New to me: Kubota D650 15HP

[thebuildist]

I could not help myself. $300 for a supposedly running 3 cylinder Kubota powered generator. 1400 hrs.

It was the power plant out of an electric company line truck, and it even has an attached (belt driven) hydraulic pump. I presume that drove the boom/crane.

It's still in the back of the truck and knows nothing about it. So I can't go out and play around with it and examine it just yet.

But it appears to be an Onan 4.0 DKD. Which would be powered by a Kubota D650. 15HP at 3200 RPM. (which is the max RPM) And the pictures I'm finding online seem to confirm that.

So now I just need to decide what to do with it.

1. Install a fuel tank, get it generating, and sell it for much more than I paid?
I already have a whole house NG genset, so I don't need this for power purposes.
2. Remove the generator head and install it as the powerplant for the towable backhoe that I'm going to resume building any day now.
(I had planned to power the backhoe by long hoses inserted inline with the quick disconnects that are driving my loader)
3. Keep it onhand for the fateful day when the 20HP Linamar in my Loader gives up the ghost. Clearly not a simple repower. But conceivable. And I'd love to have a diesel powered machine.
But 15HP isn't terribly much. With the power steering, I figure my hydro system can make use of about 15hp. And I currently have 5 extra HP to drive the PTO. On the other hand, my old 442 did just fine, and it was only 12hp. So I know that 15 ought to be at least minimally enough.

And I'm not sure anyone has yet successfully done a diesel swap and preserved the PTO drive for the deck and such. And that's not optional for my purposes. It has to mow with no compromises.

And the 3200 max rpm would slow down my travel speed and force me to play pulley games to keep my blade speed up to normal.

So as cool as a diesel mower sounds, it would take a lot to get it to work right.

So I guess I'm leaning toward having my towable backhoe be self-powered.

What would you do if you were me?

Bob

[JSinMO]

I really like the idea of using it to power the backhoe. That would be a nice setup

[Spike188]

I could not help myself. $300 for a supposedly running 3 cylinder Kubota powered generator. 1400 hrs.

It was the power plant out of an electric company line truck, and it even has an attached (belt driven) hydraulic pump. I presume that drove the boom/crane.

It's still in the back of the truck and knows nothing about it. So I can't go out and play around with it and examine it just yet.

But it appears to be an Onan 4.0 DKD. Which would be powered by a Kubota D650. 15HP at 3200 RPM. (which is the max RPM) And the pictures I'm finding online seem to confirm that.

So now I just need to decide what to do with it.

1. Install a fuel tank, get it generating, and sell it for much more than I paid?
I already have a whole house NG genset, so I don't need this for power purposes.
2. Remove the generator head and install it as the powerplant for the towable backhoe that I'm going to resume building any day now.
(I had planned to power the backhoe by long hoses inserted inline with the quick disconnects that are driving my loader)
3. Keep it onhand for the fateful day when the 20HP Linamar in my Loader gives up the ghost. Clearly not a simple repower. But conceivable. And I'd love to have a diesel powered machine.
But 15HP isn't terribly much. With the power steering, I figure my hydro system can make use of about 15hp. And I currently have 5 extra HP to drive the PTO. On the other hand, my old 442 did just fine, and it was only 12hp. So I know that 15 ought to be at least minimally enough.

And I'm not sure anyone has yet successfully done a diesel swap and preserved the PTO drive for the deck and such. And that's not optional for my purposes. It has to mow with no compromises.

And the 3200 max rpm would slow down my travel speed and force me to play pulley games to keep my blade speed up to normal.

So as cool as a diesel mower sounds, it would take a lot to get it to work right.

So I guess I'm leaning toward having my towable backhoe be self-powered.

What would you do if you were me?

Bob


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Sometimes a deal comes along,that in spite of having to much on your plate, it has to be put in your dream chest. It just cant be passed up. This one is a keeper.

[DavidBarkey]

@thebuildist Bob you do not have an all terrain diesel-electric locomotive and passenger cars to take the grand-kids for rides in . That deal was just meant to be.

[Harry]

Bob what ever you decide to do with it, it will be totally cool. That’s the deal of the Century. Harry

[thebuildist]

@thebuildist Bob you do not have an all terrain diesel-electric locomotive and passenger cars to take the grand-kids for rides in . That deal was just meant to be.

You're wicked even to put the idea in my head!!!

Bob

[thebuildist]

It turns out that the Kubota d650 engine was used in the b6100 tractor. And I presume that that tractor wasn't terribly underpowered. So I think I'll keep it in mind down the road if and when my Onan / linamar dies.

But the real problem with doing a diesel swap is that I don't think I could bear to be without my loader long enough to do the work on it!

Meanwhile I did have a look at it. It had not a single drop of oil in it. And had nothing on the stick. And I eventually added three quarts just to get it to be on the stick. That either means that it was winterized / sanitized before it was removed from the truck. Or that it was for whatever reason run without oil... And that's why it was so cheap. It certainly shows no signs of having a hole in the pan or it cracked block or anything like that. So I'm still optimistic.

No time to look at it today. But as soon as I can I'm going to remove the shroud from around the fan and just get my hands on the crankshaft pulley and confirm that it can turn over.

Bob

[Harry]

Bob can’t live without the availability of his GT loader. To me that means you find another GT for the Kubota diesel engine. Harry

[thebuildist]

I played with it some yesterday, and the news is very positive:

I pulled the guard and the two fanbelts off. (1 for crank/waterpump/alternator, another from alternator to hydro pump.) The belts were so aged and stuck that the core of the belts each stayed stuck in the pulley grooves, and had to be duck out with a pick. It's like they were glued in there with contact cement. It's been sitting a VERY long time.

Meanwhile, the engine turns over just fine, made a full rotation by hand.

So I hooked up a jumper battery and activated the solenoid, and it turns over. You can tell it has at least some compression.

So I rigged up a hanging fuel tank and started trying to bleed the system, using the downloaded owner's manual. Did all the steps, but no fuel coming out of the filter vent screw.

Unspun the filter, and no fuel out of the filter at all.

Disconnected the electric pump, and nothing coming out of the pump. It makes a nice rattling noise, but nothing happens.

So we need a new pump. Parts manual specifies a part number, that part number leads to a "4 to 5 psi" pump. OEM is 120. Universal "4 to 7 psi" pump is $17. Ordered one of them.

Meanwhile I did gravity feed straight to the filter housing, where upon I got fuel to the bleed screw. So I cracked the injector lines, removed the air intake cover (In case I need to smother it) and hit the starter for almost a full minute. Nothing. Meanwhile my gravity feed fuel was dripping out of the filter housing at about 4 different places. I tried tightening them up, etc, to no avail. At the very least it needs a new filter. It's an integrated water separator and filter, and the filter element is like $35. And all the nylon bleed screws and such need to be replaced. I couldn't find them for sale separate, I can get a whole new one for like $150.

Looked on Amazon, and an entire universal fit separator/filter head with new filter is only $19. So I ordered one.

So no progress for a few days until these parts come in. But once I have real fuel pressure and an airtight filter system, I think there's a decent chance I'll be able to bleed the air out up to the point of the injectors. And if I do, it might just start right up.

Crazy. Seems too good to be true.

MEANWHILE, I'm new to diesels, and here's what I DIDN"T know: Diesel fuel stinks. Now, I'm not squeamish. I don't mind brake cleaner, or liquid wrench or oil or WD-40 or gasoline or almost any other solvent. Bulk Kerosene is nasty. And it turns out diesel is too.

Just leaning over this engine to mess with it made my clothes smell so bad that they stunk up my laundry room/kitchen. I had to exile my clothes to the driveway to air out. I darn near got exiled with them.

So I'm going to have to give some thought on how to work on this thing without tracking in the aroma. Nitrile gloves for sure, maybe dedicated pants shirt that gets worn just for this?

Any advice appreciated.

Bob

[Harry]

I’m not sure Bob how to get the nasty diesel fuel smell off your clothes. What I do know is I too hate that smell. When I was in the army I had to fuel up some diesel generators in the middle of the night. I end up with diesel fuel on my hands and my fatigues. I ended up burning the fatigues and ever since then the smell makes me sick. Even if I’m in traffic and driving behind a diesel powered vehicle the exhaust smell is horrible. Good luck on getting that diesel generator running and keep us updated on your progress. Harry