800 hour valve adjust

[PaulB]

As I near 800 hours on my B1700 HST, I need to consider the recommended valve adjustment maintenance . This is the only thing in the list of scheduled maintenance that I would have to ship to the dealer to get done. That means getting a truck and trailer, shlepping 80 miles , not having the tractor for a few days, blah blah blah. What do you guys think, follow the book, or if it ain't broke don't fix it?
thanks,
PaulB

 

[Junkman]

if it ain't broke..... don't fix it. I have seen inexperianced people that follow directions well mess up valve adjustments. It is something best left to an experianced mechanic (if he is old) or technician (if he is young). /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Highbeam]

As the valve seat wears, the valve clearance gets tighter. If it gets tight enough, the valve will be held open and you will then loose compression or burn the valve. Valve adjustments are the one thing that I would get done.

The motorcycle I ride off road, a Honda XR400, requires frequent valve adjustments on the 4 valve air cooled head. They tighten up over time and as they do, they get quieter. It really isn't very hard to adjust valves if they are equipped with regular adjusters. The valvetrain assemblies that use shims to adjust clearance are not DIY friendly.

A loose valve is a happy valve and I don't think Kubota would list the adjustment if it wasn't needed.