Maintenence Questions

[Anonymous Poster]

Being a New owner of a FX28D I want to establish a maintenance schedule and book for my machine.

Some items need routine maintenance and fluid changes, others need inspection.

I intend to clean the machine after each use to try to avoid rust.

Oil and Filter change every 50 hours and at the end of the season (to avoid acids left in the oil). Rotella 15W-40 diesel oil. Any info on whether premium filters are worthwhile would be nice. check the level before each use.

Front gear box oil 80-90 weight oil. Check weekly unless leak noticed. How often to change?

Hydro/transmission fluid check daily. JD apparently makes appropriate fluid, but which one? How often to check the screen?

Grease fittings--grease every month.

Diesel fuel-- how often to put injector cleaner in. Any lay up procedure.

Is there a power steering fluid to check? how often.

Do you need to start and run on a regular basis to prevent rust in the cylinders? How often.

Put a drop of oil on screws/bolts nnow and then.

Wax fenders every 6 months., touch up paint.

Mower--clear after use keep greased.

Tiller oil in chain drive, keep fittings greased

What else?

I guess that an organized plan would be a good thing to post for each model with each model's idiosynchracies would be good.

 

[EM_in_Ohio]

Dude, it's a tractor, your not going to the moon with it.
Ok Ok I know it sounds sarcastic, but please don't take it that way. It was meant to be humorous. As a licensed A&P mechanic I'm still flabbergasted that there is a pilot out there that actually knows anything about preventitive maintenance.
My hat is off to you sir.
With that said I would add check for proper tire pressures, and change anti-freeze every 2 years. That is when the corrosion preventitive stops working.
......A pilot worried about maintenance, that's amazing........

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Hey, my life depends on my airplane. Everything works all the time (even with this I've had an electrical failure, a vaccum pump failure, and a stuck ILS glideslope needle)--I love backup systems. My life may not depend on my tractor, but if you take good care of machinery rather than ignoring it until something breaks it lasts alot longer. A little TLC on a regular basis will make it outlive me. Without the knowlege of what to do, I might ignore something and cost myself alot of money.

 

[EM_in_Ohio]

I understand exactly what you mean. All of my experience is on the big stuff, so that means I am responsible for thousands of lives every day. We are drilled with pay attention to detail, do it right the first time, and if it even LOOKS marginal change it. That training bleeds over to my home life and my tractor. Proper torque, proper lubing, and I safety wired the wheel mounting bolts. It pays to be cautious.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

It pays to do it right, rather than something that just works for the moment. Aircraft operate in an unforgiving environment (king of like the operating room during the spine surgery that I used to do). I always said that 3 things can go wrong in an airplane, the fourth one kills you (night is one, IFR is asecond, mountains is a third--doesn't take much at that point---but day VFR its awfully hard to have enought things fail to kill you). In any event, good maintenance keeps things working right.

 

[jimstractors]

Don't know about the FX model, but here is the maintenance schedule from the YM169d manual (pretty close to the 1401d and others). Attactment is a PDF file. Open with Adobe Acrobat Reader, available from www.adobe.com for free, and then print it out.
Jim

 

[Soundguy]

I think 50 hr intervals on the oild change is kinda close. My NH 1920 states 100. But got with whatever feels good to you, if you want to do it more often.

Soundguy

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Well my car manual says 7500 miles, but I change the oil every 3000 miles. My boat says 50 hours. Generally engines (albeit gasoline) with filters go 50 hours those without go 25 hours.

 

[pruntyc]

I personally believe that the ones that make the engines, know more about them than we do. They know at what time is the best time to change their oils and filters and other things. They want you to get the best service, for your money so you will buy from them again. The oil companys of course want you to change more often, they make more money that way. But of course that is just my opinion, each one can do what they want. I am 69 years old and have had a lot of different ones and had real good "luck" as they call it, by following the times to change that they have said.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I agree that the oil companies want you to change more often. Of course, I guess the question is whether the manual is written to provide the longest service and when do you get diminishing returns (you could change the oil every day, but you'd spend more on oil than a new engine and only eliminate certain types of failures). I'm new to diesels and just looking for info.

Thanks for the opinion.

 

[jimstractors]

Its probably best to follow the recommended schedule. As far as the oil, 100 hours is more than many would put on a tractor in a year. So if you are comfortable with 50 hours, then it can't hurt. A friend of mine works for the local water district. They were changing oil every 5000 miles in their fleet of 40+ gasoline pickups. They finally sent the used oil out for lab analysis and found out there was no degredation of the oil. They upped their oil changes to 7500 miles (what the specs were) and have no problems, and save lots of time & money. A company (Jiffy Lube) in California advertises to "change it or lose it" every 3000 miles. They are making it big on some who don't know better.
Jim

 

[stnickstoys]

We have an Allis Chalmers 185 diesel (about 70hp)and it has 12,500 engine hours with no overhaul to the engine. It is a 1974 model. Over the years we change our engine oil at 100 hours or around there in all of our equipment. One of the most important things is using good products, both oil and filters and making sure they are properly installed. We also run an antifreeze filter and add conditioner to prevent cylinder sleeve pitting, which is a common fault of the Allis 185. This tractor started life as our big tractor when it was new, now its the little one for moving and parking wagons, running augers etc.
Just my two cents worth.
Nick

 

[Anonymous Poster]

It probably has to do with both with time, use, and quality of product. A vehicle that is run highway miles every day for many miles will go longer on a change than a vehicle that is run 50 miles a week. Cars run at various hp (at highway speeds the engine is only putting out 20-30 hp) vs low speed acceleration. Diesels often run at much higher outputs--often as high as 75%--than gas engines and that is why they are used for boats, tractors, etc. Certainly changing it frequently won't hurt, but it could be a waste of money.

 

[HoyeTractor]

I ordered a set of owner's manuals for the "F" and "FX" series tractors. I will send you one when they get in (along with the parts manual that I am still waiting on). Then you can see what the factory recommends.

 

[blackd]

Are the FX manuals in English???

 

[HoyeTractor]

They are supposed to be. We'll see.

 

[BrettW]

all words are in Japanese, but the pictures are in English!!!

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I like magazines with pictures.

 

[HoyeTractor]

Well, I got in my shipment of "F" anf "FX" series manuals. They are in English! They are not specifically for those tractors only, but all of the information seems to still be really useful. The only real diference I could find is that the tractors in the illustrations don't look like the F series and some of the specs. are not correct for the F series. I think they will still be good to have. CFOXMD, I sent you a copy Saturday. You will have to let me know what you think.