My 50 hour maintenance (mis)adventure.

[Tornado]

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.

Sorry for responding to my thread so late, been a busy time around my place.

My engine oil was T6 fully synthetic 15w-40 Shell Rotella. They did have the T5 15w-40 sitting next to it however, which is what you are thinking of. It is cheaper, and not fully synthetic. This is what I got:

Questions like this regarding the hydro oil puzzle me. My co worker got a new M7060 kubota just after I got my new L2501, and he says his 50hour maintenance did not call for changing the hydro oil either - his doesn't even call for changing the hydraulic filter until 500 hours! He is one of the folks I have leaned on for advice. he has collected and rebuilt antique tractors his entire life. He has around 60 antique tractors and other farm equipment and had over 100 tractors in his hay day. Anyways, his 50 hour maintenance was nothing but engine oil and engine oil filter. Thats all it called for. Some slightly older Kubotas called for changing the hydro oil at 50 hours. There has to be a very deliberate reason why this change was made, but I have found in the world of tractors its hard to cut through peoples personal opinions and bias's that have baked in for years to find the actual truth on things like this. I haven't owned or worked on tractors enough to delineate the reason myself yet. But, it has to be something where they feel there is no need in doing this at 50 hours any longer in these machines, and I have no doubt they wouldn't put this in their owners manuals and recommendations without strong, clear evidence. That said however, as in most things, you certainly cant hurt anything by doing it anyways. Its one of those things that it can ONLY serve to do something positive for you. There is zero negative or risk, and only positive upsides if anything is to gain from it. I do still wish I had drained the last bit of oil out. My filter magnet had only very very tiny hair like material on it - and it was just a little pinch of it. I saw no big metal shavings or anything like ive seen on some folks videos.

I still havent got to do any work on the tractor since the maintenance. Hoping to do something this next weekend. I need to move some fencing for our horses. Im coming up now with an easy, fast way to pull Metal t-posts with the tractor, without bending them. Any ingenious ideas on this front? Ill come up with something Im sure.

 

[NewtoOrange]

Make sure to check your other fluid levels to, especially front axle. Mine came from the dealer very low. Also do the torque on all the appropriate bolts.

 

[Tornado]

Make sure to check your other fluid levels to, especially front axle. Mine came from the dealer very low. Also do the torque on all the appropriate bolts.

My manual says to change that at 800 hours. Its only about 4qts though and couldnt hurt, maybe I will do so.

What do folks run in the front axle for absolute best protection? Ive seen some who run the same Super UDT2 Hydraulic oil, while others run a 80-90 gear oil. I would want to run whatever is the absolute best for the tractor. What would folks recommend for this? I cant find anywhere in my manual where it recommends or even mentions what oil to use for the front axle, it just describes the procedure to drain and replace it.

 

[dirtydeed]

My manual says to change that at 800 hours. Its only about 4qts though and couldnt hurt, maybe I will do so.

What do folks run in the front axle for absolute best protection? Ive seen some who run the same Super UDT2 Hydraulic oil, while others run a 80-90 gear oil. I would want to run whatever is the absolute best for the tractor. What would folks recommend for this? I cant find anywhere in my manual where it recommends or even mentions what oil to use for the front axle, it just describes the procedure to drain and replace it.

When the time comes for me, I'll be switching it to gear oil. Ran hydro in the front of my old bx23. The seals weeped. Changed O-rings and some bevel gears and swapped over to gear oil. Didn't have a problem since then.

 

[Tornado]

When the time comes for me, I'll be switching it to gear oil. Ran hydro in the front of my old bx23. The seals weeped. Changed O-rings and some bevel gears and swapped over to gear oil. Didn't have a problem since then.

My front right wheel has a super slow seeping leak as well, and it has had it since the tractor was new. Its so slow however that Ivej ust ignored it. It will take a good 10 days or 2 weeks to start to see a little moist area right along the crack where the front axle and wheel are bolted together. Ive tightened the 4 bolts as much as I can, and it still has that super slow seeping leak. I had read that this was LIKELY something with the O ring. Its so incredibly slow though that Ive just kinda ignored it - it would take forever to actually leak any measurable amount.

To my question though - is the 80-90 gear oil considered to be the superior option to just using Super UDT2 oil?

 

[Tornado]

Done some digging. read some other forums that discussed the topic. Seems like most things there is no clear winner. I found the following recommendation on kubota's website for front axle oil:

"KUBOTA Universal Dynamic Tractor (UDT) or Super UDT2 Fluid recommended, or SAE 80W90 (GL-4) Gear Oil"

So it seems kubota is recommending their Super UDT2 fluid. Ive read that the viscosity between it and 80w90 oil is basically the same at room temperatures. If 80w90 was slightly thicker/heavier I might would lean toward it here in florida, and with my right front already having the super low leak. BUT I have just over a gallon of Super UDT2 left over from my 50 hour maintenance, I could just use that and be done with it. Curious to gather more opinions on what others use.

 

[GeoHorn]

How do you feel about mixing a different oil with what already exists in that front axle? Giving that question consideration might help you decide.

 

[Russell King]

Im coming up now with an easy, fast way to pull Metal t-posts with the tractor, without bending them. Any ingenious ideas on this front? Ill come up with something Im sure.

There are steel tools (plate with some shape cut into it) that slide down the t-post to pull them up with. Used with high lift type jacks but can be adapted to tractor with a chain. Probably needs two people involved to make it work efficiently.


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[GeoHorn]

The last time I pulled T-posts I backed my 9N Ford up to them and, having wrapped a chain around them, used the 3-pt lift arm to pull them. Easy peasy.... ONCE backed up to them (the hard part...I hate having to twist around in the seat since I turned 60.... twelve years ago.)

 

[Tornado]

There are steel tools (plate with some shape cut into it) that slide down the t-post to pull them up with. Used with high lift type jacks but can be adapted to tractor with a chain. Probably needs two people involved to make it work efficiently.


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As soon as I read your reply a light bulb went off in my head - I had seen this item before, in tractor supply, and had forgotten about it. I went to their website and sure enough, there it is. Thanks Russell for helping me remember this! I will buy one of these plates and coupled with the tractor bucket and a chain should be able to pull them all very easily. Here it is if anyone is curious.


On the front axle oil - Ive been thinking on it yesterday and today and am thinking of going with 80w90 gear oil. Ive tried to read around and gather some knowledge and while some argue the viscosity between it and Udt2 oil is "basically the same" others still cotend that 80-90 is a little thicker and doesn't leak as bad. To me an oil that is slightly heavier/thicker seems, at least in my mind, to perhaps offer better gear protection. That is where I am at the moment in my thinking - I plan to continue looking into it and thinking on it more before I change the fluid. I have decided however to 100% change the fluid in the front axle. I want to thank newtoorange for suggesting it to me. I had not planned to do this but after he mentioned it, and I looked it up in my manual again, then did some quick reading on it, I decided its a cheap, super easy thing to do, and cant hurt anything. It would also mean that short of the coolant, I will have pretty much replaced all the fluid in this tractor. Ive also read from several sources that many folks have found when they went to do their first front axle oil change that the axle was actually low sometimes more than a quart low. It will be good to change this and then know that it is properly filled and serviced.

 

[old and tired]

....then know that it is properly filled and serviced.

recheck the level after using it for awhile.

 

[powersrp]

I just changed my front diff, 400 hrs, it was needed, i used lucas 80w90, open drain hole or holes and walk away, it takes quiet awhile for it to drain, all the nasties come out at the end, when the draining slowed i put a lil air pressure in the fill hole, just a little air or it will splatter all over, and then lots of nasties come out.


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[Tornado]

I just changed my front diff, 400 hrs, it was needed, i used lucas 80w90, open drain hole or holes and walk away, it takes quiet awhile for it to drain, all the nasties come out at the end, when the draining slowed i put a lil air pressure in the fill hole, just a little air or it will splatter all over, and then lots of nasties come out.


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appreciate that little tip. I will do that at the end with the air compressor.

Im sorta waffling back to just using the UDT2 I have now already. I have what I think is just enough to fill the front axle. I may go with 80-90 next time around we will see. Im donig some refencing this weekend and got to pricing out everything and decided I didnt need to waste more money on oil when I have unused brand new udt2 sitting in the garage. In my reading I cant find where either is a clear winner over the other with regards to the front axle so Im going to save myself some money. I plan to do the front axle tomorrow morning. Create a little funnel out of tin foil for each wheel and drain it. I understand it can take over half an hour or so to drain fully. Then I will use the air compressor as mentioned. I had already read to recheck the level after using it, but I appreciate that tip as well - i plan to do this. Hopefully I have enough udt2 left over. I have the gallon bottle full nearly to the lid of unused oil, so its over a gallon, which is 4quarts. Im hoping I have a little over 5quarts in the bottle, and the font axle capacity is listed at 4.8quarts in the manual. I should have just enough to do it im thinking.