Does your Kobata CTL cab leak dust and dirt

[mowingman]

Ok, here is the deal. I have rented a Kubota 95 CTL with full cab, A/C, and an FAE mulcher head. I can not stay in the cab over 30-45 minutes before I am covered in dirt and dust. The slide- up , garage door design on this CTL is a joke. The dealer said the first door was not latching tightly, and it might be bent. They came out and brought a different door to install. This door closes and latches, but dirt still rolls in around the door seal. I added my own foam sealer tape around the door seals, but no help. Also the A/C does not seem to pressurize the cab at all. If it did, maybe the cab would not fill with dust so fast. I need to use this machine a lot, but even with a dust mask, it is not possible to run it more than 30-45 minutes. The Kubota dealer is not charging me for it right now, but they seem to be at a loss as to a fix. I have to blow the dirt out of it with a leaf blower after running it a while.
Anyone else having cab dust issues with a Kubota skid or CTL machine?
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Jeff

 

[mowingman]

I meant "KUBOTA". Can not find a way to edit the title.

 

[Theweldor]

Check if it has cabin filters. If they are there , remove them and blow them out with some compressed air. It may be they are restricted enough to not draw enough air threw them to pressurize the cab.

 

[heymccall]

How many hours on it?

 

[ianjoub]

Mulchers really make a mess and sling the mess around at high speeds. My CAT CTL fills with crap as well, though I have large gaps around the door and some missing windows.

 

[mowingman]

Theweldor: Have already cleaned the cabin air filters, each time I try to use machine. They are filthy with dust each time, so I blow them out.

heymccal: there are only 167 hours on the machine. It looks like new.

ianjoub: I guess it is good to hear that other machines have this problem. This is my third go round with track mulchers, so I know how dirty they can be. This cab was SUPPOSED to be air tight. What a joke.

 

[Jonas302]

Well no dust in our Cat running mulcher or shoulder grinder but the windows are in LOL

If there is that much dust inside its time to give it back and rent another brand so you can get your work done

 

[southernman13]

Hate to hear this. We
Just got a New svl95-2s. We plan on using it with a mulch head. Just got it Friday and have t hooked it up yet. Maybe I better not and send it back. Reason I bought a new one is to to stay clean and cool. Got me skeered now

 

[southernman13]

Ours is brand new 1.4 hrs. Have yet to use it but did notice the ac doesn’t have much of a high speed

 

[mowingman]

southernman13: I hope you have better luck with your 95, than I am having . Yes, the A/C does not blow very hard. However, I will say, that it is keeping me cool,even with the outside temperatures at around 108 degrees. Cool, but dust-covered.
I would rent another brand, but everything else was booked up, and, we needed this mulcher right now.
I am afraid we are screwed, and I am going to have to send it back.

 

[southernman13]

Tenfo. We have an asv rc100 that’ll get you dusty bit it’s not ridiculous. It’s older and we have 1/2 split foam around door. Doesn’t seal very well. I’ve got a message into my Kubota guy I dealt with I want to get his take on it. Definitely won’t be happy if that’s the way it’s going to perform

 

[mowingman]

Here is a photo of the little beast. Works great with the mulcher, if, you could keep the cab cleaner.

 

[southernman13]

I see a guard over the quick connects. Anymore protection for running the mulcher. Also how is it for keeping debris out of engine bay and other compartments

 

[mowingman]

I don't think the hoses and small wire going to the FAE head are protected well enough. However, the short time I have run it in this thick Mesquite brush, I have not torn anything up yet. The rest of the actual Kubota machine is well protected, and this brush here is THICK, and THORNY. The engine is covered in dust, but it is running cool according to the temp gauge. No overheating and the temps outside are 108 - 113. I have not opened up the air filter cannister to have a look there, it is too hot to fool with it. The most I have run it is 2 hours, and by then, my dust mask was plugged and I was covered head to toe in dust. I think you had better get a mulcher on it quick and try it out. If your dealer has any ideas about how to keep it less dusty inside, let me know. This is the 4th brand of mulcher machine I have operated, and is by far the worst for dust control in the cab.
I think I am going to have to send it back.

I see a guard over the quick connects. Anymore protection for running the mulcher. Also how is it for keeping debris out of engine bay and other compartments

 

[Clguest]

Ideally the air from the a/c is filtered and the airflow keeps a positive pressure in the cab so any cab seal leak blows air OUT, not allowing air and dust in. It sounds like you are pulling in unfiltered air and therefore dust with it. Double check air passages from the filters to the fan for a leak.

 

[lumberjack]

Yep, don’t recirculate the cab air, pull air from outside for hopefully more pressure in the cab than outside. Recirculating pulls far more material in the cab.

From what I’ve read, dust control isn’t a high point on the 95, it wasn’t fantastic on my 90-2 either.

 

[mowingman]

Thanks. I will try changing the airflow on the A/C. I think there is a slide cover on the top of the A/C unit in the cab.

 

[heymccall]

By 100hrs, my coworkers had bricked the evaporator on my svl75. How, by displacing the recirculation filters, and running door open.
What a POS design for the HVAC system.
I've since flushed the HVAC system upwards of 10 times (I'm at 3k hours).
Ironically, my door fits well.

 

[mowingman]

A little update here.
The dealer replaced the windshield/door and I put additional stick-on foam sealer tape around the door seal. Still too dusty inside to operate. I tried changing A/C to bring in air and pressurize cab better. No worky.
Dealer brought out a different machine and installed the head on it last night. This morning I climbed on to give it a try. Never shredded one tree. On the first tree the head controls were almost dead, with no head revolutions or hyd. power at all. Oil was pouring out of the right end of the cutter head from behind a steel plate cover. Parked machine. Mechanic came and looked at it. He said there is nothing broken, like a hose or motor, and the oil is coming out of some relief valve. So, it is going back to the dealer this afternoon to be fixed.
Still no clearing on the land as of this evening. My guess is that the hoses from the head to the machine are not hooked up correctly. This machine looks to have a different arrangement on hydraulic plug-in connections. Who the heck knows? I am getting discouraged about this rental.
Jeff

 

[southernman13]

If the motor in th cutter goes
Bad it will pour out the pop off valve. At least on a Bradco Head I’ve had it happen twice. Hydraulic run hot and weaken seals it n motor. That’s my theory. Good luck