Well...I went to the local Kubota dealer and got a fuel filter...it cost $1.50 more than TractorSmart sells em for.
The old filter was just full of crud....this was obviously the big problem
When I held the filter bowl up to the light it looked like there was sand in the bottom, but rubbing the substance between the fingers you could feel no grit whatsoever, so it apparently just had the look of sand, and was actually some other impurity.
Unfortunately I couldn't discover an easy way to remove the fuel tank, so I just rinsed it out a few times with fresh fuel, and then put on the new fuel filter.
I blew out the fuel lines, even though I don't think they really needed it...and I bought a new 5 gallon container and added a few ounces of Power Service Diesel fuel additive to 5 gallons of fresh fuel.
That did it...the tractor runs perfectly once more.
Thanks again to all for the help and suggestions... /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
-moonz-