610 Bobcat (engine swap to a kubota)

[mikedogg99]

I put a 3 cylinder kabota diesel in my 610 and converted to chain drive. I thought I remembered a guy on the Facebook bobcat page who had a kabota 3 cylinder with the drive sheeve on it and still operable. The radiator I attached to where the back door goes and put an electric fan to it. Weld some brackets to space the back door off the frame and it's good to go. The pump I had to mount the opposite way and reconfigure the lines. Alittle cutting and rewelding because I was too cheap to have someone make me custom tubing. The bigger diesels won't fit unless you do some big modifications or turn the motor 90* and find some sort of gear box to turn the drive.

 

[Don Pearson]

I had a Melroe 600 years ago. The hydraulic pump was mounted just below the distributor on the engine block if memory serves. The engine was tired, and at that time it was over $2700 in parts to rebuild it, over $3700 to replace it. I opted for a Honda 27 HP horizontal shaft engine for $2300 with a 2 year warranty. not the torque of a Wisconsin, but plenty enough for a machine that size. I still had to build a hydraulic pump mount and muffler/ exhaust system, but the advantage of a dependable motor was the goal. Pretty sure stuffing a motor and radiator is a challenge.

 

[Obieo]

I just bought a 610 that was repowered with a kubota d950. I'm in the process of getting the hydraulics working as the pump was shot. Waiting on a new one and working through replacing axle seals and flushing the hydro reservoir while I wait.

The d950 fits in the bay perfectly fine. Seemed to have plenty of power to load onto a trailer even with the drive clutches on one side not adjusted properly.

I have a Jd24 with the d950 it's a great motor a little under powered when using the hydraulics and pushing into a pile or moving snow but I've learned to work around it pretty easy

 

[CarlH]

I put a 3 cylinder kabota diesel in my 610 and converted to chain drive. I thought I remembered a guy on the Facebook bobcat page who had a kabota 3 cylinder with the drive sheeve on it and still operable. The radiator I attached to where the back door goes and put an electric fan to it. Weld some brackets to space the back door off the frame and it's good to go. The pump I had to mount the opposite way and reconfigure the lines. Alittle cutting and rewelding because I was too cheap to have someone make me custom tubing. The bigger diesels won't fit unless you do some big modifications or turn the motor 90* and find some sort of gear box to turn the drive.

Do you happen to know the model of the engine you installed?

 

[2bobcats]

Find out what is wrong with your motor. They're not hard to work on and parts aren't hard to find. The crank is a little more hard to find and make sure Wisconsin parts are from an industrial engine and not a farm application. The industrial engine has a tampered crank..If it has a regular belt pulley it is a farm engine.

 

[2bobcats]

I have a Jd24 with the d950 it's a great motor a little under powered when using the hydraulics and pushing into a pile or moving snow but I've learned to work around it pretty easy

 

[2bobcats]

As others have said, with a power somethings are difficult to make work. The hydraulic pump for the 610 runs off of the back of the distributor. The variable speed clutch would also have to be retrofitted. I would pull the engine and have someone look into it. Better to have original than something that has been Jerry rigged

 

[SkidRoe]

I have to agree with the previous comments - I see 3 choices:
1. Find another VH4D that is serviceable / rebuildable - sliding scale of expense
2. Find the Deutz setup out of a 611 - a bit of a rarity these days
3. Go with the Small Engine Warehouse re-power - more of a sure-thing

Anything else is going to represent a big compromise. A 610 is not the most user friendly machine in the first place (I am partial to hydrostatic machines), going with an under powered engine is not going to help.

I don't see there being a slam-dunk economical way out of this, skimping on the engine is only going to hurt the resale value, if and when you do try to sell it.

FWIW - I just overhauled a VE4 on an old baler on the cheap - there are parts out there, you just have to scrounge for them. Ebay is your friend, once you have the part numbers of the parts you are looking for.

HTH

 

[Hotrod1830]

Average asking price for a 610 is around 5-6k. You could get a little more if the engine was fresh and you had some attachments. Assuming the attachments are of the bobtach type, they will fit any bobcat or skid steer with the same mount. You will need to verify it is the modern type of bobtach. Not real sure on the older ones. I know My little 310 used the early style and none of the modern stuff would fit.

As far as loading and transport, Dont forget about local tow companies. If they have a rollback, they can drag a skidsteer onto it and deliver it to your door. If you know how many miles they have to drive, they can give you a price up front.

Avoid fire damaged units. They seem like a simple fix, but can quickly turn into more money than they are worth. Unless you can inspect it in person and make a parts list and price it before you buy it, consider it a parts machine.

Parts are starting to get hard to find for the early Bobcats. The engine will not be a problem. If you need any parts for the drive sheave, it could get costly. clutch parts are readily available though. Could possibly be the reason why it has been sitting long enough to seize the engine.

 

[CarlH]

Average asking price for a 610 is around 5-6k. You could get a little more if the engine was fresh and you had some attachments. Assuming the attachments are of the bobtach type, they will fit any bobcat or skid steer with the same mount. You will need to verify it is the modern type of bobtach. Not real sure on the older ones. I know My little 310 used the early style and none of the modern stuff would fit.

As far as loading and transport, Dont forget about local tow companies. If they have a rollback, they can drag a skidsteer onto it and deliver it to your door. If you know how many miles they have to drive, they can give you a price up front.

Avoid fire damaged units. They seem like a simple fix, but can quickly turn into more money than they are worth. Unless you can inspect it in person and make a parts list and price it before you buy it, consider it a parts machine.

Parts are starting to get hard to find for the early Bobcats. The engine will not be a problem. If you need any parts for the drive sheave, it could get costly. clutch parts are readily available though. Could possibly be the reason why it has been sitting long enough to seize the engine.

thanks! the estimate is really helpful. I am going to call around and see how much a tow truck would cost.

 

[imtools]

Regarding engine swaps in 600 series, I put a VW Beetle air-cooled motor in mine years ago. It stuck out the back because it wouldn't fit between the housings. I had a Baja header system on it and I drove the hydraulic pump off the back of the motor. Since the crank was running front to back and the input to the machine was side to side, I also used the transaxle and drove the cross-shaft from the axle flanges with V-belts. Since the reduction of the final drive would have made it too slow, I locked one side, driving off the other, which turned the differential into a speed doubler. Worked for quite a while until the differential locked up; even with proper lubrication, the differential isn't meany to see that much action. Wish I had pictures to show. Eventually sold it on eBay to a guy from Connecticutt who siad he was going to put a VW diesel in it.

 

[SkidRoe]

It doesn't take much to get a 610 rolling, as it is a clutch machine (not hydro). it would load on to a roll-back very easily, providing nothing is seized and the tires are not too flat.

The quick attach is an early version of the bobtach system, and universal attachments will fit it.

 

[xr600]

I put a 3 cylinder kabota diesel in my 610 and converted to chain drive. I thought I remembered a guy on the Facebook bobcat page who had a kabota 3 cylinder with the drive sheeve on it and still operable. The radiator I attached to where the back door goes and put an electric fan to it. Weld some brackets to space the back door off the frame and it's good to go. The pump I had to mount the opposite way and reconfigure the lines. Alittle cutting and rewelding because I was too cheap to have someone make me custom tubing. The bigger diesels won't fit unless you do some big modifications or turn the motor 90* and find some sort of gear box to turn the drive.

I put a 3 cylinder kabota diesel in my 610 and converted to chain drive. I thought I remembered a guy on the Facebook bobcat page who had a kabota 3 cylinder with the drive sheeve on it and still operable. The radiator I attached to where the back door goes and put an electric fan to it. Weld some brackets to space the back door off the frame and it's good to go. The pump I had to mount the opposite way and reconfigure the lines. Alittle cutting and rewelding because I was too cheap to have someone make me custom tubing. The bigger diesels won't fit unless you do some big modifications or turn the motor 90* and find some sort of gear box to turn the drive.

what Kabota engine did you use