400 hour Service Advice

[Rhino35]

Hey All,

I have a 2013 Kioti DK40 four wheel drive, hydrostatic tranny, I bought new. I had the full recommended 50 hour service done by my dealership, which changes out all fluids and associated filters. Since then I've averaged 50 hours of use every year - some moving of dirt and gravel with the FEL, mostly bush hogging every fall, and just turned 400 hours. I have done my own oil and oil filter changes every 50 hours, lubricated the zerks frequently, and both engine and hydraulic fluid levels have remained constant.

I have been planning on having the dealership do another full service at 400 hours, the recommended hourly interval. These are expensive - be close to $1,000 - and I'm not even totally sure I trust the dealership to actually do the fluid change. It is a terrible thing to have become skeptical of most things at 64 years of age!

What I guess I forgot about reading in the manual in 2013 was there is a 200 hour service too. What caught my eye now is a "replace the fuel line every 200 hours or 2 years" note by that service, saying these fuel lines can degrade over time. Ooops!

The tractor is always cleaned up after use and is kept inside an insulated, heated detached garage, and in winter, when I haven't used the tractor, I set the heat at 40 F so it never gets colder than that. Part of me wants to blow off this 400 hour service because I've really been good about the engine oil - and the tractor is running great (other than some overheating during bush hogging up hills I mentioned in another thread) - and the ol' "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" advice keeps bubbling up in my thinking.

On the other hand I know preventive maintenance is important. And, hey, at any minute that fuel line, now six years old, might spontaneously burst engulfing me and my tractor in flames! I might go out to the garage and find a huge pool of diesel fuel under the tractor. What I don't know is how critical it is to do the biggest item on these 50 and 400 hour services - changing out the hydraulic fluid and filter - and changing out the front axle fluid.

And has anyone ever had a problem with a fuel line degrading simply over time?

Standing by for incoming!

 

[WranglerX]

What can dealer provide for $1000 that you can not do for maybe $200.....

Dale

 

[Roadworthy]

I had my Mitsubishi (diesel) for over fifteen years. I sold it with the same fuel line it came with. I have no idea whether it degraded as it never dumped fuel in its parking place. I did have to replace some fuel lines in my 1969 F100 pickup a couple of years ago. I think the alcohol in the gasoline got to them. If you elect to change your own fluids, in this state (Washington) about any dealer who sells oil will accept oil at no charge with a five gallon per day limit per person.

 

[ericm979]

You definitely need to change the filters and fluids on schedule or reasonably close to it. The oil does break down even though it does not get as hot as engine oil. The gears and HST shear the oil and break the long chain molecules. Crud accumulates in the filters. The fuel line can be inspected and changed if it needs it. It's under low pressure. Diesel is not that volatile. If it bursts it'll make a mess and be inconvenient but you're not likely to end up in a fireball.

Changing the fluids and filters is not hard to do yourself. I just changed the trans fluid and filters for the second time on my Branson. I might be imagining things but the hydraulics seem to move a bit smoother and the HST seems to work a little better.

 

[Rhino35]

What can dealer provide for $1000 that you can not do for maybe $200.....

Dale

A good question, Dale. You picked up on the context of my post, which is the tractor isn't something that has been neglected and needs a lot of work.

Two things I can think of the dealership should provide, both surmountable by me with some effort at home. One is expertise, but that is increasingly available on YouTube by, IMHO, wonderful people who take the time to do instructional videos. And here.

The other thing is containers to catch many gallons of draining hydraulic fluid. There is a thread where someone said it got out of hand and made a pretty good mess.

 

[joeyd]

If you can change oil you can do the 400 hour service. Just make sure you have a container to hold the waste fluid, your tractor probably holds 7-8 gals of hydraulic fluid.

 

[Rhino35]

Roadworthy,

The manual 2 year caution did get me wondering, "what do they make their fuel lines out of?" Like, cardboard? Maybe they are concerned both UV rays and temperature swings will screw up the rubber, or whatever it is made out of.

We've got an Advanced Auto Parts nearby and they have a big tank for waste petroleum products. I use it regularly - good service for the environment and I think, when oil is a big more expensive, they make a little change for collecting it.

 

[fried1765]

Hey All,

I have a 2013 Kioti DK40 four wheel drive, hydrostatic tranny, I bought new. I had the full recommended 50 hour service done by my dealership, which changes out all fluids and associated filters. Since then I've averaged 50 hours of use every year - some moving of dirt and gravel with the FEL, mostly bush hogging every fall, and just turned 400 hours. I have done my own oil and oil filter changes every 50 hours, lubricated the zerks frequently, and both engine and hydraulic fluid levels have remained constant.

I have been planning on having the dealership do another full service at 400 hours, the recommended hourly interval. These are expensive - be close to $1,000 - and I'm not even totally sure I trust the dealership to actually do the fluid change. It is a terrible thing to have become skeptical of most things at 64 years of age!

What I guess I forgot about reading in the manual in 2013 was there is a 200 hour service too. What caught my eye now is a "replace the fuel line every 200 hours or 2 years" note by that service, saying these fuel lines can degrade over time. Ooops!

The tractor is always cleaned up after use and is kept inside an insulated, heated detached garage, and in winter, when I haven't used the tractor, I set the heat at 40 F so it never gets colder than that. Part of me wants to blow off this 400 hour service because I've really been good about the engine oil - and the tractor is running great (other than some overheating during bush hogging up hills I mentioned in another thread) - and the ol' "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" advice keeps bubbling up in my thinking.

On the other hand I know preventive maintenance is important. And, hey, at any minute that fuel line, now six years old, might spontaneously burst engulfing me and my tractor in flames! I might go out to the garage and find a huge pool of diesel fuel under the tractor. What I don't know is how critical it is to do the biggest item on these 50 and 400 hour services - changing out the hydraulic fluid and filter - and changing out the front axle fluid.

And has anyone ever had a problem with a fuel line degrading simply over time?

Standing by for incoming!

My 2006 Kubota L48TLB has an oil cooler (?) hose change time recommendation.
As I recall, it is recommended that it be replaced every two years.
My tractor is now 14 years old (I only bought it last year), and has 250 actual hours.
The hose is soft and flexible, and though it is 14 years old, I have absolutely no intention of replacing it.

 

[Rhino35]

Eric,

Good to hear, thanks for the feedback (and to others).

A thing I omitted stressing is that the tractor has been run hotter than the place on the temperature gauge where it usually sits than I'd have liked. So your point about fluid breakdown due to heat...yeah, that is a consideration.

Okay, I'll do it myself!

Ummmm, as soon as I'm done binge-watching Game of Thrones, and reruns of Andy of Mayberry, and, let's see here...finding some Doritos there in the back of the kitchen cabinet.

Well, I do have some projects to do, but it is going to be a long enough winter for me to handle this.

One final thought that might give you guys pause...this is what happened when I changed the fluid in my car's differential.

 

[Rhino35]

Eric,

Good to hear, thanks for the feedback (and to others).

A thing I omitted stressing is that the tractor has been run hotter than the place on the temperature gauge where it usually sits than I'd have liked. So your point about fluid breakdown due to heat...yeah, that is a consideration.

Okay, I'll do it myself!

Ummmm, as soon as I'm done binge-watching Game of Thrones, and reruns of Andy of Mayberry, and, let's see here...finding some Doritos there in the back of the kitchen cabinet.

Well, I do have some projects to do, but it is going to be a long enough winter for me to handle this.

One final thought that might give you guys pause...this is what happened when I changed the fluid in my car's differential.

View attachment 679176View attachment 679176

 

[crashz]

Nothing a few rags can't clean up. And if you do it yourself, you know its done properly. The dealer (like mine) might even have a kit for you. I did my full service this spring and it wasn't bad.

 

[cogboy]

The fuel line on my 2013 Kioti CK30H developed a slight leak this spring at 400 hours. The fuel line is standard diesel fuel hose about 4 inches long and fastened at each end with standard hose clamps. The fix took about 15 min.

 

[RjCorazza]

The HST fluid is easy enough to change. I use a deep Tupperware storage tub and empty it at 5 gallons so it's easier to handle. If the trans and hydraulic filters are original, they may be difficult to remove - plenty of threads here on best ways to get them off.

I have never replaced a fuel line, hose, or belt on a schedule.

You didn't mention coolant. If you haven't changed the coolant, I would definitely do that also!

 

[ericm979]

I got a large ~14 gallon drain pan that fits under my Branson. It's trans holds close to 10 gallons. 5 gallon buckets won't fit under the trans.

I prefer to do this kind of work in the summer when I can. Lying on cold hard concrete is worse than lying on cool hard concrete in the summer.

 

[Molalla1]

I got a large ~14 gallon drain pan that fits under my Branson. It's trans holds close to 10 gallons. 5 gallon buckets won't fit under the trans.

I prefer to do this kind of work in the summer when I can. Lying on cold hard concrete is worse than lying on cool hard concrete in the summer.

Plus the oil is a lot thinner in the summer months, drains a lot easier.

 

[RalphVa]

I'd think that you could easily change the engine oil and Hydro oil. If the hydro filter is sticking out similarly to the engine oil filter, you should be able to unscrew it and screw another in. It had to to tighter because of the higher pressures.

I have never heard of having to replace the fuel line, very weird. I'd ignore it.

On my JD 2025R, think it says to replace the Hydro fluid again at 200 hours after the 50 hour change. All I did was to change the screw-on filter. Way to short to replace all that fluid, and it gets no where near as hot as engine oil nor does it come in contact with anything like blowby from piston rings in the engine.

Ralph

 

[WranglerX]

A good question, Dale. You picked up on the context of my post, which is the tractor isn't something that has been neglected and needs a lot of work.

Two things I can think of the dealership should provide, both surmountable by me with some effort at home. One is expertise, but that is increasingly available on YouTube by, IMHO, wonderful people who take the time to do instructional videos. And here.

The other thing is containers to catch many gallons of draining hydraulic fluid. There is a thread where someone said it got out of hand and made a pretty good mess.

Dealer expertise?...... My SCUT (GC 1715) came back from 50 hour service with loose wheel lug bolts where tech had to remove wheel to clean HST filter screen.... Heck even I am capable of leaving lugs loose but probably would not....

Pretty cautious of other people work, when we had tires rotated on the Jeep and wife took off on 300 mile round trip next day.... When she got home the right front was missing two lug nuts and the other three were loose, and the 5 lug nut of left rear were loose.... Needless to say I was quite angry with him and his employee .....Thankfully for all the locals safety the shop owner left town or quit the business....

It maybe just me, but anytime anybody works on any of my vehicles I check the work now ..... Probable would take me just a little bit longer to do the work my self and save a few shekels for the late night hot toddy curled up in front of fire with my wife of 46 years.......

Dale

 

[WranglerX]

Seems to me if you go full synthetic and they advertise 10,000 miles (Mobile 1) or some astronomical distance (hours) all you need to do is change filter at correct (hour) intervals and just top up .... Some place on forum was discussion of just removing hydraulic filter and screwing on new one in one motion....And only losing a quart of so of oil....

Dale

 

[rademamj1]

Do the full 400 service interval yourself and save $800 on labor costs. It will be like only about 8+ hours work and you can spread that over two days. Just be sure to get enough quality hydraulic fluid in 5 gal buckets, and spread a sizable tarp under your tractor for ground protection. Check the old fluid for metal shavings.

Be advised, if the hydraulic and HST filters have never been changed, they are the original factory install, and very hard to remove because they are painted on at the factory. These two filters can take hours to get off the tractor. So be persistent. Don't forget to include new fuel filter and the air filters too. Grease all zerks on the tractor. Change the coolant if it's really over 7 years old.

Do a visual on all fuel lines and replace if needed. You can get quality fuel lines at NAPA if in a hurry. Bring in a small section of hose to match diameter. Get about 3 feet and cut to the required lengths. Replace all the old hose clamps with new quality stainless clamps.

Don't forget to drain your front axle gear oil, and replace with SAE90 gear oil. Grease all front axle zerks.

 

[mcfarmall]

I had a fuel line go bad on a Ranch King lawn tractor...it was 30 years old and had ethanol pump gas run through it. I do all my own work on everything that I possibly can and having worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 18 years I'm pretty thorough. Just last spring I replaced the primary and secondary timing chain(s), all four cam phasers, water pump, and countless soft parts on my 2011 EcoBoost engine. It's all just nuts and bolts.

As in my industry, regular and comprehensive inspections can reveal things before they become breakdown issues. The problem is people don't do them or know what to look for.

Do the work yourself and learn!