I have a KX161 with a worn quick coupler. It appears that most of the wear is in the ears on the bucket. What would be the best way to repair this? I have thought about doing a build up on the bucket, but I have some concerns about how to re-shape it to fit the coupler on the machine. Alternatively, can the bucket and coupler be repaired at a machine shop? Hopefully they won't need to be replaced..... Thanks.
How about some pictures? A welder and grinder should get it tight as new.
I'll get some pictures posted up in the next day or two. Welding it is not problem, but the diameter of the cut outs in the bucket ears is only 3". It's tight to get a disk grinder in there.
Below is a picture of the ears on the bucket. It is the circular cutouts that need to be built up and ground. Any suggestions on how to grind this after welding? Thanks.
A 9 inch wheel on a 7 inch grinder should get the majority of it. at the welding store they have cone stones and cylinder style stones. Get one or two and use them for final dressing.
It doesn't have to be perfectly smooth. Weld a bit, test fit, grind with the edge of a wheel, repeat. I have the same coupler on my KX057. How many hours are on that bucket?
Also a 9 inch wheel will fit on a 4 1/2" grinder with the larger abortion. but go light and Be Careful lots of flywheel effect like this.
Arbor☆
There is 2070 hours on the machine, it came with 2 buckets so I don't know how many hours per bucket. The dig bucket is the worst and I would say there is about 1/16" of slop in it, maybe a bit more.
Was wondering what you meant by that! Good tip, thanks. I think the larger disk would work. I'll see how big a disk I can get on my 5" Makita. I wouldn't be opposed to buying a larger grinder if necessary.
Hi there, I have done this type of rebuild before, but on a cast steel quick hitch on a JCB hoe. I just built the surface up with the mig then used a "carbide burr" in a die grinder and kept welding,grinding and checking till I had the required fit, biggest problem is keeping the alignment correct when you start welding and grinding. Failing that you could have and engineering shop mill those holes very precisely in some Bisalloy Plate of he correct thickness, cut the ends of your bucket ears and weld the new parts back on, not sure what equipment you have access too nor what your skills are .
I'm well set up for welding and grinding, so I am going to try that first. As suggested above, I picked up a larger disk and a cylinder stone yesterday. I'm sure it will work, but it just might take a little time and patience. Failing that, I could have new ears made and cut the old ones off, however, that could be challenging too keeping the new ones in perfect alignment during welding.
The ears cost ~$300+ through Kubota. The job shouldn't take 3 hours.
I just installed a coupler on my 121-3 same design just smaller cut the ears of my old pin on bucket and welded coupler ears on (not the first machine done this on just smallest) I put the new ears on the coupler clamp them onto the coupler with C clamps get them straight( put the lock pin in ) sometimes you need to put a shim between the ears and coupler to space them out a little so they are not to tight before you clamp them onto coupler then tack weld onto bucket good and weld some cross braces from some where on ears to bucket then remove from coupler and weld some more X braces in before final welding of ears to bucket and let it all cool off before cut out braces so it will not warp. it's a toss up for me if it would to build up old ears or weld new ones on the time involved in probeley about the same if your ears are worn did it wear the bosses on coupler too need to check that first and fix it first so every thing else fits right try to get as close as possible to original any new buckets you get will fit correctly
I welded up the ears today and ground them with a 7" disk and a cylinder stone. It's not a perfect fit by any means, but there is no more slop and the bucket fits tight. There was some wear on the bosses on the coupler, but I didn't do anything with that. If I were to do this again, I think I would take the coupler off the machine as I think it would make test fits easier.