A page dedicated to a fan? Why?

Seemingly the most common injury suffered by BX Kubotas is a broken transmission fan by running over a branch. The fan is plastic, unprotected, is a $ part, but costs $$$ to replace because, depending on BX model, requires the removal of many large components.


Prevention is better than the cure, which is why a Rear Skidplate is the first "implement" purchased by many BX owners. Kubota is belatedly selling a small protective fixture for the fan, but it only offers protection from a small range of directions, nothing like the protection offered by a full skidplate.

[TBN] BX-24 Rear Drive Shaft Fan Questions
[TBN] Bad BX day: fan belt broke, overheated, fixed, broke HST fan

Repairs

The "official" repair involves dismantling a lot of the tractor in order to slide the engine enough to fit the replacement fan over the shaft.One dealer quoted 4.5 hours of work at $75/hour. However some owners have either created their own replacement fan in two halves, or have cut the replacement fan and attached it that way.

Here's how SEOhDave described his repair (BX2350) on TractorByNet.

"I have done the glue trick with my HST fan. I cut through it once at a point halfway between the two mounting bolts. After twisting it around the drive shaft and bolting it down, it felt quite sturdy. I gave it a test run. I wasn't considering calling it finished at that point but I figured if it held together reasonably well at that point, the glue might just have a chance.

After revving the engine to about 3K, the fan didn't even seem to flex. Before gluing up, I wrapped a zip tie around the fan hub. Then mixed up a batch of slow-set epoxy and slathered it across the cut and also around the zip tie to help it stay in place.

I've put about 20 more hours on it since then and it's holding up fine.

Side note: the replacement fan isn't as sturdy as the original. The plastic is thinner. I got it from the dealer. I assume it's factory. "