B8200DT Questions for the knowledgeable!

[CCox]

I am repainting at B8200 and have run into a few questions and need the advice of the experienced.

First, as I was cleaning the PTO area of flaking paint, I came across threaded holes above the PTO in the cover that were partially filled with something that looks like glue from a hot glue gun. These are the two holes with flaking paint in the picture and pieces of the material are resting on the drawbar. Is this something done by Kubota and do I need to replace it?

Second question, the transmission dipstick is stuck and I am not sure how much force it should require to remove. I need to remove the shifter cover plate to extract a broken bolt and I am wondering if its common for the dipstick to get wedged into something/how difficult is it to get out.
Thanks.

 

[N3BP]

Not sure about the dipstick, but on the back of my B7200, those holes are filled with plastic screws, just like the bottom two holes are on your tractor. I orginally thought the pto guar screwed into them, but on my 7200, that is not the case. I wouldn't worry about it and just paint over it.

 

[Russell King]

On my L185F the similar unused holes had plastic plugs shoved into the holes ( like a plastic cap on the end of threaded pipe only backwards). I would put something in there to protect the threads, but not RTV since that would be hard to get out.

 

[whitetiger]

The dipstick gets water seeping in around it and the cover will rust which locks the ribs in the rubber to the cover. I just tip the top of the stick to the side and drip some oil around the hole. Move the top of the stick side to side so the oil seeps in. Soon you should be able to spin the stick and pull it out. With the cover off, you can then clean the rust out of the hole.