Hydro oil Filter question L4400HST

aaluck

Well-known member

Equipment
L4400HST, Bush Hog 276, RDTH60, Speeco PHD, etc
Oct 9, 2019
946
771
93
Snowdoun, AL
I purchased this tractor L4400HST used and had everything checked out and serviced before I had it delivered.

Now I'm coming up on the 200 hour mark (since I bought it, 780 total) and in my manual (attached as photo) it says I need to replace the hydraulic oil filter, at 200 hours. As you can see from the instructions it wants me to pull the drain plugs (all 4) to do this. Now, Ive never been accused of rivaling Einstein, but it would appear to me that in so doing the oil will drain out, which really turns into an oil change, not a filter change. (Mind you the OIL change is to take place at 400 hours, not 200).

Am I missing something? Will it only drain a small amount of oil--enough to remove the filter? Should I skip this until I do the oil at 400 hours?

BTW... contacted dealer and guy in parts told me to "just take the filter off quickly and put the new one on quicker and shouldn't lose much fluid".
 

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Creature Meadow

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Lifetime Member

Equipment
2012 L4600, Disk, Brush Hog, GB60 Garden Bedder, GSS72 Grading Scraper
Sep 19, 2016
1,063
135
63
53
Central North Carolina
I would just change the filter and I'm also assuming the manual is referring to how to change the oil and filter.

Some use a vacuum cleaner stuck in the hydro oil fill port to assist in not having the oil pour out.

Others park tractor on a small incline to aid as well sideways with filter on the uphill side.

Have the new one ready with some oil on the seal and be quick. Put a clean bucket under to catch the fluid that does run out to reuse.

When I changed mine a magnet came with my new Kubota hydro filter, so I did not need to reuse the one on the old filter and it did have plenty of metal shavings on it as was expected.

Good luck.

Jay
 

aaluck

Well-known member

Equipment
L4400HST, Bush Hog 276, RDTH60, Speeco PHD, etc
Oct 9, 2019
946
771
93
Snowdoun, AL
I would just change the filter and I'm also assuming the manual is referring to how to change the oil and filter.

Some use a vacuum cleaner stuck in the hydro oil fill port to assist in not having the oil pour out.

Others park tractor on a small incline to aid as well sideways with filter on the uphill side.

Have the new one ready with some oil on the seal and be quick. Put a clean bucket under to catch the fluid that does run out to reuse.

When I changed mine a magnet came with my new Kubota hydro filter, so I did not need to reuse the one on the old filter and it did have plenty of metal shavings on it as was expected.

Good luck.

Jay
Thank you for helping. As for the manual it actually has the oil change two pages later under the 400 hour section. However, the instructions are the same for the oil change and the filter change.

Ill take your advice.
 

Roadworthy

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Lifetime Member

Equipment
L2501 HST
Aug 17, 2019
1,649
526
113
Benton City, WA
To change the filter only you remove the filter only. Once the filter is removed the fluid will follow until your new filter is in place - that's why the vacuum applied with the shop vac to the filler, it helps hold the fluid in the filter.
 

rjcorazza

Member

Equipment
L4060 HSTC Loader, ZD326, ZD1211
Mar 9, 2016
778
24
18
Hyattstown, MD
Kubota manuals frequently have servicing errors like you mention. My previous L3410 manual listed the 200h service as yours does. Current L4060 specifically says do not drain the transmission to replace the Transmission (HST) filter.
Removing the Transmission (HST) filter will result in maybe a quart of fluid loss (at least on my two previous machines). Removing the Hydraulic filter WILL drain the entire sump in short order. The Hydraulic filter is the 400h interval filter, at which time the fluid gets replaced anyway.
To make matters worse, Kubota parts listings and service manuals frequently do not correctly identify the two filters.
 

fruitcakesa

Well-known member

Equipment
M 6040
Oct 26, 2010
856
270
63
Cavendish Vermont
When I change the hydro filter on the M, I rolled it up on some 8x8's to get the filter side higher but neglected to apply vacuum to the fill port.
Big mistake, big mess.
 

SidecarFlip

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Equipment
M9000HDCC3, M9000HD, Kubota GS850 Sidekick
Oct 28, 2018
7,197
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83
USA
Kubota manuals frequently have servicing errors like you mention. My previous L3410 manual listed the 200h service as yours does. Current L4060 specifically says do not drain the transmission to replace the Transmission (HST) filter.
Removing the Transmission (HST) filter will result in maybe a quart of fluid loss (at least on my two previous machines). Removing the Hydraulic filter WILL drain the entire sump in short order. The Hydraulic filter is the 400h interval filter, at which time the fluid gets replaced anyway.
To make matters worse, Kubota parts listings and service manuals frequently do not correctly identify the two filters.
No, not correct. Removing the filter (s) (2 in my case), will drain the gearcase sump to the point where the lowest hole in the filter boss is but there will still be around 1/3rd of the oil inside yet. Only way to drain the ENTIRE case is via the drainplug(s).