b3200 50 hr maintainence manuel????

[namesray]

my b3200 reached its 50 hr pm and off i went. figured it would be simular to my b7800. not so. book states that b3200 50hr only requires engine oil, engine oil filter, and hst FILTER be changed. b7800 was all oils and all filters. a lot has changed. the first time the b3200 gets its sudt2 oil changed is at 400 hours. strainer cleaning at 400 hr too. i thought huh! had to ask the dealer and they said, yes, follow the book. i bought the oil, oil filter, and hst filter. no sudt2.

this morning i get to doing the changes and reading the book more, and to change the "hst filter", the directions state to drain the transmission fluid at the 3 points in the rear. the mid pto plug, and the 2 rear axel housing plugs. not the front axel housing case though. by now i was a little confused (as i usually am):laughing: but continued on "by the book" as i thought better do this change over kill as it sets up the tractor for the rest of its life.

so i went from thinking i was going to use very little sudt2 oil, to using about 3 gallons as i thought i was just going to unscrew the hst filter and put the new one on. good thing i had some sudt2 on hand. what have you guys done for your first 50 hr change? just the filter, or the sudt oil too? i wasn't expecting the service hour chart to say just hst filter, but the written instructions to say drain the rear fluid and then do the filter=under the change hst filter instructions. i almost thought about going the whole 9 yards and doing everything, including the strainer, but did not. what do you guys think?

 

[gwdixon]

I did everything at 50 hours - all filters, all fluids. The engines have not changed, the environmentalists and bean-counters got their way.

Others may have other opinions and there are many threads on TBN concerning this subject.

 

[kuboman]

I did all of mine, filters and oil. Most machines will never see 400 hrs, maybe it matters maybe it doesn't but at least if I keep it I know I have done the best for it and if I trade I feel good that the next owner has got a machine that was looked after.:thumbsup:

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

I change mine according to the Kubota owners manual. When I first started buying tractors (Kubotas) I followed the owners manual (BX2200, B7800, B3200, L3240, BX1500 etc, etc have bought 13 so far). I to experienced the change over from doing all at 50 to only oil and filters at 50. I started doing mine according to the Kubota owners manual from the beginning and not according to someone that said to always do every thing every 10 hours or 3 months which ever came first. They said since I'd spent so much for a machine then spend to maintain it or the company just wants it to tear up so you'll buy another one or some other dumb reason. Guess I trusted Kubota or I wouldn't have bought a Kubota, go figure. I also went thru the same, dare I say crap, when I started buying cars in the early 60s about changing oil and transmission fluid and brake fluid and antifreeze every (100, 500, 1000 miles). Just changed oil every 3000 miles per manuf recommendation and has taken me years to ever get over the every 3000 miles oil change even though manuf and lubrication addatives have changed drastically over the past 50 years. TVs used to be black and white and most cars didn't even have AC and radios had tubes!!!
Bottom line for me is I trust the company and their recommendations and if those recommendations change over time then I don't really believe it's a communist plot or company plot to sell more equipment.
There are several posts here telling how others have kept the fluid from all running out while you quickly change the filter and clean screens. You have stirred up the pot between believers of things never change and those of us that believe man moves forward with progress and improvement.
I was so concerned about it when the change was implemented that I contacted Kubota and here is a copy of their response.

John, the person or persons from TBN do not know what they are talking
about. There has not been a Service Bulletin or even a notice sent to the
dealers that this is a mistake in the Operators manual. Kubota Tractor
recommends for you to follow your Operators manuals for servicing of each
unit you have. The BX2660 and the BX25 do not have to have the transmission
fluid change until it reaches the 400 hour mark. For the F2680, it is the
200 hour mark. The transmission oil filters need to be replaced and the
suction strainers cleaned at or before the 50 hour mark for all three
units. Your selling dealer can also assist you if you have any questions in
regard to servicing your tractors. Thank you for purchasing and contacting
Kubota Tractor Corp..

 

[namesray]

what i don't get is why in the manuel, the "chart" says to change the hst filter only at 50 hours. but further in the manuel where it explains each maintence process, the changing "hst filter" section says to drain the oil out the 3 rear ports, mid pto plug, and the 2 rear axel housing plugs. there is still one more plug up front at the front case, but the book says to only drain that when you change the hydraulic filter and transmission oil at 400 hours. that is what confused me. do i need to open those 3 drain plugs to change the hst filter at 50 hours correctly, or is it a typo kinda thing and all i really needed to do was just unscrew the old filter and screw the new one on? doing it by the book i drained out about 3 gallons. if that be the case, i should just have done everything like my b7800 and changed everything. (tractor holds almost 4 gallons of sudt2) so i only saved about one gallon and maybe not even that.

i remember when i did my b7800 50 hour change, there wasn't too much metal shavings, but there was some. there is still a few on the strainer each 300 hour hydraulic/transmission change. b7800 has almost 1000 hours oin it now. i might just get over protective again and just do the whole trans/hydraulic stsyem at 200 hours instead of waiting to 400 on the b3200. then again at 400, then every 400. maybe i am silly, but the $300 extra that might cost is much better then a transmission/pump failure later on that a simple flush might have help prevent. what do yall think?

 

[General Lee]

The way I interpret the manual, both on my previous B3200 and on my current L is at 50 hrs, change filters only. I think Kubota updated the maintenance chart and left "how to change UDT and filters" alone. They have to show where the drain plugs are so that part was left alone. This is my assumption only so take it for what its worth.

Me personally, I just did the filters at 50 hours and will change the fluid at about 200 hours instead of 400. It really boils down to what makes you feel better.

Did you loose 3 gallons just changing the filters or did you drain certain plugs the manual was calling for when you changed them?

 

[namesray]

The way I interpret the manual, both on my previous B3200 and on my current L is at 50 hrs, change filters only. I think Kubota updated the maintenance chart and left "how to change UDT and filters" alone. They have to show where the drain plugs are so that part was left alone. This is my assumption only so take it for what its worth.

Me personally, I just did the filters at 50 hours and will change the fluid at about 200 hours instead of 400. It really boils down to what makes you feel better.

Did you loose 3 gallons just changing the filters or did you drain certain plugs the manual was calling for when you changed them?

the 3 gallons came from the "3" plugs the manuel said to drain in the rear. i can't figure out why the manuel didn't say to just drain the front transmission case too. just one more plug i probably should have because then everything would be done except the hyd filter and tranny strainer. atleast sounds like i went a little over kill and drained out most of the contaminents. i don't want a problem down the road. like you, i too will probably change everything and clean the strainer at 200 hours, then again at 400. you are right. it comes down to what makes the owner feel better. i was thinking just that last night. as far as the manuel being confusing, kinda seems like a big oversight mistake by kubota, although most manuels are not too clear all the time as i have found with my experiences.

 

[Gooseneck]

I spoke with my dealer yesterday about the procedure for changing the hydraulic filters on my 5040 for the 300 hour maintenance. The manual said only filters need to be changed, but the directions said to drain the hydraulic fluid. I was confused.

He said that all I needed to do was drain roughly 5 gallons in order to change the filters without loosing a bunch of fluid in the process. He said I could reuse the drained fluid if I used a clean container.