Oil & Fuel 50 Hour Service on M8540HD12

[TripleR]

Sorry to revive a year old thread but had a Kubota 8540 clutch question and decided to stick it on the back of this old thread instead of making a new one.


Ok ya'll say that on the hydrolic shuttle 12x12 transmission on the Kubota 8540 that the hand reverser dis-engages the same clutch pack as the foot pedel? So that would mean that I could be driving along in 2nd gear, pull the hand shuttle back to neutrall, shift the gears into 3rd or 5th, then push the hand shuttle back to foward and away I go? I can change gears without using the foot clutch just by placing the hand shuttle lever in neutral?

Can I also shift the range lever into the high range without using the foot clutch by putting the shuttle hand lever into neutral? So I could if I chose to be driving along in 1st gear, shift the hand shuttle/handle into neutral, shift the range to high, shift the gears to 8th, then push the hand shuttle lever foward to engage the clutch and away I go in 8th gear all without ever putting my foot on the clutch pedal? Reason I ask is that my disablity prevents me from using a clutch pedal, I can work my glide shift tractor all day and was checking out how easy it would be operate the M series and decided if I could change gears as I stated above it would be a peice of cake. Just wonderin here...........

I have limited use of my left leg, so for many years have had to clutch with my right leg. On a flat platform machine, this has not really been that much of a problem except while operating on slopes when I needed the brakes while changing directions on our CX80 with a synchro shuttle shift. On those occasions it looked kind of like a one legged River Dance or rat stomping, mosquito swapping contest.:laughing:

With the M8540, I routinely use the hand lever to change gears on the go. It took me a while to quit instinctively using the foot clutch. I still use it when I need or want a hand on the steering wheel or out of force of habit.

I always come to a full stop when changing from low to high range no matter which clutching I use. I am pretty sure that is what the Operator Manual says, but would have to check.

The M9540 is the same tractor even to the engine, but it offers a 24F/24R if you need more ranges.

Hope this helps.

 

[E/S]

You can change from low to high range just using the lever, but you will need to stop when doing this.

E/S

 

[canoetrpr]

When changing from Lo to Hi range if the shuttle lever is in Neutral, does the gear lever need to be in neutral as well?

Also, operating a M7040 I found it was rather tough to make it go from lo to hi and vice versa. Is this something common or just perhaps the fact that the linkage on this tractor had just not been used and needs to free up since it was sitting on the dealers lot?

 

[E/S]

Hi to low on mine got easer after a while, but I don't know it it's me or the M85.

E/S

 

[bunchgrass]

Hey Guys,

I'm at my 50 hrs now too (8540HD) - went by pretty fast. So my question involves catchment of 60+L of hydro fluid. What are you catching it in or is it a series of 5 gal buckets or something. I don't want to open the flood gates and realize I'm insufficient in my container - hmmm. Wonder why?

Also, is it worth pursuing alternative hydro oils to save some bucks or are they all about the same price (over priced)?

Thanks.

BTW - I did buy one of the $3 Kubota radio harnesses and rigged up my aftermarket radio using the diagram posted by one of you guys. EXCELLENT. Keep up the good work.

 

[foreman Etexas]

Hey Guys,

I'm at my 50 hrs now too (8540HD) - went by pretty fast. So my question involves catchment of 60+L of hydro fluid. What are you catching it in or is it a series of 5 gal buckets or something. I don't want to open the flood gates and realize I'm insufficient in my container - hmmm. Wonder why?

Also, is it worth pursuing alternative hydro oils to save some bucks or are they all about the same price (over priced)?

Thanks.

BTW - I did buy one of the $3 Kubota radio harnesses and rigged up my aftermarket radio using the diagram posted by one of you guys. EXCELLENT. Keep up the good work.

I put out alot of mineral tubes,so i just used one of them to catch all my fluids,I did have to find a low spot to drain my hyd.fluid needed cple more inches....

 

[gwdixon]

Buy a 20 gal. galvanized pail at Tractor Supply or a feed store. Then use an old pan to dip out the oil into the 5 gal. containers that the replacement oil came in.

I did the cheap oil thing and ended up changing it out right away with New Holland Ambra, Kubota UDT works but is more expensive. Case Hy-Trans is also good (same as New Holland - I think it is Ashland). There are other high grade oils as well.

Our wet clutches and such just don't like cheap oil. If you try it you'll see what I mean. In the long run it is worth the few extra bucks. 600 hours for the next change will not come so fast.

 

[bunchgrass]

Thanks for the responses. Just priced it out - my dealer SUDT2 = $24.30/gal UDT= $20.83 so $486.05 vs $416.70 :laughing:

 

[gwdixon]

Just bought three 5 gallon containers of New Holland Ambra last week. It was $75 per 5 gallon pail. The Kubota UDT was $85 for 5 gallons. You may want to shop around.

The New Holland dealer is also a Kubota dealer and they use Ambra for Kubota warranty work and service with Kubota's knowledge. It must be OK.

In N. Idaho you might need SUDT2 for the cold winters if you use your tractor much then. UDT or equivalent will work but you may need to warm up the tractor longer.

 

[bunchgrass]

Yeah, I talked to my K dealer's service mgr and he said they would replace my fluid w/ UDT but hadn't really thought about it. This is what makes me nervous about this dealership. My sales guy didn't know diddly and the service dept seems similar.

Anyway - I was thinking about putting in a block heater while I've got the oil out (can't believe they even sell K tractors in N ID w/o them). Anyone ever put in their own block heater on one of these things? It looks like the heater element threads in - so then the freeze plugs are threaded, not pop in?