The Kubota B series is the compact end of the company’s tractor range, the machines sold for gardens, smallholdings and municipal work. Kubota came to that market from a standing start in 1960, when it built the first Japanese riding tractor, and the B and BX lines are the smallest tractors it sells.
Kubota B series at a glance
| Maker | Kubota Corporation, Osaka, Japan |
|---|---|
| Line | compact tractors; the B and BX series sit at the small end of the range |
| Power examples | B1220D about 8 kW; BX2350 about 17 kW |
| Position in the range | below the L series; the M series is the largest |
| First Japanese riding tractor | T15, 1960, for upland fields |
| First paddy tractor | L15R, 1962 |
| Small diesel and four-wheel drive | Bulltra series, 1971 |
| American sales company | Kubota Tractor Corporation, Torrance, California, from 1972 |
| American plant | Kubota Manufacturing of America, Gainesville, Georgia, from 1988 |
| Models in this collection | B1600 and B3030 |
There is no Wikipedia article for the B series. This page uses the Kubota company articles, which name the B and BX lines and a few models but give no specifications for the B1600 or the B3030.
History of the Kubota B series
Engines before tractors
Kubota was founded in 1890 as an iron foundry in Osaka by Gonshiro Ōde, who was the first Japanese maker of cast-iron pipes for waterworks; the firm took the Kubota name in 1897. Its route into agriculture began with a petroleum engine for farm machinery in 1922, and with the Sakai plant in Osaka Prefecture, opened in 1937, where engines were made from the start. Diesel engines joined the range in the mid-1940s, and the company has been listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange since 1949.
The first riding tractors
Kubota built its first riding tractor in 1960. The T15 was the first Japanese machine of its kind for upland fields, and the L15R of 1962 was developed for paddy fields. In 1969 the company began exporting the 21 hp L200 to the United States, a tractor small enough for gardens and estates, and the demand it found there led to the Kubota Tractor Corporation at Torrance, California, in 1972. The Bulltra series of 1971 was the next landmark: it used what the company describes as the world’s smallest water-cooled inline two-cylinder diesel, and it was the industry’s first compact tractor with four-wheel drive. It quickly became Kubota’s best-selling product. In 1988 the company opened its first American factory, Kubota Manufacturing of America at Gainesville, Georgia, which began with tractor parts and later took on other products.
Where the B series fits
The Kubota tractor range is usually described in three bands. The B and BX series are the compact machines for gardening, with the B1220D rated at about 8 kW and the BX2350 at about 17 kW. The L series sits in the middle, and the M series covers the large tractors of roughly 47 to 100 kW. Kubota became known above all for low-power, highly manoeuvrable tractors of this small kind, and the B line is the direct descendant of that idea. The two machines behind this page, the B1600 and the B3030, belong to the line; the video below shows a B3030 clearing snow.
Design and features
- Small power for garden work: the sources give about 8 kW for the B1220D and about 17 kW for the BX2350, a fraction of what the M series offers.
- Manoeuvrability: Kubota made its name with low-power tractors that were easy to handle in gardens and greenhouses rather than in open fields.
- Four-wheel drive in a small tractor: Kubota introduced the industry’s first four-wheel-drive compact tractor with the Bulltra of 1971, and the small lines have been built around that layout since.
- Kubota-built diesel engines: the tractors use engines from the company’s own range, which runs from single-cylinder units to straight-six turbocharged tractor engines.
- Winter work: the B3030 in the video is fitted for snow clearing, the kind of seasonal job these compact machines are bought for.
Kubota B series versions
- B1, B2, BX and EK1: the compact series listed in the Italian Wikipedia article on Kubota.
- B 1000 D-DST and B 2420 DR: B models named in the same list.
- B1220D: a small B model of about 8 kW.
- BX2350: a BX model of about 17 kW.
- B1600 and B3030: the two machines of the line in this collection.
The next size up is the Kubota L series, and the largest tractors are in the M series. The engines these tractors use are described in Kubota diesel engines, and more machines are in the Kubota collection.
Video: Kubota B3030 snowblowing
Video on YouTube.
Sources
- Kubota, English Wikipedia: company profile and engine range
- Kubota (Unternehmen), German Wikipedia: founding, plants and history
- Kubota, Japanese Wikipedia: T15, L15R and Bulltra
- Kubota, Italian Wikipedia: B and BX series, power figures
- Kubota, French Wikipedia: early history
