Am I going to have to split my tractor to fix this?

4570Man · Jul 20, 2016

I have a Kubota L3240 that has about 760 hours. It has a vent on the bottom side about in the middle of the tractor which is pictured below. It has been leaking small amounts of oil for a while, but yesterday it started leaking severely. It will sit and idle and not leak at least not very bad, but once it gets hot it starts leaking in nearly a stream of oil. Based on my limited research there is a seal that is blow instead the tractor. Based on the information I have gathered it is relatively inexpensive, but requires the tractor to be split in half to change. I'm not looking forward to doing that.

rbargeron · Jul 21, 2016

Since the front driveshaft was relocated/redesigned to run inside the housings, the seals at the clutch area have proven to be a problem. Normal leakage is little or none but the clutch housing has a bottom drain as a safety to keep the clutch dry. The oil that appears there is trans hydraulic oil so yes the tractor comes apart to replace the seal(s). Only you can decide when its enough of a nuisance to justify the job. In some cases putting oil-sorb diapers on it is adequate for a while.

4570Man · Jul 21, 2016

It is going to have to be fixed. Once hot it leaks out nearly a stream. That or trade it for an L45.

TripleR · Jul 21, 2016

Most likely it will, according to my dealer there is a seal at the front of the propeller shaft that can cause this, but most likely, it's something more serious. Mine failed under warranty and was replaced.

Hersheyfarm · Jul 21, 2016

I have a m59 that I'm dealing with this issue. Its basically the same seal and setup as yours, but my loader frame makes it a lot harder. I have a neighbor who is the community mechanic and he has replaced a clutch on a l45 with no issue so hopefully he will tackle this soon. I have ordered parts(seal kit) and hopefully will have pics soon. Incredible how kubota designed a $20 seal, prone to failing, behind $2000 plus worth of labor to get to. I was actually quoted $5000, but thats a m59.

4570Man · Jul 21, 2016

I'm definitely doing it myself because I'm not paying a dealer. The local Kubota dealer would probably charge $5000 if the going rate is $3000. I bought the tractor from a dealer in Wisconsin, but the tractor is long out of warranty. My tractor has a backhoe subframe that will have to be removed. That in itself is quite a project.

Adiredneck · Jul 22, 2016

4570Man said:
I'm definitely doing it myself because I'm not paying a dealer. The local Kubota dealer would probably charge $5000 if the going rate is $3000. I bought the tractor from a dealer in Wisconsin, but the tractor is long out of warranty. My tractor has a backhoe subframe that will have to be removed. That in itself is quite a project.

Your BH frame bolts to the bottom of the FEL mounts, right? You should be able to unbolt it from there and leave the rest of the BH frame intact. The rear braces for my loader stayed in place when I split mine.

Do you have a shop manual? PM me once you get started. I ended up using two rolling floor jacks and an engine crane to support the two pieces of the tractor. When you get ready to do the split, get some help. I pulled the front away from the rear. It proved to be a huge help to be able to roll the front wheels independently to align the two halves when we re-assembled it.

Also, some wooden wedges kept the front from pivoting on the front axle. Just tap them in atop of the pivot stops.

Also keep in mind that having the steering assembly off makes pulling the fuel tank easier. Good time to check the valve clearance.

Plan on new o-rings for the hydraulic lines where they attach to the pump. They are super cheap, and having them in case the old ones get chewed up at all.

4570Man · Jul 25, 2016

I got the easy part done. I haven't ever driven my tractor without the backhoe or loader. It was kind of depressing.

motownbrowne · Jul 25, 2016

4570Man said:
I got the easy part done. I haven't ever driven my tractor without the backhoe or loader. It was kind of depressing. View attachment 475603

I like driving mine without the loader! The power to weight ratio goes way up. It's fun to wind out the throttle and stomp on the go pedal.

dieselcrawler · Jul 25, 2016

I split a buddy's L2850 about 2 years ago... it's a job... having a shop service manual is a must...

Perhaps you're lucky, in his case, the reason for disassembly was a broken trans case, due to severe pto impact damage. Funny the things that happen when the brush hog shear bolt gets replaced with a grade 8 bolt, and then you try to mow big rocks...

4570Man · Aug 3, 2016

I decided to wash the tractor before I take it apart. Then I pulled the loader mounts off. That's about all I'm going to do until I get a shop manual.

KenB2920 · Aug 5, 2016

This happened to my L3540..... I can send you "some" photos if you wish. I think all info is good if available. I now have a 5240 that hope this doesn't happen too but probably will hearing all of this.

Mine was covered under warranty but with so many of the same issue, Kubota should fix this as a recall

KenB2920 · Aug 5, 2016

I actually believe there is a thread on here that I posted most of the photos

4570Man · Aug 23, 2016

I started work on the tractor today. I got the steering column ready to lift off as soon as I get the wiring off. Unfortunately there's no disconnect plug so this will take a while. There's a plug on the individual wires, but I'll have to take it farther apart to get to those. My dad worked as a Radio Shack installer for 20 years so I'll let him do that. I'm a pretty decent mechanic, but I'm not much for wiring. This isn't going to be as bad as I was expecting. This is way better than working on my Dixie chopper that burned.

KenB2920 · Aug 23, 2016

Congrats I undertaking the project!

Crazy on the chopper. What was the cause and what did you have to do to repair it ?

4570Man · Aug 23, 2016

KenB2920 said:
Congrats I undertaking the project! Crazy on the chopper. What was the cause and what did you have to do to repair it ?

Gasoline leak that got on the muffler. That picture is the current status of the mower. My Kubota F2560 has been cutting grass. I'm hoping that the hydraulic system wasn't damaged. If it is then this project is dead because it's to expensive to fix. I bought another motor that's likely blown up for $100. It's the same as the one on it so I should have enough parts to make 1 running motor.

4570Man · Aug 23, 2016

I got the steering column off the tractor. Hopefully I'll get it split tomorrow, but more realistically it'll be Thursday.

KenB2920 · Aug 23, 2016

4570Man said:
Gasoline leak that got on the muffler. That picture is the current status of the mower. My Kubota F2560 has been cutting grass. I'm hoping that the hydraulic system wasn't damaged. If it is then this project is dead because it's to expensive to fix. I bought another motor that's likely blown up for $100. It's the same as the one on it so I should have enough parts to make 1 running motor.

Wow, Was the gas leak accidental and known? Was it the new ethanol that ate through something?

Your right on the hydraulic parts unless you can find used ones cheap. Or another dead mower with good hydraulics.

4570Man · Aug 23, 2016

KenB2920 said:
Wow, Was the gas leak accidental and known? Was it the new ethanol that ate through something? Your right on the hydraulic parts unless you can find used ones cheap. Or another dead mower with good hydraulics.

Hose came off the fuel filter. This mower has always been feed ethanol free gas. The mower died and I got off to investigate. The muffler itself wasn't hot enough to ignite it. The gas was boiling off that. It must have gotten on the headers and it was hotter. I'm not going to spend much on this project. I'll part it out and be done before I dump tons of money in it.