Thoughts on 200 hour maintenance.

[N80]

I did my 200 hour basic maintenance this weekend. Here are a few random thoughts.

1.) Oil and filter change always very easy. No problems.

2.) Manual calls for replacing hydraulic fluid filter but not the hydraulic fluid. Changed it at 50 hours and due again at 400. I'm not complaining since the fluid is expensive. But how are you supposed to change the filter without losing a ton of fluid? The manual does not say. I asked the guy at the Kubota parts window. He says not all that much comes out when you take the filter off. WRONG! It gushes out. My hands got all slippery and getting the new filter on was like herding cats. Lost at least 1/2, maybe 3/4 of a gallon. Fortunately I had about that much left over from the 50 hour service.

There has got to be a better way.

3.) The hydraulic fluid filter magnet had a thick layer of black metal on it. I guess this is normal?

4.) The manual calls for replacing the air filter elements every 2 years. But, they look fine and I just blew them out with compressed air. Kubota parts guy said they did not need to be replaced......but he's the one that told me that the tranny fluid wasn't going to gush out.

5.) Manual says to flush the radiator and replace fluid. I did that. Its cheap and easy but probably not all that necessary.

6.) Manual says to replace air intake hose and fuel lines every two years. Seems crazy. They look new.

7.) Manual says to be very careful with radiator fluid (ethylene glycol) because it is highly flammable. I honestly never heard that before.

 

[Diamondpilot]

All seems normal but 2 years on air filters? I can go 10 hours or 1,000 hours, it all depends on how dusty and such. I mean if you are working in a gravel pit its going to be dusty. If you are working on a iceberg its not going to be dusty at all.

Here is what I do.

Oil and filter every 50 hours
Grease all fittings every 50 hours
Fuel Filter every 250 hours
Air Filter every 250 Hours
Hydraulic Filter every 250 hours

I changed all my fluids at 50 hours and plan to do so again at 600 hours. Just keep it simple.

Chris

 

[N80]

Oh yeah, I did clean the fuel filter in kerosene as per the manual.

 

[TrippleT]

I replace my filters and lubricants as the manual suggests. As one stated on the air filter, it depends on how dusty the conditions are. I would work all the levers and relieve all the pressure I could, before taking the hydraulic filters off.
Another thing to do is if you have a lot of dust you might consider washing the radiator fins out or blowing them out with air. Be careful about blowing the air filters out as you can blow holes in the filter. Of course that would defeat the purpose of the filter. Your tractor probably has an inner and outer air filter. The leakage of the outer will cause the inner filter to be dirtier. I made a light on a long probe to place inside the filter so that it gives a good guess of how much life you have left on the filter. I hope this helps.

 

[N80]

Is radiator fluid really highly flammable?

 

[newbury]

2.) Manual calls for replacing hydraulic fluid filter but not the hydraulic fluid. Changed it at 50 hours and due again at 400. I'm not complaining since the fluid is expensive. But how are you supposed to change the filter without losing a ton of fluid? The manual does not say. I asked the guy at the Kubota parts window. He says not all that much comes out when you take the filter off. WRONG! It gushes out. My hands got all slippery and getting the new filter on was like herding cats. Lost at least 1/2, maybe 3/4 of a gallon. Fortunately I had about that much left over from the 50 hour service.

Find a high sturdy tree branch.
Throw a winch over it
Empty the tractor of other fluids
Hoist the tractor so the filter is up

 

[N80]

Well, its not a huge tractor (Kubota L4400), but I don't think I've got a tree big enough for that. But I would have loved to have seen that in the manual!

 

[jinman]

Is radiator fluid really highly flammable?

Pure ethylene glycol has a flashpoint of 111 degrees C and an autoignition temperature of 410 degrees C. I would not call it that flammable when mixed 50/50 with water, but I would not want a high concentration of vapors near an open flame. It might flash, but would probably not sustain ignition. Only the temperatures listed are fact; the rest of this is just my own opinion.

 

[Patches]

Apply vacuum to the hydraulic vent and it will almost eliminate fluid loss on the filter change; just be sure to have the replacement filter "at the ready"

 

[N80]

That makes sense. I don't know where the vacuum vent is, but I have a parts and shop manual so I could find it. How would you apply vacuum? Or does it just need to be blocked? It would have been nice if the manual had mentioned this trick.

 

[The Haymaker]

The proper way to keep from losing oil is the same as my TZ25 was. The proper method is demonstrated at the 6 minute mark of this video.

Even in the diluted form of it's intended purpose, coolant/antifreeze is indeed flammable under the right conditions. Anyone on the FD who has been to a car fire started by a coolant line exploding on a redhot manifold has seen the results. If the heat source is hot enough and has a thermal mass to sustain the heat required to evaporate the water, the glycol will burn.

Next ime you have a bonfire, throw a gallon jug of used antifreeze in there at the peak moment, like when all 20 pallets are burning good (I like small bonfires) and you'll see the stuff doesn't care if there is water or not.

Under normal circumstances, I don't believe the flammability will ever be an issue. Under a catastrophic system failure? Yes.

 

[N80]

Thanks. My work computer doesn't allow me to access YouTube but I'll check it out when I get home. Of course, the next time I need to change the filter it will also be time to replace fluid so I won't need to do this again until 600 hours. At my current level of usage, that will be about 7-8 years from now.

 

[Patches]

That makes sense. I don't know where the vacuum vent is, but I have a parts and shop manual so I could find it. How would you apply vacuum? Or does it just need to be blocked? It would have been nice if the manual had mentioned this trick.

The sump is too large for a "block" to be very effective. I've used a shop vac, being sure the connection to the vent is not air tight(read a small air leak)so as to prevent the possibility of actually sucking some of the fluid through the vent system into the vacuum. I doubt you would be able to this, but no sense in taking a chance; could be messy

 

[scott_vt]

Good Mornin George,
Is there anyting in your manual about the changing out the oil in your injector pump ? I remember doing that at some point in time.

Also my manual suggests changing out the gear lube in the front axle, center, and both left and right sides, all seperate resevoirs. I think my manual suggests every 200 hrs on that change.

Just some ramblings with out my manual at my fingertips...

Also adjusted the two stage clutch... a bit of a pain

 

[N80]

Good Mornin George,
Is there anyting in your manual about the changing out the oil in your injector pump ? I remember doing that at some point in time.

No, it doesn't say anything about that anywhere. Wonder how it gets lubed? Any chance it just uses the egine oil?

Also my manual suggests changing out the gear lube in the front axle, center, and both left and right sides, all seperate resevoirs. I think my manual suggests every 200 hrs on that change.

On my tractor the front axle is separate from the tranny/hydraulic fluid but the tranny/hydraulic fluid is all one system. I did not notice about the front end. Will have to check the manual again. Fortunately that's a very easy change.

 

[Soundguy]

park in a ditch or on a ramp so that the hyd filter is up or higher.. that should help with the gush. My nh 7610s has a hyd filter the size of a gallon paint can.. no joke...

as for the air filter... I have an inner and an outter.. I replace the outter atleast yearly.. and inner when it shows signs of dirt.. or every 2 years.

as for repalcing the hoses.. I think that's a kubota thing.. I believe I remember reading that they like having their ps hoses replaced quite often as well!

soundguy

 

[Egon]

.) Manual says to be very careful with radiator fluid (ethylene glycol) because it is highly flammable.

It is highly toxic though.
It's sweet and some animals/birds may like it. Results in an ugly death. No antidote.

Ethylene glycol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Soundguy]

depends on your machine.

some are fuel lubed.. some share engine oil.. and some have their own sump.

for instance.. my NH 7610s (delphi) and ford 5000 (CAV) both with rotary pumps are fuel lubed.. my older 3000 with an inline sims pump has it's own oil sump and needs to hae it's oil change at the same time the crankcase oil is changed..

soundguy

No, it doesn't say anything about that anywhere. Wonder how it gets lubed? Any chance it just uses the egine oil?



On my tractor the front axle is separate from the tranny/hydraulic fluid but the tranny/hydraulic fluid is all one system. I did not notice about the front end. Will have to check the manual again. Fortunately that's a very easy change.

 

[N80]

It is highly toxic though.
It's sweet and some animals/birds may like it.

Its good on pancakes.

Results in an ugly death.

And blindness.....but not necessarily in that order.

No antidote.

Actually, regular old alcohol (ethanol) is preferentially metabolized over ethelyne glycol and it is the metabolites of the ethelyne glycol that cause much of the toxicity. So you can actually treat an ethelyne glycol ingestion with vodka.

 

[N80]

park in a ditch or on a ramp so that the hyd filter is up or higher..

Doh! That's the kind of thing a reasonably intelligent adult like myself should have thought of on my own. Sometime the simplest soultions are the hardest to think of on the spot.

Of course, the main problem was trusting the kid behind the parts counter at the Kubota place. I should have had more sense than that too.

as for repalcing the hoses.. I think that's a kubota thing.. I believe I remember reading that they like having their ps hoses replaced quite often as well!

soundguy

Yep, those too. Aint gonna happen, not every two years anyway.