L3400 50 hr service questions

[Adiredneck]

I am nearing the 50 Hr mark on my tractor. I stopped by the dealer & picked up oil & Hydraulic filters the other day. $33 something for the Hyd, & 9 something for the oil.

My tractor is not hydro. My main concern at this time is to just change the engine oil. It will be synthetic.

I wanted to prolong the Hyd. change until the snow flies, as I will be done with firewood at that point. The dealer suggested changing the hyd. filter now though. If I do this now, will I lose a lot of fluid between taking off the old & spinning on the new one?

I can't find my manual. It will show up this winter while I am in the garage.

Can anyone tell me how much motor oil & hyd fluid it will take to do a full change? I probably should just go that route & do it now. Why buy another filter in a few months.

 

[art]

Just my thoughts here, I'm just helping you to spend your money but I'm going to help you get your best value! As far as the engine, it is still far from being broken in and to soon for the change of oil types! I would wonder if you would be exceeding 100 hours a year, if not, when the tractor is put thru extensive temperature changes they have condensation in the housings. This will dictate as to when a change would be do when you have major temp changes. The condensation will often turn a good oil to cream and worthless long before you might ever even be close to it's recommended oil change interval. I've seen oil or milk with some oils with less then 100 hours on the change just two years time!!!!

Not for nothing it's much the same for the hydraulic fliud, I would recommend changing the filter as it would help the whole system. I know that you will get some hours on for snow removal but how many?

I'm lazy by nature, but with my wife's car as soon as it gets to 12,000 miles I'll be putting in sythetic oil, I use the 25,000 mile stuff and change it every year when she gets thru with teaching. She does only run about 12,000 miles a year and I'm supposed to be able just change the filter but I do know what good oil does and know it is cheaper then to run then lower priced oils. I like to see fresh oil in the spring when the hardest loads are put on the equipment.

 

[johnk]

I thinkk the 50 hr maintinence is the most important because everything is breaking in. I did mine as the book says and it gave me a good feeling knowing I was protecting my investment. I wouldn't use synthetic oil yet as the tractor is barely broken in. That's just my opinion. Here's a pic of my magnetic hydraulic filter at the 50 hr change. Use your own judgement...

 

[Marcussen]

On my L2800 pulling the hydraulic filter will drain the fluid, or at least 2-3 gallons of it. I did not see any metal residue on my magnet when I changed the fluid. I see no reason why not to change to synthetic at 50 hours. Most of the break in is done in the first few hours of operation.

 

[Jw5875]

First, put your tractor up on blocks. I drove mine on to 4 6x6's (one under each wheel). This gives the perfect clearance for a 5 gallon bucket to drain the trans. fluid. Also give room to grease the linkage for the pedals.

To add fluid to the front axle, I used a 1/2" pipe nipple with an elbow, HAND TIGHTEN ONLY.

Fluids:

Engine: 6 qts.

Trans.: 4 wd --7.3 gals.

Front axle: 4.8 qts



Hope this helps!!

JW 5875

 

[Adiredneck]

I thinkk the 50 hr maintinence is the most important because everything is breaking in. I did mine as the book says and it gave me a good feeling knowing I was protecting my investment. I wouldn't use synthetic oil yet as the tractor is barely broken in. That's just my opinion. Here's a pic of my magnetic hydraulic filter at the 50 hr change. Use your own judgement...

That is a pretty convincing photo. Is your tractor gear, or hydro?

 

[ceh007]

i'm at my 50hr and i'm having the dealer do the full Kubota service. my main concern is making sure i don't void my warranty.

 

[DiezNutz]

The thing to keep in mind when looking at this photo (or your own filter) or what comes out of the drain hole is, you're seeing *everything* from hour 0 to hour 50. Most of the really scary stuff you'll see got sheared off in the first couple hours, not at hour 49, and it rapidly diminishes after that.

 

[Adiredneck]

Well,

I did a stupid thing tonight. I picked up some Shell Rotella (2 gallons), and was doing a little wood working in the garage. I figured what a good time to drain the oil. So, I pulled both drain plugs & let it drain for quite a while. When no more came out, I moved the drain pan to below the filter so I could spin that off. No problem. I add oil to the filter & screw it on. I am amazed at how very little oil comes back out for it being mounted horizontally.

I go back to the table saw & rip a few pieces of pine. There are a few last drips of oil that hit the floor from the drain holes since I did not put the pan back.

I then poured an entire gallon of oil into the tractor & walked away letting it drain! Oil is all over the floor before I realize what happened. I scramble & get the plugs back in to stop it from getting worse, but by now it's almost pointless.

It took about a 5 gallon pail of kitty litter to soak up the oil. I have nver had to soak up NEW oil, and I do not care to do it again. I ended up scooping up all of the oil soaked litter & throwing it in my wood boiler after I started a fire. It is still burning an hour later.

So, I added the 2nd gallon of oil & apparently between filling the filter full & whatever managed to stay in the engine, the dipstick reads a good level.

Let's hope the hydraulic oil change goes better.

 

[Jw5875]

This is the same drill they teach new "Associates" at Wall Mart and Jiffylube.


JW5875