Maintenance

[TripleR]

I use compressed air to blow the junk off/out of my tractor especially in the radiator/screens/condenser. For a quick field touch up, I use a high powered leaf blower.

 

[piperc744]

ok, i have a good compressor here and will start using that, and yes, i have been told to blow out the screen especially when mowing. was trying to figure out how i would do it in the field, i dont have a blower, but will look into investing in one asap.

 

[TripleR]

ok, i have a good compressor here and will start using that, and yes, i have been told to blow out the screen especially when mowing. was trying to figure out how i would do it in the field, i don't have a blower, but will look into investing in one asap.

I finally talked my wife into buying one a few years ago to blow off our sidewalks after mowing and to "sweep" out the garage and discovered how handy it was to knock stuff off of the tractor and equipment especially a bush hog/shredder. It is naturally not as good as a good compressor, but is better than anything else I could think of and saves a trip back to the shop.

If you don't already have one TSC makes a really handy 2' long air nozzle for your compressor with a bend on the last couple of inches to get in behind stuff.

 

[piperc744]

absolutely, in the field i would just need something to get the junk off and get the job done so i can go home, then hit it with the compressor real good. great idea. gonna have to figure something out for the first few jobs though..... maybe cans of compressed air lol?

 

[TripleR]

absolutely, in the field i would just need something to get the junk off and get the job done so i can go home, then hit it with the compressor real good. great idea. gonna have to figure something out for the first few jobs though..... maybe cans of compressed air lol?

Heck yeah, you probably have a couple of those sitting around to use on your keyboard.:laughing::laughing:

 

[piperc744]

ok, im gonna go buy a air compressor powered grease gun tomorrow since its only 18$ at autozone, and i cannot find the hand powered ones we have... should that be ok? and ill get some grease cartridges as well, is there any special grease i should be aiming for? i dont know what they used before, so ill just jam it full of new grease i suppose....

also, i saw instructions for removing the hydraulic fluid filters, but is that the same location i should check levels and add fluid? or is there somewhere else to add? also the curved valves i see with red paint on them located at various points on the tractor maybe 2 or 3 total, what are those for? just purging excess or what?

there are also large bolts with red paint on them, like on the front axle, are those the points for adding fluid?

one more thing, i have 5 qts of sae, 10w-30 motor oil here, and cannot tell if it is c rated or s rated... no indications on bottle, its pennzoil and says active cleansing agents. will this do? it also says for any gasoline engine, this worries me since i did some reading and oils made for diesel engines have much more cleaning ingredients... but i keep reading people using the 10w30....

sorry for sounding like a noob guys, but i guess i am, i moved out here to colorado about a year ago and barely knew how to change oil on a car, got me a diesel truck and tractor, and have been learning ever since, any info no matter how "noobish" u think it is, will be GREATLY appreciated....

thanks again, u guys are great, got lucky finding this site!

 

[Don87]

Don,
k, well aside from hand scrubbing the whole thing at the end of every day, what would u recommend? i definitely agree that i could force water in bad places, but what would u recommend?

Mainly hand washing, or just the high pressure strean from a regular garden hose for more stubborn debris.

A tractor is totally different than a car or pickup. On a car, you will do the body with a pressure washer..........no harm there, you can spray the grill...........air conditioner parts are in front, and usually far enough back that you can reach them well.

But..............A tractor is a whole different animal, you will be putting high pressure water spray directly into seals( wheels, 3 point hitch, PTO.........etc.).

A lot of tractors have no air conditioning.......high pressure spray hits radiator fins directly.

Electrical connections are another problem area, on a car..........most are inside the passenger compartment, on most tractors.........they are exposed when the hood is raised, and most aren't sealed that well.

Most of the above is because cars run 24/7 regardless of weather at highway speeds, while tractors are slow vehicles, that see sun.........most of the time, (but not always)

Hope this helps and is understandable.

EDIT: And yes, as TripleR says, compressed air will work also, just be careful to blow straight through the radiator, angles can bend the cooling fins.

 

[Don87]

ok, im gonna go buy a air compressor powered grease gun tomorrow since its only 18$ at autozone, and i cannot find the hand powered ones we have... should that be ok? and ill get some grease cartridges as well, is there any special grease i should be aiming for? i dont know what they used before, so ill just jam it full of new grease i suppose....

also, i saw instructions for removing the hydraulic fluid filters, but is that the same location i should check levels and add fluid? or is there somewhere else to add? also the curved valves i see with red paint on them located at various points on the tractor maybe 2 or 3 total, what are those for? just purging excess or what?

there are also large bolts with red paint on them, like on the front axle, are those the points for adding fluid?

one more thing, i have 5 qts of sae, 10w-30 motor oil here, and cannot tell if it is c rated or s rated... no indications on bottle, its pennzoil and says active cleansing agents. will this do? it also says for any gasoline engine, this worries me since i did some reading and oils made for diesel engines have much more cleaning ingredients... but i keep reading people using the 10w30....

sorry for sounding like a noob guys, but i guess i am, i moved out here to colorado about a year ago and barely knew how to change oil on a car, got me a diesel truck and tractor, and have been learning ever since, any info no matter how "noobish" u think it is, will be GREATLY appreciated....

thanks again, u guys are great, got lucky finding this site!

They make seperate oils , for gas and diesel from what I understand. I personally wouldn't use the oil you described in my Massey.

 

[piperc744]

ok, thanks don, really good to know.

about the oil, i could use some clarification here please. in my 7.3L PSD truck i use 15w40 diesel oil, but ive read that for these tractors, other oils are to be used in some cases.

 

[Don87]

ok, thanks don, really good to know.

about the oil, i could use some clarification here please. in my 7.3L PSD truck i use 15w40 diesel oil, but ive read that for these tractors, other oils are to be used in some cases.

It's usually safe to use 15w40 oil in all diesels, but in colder climates other oils are recommended, I'm using 10w30 Diesel Oil in mine, that's what they recommend for my area.

Personally, I would use nothing but 15w40 in mine, but I want to comply with any warranty issues that may arise.

I should also note that I always allow ample warm-up time for my engine(a lot of people don't). I think that makes a difference, but I'm no expert.

EDIT: I can elaborate further.............'I think'..............that the manufacturers have found that most homeowners start the tractor and gooooo....... thus no warm up, and the need for a lower viscosity oil for these situations.

But most that run diesels for a living know the importance of ample warm up for diesels.

I can give good 'for instances'. I've worked for 3 trucking companies. The guys that jump in the truck, turn the key, and take off.............have the most engine and transmission problems, while the drivers that warm the truck up before they work it............have the least amount of problems.

"guys" and "drivers" were seperated for a reason.