Kubota l185 f ...stuck hydraulic cylinder cover?

[🍊 Bandit]

Have a Kubota l185 f, 1979-ish lineage hydraulic cylinder cover that will not release from base. It is attached with 6 exterior bolts. My Service manual says 5 bolts. My tractor has six. Have removed all six bolts. Have used rubberized dead blow hammer with 75 to 100+ strikes (as well as some pry bar on the only portion on the bottom that can be pried on) with no effect to unloose hydraulic cylinder cover from tractor. Did the manufacturer use some type of loctite when initially sealing this cover? Besides using heat. Recommendations for removal? Should the entire top hydraulic base be removed to attempt to knock out(hydraulic cylinder cap) from underside?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I use 2 thin putty knives (drive able type) on on each side to pop them loose.

 

[TheOldHokie]

Have a Kubota l185 f, 1979-ish lineage hydraulic cylinder cover that will not release from base. It is attached with 6 exterior bolts. My Service manual says 5 bolts. My tractor has six. Have removed all six bolts. Have used rubberized dead blow hammer with 75 to 100+ strikes (as well as some pry bar on the only portion on the bottom that can be pried on) with no effect to unloose hydraulic cylinder cover from tractor. Did the manufacturer use some type of loctite when initially sealing this cover? Besides using heat. Recommendations for removal? Should the entire top hydraulic base be removed to attempt to knock out(hydraulic cylinder cap) from underside?

MOD EDIT: Extremely dangerous advice was given and removed by moderator! Be prepared for an oily mess.

Dan

 

[Chanceywd]

Chain the lift arms down, start the engine , and carefully raise the 3pt control lever.. Be prepared for an oily mess.

Dan

Would it help minimize mess if the bolts were left in but loose with your method?
Bill

 

[TheOldHokie]

Would it help minimize mess if the bolts were left in but loose with your method?
Bill

I would think so.

Dan

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

MOD EDIT: Extremely dangerous advice given and removed by moderator! Be prepared for an oily mess.

Dan

That's REALLY REALLY REALLY BAD INFORMATION!
Are you trying to get someone killed!
If you post anything close to this dangerous again on this forum you will be banned!
We do not promote someone" packing it full of dynamite" and "then lighting the fuse"!

 

[TheOldHokie]

That's REALLY REALLY REALLY BAD INFORMATION!
Are you trying to get someone killed!
If you post anything close to this dangerous again on this forum you will be banned!
We do not promote someone" packing it full of dynamite" and "then lighting the fuse"!

Nothing is going to explode. Leave the bolts in place but loose as Bill described if you are worried about an uncontrolled release and the attendant mess. Using the compression of the system to loosen stuck cylinder heads has been used on thousands of engines and compressors from tiny to huge. Some way too large to loosen any other way.

Your attitude is beginning to wear on me. You need to lighten up and listen for a change.

Dan

 

[GreensvilleJay]

To me it looks like 5 bolts, one nut (lower left,8 oclock) and then 'maybe' another bolt (7 oclock).
I agree a couple thin, stiff putty knifes,opposite sides will release it, alternate the blows,go slow.
It's been on 'forever' so won't be happy to be freed !
Good idea to leave the bolts in, say 1/4" gap
As for the oily mess, toss a few rags underneath but without seeing it , don't know how much oil will come out.

 

[🍊 Bandit]

Update. Hydraulic Cylinder cover removed. Time and pressure are stalwarts in the means of persuading both the stubborn and evil. And that cover was pretty darn stubborn maybe to the point of evil. Thank you to the old hokie. I sprayed WD-40 dollar store brand into the six bolt holes let it sit since I've been on the site with this question (time) the tractor lost all hydraulic lift following a hydraulic oil change (which will bring a new question later). After the "trans /hydraulic oil" (thinking this could have caused another problem since it's viscosity seems to be not much more than water)change and filter cleaning (which it didn't need the filter cleaning). Ran tractor again and tried to use hydraulics which is only the three-point hitch thinking maybe some air was in the system. Hydraulics still totally dead no lift. So maneuvered position control lever while slamming left arms up and down by hand with six bolts cracked but still threaded on hydraulic cover(cannot remember if the tractor was running or not when it finally broke)... And lo and behold it loosened up giving me enough room to pry on it for another 15 to 20 minutes to get it out. (Pressure you are my sunshineWhen my Kubota is feeling Gray)

Drum role...now

Hydraulic cylinder sleeve will not come out.

Hydraulic Piston cup is still inside cylinder sleeve not allowing access to use a sleeve puller. Previous method of Manually raising lift arms up and down does not seem to pop cylinder cap out from cylinder sleeve. May have to restart the tractor and try again. Will work on it when time permits.

But my new question is will these old kubota's not work with this newer trans hydraulic fluid? My owner's manual States SAE 80 (B) as a gear lube oil. I am not sure what the "B" stands for? Is the newer trans hydraulic fluid just two soupy/watery for a hydraulic pump and system engineered for 80 weight oil? And is this maybe why I lost all hydraulic lift all together?

Blessed Easter to all,
Thank you for your help

 

[Russell King]

The new fluids are fine.

I used UDT and now TSC Traveler in my L185 with no problems.

 

[TheOldHokie]

Update. Hydraulic Cylinder cover removed. Time and pressure are stalwarts in the means of persuading both the stubborn and evil. And that cover was pretty darn stubborn maybe to the point of evil. Thank you to the old hokie. I sprayed WD-40 dollar store brand into the six bolt holes let it sit since I've been on the site with this question (time) the tractor lost all hydraulic lift following a hydraulic oil change (which will bring a new question later). After the "trans /hydraulic oil" (thinking this could have caused another problem since it's viscosity seems to be not much more than water)change and filter cleaning (which it didn't need the filter cleaning). Ran tractor again and tried to use hydraulics which is only the three-point hitch thinking maybe some air was in the system. Hydraulics still totally dead no lift. So maneuvered position control lever while slamming left arms up and down by hand with six bolts cracked but still threaded on hydraulic cover(cannot remember if the tractor was running or not when it finally broke)... And lo and behold it loosened up giving me enough room to pry on it for another 15 to 20 minutes to get it out. (Pressure you are my sunshineWhen my Kubota is feeling Gray)

Drum role...now

Hydraulic cylinder sleeve will not come out.

Hydraulic Piston cup is still inside cylinder sleeve not allowing access to use a sleeve puller. Previous method of Manually raising lift arms up and down does not seem to pop cylinder cap out from cylinder sleeve. May have to restart the tractor and try again. Will work on it when time permits.

But my new question is will these old kubota's not work with this newer trans hydraulic fluid? My owner's manual States SAE 80 (B) as a gear lube oil. I am not sure what the "B" stands for? Is the newer trans hydraulic fluid just two soupy/watery for a hydraulic pump and system engineered for 80 weight oil? And is this maybe why I lost all hydraulic lift all together?

Blessed Easter to all,
Thank you for your help

Gear oil grades are based on viscosity measured at 100C. The trans hydraulic tractor fluid is a SAE 80 grade gear oil. The thin appearanch is because it also has a very high viscosity index which keeps it from getting thick as molasses at room temperature. Molasses is really hard to pump.

Dan

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

You really need to pull the top of the trans to get to the bottom of the piston to pop it out and to properly and safely remove the sleeve.
Are you seeing damage to the sleeve?

 

[🍊 Bandit]

Update, I have not had a chance to go back to work on it again (letting father time and his nephew WD-40 do their thing for a bit on that sleeve), but the sleeve is certainly pitted slightly and will need to be turned or replaced from the portion that I can see so far. I was just really hoping to be able to get the cylinder piston cap to pop out so I could check the o-ring integrity on it, to verify that I was not getting bypass of fluid in the cylinder and it being the cause of losing hydraulic power.

And, everybody is in agreement that this is not an issue of viscosity of said oil in the transmission/hydraulic system? Other people with "blue" tractors of yesteryear have told me they have regained hydraulic power by going back to straight gear oil when they had previously put in a trans/hydraulic type of fluid at an oil change.
Again thank you for everyone's help,
Hope you all had a wonderful Easter day

 

[TheOldHokie]

Update, I have not had a chance to go back to work on it again (letting father time and his nephew WD-40 do their thing for a bit on that sleeve), but the sleeve is certainly pitted slightly and will need to be turned or replaced from the portion that I can see so far. I was just really hoping to be able to get the cylinder piston cap to pop out so I could check the o-ring integrity on it, to verify that I was not getting bypass of fluid in the cylinder and it being the cause of losing hydraulic power.

And, everybody is in agreement that this is not an issue of viscosity of said oil in the transmission/hydraulic system? Other people with "blue" tractors of yesteryear have told me they have regained hydraulic power by going back to straight gear oil when they had previously put in a trans/hydraulic type of fluid at an oil change.
Again thank you for everyone's help,
Hope you all had a wonderful Easter day

I sell lots of "blue" gear pump upgrades for those cantankerous old OEM pumps of yesteryear. Not surprisingly that "thin" stuff works wonderfully in those old tractors once the slap worn out pump is replaced with a tight new "blue" pump. Right now I have 6 "red" NAAs and two "blue" 800s waiting on a transplant and the queue gets longer every day.

If the hydraulics in your L185 are not working something is wrong with the mechanism not the oil.

Dan

 

[🍊 Bandit]

Updates: hydraulic cylinder sleeve finally out after much finagling. Inside will have to be honed and the outside turned on a lathe or sanding belt. 3/4 or more of the inside liner was pitted up only a short portion at the very top of the cylinder even remotely smooth. The outside of the cylinder looked like it spent most of its days and nights at the saltwater Beach motel... Hence not wanting to just slide out as it should have. The transmission/hydraulic top cover case will have to be removed and cleaned of all rusted debris as well. The hydraulic cylinder piston o-ring and secondary ring both still intact not wore nearly as bad as I thought they would be. So I'm not sure when I broke the 3 loose (And the three-point hitch was working at that point when it previously had not)that with it, it loosened a whole bunch of junk and put a blockage somewhere in the fluid path. 3-point hitch had not worked for quite some time or ever according to previous owners. But still trying to figure out why the 3point hydraulics went out again after I had them working?

 

[South 40]

Updates: hydraulic cylinder sleeve finally out after much finagling. Inside will have to be honed and the outside turned on a lathe or sanding belt. 3/4 or more of the inside liner was pitted up only a short portion at the very top of the cylinder even remotely smooth. The outside of the cylinder looked like it spent most of its days and nights at the saltwater Beach motel... Hence not wanting to just slide out as it should have. The transmission/hydraulic top cover case will have to be removed and cleaned of all rusted debris as well. The hydraulic cylinder piston o-ring and secondary ring both still intact not wore nearly as bad as I thought they would be. So I'm not sure when I broke the 3 loose (And the three-point hitch was working at that point when it previously had not)that with it, it loosened a whole bunch of junk and put a blockage somewhere in the fluid path. 3-point hitch had not worked for quite some time or ever according to previous owners. But still trying to figure out why the 3point hydraulics went out again after I had them working?

Have a look at the oil return filter located in the very bottom of the tranny case, it is most likely plugged, or like mine was a couple years ago, sucked completely in, (should be like 6 inches long), and or the bottom of the case is pack full of gunk, and not allowing the oil to flow.

If you drain the case you can see it with a bright light, all the way at the bottom and where the return line is, you have to remove a cap on the drivers side below the floor pan, below the brake linkage, and below the brake housing, (it's a bear to get to without removing the tire and wheel, but can be done) 2 small screws hole the cap in place.

The filter pulls out thru that hole, and goes back in that hole, it was a pain to get mine out and then push the new one in place but we got it, oh small hands help here, .

Mine is on a L1500DT, basically the same as a L175, but I think the L185 is made the same way.

Cheers
Samantha