Oil & Fuel Do Hydrostatic Transmissions of Kubota Tractors belch Oil all the time?

ericm979 · Jul 7, 2019

The tractor should not leak any fluids on any slope that you can safely drive on. If it does there's something wrong in design or execution.
My Branson leaked from the front axle breather. The factory stupidly put the breather in the fill cap on the gear housing at the right wheel. Park it with the right side much lower than the left and it leaks slowly. I complained to my dealer and they told me they'd been asking the manufacturer for a fix. They had already come up with one on their own and they sent it to me for free. It's not 100% but it's way better. The new models have a different design, apparently to address the problem.

You may need to invest in larger wrenches and sockets, and a larger oil drain pan if you'll be doing your own transmission oil changes. It's not hard to do, just a lot of oil.

Leaking from the back going up hill may be from a PTO seal that's failed. It wasn't hard to replace the one on the used Kubota I had before the Branson.

Fallon · Jul 7, 2019

Keeping a tractor clean is a waste of effort in my opinion. All the grease joints get caked soon enough. Oil & gunk accumulates at hydraulic fittings (mostly QDs). A little oil residue that collects gunk around the fill cap or vent.

But I've never seen oil comming out of a vent or the transmission. If its spraying or foaming out of anywhere, you have a problem.

diesel85 · Jul 7, 2019

^x2

If I were to buy a used machine, I'd prefer the current owner not touch anything and keep it as dirty as possible.

I get nervous when I see a freshly cleaned machine that appears as if everything was steam blasted clean.

Not to say the owner is hiding anything, but I've noticed a lot of shilling happening in my neck of the woods... not only tractors, but trucks. They'll clean the engine bay up, and say there's nothing wrong. 500 miles down the line, the engine is coated in oil or puking coolant.

txdon · Jul 7, 2019

The front end loader, the rear three point, and any attachment run with the same reservoir as the transmission fluid. If you fill it up when the hydraulic cylinders are extended there is a possibility you have overfilled it and some transmission fluid might come out the back. This is covered in the owners manual. I had a L5030HST for 10 years it did not belch any oil. I vote for the youtube tractor owner overfilled without paying attention to his cylinders extended location of the equipment added to his tractor.

Code54 · Jul 7, 2019

I have only lost a little hydro oil from my rear axle on VERY steep slopes (around 30 degree) when brush hogging on hot summers days. I am thinking a combo of high heat and the slope helps let a little get out of the rear upside down U - not enough that it is a big deal but I do get a little leakage once in a great while.

DK35vince · Jul 7, 2019

diesel85 said:
^x2

If I were to buy a used machine, I'd prefer the current owner not touch anything and keep it as dirty as possible.

I get nervous when I see a freshly cleaned machine that appears as if everything was steam blasted clean.

I'm the opposite when buying used.
From my experience if the owner doesn't care enough or put forth enough effort to clean it, they often don't care enough or put any effort in maintenance either.

Code54 · Jul 7, 2019

DK35vince said:
I'm the opposite when buying used.
From my experience if the owner doesn't care enough or put forth enough effort to clean it, they often don't care enough or put any effort in maintenance either.

Im sort of the same way, I wash our machines 2 or 3 times a year with a hot water pressure washer to get all the grease and grime off. Lets me see if I get any leaks.

Jim Nelson · Jul 7, 2019

When we moved from our old place, which was fairly flat, to this place, which is closer to vertical than horizontal, I asked the shop foreman at the dealer if there was anything I needed to do different. He said to overfill the hydraulics at least a quart to prevent slippage. He explained that a couple of the golf courses in the area had trouble with slippage and overheating and this cured them. I followed his advice and no problems in 10 years. The golf courses around here have some pretty steep hills.

MHarryE · Jul 7, 2019

My Kubotas are all oily on the rear - from the remotes. It’s just hard to change hoses without losing oil - except from the flat face connectors on the single lever multi-hose connect on my loaders. The remotes on my M7 have the eco-friendly oil catch bottle that funnels the oil from the remotes to the bottle still are oily. Same with our Deere’s and New Holland’s.