My 50 hour maintenance (mis)adventure.

[Tornado]

short interesting story I thought some may find amusing here. I did my first 50 hour maintenance on my L2501 the other day. So that involves changing the oil, the oil filter, the HST filter, and the transmission filter, as well as some more minor tasks. I had watched a couple videos and read up on all that it entailed as it would be my first time doing this stuff on a tractor. Everything was pretty easy and straight forward. I did the oil and oil filter first, then came back the next day and did the other filters, as I was waiting on a gallon of super udt2 to come in. (Knowing I would lose a little fluid in the filter changes and wanted to have a gallon on hand to top back off) so the transmission filter change went fine, only lost a few ounces of oil there. Then I got to the final step of my 50 hour maintenance - the HST filter. Everything had been simple and smooth. I grab my filter wrench and start cranking on it, it finally comes loose and I pull it off. Oil starts to really pour on this one - I knew it would be the one where you would lose the most oil from my research. I already had my new filter ready to swap on immediately. I grab it and quickly go to screw it in place only to find this metal pipe literally hanging down a good quater to half inch in the way - there is no way at all to get this filter up to the thread. Baffled, and with oil just pouring into my 4 gallon pan, I keep trying to force the filter, but its not going to happen, this metal pipe is literally in the way. I grab the old filter wondering how in the world did it manage to be on - and I see a dent right up near the kneck where this pipe and clearly been bent/pushed down, bending and resting on top of the filter. I scrambled to grab a screw driver and try to force the pipe up(which did work a little), all the while Im just losing all my hydraulic fluid. I finally had to grab a 5 gallon bucket near by as my oil pan was about full. I was so frustrated as $100 of hydraulic fluid, that wasnt really needing to be changed just ran out of the engine.

Needless to say, I soon accepted my fate and just let it run out, realizing I was gonna have to just go buy a 5 gallon bucket and deal with it. I began to study this pipe. I have no idea how or when this thing got bent, of if it was bent like this when I bought the tractor. It was clearly bent, resting both on top of the filter and some little part that connects to the treddle peddle. It is some part of the hydraulic plumbing. The pipe is bent in such a way it is meant to go up and over the filter location, but mine had been pushed down. I went to my dealer to get the 5 gallon bucket of new oil and while there walked over to other L series and looked at the HST filter location to see what it is supposed to look like. This is when I knew for certain mine was bent. On these machines this pipe has a good 1-2 inch clearance above the filter.

Once back home I decided to take a block of wood and a car jack and slowly try to bend this pipe back up out of the way, just enough where the filter will clear and it wont be pressing on anything. Long story short this worked perfectly. I just slowly spun the jack and was able to re-bend the pipe back up to its more normal position, without breaking anything and without causing any leak that ive seen thus far. I then put my new filter on, then put about 4-5 gallons of udt2 in to bring it back up on the gauge where it should be. I havent done anything with the tractor since all this other than ride it around a little and let it idle for a good 30 minutes or so. Everything seems ok. I guess the silver lining is that I sorta got a full HST fluid change at my 50 hour maintenance - and I know some people suggest doing this anyways. I had planned not to do it, but oh well, now its done

 

[old and tired]

So, no one told you to hook up a shop vac to the fill port (red cap) behind the seat to create a vacuum so when you unscrew the filter, air gets sucked into it and you lose only a little bit of oil?

Actually, I've never done it but heard of others doing it...

 

[Fordtech86]

You got pics of the pipe and area you talking about? Mine ain’t HST so I don’t have that extra filter.

 

[Bulldog]

If I'd already lost that much I would have drained it all so you could get all the metal out of the bottom of the case because it's still in there. I've done a full service at 50 on all my new ones. Hurts the wallet but give piece of mind.

 

[Sammy3700]

Second the shop vacuum works great

 

[Tire Biter]

Did you drain into clean pails? I’d just strainer it and pour it back in.

 

[lugbolt]

another plug for the mityvac fluid evacuator.

Put the small tube up inside the transmission vent, pull a little vacuum, then remove filter. No mess. I have a pneumatic version, not the manual one. Just leave it plugged in and "sucking" while changing filters; lose a few ounces out of the filter, none out of the tractor. This tool has saved my butt a million times. I broke the original and built one out of an old air tank, does exactly the same thing just bigger and heavier.

 

[SidecarFlip]

So, no one told you to hook up a shop vac to the fill port (red cap) behind the seat to create a vacuum so when you unscrew the filter, air gets sucked into it and you lose only a little bit of oil?

Actually, I've never done it but heard of others doing it...

Don't care for that method as it puts undue strain (vacuum, negative pressure on lip seals that were not designed to be sucked in, in the first place. I don't endorse it at all.

Far as fluid goes, I always change it out with the filter change. Both my units hold almost 15 gallons each, or just about 30 for both. Fluid is about $100 bucks a pail (5) times 6. Just part of the maintenance regimen for me. Besides, the drained stuff goes in my waste oil shop furnace.

Don't nickle and dime fluid or filter changes, always Kubota fluid and always Kubota filters. Engine oil is Rotella T6 and Kubota filters again.

You pay the price of admission, why go cheap on the popcorn?

 

[Tornado]

Yes I have seen the shop vac method several places but didnt want to do that. I actually wanted a little oil to run out when changing the filter, just to sorta flush the area out a little. I was prepared to lose up to a gallon and was ok with it. And no my oil pan I use for all maintenance on all my machines, so it was not "clean" I had just the day prior used it for engine oil. I thought about draining the rest of the oil by popping the plugs but at the time just decided against it. I kinda wish now I had done that. I dud pop the plug for a brief moment when refilling because I over filled just a little. I was putting about a half gallon in at a time then checking. I realized that once oil shows up at the very bottom of the gauge, it takes just a touch more to move it up the gauge, so once you see the oil line you have to really start just pouring a few ounces at a time in and checking it. I saw the oil at the very bottom of the glass, poured another half gallon in and the entire glass was full, so I had to drain it back down a tad. You know I was super nervous popping that plug! I held that sucker tight because I knew if i dropped the plug into the bucket that was already full of oil Id lose another 2 gallons before I could fish it out and put it back in. Thankfully I was able to hold the plug right there, let a chunk drain then immediately rescrew it in. I learned some lessons on this maintenance that will be helpful in the future lol.

I will try to take a picture today of the little pipe im referring to and post it here.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Nice thing about UDT or any hydraulic fluid for that matter and that is, it will mix (grudgingly) with water so if you spill any it will eventually wash away and it makes good dust control on gravel drives.......

 

[Tornado]

Don't care for that method as it puts undue strain (vacuum, negative pressure on lip seals that were not designed to be sucked in, in the first place. I don't endorse it at all.

Far as fluid goes, I always change it out with the filter change. Both my units hold almost 15 gallons each, or just about 30 for both. Fluid is about $100 bucks a pail (5) times 6. Just part of the maintenance regimen for me. Besides, the drained stuff goes in my waste oil shop furnace.

Don't nickle and dime fluid or filter changes, always Kubota fluid and always Kubota filters. Engine oil is Rotella T6 and Kubota filters again.

You pay the price of admission, why go cheap on the popcorn?

I totally agree sidecar. I did go with shell rotella t6 15w40 on the engine oil, and I went all kubota filters from messicks. I had elected not to do the Hydraulic oil change because I was told by so many reputable people that it was really unnecessary, including the kubota dealer. Some people of course, like yoruself, also suggest always doing the fluid when you do filters, despite what the owners manual says, and I can see that argument as well - it surely cant hurt anything. I waffled on that decision in the months leading up to my first maintenance, at points I had decided to do the full oil change, but then I would talk to others who have worked on tractors their entire life and they would say to just follow the manual, that changing 6 gallons of hydro oil at 50 hours was just puring money down the drain, so I began to back off that plan and save myself $120.

I am kicking myself a little now for not just draining the rest of the oil. I think I just wast frustrated at the time, had to drive 30 miles to my dealer for the oil then back, so an hour driving I didnt want to do that day, plus the money, plus the mess I had made with all the oil, plus the pipe being bent was bothering me. I just decided in the moment to not make thins worse and just put the oil in, top it off ,and be done with it. Now I wish I had just drained it. It wouldn't have taken another 5 minutes of effort to do it.

I did notice when I was all done and put everything away then roade the tractor around for 30 minutes (no work just drove it out around the field and back to circulating everything good) When I parked it the Hydraulic oil in the glass gauge window looked a little cloudy - not as clear as It used to. Anyone know why that would be ?

 

[michigander]

+3 on shop vac it works great, takes the rush out of getting filter back on.

 

[johnjk]

Bought mine used and the prior owner had 3 full fluid/filter changes done before he had 90hrs on it by the dealer who provided me the records. I did engine oil/filter, fuel filter, outer air filter and both HST/hydraulic filters at 140hrs. My B has that little dip stick under the seat to check fluid level and is super hard to read when topping your fluid back up. I wish it had a sight glass for checking the level. The way that fluid comes out, I was glad I had sealed my garage floor. Made clean up a bit easier.

Now that I have one done, I'll be following the service manual for fluid/filter recommendations. Last year being so wet, I didn't even get 15hrs on her. The only exception may be doing engine oil/filter every other year if I'm not hitting the hours. Cheap peace of mind.

 

[Tornado]

Here are some pictures showing that pipe. It was pushed all they way down to where it had pressed into and bent the original HST filter, and was resting on top of this item with the rubber protective sleeve on it, which connects to the treadle peddle. Using the car jack, I slowly was able to put pressure on this pipe and bend it back up so its in a more normal position.

 

[dirtydeed]

I did notice when I was all done and put everything away then roade the tractor around for 30 minutes (no work just drove it out around the field and back to circulating everything good) When I parked it the Hydraulic oil in the glass gauge window looked a little cloudy - not as clear as It used to. Anyone know why that would be ?

Very likely it was just air. There is some frothing that happens. It should clear fairly quickly.

 

[Bulldog]

but then I would talk to others who have worked on tractors their entire life and they would say to just follow the manual, that changing 6 gallons of hydro oil at 50 hours was just puring money down the drain, so I began to back off that plan and save myself $120.

I worked with a guy that had been farming for 40+ years. First thing he would do to his equipment was remove the hyd filter (canister type) and throw it away. He said if it didn't have one it couldn't stop up. And he couldn't understand why his yard was full of tractor/yard art.


One pic is from my M9000 manual and the other is from my L3000 manual. Both list changing the hyd fluid @50. Can't understand why this was changed. They all still have metal filings in them when new but instead of getting rid of them at 50 they tell you to run it until 400. Not worth the risk to me.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I ascribe to to the Bulldog regimen myself as well. I don't throw the used stuff away, it heats my shop in the winter, I burn everything except anti freeze.

Having said that, Bulldog and I work our tractors and hard for long days without breaks.

Oil and filters are the cheapest things you'll ever replace on a tractor or car or motorcycle or even a lawnmower.

Even with many thousands of hours on both of mine, I change fluids before the manual recommended time intervals.

Just had the overhead run on my 2002 M9 at 4500 hours and the overhead was as clean as when new and I had the rear PTO cover off my 2004 M9, the inside of the case was completely clean. Even the factory red lead paint was clean and bright.

I don't mind spending a couple bucks on oil or lubricants. I want maximum hours and minimum failures.

Too bad the paint jobs don't last as well as everything else....

 

[SidecarFlip]

I totally agree sidecar. I did go with shell rotella t6 15w40 on the engine oil, and I went all kubota filters from messicks. I had elected not to do the Hydraulic oil change because I was told by so many reputable people that it was really unnecessary, including the kubota dealer. Some people of course, like yoruself, also suggest always doing the fluid when you do filters, despite what the owners manual says, and I can see that argument as well - it surely cant hurt anything. I waffled on that decision in the months leading up to my first maintenance, at points I had decided to do the full oil change, but then I would talk to others who have worked on tractors their entire life and they would say to just follow the manual, that changing 6 gallons of hydro oil at 50 hours was just puring money down the drain, so I began to back off that plan and save myself $120.

I am kicking myself a little now for not just draining the rest of the oil. I think I just wast frustrated at the time, had to drive 30 miles to my dealer for the oil then back, so an hour driving I didnt want to do that day, plus the money, plus the mess I had made with all the oil, plus the pipe being bent was bothering me. I just decided in the moment to not make thins worse and just put the oil in, top it off ,and be done with it. Now I wish I had just drained it. It wouldn't have taken another 5 minutes of effort to do it.

I did notice when I was all done and put everything away then roade the tractor around for 30 minutes (no work just drove it out around the field and back to circulating everything good) When I parked it the Hydraulic oil in the glass gauge window looked a little cloudy - not as clear as It used to. Anyone know why that would be ?

Think you mean 5-40 on the T6. 15-40 is the conventional in the white jug.

They all foam a bit when running. Best time to check the fluid level is dead cold after sitting all day.

Neither of mine have a sight glass, only a dipstick which is often hard to read so what I did was drill a small hole at the full mark and one at the add mark so when I pull the stick out, if it's full, the oil will bridge the hole making it easy to see. If neither hole is covered, it's low and needs topped off. I go through a bit of hydraulic fluid as I'm always changing out implements that have hydraulics on them and every time I disconnect the hoses, the quick disconnects weep a bit of fluid. Keeps the back end well oiled.

Lots of cars are like that today, I'm surprised that Kubota never did that. Even my lawnmower is set up that way.

 

[Bulldog]

So you do not think that the filter (that is designed to filter that metal) filters correctly? Hey, I changed my oil at 50 hours and thought that is pretty wasteful. The filter is there to catch, capture and hold those particles back so they don't go through the pump. If the filter doesn't do it's job, you might as well replace the oil every time you crank it up...

I'm going on my experience with 3 new Kubota tractors 2 of which were M 9000's. 4 total if I count the one my brother bought. At 50 hrs all 4 of them still had enough metal in them that the oil looked like metal flake paint. After the fluid was changed at 50 it has been clear as a bell every change after that. So that tells me the trash comes out in the first change so why would anybody leave it in for 400 hrs when it could be dealt with a gone @50.

It's not just tractors either. I've had 2 new Cat 980 loaders. Both required a full service at 50 hrs and those take over 200 gallons. I put 28,000 hrs on the first one with hardly any repairs so I'm a believer in preventative maintenance.

And just to be clear all of my tractors list a full service @50 so I was following what my manual said to do. That said if I bought another new one when it hits 50 hrs everything would be dumped and start with fresh fluid because I've seen what comes out of them.

 

[GeoHorn]

With all the “Chicken Little” fears that abound here over warranty-cancellation-worries.... I have a difficult time understanding why anyone would not follow the mfr’s maintenance schedule, including the 50 hour service.