L3240HST 1st 50 hour service

[TalonDancer]

Talon Dancer. Thanks for the informative post. I'm curius about the 2 large pieces of metal. Can you snap a shot and post it? ...

Well "large" is a realtive term The biggest one looks like a milling shard -- about 1/16 in. long, curved and shiny.

It was getting dark by the time I finished up. So I didn't take any pics. I'll do so in the AM. And post them when it gets to hot to work on the tractor

Talon Dancer

 

[TalonDancer]

The 50 hr service on my L3400 involved changing all fluids and filters....

canoetrpr,

Thanks for the tips. BTW your two threads on this subject....

Tools needed for 50 hr on L3400

Successful 50 hour service - by someone who never turned a wrench before

were very helpful to a guy who already had every tool needed and has been turning wrenches for over 5 decades. Hopefully I'll never get to old to learn from other's observations & experiences.

Talon Dancer

 

[TalonDancer]

I use one of them 15 gallon drain pans on wheels I got from northerntool for 75$ a few years ago, It is long enough that I can just start pulling plugs and let her drain till she's empty... It really is nice for my tractor and my truck since the truck holds 38qts.
I use my pallet forks for the FEL to lift the pan up for draining back into 5gal buckets for taking back to parts house recycling drum.

That's a great idea. I've seen those oil pans in the past and always wondered "who would need such a huge oil pan?" and "how would they get it underneath their vehicle or drain it out once it had oil in it? --DUH

This tractor is making me re-think what and how I do lots of stuff. The pallet fork has been a real thought provoker. Part of our new house will be pier and beam with the floor/deck well above the sloping grade (4-6'). Climbing up ladders gives you some idea of what the view will be like from the cantilevered deck, etc.. But sitting in a patio chair bolted to a reinforced pallet at any height you want is a lot more realistic

Talon Dancer

 

[crazyal]

Did you look into whether or not your tractor uses UDT or SUDT? UDT is much easier and cheaper to get plus there are plenty of others who make a subsitute. I know you can interchange the two but there have been some here who say they can tell the difference. Just curious.

 

[TalonDancer]

Did you look into whether or not your tractor uses UDT or SUDT? ...

Both dealers here in central Texas normally stock only UDT. One actually had some SUDT that he special orders for ONE client.

AFAIK the main reason to use SUDT is cold temperatures. A really cold day here is 15-20 degrees in the AM warming to above freezing by noon. During a typical winter, we might have one or two of those days, with most days well above freezing even in the AM

Talon Dancer

 

[TalonDancer]

Talon Dancer. Thanks for the informative post. I'm curius about the 2 large pieces of metal. Can you snap a shot and post it?...

Here it is...

The two largest pieces of shrapnel are at roughly 3 and just past 6. But look closely at the thinner bits of metal hanging over the edge (e.g. 12 oclock) Based on this filter's magnetic ring I really wish ALL the filters had one. And the drain plugs too.

BTW people who don't do their own 50 hr service probably don't get to see these scary metal bits

Talon Dancer

 

[TalonDancer]

Engine Oil Change Observations...

This was the 2nd time I've changed the engine oil and filter. The 1st time was at 26 hrs. FWIW I know some of the members consider this superfluous and others think it may actually be harmful, since they _think_ Kubota _may_ use a special break in oil. But hey, it's my money and my tractor

Both times I have not recovered the full 6 quarts that Kubota claims for this engine. Each time I got about 5 quarts. And sure enough, both times it only took 5 quarts (including topping up after running the engine to fill the new filter) to reach the top mark on the dip stick. So either Kubota's fluid volume info is faulty or a full quart of OLD oil remains in this engine after an oil change FWIW on every car I have ever owned, when the manual said it takes x quarts, that is what it actually takes to get to the top mark on the dipstick.

I am not at all fond of the two 14mm (wrench size) drain BOLTS. I'm used to much larger oil drain PLUGS that allow me to inspect the oil pan with my little finger for debris etc.. I really prefer drain plugs with magnetic pickups that provide diagnostic info about wear etc. A decent magnetic oil drain plug can't cost a lot. I would have gladly paid the difference

The recovered oil (in both changes) was pretty black but otherwise it looked and felt quite "fresh". As it should, given that it was only in the engine a few weeks with a meer 25 hours of usage

Talon Dancer

 

[TalonDancer]

I hate impact wrenches!

Part of the 50 hours service is checking the torque on the wheel lugs/bolts. The torque wrench clicked away

But the 3 year olds that assembled this tractor at the dealer had put a 22MM lug nut on one of the rear wheels (all the others were 24 MM). So I tried to replace it with the proper size - it didn't budge. I added a 2 ft cheater to my 18" breaker bar and STILL no movement. So I checked the other log nuts/bolts. I could not budge any of them

Over torquing can be worse than under torquing. You basically run the risk of exceeding the tensile strength of the fastener (bolt or nut) which can cause it to fail catastrophically

It will be interesting to see how much cheater bar is required to get these lugs/bolts loose. Maybe they are just a bit over the torque spec and I can re-torque them properly. But more than likely the nitwit with the impact wrench over did it so much that I'll be replacing all of them

BTW every time I see an impact wrench used on my vehicles (e.g. at the tire shop) I immediately check to make sure I can actually remove the fastener with hand tools. Then I torque it to specs.

Talon Dancer