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Hello thrifty plant men far and wide 
Our Southern Hemisphere friends will have no interest in this thread what so ever
.. but for the rest of us unlucky lot a heater can be vital .. or maybe were just a bit soft 
Now Ive just posted how to repair of a Volvo EC series cab heater elsewhere.. and low and behold .. we have a Kubota KX61 dash 3 .. that has a failed heater unit .. inspection reveals that the motor is humped (technical talk for .. ehh ..fooked !) and after a bodge .. has given up altogether.
Perhaps the units are interchangeable ?
Img_1649.jpg
Umm no ... that would be too easy .. Volvo on the left .. Kubota on the right.
The differences are simply that the Kubota unit has additional ducting moulded to the front where hot air is expelled to guide some air to the front and the remainder to a side vent. The Volvo unit uses ducting too, but its built into the cab interior, and not the heater case, the heater just has a slab front ...
Img_1653.jpg
the solution is to merge the two .. or else pay the Kubota stealer £300 odd notes ? .. what would you chose ?
Heres the bit we need to salvage from the Kubota heater case (it comes in two halves aswell)
Img_1652.jpg
You can see the side exit and front exit .. so a judicious bit of jigsawing .. and be careful because the plastic is brittle and cut off the bit of case we need .. leave plenty of overhang on the upper and lower parts to allow it to slip over the existing Volvo unit.
Img_1654.jpgImg_1655.jpg
Notch out the sides to help give you the overhang .. because this is all you will have to allow you to attach the new duct to the existing unit
Unless you are a model maker, getting the fit snug is not easy .. so I always have a stock of rubber surrounds, mats, and foamy inserts that most people throw out, hanging around the workshop. Just use a couple of strips at each side to give you a good seal. This prevents wasted air escaping and gives better output pressure at the vents
Img_1656.jpg
Then its just a case of getting some self tappers along the top and bottom to fasten the new duct to the heater unit
And here we have it
Img_1657.jpg
The Volvo units have one earth and two 12v feeds, one full power feed and the other a shunted one that makes the motor run at half speed. Use this one only, as it will provide the same heat output as the old Kubota unit at full power, using the full power one will overload the Kubota loom, I havent checked this but can see it happening. In any event check the fuse in the fuse box is the correct 10 Amp one, and hasent been bridged by some brain surgeon with a kit Kat paper
to keep your electrics ptotected.
If you were to do an install the other way about .. Kubota >> Volvo it would be a simple chop off job, but the Kubota unit uses a double pole switch in the cab, and you would need to poke about to find the correct feeds in the heater
Anyhoo .. more beer money saved again , as I had a couple of Volvo units lying about.
Our Southern Hemisphere friends will have no interest in this thread what so ever
.. but for the rest of us unlucky lot a heater can be vital .. or maybe were just a bit soft Now Ive just posted how to repair of a Volvo EC series cab heater elsewhere.. and low and behold .. we have a Kubota KX61 dash 3 .. that has a failed heater unit .. inspection reveals that the motor is humped (technical talk for .. ehh ..fooked !) and after a bodge .. has given up altogether.
Perhaps the units are interchangeable ?
Img_1649.jpg
Umm no ... that would be too easy .. Volvo on the left .. Kubota on the right.
The differences are simply that the Kubota unit has additional ducting moulded to the front where hot air is expelled to guide some air to the front and the remainder to a side vent. The Volvo unit uses ducting too, but its built into the cab interior, and not the heater case, the heater just has a slab front ...
Img_1653.jpg
the solution is to merge the two .. or else pay the Kubota stealer £300 odd notes ? .. what would you chose ?
Heres the bit we need to salvage from the Kubota heater case (it comes in two halves aswell)
Img_1652.jpg
You can see the side exit and front exit .. so a judicious bit of jigsawing .. and be careful because the plastic is brittle and cut off the bit of case we need .. leave plenty of overhang on the upper and lower parts to allow it to slip over the existing Volvo unit.
Img_1654.jpgImg_1655.jpg
Notch out the sides to help give you the overhang .. because this is all you will have to allow you to attach the new duct to the existing unit
Unless you are a model maker, getting the fit snug is not easy .. so I always have a stock of rubber surrounds, mats, and foamy inserts that most people throw out, hanging around the workshop. Just use a couple of strips at each side to give you a good seal. This prevents wasted air escaping and gives better output pressure at the vents
Img_1656.jpg
Then its just a case of getting some self tappers along the top and bottom to fasten the new duct to the heater unit
And here we have it
Img_1657.jpg
The Volvo units have one earth and two 12v feeds, one full power feed and the other a shunted one that makes the motor run at half speed. Use this one only, as it will provide the same heat output as the old Kubota unit at full power, using the full power one will overload the Kubota loom, I havent checked this but can see it happening. In any event check the fuse in the fuse box is the correct 10 Amp one, and hasent been bridged by some brain surgeon with a kit Kat paper
to keep your electrics ptotected.If you were to do an install the other way about .. Kubota >> Volvo it would be a simple chop off job, but the Kubota unit uses a double pole switch in the cab, and you would need to poke about to find the correct feeds in the heater
Anyhoo .. more beer money saved again , as I had a couple of Volvo units lying about.
.gif "thumbs up")