I'm new to the kubota arena but i bought this little L185 from a guy planning on using it to run my single row transplanter. It had issues which turned out to need an engine rebuild. That is done and it runs great. before starting the rebuild, I discovered that the 3 point would not lift any weight. I couldn't tell that it was pumping any fluid so I did install a new pump. I can see that fluid is returning into the transmission and I can get the arms to come up very slowly but I can stop them with my foot. When I started on this, I saw water in the hyd/trans fluid so I drained it. The lift piston was stuck so I took the whole cover off and freed up the piston and honed the cylinder and it came out pretty nice. The rings looked serviceable so I left them. I took apart the relief valve and that whole block under the seat to be sure everything is free and no rust. All of that looks good. The seat has a good surface and poppet seems to fit very nicely on the seat. Both shims are in place as the manual shows. It's a pretty simple system as there is no draft control on this model so i am stumped. I believe the lift piston rings could be leaking some but it should still lift quickly with no load. The only other thing I can think of is that I don't know what hydraulic was in it and since i was looking to eliminate the water, I used universal hydraulic oil from Tractor supply. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm not really a hydraulics guy so I don't have an inline pressure guage or any specialty hydraulic tools but there must some things to check to get me in a good direction.
Kubota L185 won't lift
- Thread starter farmallred
- Start date
North Idaho Wolfman
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Equipment
L3450DT-GST, Woods FEL, B7100 HSD, FEL, 60" SB, 743 Bobcat with V2203, and more
Have you worked the drop speed valve under the seat.
If it's off then it won't lift either.
The universal fluid is fine in that model, it's not very picky.
If it's off then it won't lift either.
The universal fluid is fine in that model, it's not very picky.
yes, i have worked the knob both ways and have taken that cover off to inspect the seals. Behind that knob there is a type of poppet with holes in it held in by a circlip which i also removed to clean and everything looked good and clean. The oil wasn't overly bad but did have signs of stil having water contamination. Do you think I may still have too much water in the oil to be able to lift?
North Idaho Wolfman
Moderator
Staff member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L3450DT-GST, Woods FEL, B7100 HSD, FEL, 60" SB, 743 Bobcat with V2203, and more
Russell King
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Lifetime Member
Equipment
L185F, Modern Ag Competitor 4’ shredder, Rhino tiller, rear dirt scoop
There may be missing backup rings on that o-ring? Look at the on line parts diagram to make sure it is assembled correctly
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The hard part about the L185 is the way the pressure line is made. There is no good way to plumb a gauge inline since both ends have those round pieces held on by bolts. The only way i can see to go inline would be to cut the pressure line and splice it later which I would hate to do. I'll have to look at the book and see if there is another place to plumb a gauge and see if i can find a decent gauge that will go to at least 2500 psi. I do know that fluid is flowing, just don't know what pressure it has.
My next thought is that maybe as Russell King says, there is something missing from the lift piston or the seal, even though it appears ok is really not and oil is pushing by. I think I will get a new seal kit and replace it anyway and see what happens.
My next thought is that maybe as Russell King says, there is something missing from the lift piston or the seal, even though it appears ok is really not and oil is pushing by. I think I will get a new seal kit and replace it anyway and see what happens.