Maintenance - Newbie - What to Expect?

[weedsportpete]

Here's another thing I put off to the end.. maintenance. I'm comparing it to my car.. did I hear that tractors are maintained every 50 hrs? Is that like every 3000 miles for a car? I used to do more than just oil changes on my car, 20 years ago, but now I open the hood and shake my head. I'm concerned I won't be able to do the tractor maintenance.

For a compact or sub-compact tractor:

Is it like car maintenance, where every 3000 miles you have an oil change and every 7000 you do more?

Baring any serious problems, do people usually do it all themselves, at home? I sure don't want to load a tractor on a trailer and haul it to a dealer once or twice a year.

What kind of equipment do you need? What kind of facilities? Do you have to raise it up on jacks or ramps?

How long does it take?

About how much does it cost, per year?

TIA Pete

 

[Boondox]

You sound like me a few years back! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

The owners' manual will have the maintenance requirements. It's really not all that involved, provided you keep your fluids clean and your filters fresh. As for raising it up on ramps or jacks...have you seen the ground clearance on tractors lately? /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

The 300 hour service was pretty extensive on my L3010, but I timed it so the tractor was at the dealer for a backhoe installation at 300 hours. Even with replacing a broken seatbelt and switching to Super UDT fluid, plus pickup and delivery, it only came to $450.

Don't let maintenance scare you off!

Pete

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>did I hear that tractors are maintained every 50 hrs?</font color=blue>

Nope; just after the first 50 hours on a new one. After that it's longer intervals of 100 to 300 hours.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

It's almost like Bird wrote the book. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif My manual for my Deere 4200 has scheduled maintenance at 50 then every 200 for some items, 400 for others and even 500 on a few. There are some items, however, which are listed as 'Every 10 hours or daily.'

 

[cchoate]

I follow the manual on my b7500, and it's no difficult. No need to jack up tractor, or dismantel much of anything. Only thing about doing it yourself is making sure you have everything you need before hand. My dealer set me up with everything I needed to do my first 50 hour change (even grease) at cost. It pays to have a good dealer that has been around awhile.

 

[weedsportpete]

Thats a good point - getting setup for everything before hand, and asking the dealer to help you get everything.. OK doesn't sound so bad. I'll just set aside a whole day, just in case, 'cause in my neck of the woods, everything takes three times as long as originally planned.

 

[Carl_NH]

Pete,

50 Hours on your CUT will be 3000 miles@50 MPH as you surmised. Also pending your unit the next major service is at 200-300 hours, about 3-4 yrs by most users on TBN.

If you have inked your deal it may be to late to negotiate P/U and deliver for the 50 Hr service tho most will do this or even better include the 50 Hr service in the deal.

My advice is have the dealer do the 50Hr esp if it's still under warranty, then plan for the 2-300 hour, read the manuals etc, as by that time you will have much good seat time under your belt, err butt.

Carl

 

[dmccarty]

weedsportpete,

The tractor maintenance ain't hard. If you can change the oil
in your cars you can work on your tractor. Others have mentioned
the service intravels spot on.

I have had to work on some hydraulic couplers and I just broke
a stupid lever two weekends back. Most of this stuff is really
easy to work on IF YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TOOLS. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

For my JD 4700 the right tools means 1 inch+/20mm+ sockets/wrenches,
a snap ring tool and that is about it. I had to spend some dollars on
the large size tools. But other than that just get some duct tape and
you are all set! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I have a good dealer. The mechanic who would do the simple stuff
on my tractor leaves much to be desired. Some of the things I have
fixed could have been fixed under warranty. I did them myself for a
couple of reasons. One the mechanic. Two it would cost me a couple
of hours of my time waiting for them to pick up/drop off the tractor.
Three I figured I would get charged a transportation fee. And finally,
I figure this tractor is going to be mine for more then a few decades
so I might was well learn how she works... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Hope this helps...
Dan McCarty