When a tractor turbo dies during planting or harvest, waiting weeks on a dealer backorder is not an option. Boost Lab, Inc. rebuilds the Schwitzer, BorgWarner, Garrett and IHI turbochargers on John Deere PowerTech engines, Kubota V-series diesels, Case IH, New Holland, Massey Ferguson and AGCO equipment. Farmers were the original fix-don't-replace customers; we are the shop built for exactly that. Ship it in, get it back to work.
The same handful of turbo families cover an enormous range of ag iron. Odds are yours is on this list.
The backbone of Deere agriculture: 2.9L threes, 4.5L fours, and 6.8L sixes across tractors, combines, sprayers and gensets. Turbos are overwhelmingly Schwitzer/BorgWarner S1B, S2A and S2B units, with Garrett units on some configurations, referenced under Deere RE-prefix numbers. Simple, tough, and highly rebuildable.
Bigger 6068H and 9.0L applications move up to S200S and S300-family BorgWarner units, and Tier 4 machines add variable geometry with actuator diagnostics. We rebuild the VGT units as well, including mechanism cleaning and vane freeing.
Kubota's turbo diesels power compact tractors, skid steers, mini excavators and mowers everywhere. The IHI RHB/RHF-family units are small and precise, and dealer assembly pricing on them is painful relative to their size. A rebuild is usually a fraction of the replacement quote.
Magnum and Steiger tractors run Cummins-based power with Holset HX-series turbos, while much of the New Holland and later Case IH line runs Iveco/FPT engines with Garrett and BorgWarner units. All are ship-in rebuild candidates, and Holset cores are our daily bread.
Massey Ferguson's Perkins engines wear Garrett and Schwitzer hardware; AGCO Power (formerly Sisu) engines run Holset and BorgWarner units. Older Perkins turbos on 1000-series engines remain fully serviceable decades on.
Restoring a classic? The Schwitzer 3LM-33 on older Deere two-cylinder-successor iron and the AiResearch T04B family on 70s and 80s tractors are exactly the kind of units we love: simple journal-bearing turbos where a careful rebuild returns them to factory spec. Originality preserved.
Tell us when the machine has to be back in the field. During planting and harvest windows we prioritize ag units for the fastest possible turnaround, and because we work from your core there is no waiting on a dealer backorder for a discontinued assembly. Note your deadline in the repair form and we will be straight with you about what is achievable.
Verified Deere RE-prefix, Schwitzer/BorgWarner, and Kubota/IHI numbers. Search by number, engine, or machine.
| Turbo PN | Model | OEM PN | Application | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schwitzer 173410, 177267, 172521 | S2B | RE47828 / RE47829, RE509506, RE515501 | Deere 3029, 4039, 4045, 6068, 6076 | Also crosses 198944, 178129, SE500409 |
| Schwitzer 170259, 12749880059 | S2BW183 / S2BW184 | RE502857, SE502177, RE502643 | Deere 4045 / 6068 incl. 4045TFM/6068TFM marine | Same unit serves Deere marine PowerTech |
| Schwitzer 316292, 316101 | S1B | RE71550, SE502194 | Deere 4045T, 5210-5715 utility tractors | Small-frame utility unit |
| Tag-specific | S1B | RE70036, RE500455, RE500784, RE507147 | Deere 3029T, 4024, 4039, 4045 | 5000-series utility tractors |
| 318615 (BorgWarner) | S2A090 | RE503097, RE508876/77, RE529469, RE532282 +more | Deere 4045 / 4045T, 2000-2012 | Crosses Garrett 471049-0001 to -0008 family |
| Schwitzer 317360, CHRA 317373 | S2A | RE503722 | Deere 4039T | Repair kit 318377, bearing housing 314752 |
| Tag-specific | S200S | RE508719 | Deere 6068H PowerTech | 200CLC-270CLC excavators, 710G backhoe |
| Garrett 466007-0001 to -0007 | T350-01 | RE56616 | Deere 6068 tractors | Garrett-equipped 6068 configurations |
| Tag-specific | By configuration | RE548734, RE528771, RE548733, RE548730 | Deere 4045 4.5L and 3029/4039/6068 tractors and backhoes | 5083E-7130 tractors, 310J/410J backhoes, 160DCL |
| Schwitzer 3LM-33 | 3LM | AR103576, AR100931, RE16969, RE19785, SE500260 | Legacy Deere applications | Vintage restorations welcome |
| 318380 (BorgWarner kit) | S2B overhaul kit | n/a | S2B family service | Covers 166xxx-179xxx Schwitzer units incl. 166913/166914 |
| IHI VA/VD410096 (RHF3) | IHI RHF3 | Kubota 1G924-17010 / -17011 / -17012, Bobcat 6686048 | Kubota V2403-MDI (Bobcat S205, T180, T190) | Also 7020836; F31CAD-S0096B |
| IHI VA410161 (RHF3) | IHI RHF3 | Kubota 1J860-17010 / -17012 | Kubota V2403-T Tier 4 | F31CAD-S0161B |
| IHI VA410164 (RHF3H) | IHI RHF3H | Kubota 1J802-17010, Bobcat 6698229 | Kubota V2403-MDI later machines | Also 1G491/1F491-17010 crosses |
| IHI VA410158 / VA410178 | IHI RHF3 | Kubota 1J854-17012, 1J803-17012 | Kubota V2403-M-T-E3 and related | Tier-specific variants |
| Tag-specific | Holset HX25 / HX30 / HX35 | Verify by tag | Case IH Magnum/Steiger, Cummins B ag power | Same families as our Holset reference page |
| Tag-specific | Garrett / Schwitzer by build | Verify by tag | Perkins 1004/1006, Massey Ferguson, AGCO Power | Turbo tag governs, not engine model alone |
Field conditions kill turbos in their own particular ways.
Ag turbos breathe the dirtiest air of any application. A neglected or poorly sealed air cleaner sandblasts the compressor wheel until the blades round off and the wheel unbalances. The telltale is a frosted, dull wheel surface. Fix the intake sealing when you install the rebuilt unit or it will happen again.
Tractor pulls into the shed after a full-load day and gets shut straight down. Oil in the center section bakes into carbon, and next morning's cold start runs the bearings dry. Decades of that routine is the single most common condition on the ag cores we open. A short idle-down habit doubles turbo life.
Farm engines run hard hours between changes, and fuel dilution plus soot loading wear the journal bearings early. By the time you notice oil consumption or whine, the shaft is scored. Rebuild covers it fully, and cleaner oil habits protect the fresh bearings.
PTO work means load cycling all day: full boost, idle, full boost. Turbine housings heat-check and eventually crack through. Small surface checking is normal and serviceable; through-cracks need a replacement housing, which we source across the Schwitzer and Holset families.
Oil in the intercooler pipe or a smoking exhaust gets blamed on rings on a high-hour engine when it is often just turbo seals. A rebuild is dramatically cheaper than an overhaul, so have the turbo assessed first. We will tell you honestly if the core points to an engine-side problem instead.
Newer emissions-era ag engines with variable geometry turbos suffer the same carbon-stuck vanes as on-road diesels, triggering derates in the middle of field work. Mechanism cleaning and actuator evaluation usually restore them without a full assembly swap.
Yes, that is the exact situation we exist for. We rebuild your original unit rather than sourcing a scarce assembly, which sidesteps the backorder entirely. Most ag units are Schwitzer, BorgWarner, Garrett or IHI hardware with strong parts support.
Tell us your deadline in the repair form and we will prioritize accordingly and give you an honest timeline before you commit. Downtime windows matter and we plan around them.
Yes. Kubota, Yanmar-powered and other compact equipment run small IHI and MHI units that we rebuild routinely. Dealer pricing on these small assemblies is often shocking; a rebuild usually costs a fraction of it.
Measure shaft play first, or just send the unit in for assessment. Whine plus oil use usually means worn turbo bearings and seals, not rings. We assess every core before quoting and will tell you if what we see points at the engine instead.
Absolutely. Schwitzer 3LM and AiResearch-era units from the 60s through 80s are simple journal-bearing turbos that rebuild beautifully, and keeping the original casting matters on a restoration. Note the project in your submission.
Start at repair.theboostlab.com, drain the oil passages, cap the openings, and double-box with solid packing. Ship to Boost Lab, Inc., 37833 Pineapple Ave, Unit A, Dade City, FL 33523. We serve farms nationwide.