50hr service do it yourself???

[JoelD]

la la la, just strolling along, browsing the posts, reading along, humming as I go, tra-la-la-la.

Yikees, I just turned the corner, one minute I'm reading about how to build a backhoe from plans and the next minute I'm reading in the middle of a rock fight.

Reminds me of the old days in downtown Boston walking through the combat zone.



Who'd a thought this topic would get so fiesty? Does make it fun though.

As I've noted, I think doing yourself is good if you are comfortable doing such work. I had a brand new mustang 5.0 drop an exhaust valve at 3000 miles, I returned it to the dealer, never asked me a single question about oil change or the like and rebuilt the top end. Never thougth much about it, but I did do the oil change myself prior to the failure.

But, with my wife's new honda CRV I've had the dealer do all the changes for first 70K to be safe (what ever that means). I'll now be doing myself to save a couple of bucks. I do on all my other equipment and vehicles.

In the end it really comes down to what you are comfortable with.

Sincerely,
Joel

 

[greenmule]

Well we got something in common,my wife has a new crv also,small world ain't it? And yes dealer has changed oil,twice now. Dealer is an hour drive away,hate to drive a tractor an hours drive for a car,what would that be 8 hours?

this is our first crv,man that little thing is impressive. Took it out in a couple inches of snow[thats all we got so far,first winter] and that thing reminded me of an old jeep,[by old,mean 30 years],nice solid car.

By the way,got a 96 toyota pickup,take it to garage to get oil changed,just too much of a pain. Plus,it ain't a tractor. Changeing oil in a tractor just seems like something I should do,changeing oil in a car or truck,just seems like a pain.

 

[JoelD]

Well we got something in common,my wife has a new crv also,small world ain't it? And yes dealer has changed oil,twice now. Dealer is an hour drive away,hate to drive a tractor an hours drive for a car,what would that be 8 hours?

this is our first crv,man that little thing is impressive. Took it out in a couple inches of snow[thats all we got so far,first winter] and that thing reminded me of an old jeep,[by old,mean 30 years],nice solid car.

By the way,got a 96 toyota pickup,take it to garage to get oil changed,just too much of a pain. Plus,it ain't a tractor. Changeing oil in a tractor just seems like something I should do,changeing oil in a car or truck,just seems like a pain.

The CRV is a real nice little truck (I know I know car chasis). The all wheel drive is superior, the vehicle stability assist is excellent and the interior, particularly back seats seems huge for such a small vehicle. IF like ours, you'll need to get the rear diff fluid changed at about 30K, you'll notice a clicking back there, not exactly sure on the cause, but the fluid change resolved. Other than that, the truck has been bullet proof, we've got 69K on it and not a single problem. I am very happy with it. I plan to start doing the changes my self this weekend. I figure out of warranty so no likelihood of any dealer disagreements if there were a problem.

One more thing, the 5 speed auto seems to help with mileage.

Sorry for hi-jacking the thread.

Joel

 

[jda1961]

the owners manual tells how to do it, just drain oil and put back in, simple. my dk55 drain plugs have magnets on them, its a lil hard to get them out , strong magnets to catch the metal floating around in the oil, need to clean them very well, take both filters off, engine and transmission filters, if the engine oil filter is very tight the whole thing will sometimes come off, meaning the part that is not suppose to unscrew will unscrew anyways, if that happens just use a big wrench to reinstal it, happened to me on 1st oil change, guess it was not torqued down at the factory. be sure engine and tranny is good and warm when you do it, hot oil drains better than cold. hope this helps

 

[jda1961]

funny how these posts start taking about one thing and end up taking about another, we grease monkeys are easily lead astrayed

 

[jda1961]

Thank you all so much for the input. I have decided to do it myself. Will the owners manual be enough or will I need to order a service manual? Looking forward to doing it now!
28 hrs to go!!

only use this forum for a reference, only go by what your owners manual says to do, by the book. its all in there, with drawings.

 

[jda1961]

I doubt any man , woman or child would be able to to do this very important service with no skills (i doubt they would test your competence) and then have the FACTORY back them all the way when the engine throws a rod .

the kioti tractors are pretty straght forward, my daughter helped me, fingernail polish and all, she's 15.

 

[jda1961]

Didn't seem like his point to me,seemed his point was if dealer didn't do it your warrenty wouldn't be any good,what a crock.

my dealer told me that he could do it or i could do it, kioti will never know who did the service. if he did it it would cost me. its just silly to think that all us tough tractor owners can't unscrew an oil plug and check things out on the tractor, thats part of the fun.

 

[greenmule]

Thats all true,but my point is,it doesn't matter if kioti knows or not.

I have no paper work saying who was to do it,my paper work[and common sense] just says it needs to be done.

 

[thavil]

Question for other tractor brand owners,[like p.t. and kubota],does your manual or anyother paper work you got say this like the sheet that iron horse sent?

I didn't see any other tractor brand owners respond to your question. I have a Kubota BX24 and neither my owners manual nor my shop manual mentions that a dealer must perform the first 50 hr service. When I purchased my tractor, I asked my dealer about the 50 hr service and he encouraged me to do it myself for two reasons: 1. Save money 2. Get to know my tractor better.

 

[greenmule]

Well thanks,kubotas manual don't say it,kiotis manual don't say it. My dealer encourages it and so does yours. There you go.

 

[IslandTractor]

I think corporate policies are simply different down under and probably in Europe too. I suspect the strong US consumer protection legislation prevents companies from requiring the sort of dealer service IronHorse insists is necessary to maintain a warranty. In general, US consumer protection laws are stronger than those elsewhere, at least when it comes to consumer rights and warranty issues. I have no trouble understanding that NH or any other tractor company would, given the chance, require the sort of dealer service IronHorse advocates but I think it is pretty clear the manufacturers cannot mandate that in the USA.

 

[CrazyQ]

I think corporate policies are simply different down under and probably in Europe too. I suspect the strong US consumer protection legislation prevents companies from requiring the sort of dealer service IronHorse insists is necessary to maintain a warranty. In general, US consumer protection laws are stronger than those elsewhere, at least when it comes to consumer rights and warranty issues. I have no trouble understanding that NH or any other tractor company would, given the chance, require the sort of dealer service IronHorse advocates but I think it is pretty clear the manufacturers cannot mandate that in the USA.

I did mine today at 55 hrs. Honestly the worst part was trying to hold the funnel from tipping while pouring out of a 5 gallon pail. lots of metal on the hydraulic drain plugs. Front diff drained slow since it was a little chilly. I bought one of those rubber tubs at the local TSC to work as a drain pan for the hydraulic fluid. worked great. Little tricky picking it up to pour into a drum after but that's what rags are for.

 

[IslandTractor]

I did mine today at 55 hrs. Honestly the worst part was trying to hold the funnel from tipping while pouring out of a 5 gallon pail. lots of metal on the hydraulic drain plugs. Front diff drained slow since it was a little chilly. I bought one of those rubber tubs at the local TSC to work as a drain pan for the hydraulic fluid. worked great. Little tricky picking it up to pour into a drum after but that's what rags are for.

The real issue is not the fluids, which are pretty straight forward as you found out. The contentious issue here is the overall inspection and tightening of bolts and looking for anything that is amiss. Getting some advice from the dealer regarding what they look for in addition to changing fluids and filters would be a good idea.

 

[greenmule]

Yeah,only got about 55 hours or so on mine and already kinda checked a few bolts here and there when I changed fluids,didn't find any loose ones,except those little bolts underneath that are for attachments of some kind? They are several sets on little hanger type brackets,found a bolt under tractor that looked like one of the same size before I found those,bet thats where it came from.

Going to go over it pretty good before I put tiller on it in a few weeks.

Any bolts in preticular you all have noticed need extra attention?

 

[IslandTractor]

Any bolts in preticular you all have noticed need extra attention?

Backhoe subframe definitely. Worth checking the FEL too.

 

[greenmule]

Don't have either,so my quest will be easier.

 

[CrazyQ]

The real issue is not the fluids, which are pretty straight forward as you found out. The contentious issue here is the overall inspection and tightening of bolts and looking for anything that is amiss. Getting some advice from the dealer regarding what they look for in addition to changing fluids and filters would be a good idea.

My opinion is that what the dealer is looking for is something green and about 2 1/2 x 6" long. For me, it was important to get the fluids changed as scheduled since we have been getting pounded with snow and the dealer was backlogged. I couldn't wait two weeks and maintain a piece of mind that my tractor should continue to be used until they have time to do the service. I did not check any bolts but I will as time permits. At least the metal filings are out of the hydraulics...there were a lot! At least now if I can use the tractor knowing the fluids and filters are new. By all means, if money is no issue or you would rather the dealer take care of it go ahead but with all due respect you should know how to perform maintenance on your equipment.

 

[IslandTractor]

My opinion is that what the dealer is looking for is something green and about 2 1/2 x 6" long. For me, it was important to get the fluids changed as scheduled since we have been getting pounded with snow and the dealer was backlogged. I couldn't wait two weeks and maintain a piece of mind that my tractor should continue to be used until they have time to do the service. I did not check any bolts but I will as time permits. At least the metal filings are out of the hydraulics...there were a lot! At least now if I can use the tractor knowing the fluids and filters are new. By all means, if money is no issue or you would rather the dealer take care of it go ahead but with all due respect you should know how to perform maintenance on your equipment.

I'm not arguing at all that you shouldn't do it yourself. I did. My point is just that there are things to look at and check besides fluids. A quick chat with your dealer (or even just looking carefully at the owners manual) will show you what to look for. Pretty much everything the dealer would check is outlined in the maintenance section of the owner's manual you just have to have the experience or support to feel comfortable completing the inspections.

 

[Eagleview]

At least the metal filings are out of the hydraulics...there were a lot!

I wonder how you would prove that there was metal in the hydraulics from new to make a warranty claim if the hydraulics had a failure at a later date ? Seeing how it was not found by the dealer at the 50 hour service and a record made . Like i said , they may fix it out of good will but in AUSTRALIA , they would not be required by law to do so .