50Hr Maintenance CK20H

[m1greg]

Did part of the 50hr maintenance yesterday. Started out with purchasing the filters at the local dealer. $100 w/tax for everything; eng oil, hydro oil, trans oil, air and fuel. In discussion with the mechanic he said I was wasting my money with changing the hydro oil until it had at least 200hrs on the clock. When I mentioned the manual says 50hrs he just shrugged and said it was a waste and not doing it wouldn't void my warranty.
I bought the filters anyway but haven't changed the fluid yet.
I did do the engine oil and got a suprise when I removed the side cover to the eng compartment. A sticker on the inside recommended first oil change at 35hrs! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
Anybody else come across this?
The next suprise came when checking the lug nuts. I found one loose so I got out the torque wrench and tightened them all. Everyone was in need of tightening! I plan on going through the rest of the fasteners when I change the trans fluid. I have to get rid of all the oil I've already got stored to make room for the all the hydro. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[VictorW]

With my CK30hst, I received the same advice about the hydro oil. The filter should actually take care of any dirt and the oil probably hasn't broke down at 50 hours. I changed mine anyways for I guess piece of mind. What I did find was metal flakes on the magnet attached to the drain plug. From other members comments, this is normal remains from the manufacturing process and wear in of the gears and parts.

My side cover also has a sticker saying 35 hours for first engine oil change and then every 75 hours after that when the manual advises 50 hours for first and 100 hours for each after. The 50 then 100 cycle should be fine unless you put the tractor through some hard and dusty conditions. Don't forget to change hydro filters every 200 hours.

Lug nuts in need of tightening seems to be normal on a new tractor especially. Have you ever bought a new trailer or rim for a trailer? They will advise to check the lug nuts after the first 50 miles. I guess new parts need to seat in. It's still a good idea to give the tractor a routine check every so often because the vibration can loosen various nuts and bolts. Some members have posted this with their loader mounts which take a good bit of stress and vibration during use. If you are worried about things coming loose, you can use locktite but then normal disassembly can be a pain.

 

[KiotiJohn]

I never had any stickers on mine that stated that, bought in Jan. 2004.

I believe it's a good idea to go ahead and change the hydro fluid simply because of the wear-in metal. As the new parts seat, they leave those metal shavings, and while the magnet and filter probably get most of it out, I like to be sure I get the majority out of the case.

On my second hydro change, which I did before due because I use the backhoe a lot, I only had a tiny amount of metal on the magnet, hardly noticeable.

When you change the front end oil, make sure you recheck the level after you have moved the tractor around a bit as it takes a little while to distribute totally.
John

 

[HODAK]

Good advice as usual John. I intend to change my engine oil every 50 hrs. 127 hrs so far, two oil changes. That's just me I guess. It's not that much and easy to do. I will do the hydro as recommended in the manual. Besides, it tends to make you check a few more things while you're at it. The differential level - yes, definitely re-check.

I'd be wary of a service guy with that kind of advice. Spend that kind of money and then get cheap?

 

[KiotiJohn]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I'd be wary of a service guy with that kind of advice. Spend that kind of money and then get cheap? )</font>
Agreed. At double the cost, I'd be changing mine out as I feel it's cheap insurance. I change the engine oil every 50 regardless, mostly because I've been using high sulfur diesel that I had bought in bulk. More sulfur=more sufuric acid in the oil, and to me, as hard as I work my tractor, every 50 hours is a good mark.
John

 

[m1greg]

I also use high sulfur fuel, 20 cents a gallon cheaper, so I like to do oil changes yearly. I just don't want to change all that hydro oil unnecessarily. I was thinking of using synthetics for the hydro.

 

[7mmrum]

I second changing the tranny fluid, as john said. Now the fluid may be ok, but you'll be surprised how much metal is stuck to those magnetic drain plugs for the tranny. And like most people, you don't want that stuff in there. If you have never owned a tractor before, and do you own oil changes in your cars, this will be a little bit of a "wow" when you see the drain plug. I'm very glad I did mine at 50 hours and will be doing them again here shortly at 100.

As a side note, I did see that 35hr change on mine has well, I bought mine about 1year ago

If you do a search, I want to say I have seen a few pics on this website of someone who took a pic of there drain plug with the metal dust particulats stuck to it.

 

[gbick]

I bought a spare magnetic drain plug. Every spring, I switch them. If you are quick, you'll lose less than a quart. I, too, am very interested in what's on that magnet. This also alerts you to any condensation.

 

[mathey]

here's what was on my magnetic drain plug when I did my 50 hour service...

 

[Highbeam]

I'll assume that that is not your polug and that you found that bolt stuck to your magnet. It looks like an 8mm or so. Any idea where it came from? Better that you got it out than for it to swim around I guess. Reminds me of rebuilding an engine and having mystery parts left over.