Kubota KD 15 CTL Backhoe

Hey, here are some photos from when I was building up the sprockets on the track loader.

Here are more photos from building up the sprockets and getting the steel tracks with rubber on them fitted.

Here's the old Cat procedure for building up sprockets.

Here are some pictures of it working.

Got some more pics here with a Venieri backhoe, Kubota CTL backhoe and Komatsu PC01.

More pictures from the job site.

That's a nice compact machine you've got there, really like seeing the PC01 mounted on the forks in that shot.

I've got a video of the Kubota digging a hole. It's only 17hp with a 2 cylinder engine around 750cc. Here's the clip from 1-8-15.

What made you switch to steel tracks?

I switched out the rubber tracks for steel ones with rubber pads because the rubber tracks were rubbing against the final drive housing. Running rubber tracks also takes more horsepower. The steel tracks with rubber pads are much more durable – you can drive over rocks, trees, and obstacles without worrying about damage. With rubber tracks you have to be really careful because you'll tear them up if you're not cautious. I didn't want to end up with track failures. I've been operating a new Cat 259D with rubber tracks, and you have to be so careful with turning and rough ground. These steel tracks don't have that problem. They still handle concrete and roads fine without any damage.

Nice compact machine, really handy-looking.

Here's a video of the machine in action with the backhoe. You can drive it backwards while operating the backhoe.

That Kubota looks like a really useful machine to have around.

Got some pictures here of the Kubota KD 15 pushing timber out of the way. I've also got a video if you want to check it out—the link should work for 4 days.

Been working a shed site and doing some driveway grading with the CTL. I pushed over the trees with the Kubota KD 15, and the ground was pretty steep with broken stumps, concrete and steel scattered around. Couldn't use the Venieri backhoe because of tyre damage until I cleaned up all that debris. The steel rubber tracks are really solid though—I don't have to worry about damaging them when I'm cutting through old stumps or working around the metal on the ground. The Venieri's got a grader on it anyway.

How do you transport your equipment?

I use an Isuzu truck and a triaxle trailer.

Yeah, it's good to see those older methods still getting used. We used to do the same thing back in the day—cut up pieces of pipe that fit the right size to rebuild sprockets when they were too worn to just re-profile with welding. We'd rebuild idlers and rollers back to size, and I've done track chains the same way. Track plates got relugged, and we'd make new ones from Assab or whatever we had on hand if they were too far gone.

You don't see much of that anymore with everything mass-produced now, but out in remote areas you still need to know how to do it. You've definitely got some uncommon equipment there.

I'm looking at getting one of these machines and wondering how it'd handle rocky desert ground—dry stuff but lots of rocks and gravel mixed in. Nothing huge like boulders or solid bedrock, just the kind of alluvial deposits you get in old riverbeds.