New to the site, I've been lurking a little bit reading up on various threads. This summer I picked up a 2010 Kubota KX057-4 from on auction that's going to be a little bit of a project. I went out on a limb when I bought it as I didn't know how many hours it had, if it even ran, it's service history and general condition outside of what I saw in the auction pictures. From the pictures I could tell it was in rough shape and likely hadn't moved in a bit. Looking around I found out that it was used as a rock breaker in an underground gold mine its whole life. It was outfitted at a local firm (pulled the cab, installed a crude ROPS, added some lights) then leased for a bit until the mine purchased it. Even with all the bad history I decided to bite the bullet and bid on it. I ended up getting it for a fraction of what a good condition machine seems to go for in the market now days so I have a fair amount of room left in the budget to fix it up. I bought the machine about 3 hours from home so I took a day off work and made the trip up to pick it up. Luckily all it needed was a boost and it fired right up to drive it on the float. We moved it down the road to a yard where I could work on it for a few before heading home. I put a new battery in it and spent about 3 hours power washing it thoroughly. After a quick inspection I found a whole bunch of issues, but no show stoppers as the machine operated beautifully and only has about 2600 hours on it. Fast forward about a month and I was able to get the machine brought closer to home (had to wait for an available backhaul). I ended up dropping it off at a buddy's who's building a shop and is also a heavy equipment mechanic. We ended up changing the fan belt (was gone), tightening and changing a few hoses, repairing grease nipples (and greasing), doing an engine oil change, swapping fuel filters and hydraulic oil filters, tightening the tracks and straitening some body panels. He's been using it around his place while working on the shop so it's worked out well for both of us. In the last little bit I bought a 12" trenching bucket for it off FB marketplace. That took a bit of work but we were able to modify it to fit the machine's wedge coupler. I've also been working on fixing the solenoid coil that controls the blade angle. Kubota wants $520 Canadian for a new coil, or $720 for the whole valve bank assembly. I looked around at 3 local hydraulic specialty places and the best I got was replacing the whole valve body for around $500. I looked online and found what I thought was a perfect replacement on Amazon. I was listed as fitting a Komatsu, but looked identical, bolted up and even plugged in. However I think it was 24v as it would actuate. I ordered a 12v coil from eBay for $30 which has yet to arrive (it's on the slow boat from China). I'm torn on what I'm going to do with the machine, but the plan for now will be fixing it up and then putting it to work around the house (likely building a shop myself soon). As a I mentioned before, I could spend a fair amount of money on it and still make out well if I sold it. The real debate right now is if I should put a new cab on the machine or stick to having a ROPS (either sourcing an OEM one or having a OEM replica fabricated). Either way the machine needs all new sheet metal and a good paint job at the very least. The undercarriage is relatively tight but will need some welding around the idlers. The hydraulic hoses on the boom and stick need to be sorted out as well as they're a hodge podge from various repairs. The stick also needs some love from a bad impact it suffered at some point. The engine runs good but needs a new muffler as it's cracked (no DPF which is great). This is my first piece of machinery so I'm looking for some pointers and insight regarding parts for these things. I'm finding out that the world of Kubota parts isn't as strait forward as others. For whatever reason parts are though to find and there so many different model names for the same machine (depending on the market). Parts are also a small fortune when compared to vehicles and toys (ATVS and Snowmobiles) that I'm use to. Anyways, sorry for the long introduction. Here's a picture of the machine when I first picked it up next to the F550 I got at the same auction.
Welcome aboard! It certainly looks like you’ve got quite a project there, but if it runs and drives and doesn’t leak to much, you probably did pretty good, I can’t imagine that the rops is certified for anything other than something to hold onto when you’re climbing into the operator’s seat. It’s great it doesn’t have any emission stuff on it. I would think it would be easier to find a factory rollover protection structure than it would be to find a cab, probably a lot cheaper to!
Thanks for the welcome! Funny enough, the local dealer can order a new cab assembly for under $9k however wasn't able to find where to order the ROPS. The cab is a lot more desirable in our climate but I'm afraid of what other nickel and dime parts I'll have to buy to finish the re-conversion.
Looks like a good fined! Keep us updated on your progress, I love reading about builds like this.
The new blade angle solenoid has come in, and it works with 12v! I'm hoping to swap it out this week, will update with results.
This update has been a little longer than it should have, but here it is! You'll see in the pictures how the machine looks now. The big mechanical components are in good shape and the machine runs like a top. The machine has been power washed, stripped down, power washed, and stripped down further. I've got 4 different paint colors mixed up and ready to go, and the first batch of parts was dropped off at the sand blaster today. Apart from the cosmetic stuff like the sheet metal, the biggest issue with the machine is probably the undercarriage and the stick. The stick was badly damaged at some point in time near the joint with the boom. The repair wasn't very "professional" to say the least and leaves a lot to be desired. For now we're going to leave it alone since it functions alright, but it will require removal from the machine, rebuilding the top section on the bench with new metal and likely some line boring. The undercarriage frame needs some major attention with multiple cracks around the lower rollers as well as some separating near the front idlers. I'm currently in the process of reproducing these parts out of 1/4" steel and will be replacing a large section of the frame with new steel. Back in March I ordered over $10k in parts which included a new ROPS, a new muffler, and two new hoods amongst a couple dozen others. A good bit came in in a couple of weeks, but I'm still waiting on one hood and the ROPS. Those won't be in until the end of the month which isn't a show stopper yet. Lastly, the solenoid in the last post worked perfectly which was a relief!
Here's the new hood with the old plastic top pieces. The old brackets were repaired and repainted.
Hi. do you have an update? I recently bought a 2011 57-4 and doing maintenance. Working on the digger parts. Anyway.. Kudos.
OK... PBD05... Nice find. I guess this is the latest 057-4 thread for fixer uppers. I got one at auction last week.... Little looses here and there but operates well. Has several new hoses and evidence of service and "care". I used it about 3 hours today for the first real time.... And now the boom will not raise. Everything else seems normal. Has great power. All new fluids and filters before I ran it. If I let it cool off the boom raises very slowly. It was "fine" until the 3hr mark. Anyone have any ideas?
Here's what it looks like now, lots of work went into it last year. My buddy ended up using it to install the services to his new shop. I ran it for a bit and I'm impressed for its size. Next year I'll be using it to build my shop, and might tackle cleaning up the boom and stick.
I'm not too sure what that could be, I'd start with the valve bank though a go from there.
That's quite an impressive transformation
I'll have to get some update pictures of the machine, but I've kept working on it through the year cleaning it up. I installed some new hydraulic lines and pipes on the stick and boom to get rid of some damaged parts and reinstate the two axillary circuits. After these were in place I put on a thumb which I've had in storage for nearly two years. Finally I got some LED lights mounted on the machine using the factory switch setup which was quite the challenge. Next year I'm hoping to get the flail mower mounted and a couple of cylinders rebuilt that are weeping.
wow looks amazing quite the transformation from were you began