New user intro and first service for an L3901

[zippyslug31]

Hi all,

First post from me here, but have been lurking for a while now.
Quick intro: 9 months ago I picked up a new L3901, FEL, BH, and box blade. Got this for clearing/preping a 6 acre lot where we'll eventually build. So far it's been more than I could have hoped for and we've used it for jobs like grading our long driveway/entry road, moving around tons of rock & dirt, and just finished trenching 400' for our water service. I'm constantly finding excuses to get it out and do some "work"; all the while as my wife rolls her eyes and smirks (actually, she has just as much fun on the thing as I do... who knew!?!).

Anyway...

Looking at doing the first service. I'm actually at 62 hrs, so I'm feeling guilting about running it anymore than necessary; yeah, I'm slacking for sure.
I'm not finding many specific threads or info on the web for this model. Anybody have some thoughts on if this thread for an L3800 is "close enough" for guiding me on this service? http://www.orangetractortalks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11064&page=1
I understand that the 3800 was the predecessor to mine, so it should should be pretty close mechanically (except the teir 4 crap, of course) so I think this info should be sufficient.
I don't have my manuals with me as I type this so I'm not able to check them, but I'm making up my list of services I'll be doing and parts I'll need.

Services:
engine oil & filter change
transmission fluid change (not fully sure; just saw a note about this?)
HST oil filter cleaning (I think this is just cleaning the internal screen?)
check/clean air filter & rad brush screen
adjust ebrake (mine doesn't hold worth a damn)
check coolant
check tire pressures (mine are only air filled... anybody have the PSI what these should be at?)
grease all zerk fittings (I assume a general purpose grease for this?)

Any other services I should be doing or answers to some of my Q's above?

Thanks a bunch in advance!

 

[85Hokie]

Everything you mentioned is good idea ----- run through all the fluids, If'n mine I would consider going with Kubota S-UDT2......gonna hurt you feelings and your checkbook....but good stuff always does!!!

Grease - that too can be high end.....bad news is most of THAT comes out over time!

You are on the right track - do everything you said!!! AND she'll be a happy camper......and your wife will too!!!

 

[mickeyd]

Welcome to OTT zippyslug. I take it that your wife is zippy and that you are the slug. Sounds like you have a good idea of what is needed. The FEL is supposed to be greased every 10 hours with a high quality grease designating "extreme pressure" and containing Molybdenum disulfide is recommended.

 

[zippyslug31]

Welcome to OTT zippyslug. I take it that your wife is zippy and that you are the slug. Sounds like you have a good idea of what is needed. The FEL is supposed to be greased every 10 hours with a high quality grease designating "extreme pressure" and containing Molybdenum disulfide is recommended.

Thanks for the tip on the grease; picked some up yesterday.
Still reading up on SUDT2.

RE my wife, she perfers "Mrs. Slug".

 

[zippyslug31]

Did my service a few days ago and wanted to follow up.

All went well and this can be tackled by any backyard mechanic with basic tools. Even though the following videos are for a different model than mine, they are very similar and I found them very helpful in getting oriented:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWSnMr8rjGU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6SchMXznjs


A few observations...

Hydraulic filter change: I followed the owner's manual and elected to not change out the UDT fluid at this time, but only went with the filters. I tried the trick of parking the machine at a good sideways angle to help minimize fluid loss. When changing the trans filter it still gushed pretty well and I lost a good quart, the suction filter barely lost any. Luckily I thought well enough in advance to pick up spare UDT so I was able to top off the fluid loss when both filters were swapped out. Also, count me in the group that didn't see much in the way of metal shavings collected by the filter magnet... I only found fine particles.

Greasing: I didn't realize that Kubota suggests greasing all the zerk nipples every 10 hours; lesson learnt. What I found most interesting about this task was just how many fittings there are all over the tractor, FEL, and BH! Since I'm in a dusty environment, this took some time since each nipple needed the caked-on crud removed and then pumped with new grease. Some of these fittings clearly get more abuse since they took much more grease than others.

Cost: Before doing future services, I'll make the effort to do a little price comparisons in advance. I bought everything from my Kubota dealer and the total wasn't terrible - $177 for 8 gts of oil, 3 filters, and a gallon of UDT. But, cost of the HST filter was $70 alone! That caused me to double take, and will check to see if I can find it online for a bit cheaper.

Final thoughts... if you've thought about doing your own basic service but were nervous about screwing something up, stop worrying and give it a shot. I did all this with an oil filter wrench, a couple of sockets, oil catch bucket, and a few rags... all while laying on a tarp outside. Total time was 3 or 4 hours at a VERY leisurely pace, and most of the time was searching for zerks!

 

[LarryH1001]

I just had my L3901 in for its 50 hour oil change. When I got the bill, I went into shock. I was told, when I bought the tractor it would cost about $350. I was ok with that. Anyway, the bill came to $545. I was charged for 4 filter cartridges, 5 gallons 10w-40 oil and 5 gallons of hydraulic oil. All that came to about $280. I didn't know the tractor held that much oil. You did good. From here on, I will do my own maintenance.
Otherwise it seems to be a pretty good tractor.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I just had my L3901 in for its 50 hour oil change. When I got the bill, I went into shock. I was told, when I bought the tractor it would cost about $350. I was ok with that. Anyway, the bill came to $545. I was charged for 4 filter cartridges, 5 gallons 10w-40 oil and 5 gallons of hydraulic oil. All that came to about $280. I didn't know the tractor held that much oil. You did good. From here on, I will do my own maintenance.
Otherwise it seems to be a pretty good tractor.

Hope it was 5 Quarts of 10W-40 oil!

 

[LarryH1001]

Invoice indicated 5 gal.

Sent from my LG-K428 using Tapatalk

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

There is not 5 gallons of engine oil in it!
When one thing is invoiced falsely, I start questioning the whole invoice!

 

[Southern Yankee]

Larry: You also paid a healthy shop service rate. My dealer is $90 per hour (Mercedes is $125 but you can eat off their white tile floors. No, I do not own one). I was given a $179 first service discount when I bought the tractor. My 50 hour (I am too old to crawl under this thing) cost me $273 with the discount but they also adjusted my parking brake (still does not hold) and replaced a missing front wheel lug nut. Interestingly, the dealer labeled each filter they changed with the date and hours. In the past, I liked to do my own servicing as I knew it was done right. Alas, those days are gone.

Zippy: The L3301 shares the same manual as the 3901. The dealer should have provided manuals for the tractor and implements. They are very detailed on maintenance identifying grease and service locations. They even tell you the number of pumps to use on the grease gun. As an example, the LA525 FEL manual says you should check the FEL mount bolts torque during the 50 hour. I doubt the dealer does that but it is a good thing to check. I too missed the 10 hour lube on the FEL. I complained about a snapping noise on this forum and someone reminded me of the 10 hour requirement. Your brush hog also has 8 hour, 20 hour, and 24 hour lube and service requirements. Tire pressure is also listed in your manual and varies from 14 to 32 psi depending on your tire type. Mine happens to be 30 psi front and back

I had 59 hours on mine when it went in for the 50 hour. It is hard to stop working when you are in the middle of something. The important thing is the maintenance was done.

There are some very knowledgeable people on this forum. If you have any problems or questions ask and you will get a prompt reply. Enjoy your orange tractors.

Richard

 

[OrangeColoredTractor]

There is not 5 gallons of engine oil in it!
When one thing is invoiced falsely, I start questioning the whole invoice!

Its probably 5 qts, its the "booker" who closes it out and transposes the techs info to the invoice more than likely just had gallons on the brain, probably because of the HST system.

 

[KennedyFarmer]

I did mine on my own. Engine oil and all the filters(4 of them). No need to change the Hydulic oil. I was going to to do it but the dealer told me unless its cloudy don't change it.

You will need some Hydulic oil to refill after you change the HST filter.

Change the filters...change the filters...change the filters...