fluid change??

[drjay9051]

in the past fluid and filters has been a messy job. I live on a farm, sandy, no garage floor. Anybody use ramps, jack stands or floor jacks? It would make job easier. I imagine tractor must be level so do i use ramps up front and a floor jack in the rear? Im just tired of the sand and all.
I find myself digging little pits in the sand to get to front axle drain without contaminating the earth. Got to be a better way.

Nothing like being covered with oil and sand. Great feeling!!

 

[unhappykioti]

How bout putting a tarp down and laying on that?

 

[Highbeam]

I was going to recommend plywood or even cardboard. There's plenty of clearance under these things to do the job. Your issue must be with sand in your crack/hair/ears etc.

 

[drjay9051]

I was going to recommend plywood or even cardboard. There's plenty of clearance under these things to do the job. Your issue must be with sand in your crack/hair/ears etc.

Yes, also I find it difficult to drain the front axle without spilling oil. Any ideas on this??

 

[Mousefield]

I start off with a large piece of old carpet :thumbsup: and drive the tractor over it, that way I can lay on the carpet which is a bit softer and cleaner than the ground. Then some cardboard and newspaper so if I spill some oil it won't get into the ground. I make sure I have enough pails to more than contain all the oil. I have a few white pails I got from a restaurant; they are either 2 or 2 ½ gallon size. They work great and fit under the axle.

 

[Highbeam]

Yes, also I find it difficult to drain the front axle without spilling oil. Any ideas on this??

Yes, this is what you do. Use the loader to lift the front end of the tractor off the ground. The front axle will rock up and down. Now slide a regular oil drain pan under the entire wheel, tilt that wheel down so that more axle oil runs towards it and then pull the drain plug. You'll get an oily tire but all of the oil will make it into the drain pan. Repeat for the other side. The benefit of this method is that you can get all of the oil out of the axle and also you can fit the drain pan under it. The risk is that you need to keep your hootus out from under things unless you rig up some sort of jackstand.

 

[drjay9051]

Yes, this is what you do. Use the loader to lift the front end of the tractor off the ground. The front axle will rock up and down. Now slide a regular oil drain pan under the entire wheel, tilt that wheel down so that more axle oil runs towards it and then pull the drain plug. You'll get an oily tire but all of the oil will make it into the drain pan. Repeat for the other side. The benefit of this method is that you can get all of the oil out of the axle and also you can fit the drain pan under it. The risk is that you need to keep your hootus out from under things unless you rig up some sort of jackstand.

GREAT IDEA !! I suppose left wheel on a couple of boards will tilt to right and vice versa. Yup, use the FEL!! Now I cannot wait to get dirty this weekend.

Thanks a bunch.

BTW: Last front axle change I removed sight glass as per manual, overtightened and stripped it. $15 for new one. Not sure why you need to remove sight glass since you remove fill plug on top which allows for smooth flow of old oil. I just refill till oil is visible in glass. I see no need to overflow out of sight glass opening.

 

[kco]

GREAT IDEA !! I suppose left wheel on a couple of boards will tilt to right and vice versa. Yup, use the FEL!! Now I cannot wait to get dirty this weekend.

Thanks a bunch.

BTW: Last front axle change I removed sight glass as per manual, overtightened and stripped it. $15 for new one. Not sure why you need to remove sight glass since you remove fill plug on top which allows for smooth flow of old oil. I just refill till oil is visible in glass. I see no need to overflow out of sight glass opening.

I'm at 31 hrs on my DK35 HST and appreciate the tips given here. I too am confused by the instructions on page 7-17 for Changing Front Axle Case Oil. After draining the oil they say:

=== instruction quote starting at step 2. ====
2. After draining reinstall the drain plugs.
3. Remove the oil level check plug on the left of the front axle
4. Add new oil to the specified level of the check plug through the oil filler. (Refer to "Lubrication" in the chapter "Service".)
5. Tight the oil filler plug after replenishment.
6. .......
===== end of quote ====

Step 4 seems to suggest to add oil until it comes out the check plug hole and I can't find the Lubrication reference, or the chapter "Service" for that matter.

I could not see oil in the window on my tractor but removed the check plug and the oil was level with the bottom of the hole. So the manufacturer seems to fill it just level with the check plug. So why the sight glass with the little floating ball?

To confuse things a bit more they label the sight class as "(1) Oil Filler Plug" in the diagram.

I plan to do the same as drjay and add oil so I can see a bit in the sight glass.

 

[drjay9051]

I'm at 31 hrs on my DK35 HST and appreciate the tips given here. I too am confused by the instructions on page 7-17 for Changing Front Axle Case Oil. After draining the oil they say:

=== instruction quote starting at step 2. ====
2. After draining reinstall the drain plugs.
3. Remove the oil level check plug on the left of the front axle
4. Add new oil to the specified level of the check plug through the oil filler. (Refer to "Lubrication" in the chapter "Service".)
5. Tight the oil filler plug after replenishment.
6. .......
===== end of quote ====

Step 4 seems to suggest to add oil until it comes out the check plug hole and I can't find the Lubrication reference, or the chapter "Service" for that matter.

I could not see oil in the window on my tractor but removed the check plug and the oil was level with the bottom of the hole. So the manufacturer seems to fill it just level with the check plug. So why the sight glass with the little floating ball?

To confuse things a bit more they label the sight class as "(1) Oil Filler Plug" in the diagram.

I plan to do the same as drjay and add oil so I can see a bit in the sight glass.

If you do remove sight glass (and why would you?) be real careful when retightening. It has an O ring so I would think just a bit snug would be just fine. When I sheared mine the metal looks like thin aluminum not the typical type of metal one would find in a bolt. BE CAREFUL !!!! I think adding till level is just above bottom of glass is a better idea than removing the sight glass plug. Why sight glass if they tell you to remove? In any event enjoy .

 

[kco]

If you do remove sight glass (and why would you?) be real careful when retightening. It has an O ring so I would think just a bit snug would be just fine. When I sheared mine the metal looks like thin aluminum not the typical type of metal one would find in a bolt. BE CAREFUL !!!! I think adding till level is just above bottom of glass is a better idea than removing the sight glass plug. Why sight glass if they tell you to remove? In any event enjoy .

Thanks for the warning drjay. I did remove the sight plug to check the oil level because I could not see oil in it. I was fortunate to have read another TBN thread warning about not over-tightening it as it strips easily.

I agree, I'll add oil until I can see it in the sight glass.

 

[Fred Barbour]

Changing the front axle fluid can be a challenge. The drain plugs are situated directly above the tire so without help directing the flow it goes all over the place making a mess. I've seen pics of people taking off the tire to make the axle fluid change, all sorts of labour intensive ways to do this procedure.

Solution: Rip a chunk of cardboard off one of the many boxes sitting in your garage, fold it and jam it up abainst the rim of the tire under the drain hole, it will natuarlly follow a 45 degree angle. Drain the oil into your old plastic cat litter box, the height is perfect, you don't even have to jack up the tractor. Next take the carefully made funnel you just fashioned and throw it away! Next change, find another cardboard box and repeat the above. Simple and fast.

Fred

 

[Andrewnewy]

Yes normally you would fill till the oil is level with the bottom of the check plug, the sight glass is so you can check it during operation, I.e when using it the oil will heat up and expand causing it to show in the sight glass. Admittedly not really a useful function but it's one of those extra features thank makes buying a kioti worthwhile!

For changing oil, the loader trick is a good one, you can also do this with a jack on the opposite wheel if you don't have a loader on. Too other things I find really useful, for an oil pan I use a 44 gallon drum cut in half, or less than half for thigh spots, this gives a nice big surface area to catch the oil, the other really useful thing is a bit of card board, in hard to get a places you can use the cardboard to funnel the oil to where you want it, because it's cardboard you can bend it any way you like to get the best shape, works a treat every time!

 

[Fred Barbour]

After draining your front axle your refill should bring the level to the middle of the window, the white ball should be dead centre.

Be carefull not to overfill. What I did was place the old drained oil back into emty quart containers to ensure I knew how much came out, this gave me a good reference on what to put back in. After replacing approx the same amount in as you took out, drive the tractor around for awhile using both 2 and 4wd. Let it sit overnight, check the level and carefully add to bring the ball to dead centre on the window. Do this for a few days checking every day until the level is static with the white ball in the centre.

The reason for doing it this way is to prevent an overfill (which I did) and, it's a pain in the rear drainig out small portions to get it right.

Fred

 

[kco]

Yes normally you would fill till the oil is level with the bottom of the check plug, the sight glass is so you can check it during operation, I.e when using it the oil will heat up and expand causing it to show in the sight glass. Admittedly not really a useful function but it's one of those extra features thank makes buying a kioti worthwhile!

For changing oil, the loader trick is a good one, you can also do this with a jack on the opposite wheel if you don't have a loader on. Too other things I find really useful, for an oil pan I use a 44 gallon drum cut in half, or less than half for thigh spots, this gives a nice big surface area to catch the oil, the other really useful thing is a bit of card board, in hard to get a places you can use the cardboard to funnel the oil to where you want it, because it's cardboard you can bend it any way you like to get the best shape, works a treat every time!

I'm glad I read these tips before reaching the 50 hrs. I've been wondering how I would go about it, particularly draining the 11 or so gallons of transmission oil. I have a couple of small (20 gallon) drums and will cut one in half to use as an oil pan.

 

[mx5guy]

you may want to cut it a little less thann 1/2 half or you will be looking where to put the extra gallon in a hurry LOL:laughing:

 

[csholler]

Wow, disappointed I didn't think of that! Great suggestion Highbeam!

 

[dennis52]

Yes, also I find it difficult to drain the front axle without spilling oil. Any ideas on this??

My dealer did my free 50 hr service at my farm today and I learnt quite a bit.
The mechanic just tore off some glossy coated cardboard from a box, twisted it to make a half funnel and stuck it under the front axle drain plugs with a small container below to catch the old oil as it flowed onto and down the cardboard half funnel .

He also did the refill of the axle. firstly from the the two red painted filler plugs on top of the wheel hubs, tightened these two plugs when oil reached thread height, and then the final fill from the filler plug on the axle. Said this made the job a lot quicker as you do not have to wait so long for all of the thick oil to make it's way down the entire axle.

 

[dennis52]

The mechanic who did my front axle fill today said that you fill it to when the top of the white ball is level with the top of the window. He gave it plenty of time to flow through the axle before checking the level.

He also slightly overfilled the transmission oil a couple of litres to take into account the steep country I am working. Said this would help ensure adequate oil flow to the pump on steep inclines.