Tractor hydraulic/trans fluid

[Oldpath05]

Walmarts around here do not seem to carry the Rotella tranny fluid or at least that is what the Walmart sight is saying. If you don't mind me asking, what do they get for it around your way?

At TSC, the Travellers trans fluid is $40.00/5gal.-Rottela trans fluid that I bought at the same store is $60.00/5gal. At the Kubota dealer, UDT is $86.00/5gal.
My L3400DT calls for 7 gal. but when I bought it, I complained that when I put the tractor in gear, I had to hold the clutch petal down for 30 sec.+ before I could put it in gear so it wouldn't grind, Kubota told my dealer to give me 2 more gal. of UDT, now with 9 gal. in the trans. and the clutch petal down, the gears slow down quicker at around 6-8 sec. much better. That's why I'm conducting this big experiment with the Rottela 10/w30 trans fluid, I want to see if my gears will slow down at 4-6 sec., and see if the trans will shift better and not lock in gear when the clutch is push down and the bucket is against the dirt pile.

 

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At TSC, the Travellers trans fluid is $40.00/5gal.-Rottela trans fluid that I bought at the same store is $60.00/5gal. At the Kubota dealer, UDT is $86.00/5gal.
My L3400DT calls for 7 gal. but when I bought it, I complained that when I put the tractor in gear, I had to hold the clutch petal down for 30 sec.+ before I could put it in gear so it wouldn't grind, Kubota told my dealer to give me 2 more gal. of UDT, now with 9 gal. in the trans. and the clutch petal down, the gears slow down quicker at around 6-8 sec. much better. That's why I'm conducting this big experiment with the Rottela 10/w30 trans fluid, I want to see if my gears will slow down at 4-6 sec., and see if the trans will shift better and not lock in gear when the clutch is push down and the bucket is against the dirt pile.

Thanks Oldpath. I gave myself a chuckle (and a few other things) when i discovered that my John Deere 750 that had a constant gear grind when shifting into it's ranges and speeds was happening because of a clutch pedal adjustment. I owned this tractor for 28 years and the revelation came only when the dealer I eventually bought my new tractor from came to my house to assess the value of the Deere. He also ground the gears and said "when did it start doing that?" I said "from the first day I've owned it". He said "adjust the clutch pedal play and see if it doesn't go away as sometimes they don't adjust them correctly from the factory". I did and it did. I put up with it for 28 years until the point I was about to get rid of the tractor and all I had to do was get under the tractor for 1 minute and take up the play. Like you, I waited in order to get it into gear for 28 years until that fateful day. It made me want to own the tractor for another 28 years to make up for it.

 

[Oldpath05]

My L3400DT manual says 1 inch +or- of free play on the clutch petal, I have mine just under a inch. But this past summer my tractor started locking in gear when its under stain, didn't do that when it was new. I went to the Kubota dealer a couple weeks ago to get some filters and mention the problem, one guy said could be bent shifting fork, the other guy said might be because I have new tires, they all said try it in 2 wheel drive, I still haven't tried that yet, been to busy cutting up firewood, but a few days later they sent someone up to take a look while I wasn't there, just my son. The guy said the clutch is suppose to have more petal free play, so he adjusted it a good 2 inches, when I got home I tried it, I couldn't engage the PTO, so I adjusted it back to what the manual says. I never heard of any thing having 2 inches of clutch petal free play, my Fathers 1948 case didn't even have that much.

 

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My L3400DT manual says 1 inch +or- of free play on the clutch petal, I have mine just under a inch. But this past summer my tractor started locking in gear when its under stain, didn't do that when it was new. I went to the Kubota dealer a couple weeks ago to get some filters and mention the problem, one guy said could be bent shifting fork, the other guy said might be because I have new tires, they all said try it in 2 wheel drive, I still haven't tried that yet, been to busy cutting up firewood, but a few days later they sent someone up to take a look while I wasn't there, just my son. The guy said the clutch is suppose to have more petal free play, so he adjusted it a good 2 inches, when I got home I tried it, I couldn't engage the PTO, so I adjusted it back to what the manual says. I never heard of any thing having 2 inches of clutch petal free play, my Fathers 1948 case didn't even have that much.

A person told you new tires? If the vehicle is standing still when shifting, how are the tires involved? I'd be compelled to take up more free play say like 1/2" and see what happens. If you are grinding gears, then something is not allowing the clutch to fully disengage. It could be a bent fork or weak pressure plate as a result of spring fatigue or even a broken one. It could also be something as simple as a worn clutch that needs less free play than stated. If you are anything like me, I found it quite irritating.