited)
Hey I got one too!

Welcome. I bought one too! Mine is the 4WD model. A couple tips:

Do an oil change on the engine. and a fuel filter (there's two)

remove and clean the air filter. It is an 'oil bath' type. clean the bowl. it IS clear on the bottom. that way you will be able to see the oil level mark to ensure its level. It is bolted on by two nuts, attaching it to the side of the block. I used a 5 gallon bucket of gasoline, and dipped it, and thoroughly scrubbed, and cleaned mine. The gasket was useless when I removed it, but the autoparts store had a thermostat gasket they matched up to the old one.

The Rear gear case hold approximately 2.75 gallons of 90wt gear oil. change it too. There are three drains on the bottom of the axle housing. open the two on either side (the lowest points) If your gear shift lever has a cracked boot it lets water in when it rains.
water in the gear oil is bad 1. because it changes the properties of the oil, and 2. enough can freeze in the winter and crack the gear case.

And above ALL ensure the radiator is always full. 50 50 mix This tractor has NO water pump. The engine uses conduction to let the water circulate. Hot water rises, cold water sinks. If the level of the water drops below the upper hose it will not flow and you will overheat and blow the head.

What 'appears' to be the water pump at the base of the fan hub is actually the alternator to keep the battery charged. From what I have seen these are what 'goes' on these little work horses.

You may need to explain to your dealer that these were brought in legally, if they have the labels in english, and unless THEY can prove it, they should be professional and support Kubota! As was mentioned, they even sell a B6000 ROPS kit. It cost 295 for mine. I used it. Poor little tractor rolled over on a hill with the bucket full! I learned to drop the bucket and drag it if needed when transversing hills with a load :) I think without the ROPS i would've been injured (or worse)!

Image


Image
 
#6 ·
Like you mentioned, you need a weight box for the front, I need one for the back. to plow snow I have to leave the York rake on to get enough traction.

And that wood splitter..... best 580 bucks I EVER spent. Why I wad so stubborn and cut and split by hand for all these years..... DOH!
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
cappys tractor said:
Like you mentioned, you need a weight box for the front, I need one for the back. to plow snow I have to leave the York rake on to get enough traction.

And that wood splitter..... best 580 bucks I EVER spent. Why I wad so stubborn and cut and split by hand for all these years..... DOH!
Click to expand...
Oh, man I want that log splitter! Where did you get it? There's no issue with the reversed pto?
 
#10 ·
well... I'm gonna brag for a minute. :)

That wood splitter is the balls. You adjust the height of the 3PH to your work height. Once you bend over to pick up the log, you DON'T have to bend over to pick up the pieces. They all stay UP on the wing tables. There's room up there (except for big logs) to split, push aside roll and resplit, and then re split the last half. Then you can walk to the wood pile and stack. THIS IS AWESOME!

I have a chain hook welded to the top of the bucket, so I can lift (not drag and get sandy) the logs, directly to the wood pile. no more saw, haul, dump, split, rehaul and pile.

Yes it does use the hyd from the tractor. If you don't have ports out to get hyd, you will need to modify it, but it's worth it.

Although Northern would probably NOT approve, I hook up a bungee cord from the top of the rops bar to the handle so it will hold the handle over, so I can walk away and get the next piece of wood to split, or stack while it's splitting the next one.

I usually don't have to run the tractor over about 1/2 throttle. Its quieter than a gas splitter! Sometimes I have to back it up and rev the throttle to get through tough logs, but not often.

They make a larger model now, to split 24" logs, with a larger ram, But I am not in the habit of splitting that long, and haven't found a need for a bigger ram (yet) :) But you could go for the larger one?
 
#11 ·
Totally agree with cappy on the log splitter. Have the same one. Never realized how much easier it is on my back to stand straight up while splitting. Here's a pic of mine on my BX during the install process.

Image
[/IMG]
 
Discussion starter · #12 · (Edited)
OK... so correct me if I'm wrong, but in doing some more research from what I can tell the rear PTO has 3 speeds. 540,800,1000 Right on top of my white RM42 it says to use 800-1000 for the PTO speed. So, going by that it should be either speed 2 or 3.

I'm having so much fun with it I took it over to my new neighbors who have just bought a foreclosed place thats been neglected for the last few years and took down all the over growth for them. I did this before figuring out the pto speeds and used setting 1 (540) for this. While it worked, it's didn't work well, leaving a lot of rough grass etc. The faster speed looks better (like a finish mower).

It's official, I now have log splitter envy. Last year I took down 5 old growth trees, and had to have the kid from up the road come by with his log splitter to do the job. I have another 8-10 trees that need to come down this year... so I will be buying this.

Is there any way to add gauges to this? like a water temp gauge, rpms etc?
 
#13 ·
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#14 ·
this is how I (well the previous owner) got the hyd supply to the FEL.


Image





Once out of the fel, the return goes to the hose which dumps directly into the gear case. (you can see that in the pic) I saw a pic of another guy who cut the supply and return lines and brazed in Tee's and put quick connects on.
Sorry, I dont know who made the valve diverter. That made it easy to install, without cutting the Hyd pipeline.
I apologize, but I added quick connects to my supply, where the hose connects to the housing, but I just didn't take photos of it! The return for each just dumps right into the breather cap hole for the gear case.

In my tractors case I have to manually turn the valve all the way one way to work the 3PH, and all the way the other to use the FEL. Also, to use the FEL. I have to hold the 3ph lever back, via a small door spring and hook to make the HYD fluid go to the FEL or the splitter. when the valve is the other way, the 3PH works as normal.

John
 
#15 ·
Cory,
just in case you have not already found this site,here is one of the best kubota sites on the net. Tons of great info and the full story about the gray market. I have a B7100HST and it is by far the best small tractor I have ever owned.
http://www.orangetractortalks.com/
 
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Discussion starter · #16 ·
Spent today doing some standard work to it.

Went ahead and changed the oil, cleaned the oil filter. Am flushing the radiator now. I took the hood off and really clean out the radiator, it was about 25% plugged up with crap. (outside fins) The inside of the radiator looks great, but figured I would go ahead and run a flush and cleaning though it anyways.

One issue I noticed is the radiator cap, the rubber around it is totally destroyed, so there is no way it operating at the 13-15 pounds of pressure. Going to grab a new one in town this afternoon. Even without doing that I ran it at full throttle for 10 minutes to get it all heated up for the flushing, and it didn't overheat, so the cleaning of the radiator must have solved most of the issue.

The oil in it was thick, really thick. I was wrong and it doesn't look like its been changed in quite a while. The new oil should also make a big difference

What I need...

One of those boots that goes around the shifter.

A new seat. Only have the bare metal and am going to need a set of the Hank Hill butt inserts if I don't get some padding down there.

A new steering wheel (may just wrap mine, but it to far gone for the remelting to do anything for it.
 
#17 ·
Check out Messicks.com for a seat i just bought one for a b7500 and it is a huge improvement . The seat bolted right up on the tractor , but check your centers to make sure it will fit ( there are some extra holes in the seat so you might be able fab something if your centers don't quite work out ). Plus it was only $100.00

here is the link http://www.messicks.com/partdetail/B1013.aspx
 
#19 ·
OMG! This is such a cool website! This thread was the best! From a little "*******" Kubota to a log splitting bad ***! ..."and in the end he was recognized by his family as being a beloved member..." I want to be a supporting member.
RR
 
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