Freezing hydraulics

   / Freezing hydraulics #1  

JCA

Silver Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2004
Messages
122
Location
Maine
Tractor
Kubota B7510
Hi folks. My B7510 has 23 hours on it. Whenever I use it in cold weather, it takes about 20 minutes for the hydraulics to thaw. At first it's just the "float" detent; in colder weather it's the whole thing. My dealer told me to drill a hole in the bottom of the detent, so I did that, but it didn't help. Service department is closed today. Anyone else dealt with this? What's the next step?

Jim
 
   / Freezing hydraulics #2  
There are a few recent threads on this subject...You are not alone. I had the same problem. There are a few things you can do. First thing is go out & buy a spray can of white litheum grease. It comes in a can like wd40. Spray it onto the joystick valve & the control valve under your right root, under the floor behind the right front tire...coat them well. This will both seal them & not allow ice or snow to stick to them. Second thing you can do it plug in either a hair dryer of heat gun & warm these valves up. It takes about 7 minutes. Now the last thing you could try but I personally dont think it makes a difference is to change you hydraulic fluid & use super UDT kubota hydraulic oil. It is expensive...in my area it's $75 per 5 gallons, In my machine it takes 11.2 gallons! Good luck...Unfortunatly Kubota started using different valve in the last year or 2 & these are the problems they are having with them!
 
   / Freezing hydraulics #3  
I am having the same problem with my loader. I tried several things until my dealer suggested i put alittle bit of antifrezze mixed in with the fluid. I havent had the problem since.
 
   / Freezing hydraulics #4  
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I am having the same problem with my loader. I tried several things until my dealer suggested i put alittle bit of antifrezze mixed in with the fluid. I havent had the problem since. )</font>

Do I understand you correctly???????? Your dealer suggested putting anti freeze in with the hydraulic fluid??? I would sure want to run this one by Kubota Technical Services before I did it and only if they gave me a written authorization that it was OK to do, so when the system bit the dust, I would have someone to blame that couldn't deny it. I have heard of a lot of things in the past, but this is definitely a new one for me.
 
   / Freezing hydraulics #5  
I can't believe any dealer would say to put anti-freeze in hydraulic fluid. Water in a hydraulic system does not work. Water in the system will accelerate the wear in the system. If I did understand and you have done this, take it out.
 
   / Freezing hydraulics #6  
OH My, That's a big No No. Drain that crap out of your system before you really mess it up.
 
   / Freezing hydraulics #7  
Hi all -

We just had a "nice snow" (New England term for a serious amout of the white stuff! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif ) - so had an opportunity to run my B7610 while its cold out.

The block heater the dealer installed works great - she fires right up with no complaints - but the hydraulics I give plenty of time to "limber up".

That being said - I had problems with my FEL stick not wanting to move to the right / bucket dump position. Up / down / bucket curl all worked fine - just wouldn't go to dump?!?

After a bit of "forcing" - the lever would move a small amount - the bucket would move to full dump in @ 20 seconds. After several minutes of cycling - it must have generated enough warmth to get *unstuck* - and everything was fine again?!?

I am wondering if this symptom is consistent with the loss of the FEL "float detent" that I have had missing since about 20-30 hours? I think that both functions (FEL Down & Bucket Dump) are activated when the valve spool moves "Down" / into the valve body. Maybe the common issue is in the spring area at the lower end of the valve assembly?

I'll be talking to the dealer about this one for sure - the bucket dump action doesn't "feel" quite smooth anymore - worried that the spool is scratched.

In the meantime - I've bungeed the FEL lever over to the extreme right - so hopefully when needed I can pull the lever back to center.

(Hmmm - thought just occurred to me: if the lever sticks in the "bucket dump" position - I won't be able to start the tractor hydraulics! Doh! /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif I guess I'm going to un-bungee after all!)

Cheers,

Dan
 
   / Freezing hydraulics #8  
Dan,

I've had the exact same problem a couple of times in the last day or two (tractor has been outside) with my B2910. Additionally the loader will not go into float.
 
   / Freezing hydraulics
  • Thread Starter
#9  
HI folks. I may have posted this already, but what the hey.

I don't know how the innards of a hydaulic valve fit together, but I'll tell you my experience and what the dealer said. I had problems (at first) with the loader/blower not going into the float position. Later I noticed that the valve was freezing even more...woudn't move in certain directions. I asked the dealer ONLY about the float position problem (haven't talked to him about the problem since), and he told me about visiting the factory and watching them make these detents with too little grease. He also told me what they do at their shop: to drill a small hole in the bottom of the detent unit that controls the up-down motion...at the lowest point. It's a little tricky, because the lowest point on the detent is a sort of lip...not so easy to drill through, but it's not that hard.

Anyway, I drilled. I expected water to come trickling out, but it didn't. And at first, it didn't seem to do much. But we've had very cold weather lately, and it hasn't frozen up in the last two weeks, so I think it's fixed. So even though the fix involves the detent, and it was only the "float" problem that I was inquiring about, drilling this hole seems to have kept the boom-rotation hydraulic control from freezing (not just the float).

On the other hand, I did NOT drill out the other detent and when I put the FEL on recently, I found that the other directlion (bucket roll, side-to-side) DID freeze up. So I'm pretty sure it was the hole that fixed it.

Jim
 
   / Freezing hydraulics #10  
Jim - Can you post pics of exactly were you drilled this hole? I am kinda desperate, I plow commercially with my Kubota & I have been keeping the furnace on in my garage 24/7 because of this problem & it's costing me big money! I usually only use the furnace when I am working in the garage. We have been getting at least a storm per week & this week 2 large storms. Also, What is the name of the dealer you use? My dealer is clueless about this problem. I will haul this 5000 lb hunk of metal up to Maine if I can't figure this out myself! I bought a riding 42" snowblower last year & when it broke down, the only one I was able to find that could properly fix it was a dealer in Maine up in Bethel on Rt 26. I hauled that machine 5 hours but it got fixed properly!
Thanks for your help!
 
 
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