Not so sure this is normal?

[moriboy]

Just did the 50 hr service on my 7040. Filter magnets had some "sludge"' , but nothing out of the ordinary.....

 

[jewing3227]

Just did the fluid and filter change at 53 hours. Still very alarming to me. Just emailed kubota and sent a few pics. Lets see what happens from here. Don't have alot to say at this point.

 

[Bluegill2]

Second time around now that's what I'd call abnormal...

 

[Chilly807]

I'd say there's a lot more than there was in mine at the second change. Mine was pretty well cleaned out after the first filter change, my second filter looked a lot like bluegill's first filter. I didn't change the fluid until about 100 hours when I added a rear remote.

If nothing else, it seems you had more machining debris than usual left in the cases when it was assembled.

It would cross my mind to request they buy the tractor back from you at this point. It's not unreasonable.

If they suggest exchanging it for another one, well... is the second one going to be any better? That's the point I was making earlier. It seems the economy L's are plagued with both poor cleaning on the assembly line and poor 3-point hitch performance. That's two strikes early on in the game, I'd be quite seriously looking at a different model or even make if it was me. Mine's been a good machine so far, but it had/has the same issues to a lesser extent as far as the oil contamination goes. My 3-point doesn't work well either.

I guess the long-term question is, did this do any damage that'll crop up in a few year's time? After warranty is over? I still think the answer to that is probably no, but it's impossible to be sure. I've got over 300 hours now, no sign of issues.

Speaking of oil and such, have you checked the oil level in the front axle since you got the machine? They're notorious for being low.

Tough call to make if they give you some options, good luck with it.

Sean

 

[k0ua]

UM.. yeah, not good, I would be concerned too. I would be looking for help from the dealer..
You know that saki can give you a case of bust-head (hangover) like you wouldn't believe.
I think the guy whose job was to clean out the casting after machining.. well lets just say he was not feeling
well that day. That there is what you call a "manufacturing defect"

James K0UA

 

[s219]

I was hoping it would improve more than that, but at least it didn't get worse!

 

[jewing3227]

Sean, after thinking about it a little this afternoon, asking them to buy the machine back from me isn't unreasonable at all, or to me anyways. Chances are, nothing will happen to the tractor BUT if it weren't for bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all it seems. I am mostly worried about a year or two, even three years down the road. I bought this tractor for the long haul and now my mind feels different about it. After taking the filter off, the tube that is about an inch or so and runs from the filter towards the back of the machine, I checked it. I took a flexable magnet and pulled out alot more metal chips. I guess I should have placed them on the filter since that was where they was going but I didn't. There was a longer shaving holding the pile back I guess you could say. I was gonna try and take a picture of it but it was a bad angle. It probably would have been about the same amount of shavings as the first filter had on it if I would have added what I had on the magnet.

As far as Kubota, I like the set up of the unit. I personally can't complain about one thing other than the metal chips. My 3 point hitch has not been jerky one time. Smooth operating anytime I have used it.

When I did the oil change earlier, Kubota paid for the change. The gave me super UDT 2 to go back in it and I do have to say this.......the whine of the hydrostat was cut in half. I did hear that first hand. So that did make a believer out of me. The first time I changed the fluid I tried the Shauffer brand which was compatable.

Only thing left to do is wait and talk to the fella from kubota now. I'm sure they'll try and take the easy road out. I will update soon as I hear something.

Josh

 

[JoeBuyer]

Do you have proper pump operation? The filter in the 2nd set of pictures looks awful dry. I know the shavings wouldn't get there without the pump running at some point neither would the tractor operate normally, but I wonder if there isn't some other problem going on.

 

[rScotty]

Sean, after thinking about it a little this afternoon, asking them to buy the machine back from me isn't unreasonable at all, or to me anyways. Chances are, nothing will happen to the tractor BUT if it weren't for bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all it seems. I am mostly worried about a year or two, even three years down the road. I bought this tractor for the long haul and now my mind feels different about it.

Well, the swarf isn't good, but it sure isn't the same as a failure. It may never lead to one. I do hear you on buying a tractor expecting it to last for the long haul. I'd be thinking to keep the tractor if it were mine. It is working well and will probably be just fine.

Say, how about this idea?..
Just dump all this correspondence in your attorney's lap and ask him to write up a contract between you and Kubota saying that they will fix it at their expense if there is ever a problem with the hydraulics or transmission. That would cost you maybe a couple hundred bucks at most for attorney fees. And Kubota should be willing to go for that. At worst it would cost them less than swapping the whole tractor now. And at best, nothing bad happens at all. And for your money you get to put the people who caused the problem to have some sleepless nights instead of you being the only one worrying about things

I see this now as being your decision. To my mind, Kubota has to figure out how to satisfy you at this point; not the other way around.
It might help that TractorByNet is the most popular Kubota site on the web. It's a new social media world nowadays. I'm thinking that a lot of people are curious to see how this gets handled.
good luck, rScotty

 

[lilranch2001]

Honestly, I am surprised Kubota is letting this drag on.
If i was in their marketing department, I would have swooped in on this and done whatever it took to clean this mess up.
Look at the 6900 hits this thread has had, do they really think this is good for their business?
It amazes me that it keeps going on, and in my opinion getting worse.
That filter should have not had anything left on it, and it looks like the OP took a hand full of shavings right out of a machining center.

 

[sixdogs]

I realize this is out of a hydro transmission filter but have there been any issues with gear drive tractors in their filters?

 

[Bluegill2]

I realize this is out of a hydro transmission filter but have there been any issues with gear drive tractors in their filters?

Mine is a gear drive, pic posted earlier in this thread and pretty clean.

 

[Chilly807]

I realize this is out of a hydro transmission filter but have there been any issues with gear drive tractors in their filters?

Mine was almost as bad as the OP's, it's a DT model (gear drive). That was the first filter change, the second was clean of any machining chips.

 

[sixdogs]

Kubota needs to figure this out. Not good even if no harm is done.

 

[lilranch2001]

Has anyone seen or heard of any other manufacturer who has had this much junk in their cases at the 50 hour oil change?

I do not remember seeing anyone else complain and I read a lot of threads on this site.

 

[jewing3227]

Here is a side by side camparison of the first filter change (grey filter) and the most recent filter change (white filter)

At this point there is no extended warranty deal they might pull out of their hat that would satisfy what I have found. I realize not everyone changes their own fluids and filters but problems like this make me glad I do rather than letting the dealer. I have read sevral good ideas on here from all that have posted. I do appreciate it.

Josh

 

[jewing3227]

Well I spoke with the fella from Kubota today. He was quick to point out that the amount of chips from the second filter was less than the first which was what Kubota was expecting. He also stated that I have a "laundry list" compiled on the unit so far and I need to keep taking pictures of the filters and sending them in to be documented.

As far as anything being done right now...........it's not happening. He said there has to be a failure. I brought up the possibility of some chips getting into some open bearings and although he didn't deny the possibility, he said we have to wait for a failure which by the way he is almost positive that if something serious hasn't happened yet, it probably won't.

He mentioned Kubota bought this last filter and fluid change because they thought it would "make me happy" He basically put it out there and said that I still have a year and a half left on warranty, and if I keep up on ducumentation, they will warranty it for longer, depending on how the near future turns out with debris on the magnet. He suggested to change the filter again somewheres between 35-50 hours but it would be on my dollar this time since the amount on the second filter was less than the first. I'm ok with that, I'm not looking for someone to pay my way. Lord knows a filter ain't gonna break someone.

I was somewhat supprised by what little they offered, but I do see it from their side to kinda..........being failure of the unit is the next step. On a side note, I did strain the fluids both times I changed it and found not the first bit of any foreign material.

He did offer to pay to have the unit busted apart and power washed to see what else might be inside, if anything but didn't really think breaking that new of a unit down to be a good idea.

At one point after hearing him go on for awhile, he paused, and I asked if it is normal practice to assemble different tractor parts without thoroughly cleaning then and having some type of Quality control double check. All he added was Kubota does clean parts after processes but it was impossible to expect every part to be 100% clean all the time, everytime. I'm still thinking about that one.....

SOOO......now we all know how Kubota is handleing this case to date. At this point and time, I'm still shocked by the amount of metal on 2 filters. I don't dislike the L3200 one bit. It has done alot for me at our new property as well as our current house. I'm not necessarily ticked at Kubota, I just feel somewhat let down if you will. Hopefully the future with us and the tractor goes well. Might not have another problem from it. This is all I have for now on the matter.

Josh

 

[Bluegill2]

Thanks for the update.

Good thing is the magnet ring is doing it's job and no problems so far.

 

[lilranch2001]

Well I spoke with the fella from Kubota today. He was quick to point out that the amount of chips from the second filter was less than the first which was what Kubota was expecting. He also stated that I have a "laundry list" compiled on the unit so far and I need to keep taking pictures of the filters and sending them in to be documented.

As far as anything being done right now...........it's not happening. He said there has to be a failure. I brought up the possibility of some chips getting into some open bearings and although he didn't deny the possibility, he said we have to wait for a failure which by the way he is almost positive that if something serious hasn't happened yet, it probably won't.

He mentioned Kubota bought this last filter and fluid change because they thought it would "make me happy" He basically put it out there and said that I still have a year and a half left on warranty, and if I keep up on ducumentation, they will warranty it for longer, depending on how the near future turns out with debris on the magnet. He suggested to change the filter again somewheres between 35-50 hours but it would be on my dollar this time since the amount on the second filter was less than the first. I'm ok with that, I'm not looking for someone to pay my way. Lord knows a filter ain't gonna break someone.

I was somewhat supprised by what little they offered, but I do see it from their side to kinda..........being failure of the unit is the next step. On a side note, I did strain the fluids both times I changed it and found not the first bit of any foreign material.

He did offer to pay to have the unit busted apart and power washed to see what else might be inside, if anything but didn't really think breaking that new of a unit down to be a good idea.

At one point after hearing him go on for awhile, he paused, and I asked if it is normal practice to assemble different tractor parts without thoroughly cleaning then and having some type of Quality control double check. All he added was Kubota does clean parts after processes but it was impossible to expect every part to be 100% clean all the time, everytime. I'm still thinking about that one.....

SOOO......now we all know how Kubota is handleing this case to date. At this point and time, I'm still shocked by the amount of metal on 2 filters. I don't dislike the L3200 one bit. It has done alot for me at our new property as well as our current house. I'm not necessarily ticked at Kubota, I just feel somewhat let down if you will. Hopefully the future with us and the tractor goes well. Might not have another problem from it. This is all I have for now on the matter.

Josh

Did you happen to mention the following this thread has by TBN'ers?
I guess if you did and they do not respect the group of TBN'ers who is following this thread, it says a lot about corporate Kubota
:confused3:
:thumbdown:
:shocked:
:2cents:

:confused2:

 

[JoeBuyer]

He did offer to pay to have the unit busted apart and power washed to see what else might be inside, if anything but didn't really think breaking that new of a unit down to be a good idea.

I would have taken them up on the above if I could be present during the work.

It is apparent to me that your tractor's transmission must be bulletproof and that this debris is pulled out of the sump and completely trapped by the filter since your (circulating) oil filtered out as clean. He likely doesn't want to offer a major concession and set a precedent for every other owner that has shavings in their filter, so he is offering the tear down. Reading between the lines that is how I interpret it anyway. Look at it this way, at least he didn't say it was polishing material and was supposed to be there. LOL. I have a Kubota and am a big fan, but they could do without the bad press even if it isn't harming the tractor.