Am I on the right maintenance track?

[mwjoerin]

Last weekend I trailered my new to me, L245DT, home. Truly a barn find, I first saw it in 2008 and have just purchased it from the estate of the original owner. It has about 1150 hours on the meter which I believe are accurate since my pictures from 2008 indicate about 30 hours on it since I first saw it. I will use the tractor to maintain 5 acres and about 400’ of gravel road. I anticipate putting 20-40 hours on per year since I have a 6' commercial mower to deal with mowing.

I have obtained an Operators manual and ordered a Workshop Manual to assist me get the tractor back into good repair. My local dealer has ordered a ROPS package for me through the Kubota ROPS program.

The tractor is mostly original with some new coolant, some hydraulic hoses, and a new battery. For 35 years old, I am pleased with the condition. All I have done so far is to replace a damaged radiator cap, drain the old diesel, and run some diesel purge to clean the injectors. Next steps will be a good cleaning, replace damaged hydraulic hoses, replace all fluids, replace all filters, and a good greasing. Addressing paint and rust will likely come next fall. Have I missed any maintenance tasks that I should undertake immediately?

The loader bucket has certainly seen abuse. I’m hoping to find some way to bend it closer to its original shape. Any recommendations on how to do this?

The tires appear to be original and show signs of their age. I’m hoping to get a few more years out of them before replacing. With the 4WD system, will it be possible to swap tire treads to industrial or turf?

I am happy to join the ranks of Kubota owners.

 

[85Hokie]

I have obtained an Operators manual and ordered a Workshop Manual to assist me get the tractor back into good repair. My local dealer has ordered a ROPS package for me through the Kubota ROPS program.

I think it is great that you got the manual, gonna need that! The ROPS is great too, the big cost there is typically the shipping, it is like they GIVE you the ROPS almost but bust your a$$ with the shipping !

The tractor is mostly original with some new coolant, some hydraulic hoses, and a new battery. For 35 years old, I am pleased with the condition. All I have done so far is to replace a damaged radiator cap, drain the old diesel, and run some diesel purge to clean the injectors. Next steps will be a good cleaning, replace damaged hydraulic hoses, replace all fluids, replace all filters, and a good greasing. Addressing paint and rust will likely come next fall. Have I missed any maintenance tasks that I should undertake immediately?

I would replace any and all fuel filters too

The loader bucket has certainly seen abuse. I’m hoping to find some way to bend it closer to its original shape. Any recommendations on how to do this?

That will take some effort, I think if I was you is to find a friend that was a welder, get some nice 1.5 x 1.5 x 1/4 angle iron and a few large C clamps and fix the top edge, and while you are there, weld some hooks there too!

The tires appear to be original and show signs of their age. I’m hoping to get a few more years out of them before replacing. With the 4WD system, will it be possible to swap tire treads to industrial or turf?

It is possible - as it has been discussed a lot here, trying to keep the rolling ratio around the specs is somewhat hard! I would just not plan on using 4WD on anything that does not give, - allow something to slip every time you are in 4WD and the ratio can be off a bit.

I am happy to join the ranks of Kubota owners.

great folks here! Glad you could make it !

 

[MagKarl]

Looks like a nice tractor, I have the same model but is quite a bit more worn than yours.

First thing I would do is flip the rear wheel inners around to widen the stance. This will give you more side stability and will still be inside your 6 foot mower. Mine is about 5 1/2 feet wide outside to outside for reference.

Front axle is it's own fluid system, check that too.

Torch, hammer, slug on the bucket, then agree with Hokie, reinforce it and add hooks.

 

[cb750k8]

Hi
Advice I got after purchasing a used tractor was to take off the engine sump and have a good look for debris, metal chips etc. scum or sludge on the oil.

In my case all i found was a very clean sump/oil and a broken end of the dipstick.

The previous owners had probably overfilled the engine oil every service-this had not done any damage.

Good luck with your new find.
Cheers

 

[Diydave]

A good welding shop could fix that bucket top, by adding a pipe, or c-channel to it, and flattening out the bumps...

Definitely chance all filters and fluids, just to be safe. Don't forget to check the hyd suction screen, too.

 

[Lil Foot]

I would add:
Spend some time checking all the bolts & nuts. Mine must have had 100 fasteners that were anywhere from 1/4 turn to "OMG, it's about to fall out" loose. Especially the wheel lugs & FEL mounting bolts, they seem to work loose easily & can cause lots of expensive damage.
When I went to pick mine up from the previous owner, he was digging one last hole with the backhoe, & I noticed movement under the tractor. A quick check revealed that a nut had fallen off the connector that joins the BH subframe to the FEL subframe, and it was flexing every time he took a bite. All it would have taken was 30 seconds, a 1/2"-13 nut, and a washer to correct, but he shrugged & continued digging. (not his tractor anymore) Thankfully he finished quickly, with no apparent damage. Some people...

 

[mwjoerin]

Thank you everyone for the awesome advice!

With a little persuasion, I should be able to get the bucket closer to it’s original shape. Next time I have it on a trailer I will visit someone with more of a welder than my little 110 volt wire feed to beef it up a bit. With the addition of hooks, the bucket should stay in shape. For the source of hooks, it appears www.boltonhooks.com is a good source.

The size of the rear tires makes me think moving them around will take some significant muscle. Is flipping the wheel inners a two person job?

Thanks for the great tip on checking all the bolts and fasteners. I may even find a few loose. While taking a quick look this evening I noticed the pins on the loader are only held in place with a cotter pin. The cotter pin has rotated and scraped away the paint, leaving a rusted circle (see picture). I would expect a very large fender washer between the cotter pin and loader arm. Is no washer how the FEL's were originally assembled?

Once it is all cleaned up and filled with fresh fluids, I should be able to identify any leaks and evaluate how serious they may be.

 

[Daren Todd]

I've rotated tires on an l2250 that were loaded to shrink the wheel base to fit a tiller. Was definitely a two person job. We jacked the tractor with a bottle jack. Then used a floor jack under the tire itself to raise and lower tire. We rotated the tires back after tilling. Sold the tiller and put the money towards a bigger tiller

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I noticed the pins on the loader are only held in place with a cotter pin. The cotter pin has rotated and scraped away the paint, leaving a rusted circle (see picture). I would expect a very large fender washer between the cotter pin and loader arm. Is no washer how the FEL's were originally assembled?

No they had pins that had tabs that kept them from spinning and moving.
Look at other pins and you should see them.
If you have the skill cut and weld tabs on your pins, it will also cut down on wear as the unsupported pins are wobbling out the holes.

 

[Diydave]

Quick fix on the rotating cotter pins is to drill a hole, through the eye of the cotter pin, in a convenient place, and tap the hole for say a 1/4" bolt and a lockwasher...

 

[mwjoerin]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I believe that with my little 110 volt wire feed welder I can attach one end of a small piece of flat bar the head of the large pin, and bolt the other end down through the existing hole. Same concept as the drawing Wolfman provided. I've got a few other projects queued up, when I get to it I will post a picture.

 

[40Farmall]

Do you have any hydraulic leaks out of your FEL cylinders?

 

[mwjoerin]

I likely have some leaks at the FEL cylinders and at the front axle. A good cleaning and fresh fluids will allow me to verify the leaks and determine how bad they are. Since I am anticipating 20-40 hours/year on the machine, if the leaks are not bad, I may not repair right away and instead make sure fluids are topped off. It's all a matter of which project has top priority. Right now the sliders on my shop door failed and I can't even get the tractor out to pressure wash it. Priorities...