Oil & Fuel CHANGING HYDRAULIC FLUID IN L3200

[PAPPASMURF]

Changed my Hydraulic Fluid today, and wanted to know if anyone else out there has changed theirs only to find out that the dealer and manual (at least one part of the owners manual) had conflicting answers as to how to do it. Basically my question to the dealer/service/parts department was "How many drain plugs does the Hydraulic oil have and can I use any UDT Hydraulic oil or is Kubota brand an exclusive type?". Well, here is where things got interesting......I was told that I needed 7.5 Gallons of new Hydraulic oil and a filter. The cost would have been $189.00 (5gal kubota brand =$89.00 2.5 gal Kubota brand=$39 and filter is $42.00 + tax). This was basically what the manual said, however the dealer said that only one drain plug was on my tractor that I needed to drain, and also tried to say that only Kubota brand oil should be used, but that as long as it was UDT oil I might be o.k.
I did my homework and realized that the Kubota Brand is simply a suggestion. At Tractor supply I found a 5gal bucket of UDT oil which indicated on the back that it met Kubota standards for Hydraulic oil in both manual and HST transmissions (mine is manual) and the cost was $44.99. I found the 2.5 gallon at tractor supply for 19.99. meaning I could purchase ALL the oil I needed for $64.98 instead of paying the dealer $128.00. If my math serves me correctly thats half off ! anyway....I DIDNT skimp on the filter and bought that at Kubota (primarily because I couldnt find it anywhere else and I was too scared to try an off brand without doing more research). So by now I'm at home doing the hydraulic oil change and draining the 1 plug I was instructed to drain, and then I see two drain plugs which are lower than the one I'm draining located on the left and right rear drive housings. I then decide to leave them alone and go with what the dealer told me which was just drain the one plug.....big mistake! After refilling the Hydraulic fluid and filter, I decide to look on you tube to see how anyone else may have done their hydraulic oild change, and wouldnt you know it....one individual (seemingly smarter than me) saw the same thing I did but decided to drain the other two plugs as well. He replaced 7.5 gallons when he refilled, and I only replaced about 6 gallons because apparently there is almost 2 gallons in those lower housings that has to be drained as well! Nothing in the maual says to do this, and the dealer obviously doesnt know either, so now I'm stuck hoping that mixing 1.5 gallons of Kubota oil with the 6 gallons of TRAVELLER UDT oil wont cause any problems....so far so good, but wanted feedback or suggestions, and wanted to advise all you brother Kubota owners out there that there IS more than one drain plug you have to contend with. :confused2:

 

[KennyV]

Travellers Premium UDT is Great stuff and Tractor supply occasionally has it on sale in a 6 gallon bucket for $39.00...
You would have drained a bit more from the other plugs, But that will not be any problem. You changed 80 percent of the oil, and UDT will not shear down easily... you will be fine. KennyV

 

[PAPPASMURF]

Thanks Kenny....makes me feel a little better!

 

[disney]

Dumb question, but wouldnt it have been cheaper (and maybe easier to pour) to just buy three 2.5 gallon jugs at 20$ = 60$ instead of one jug of each size? interestingly the five gallon kubota pail is more as well 90$ vs. 40$. I also would not worry about it too much. I know of a very expensive automotive race engine that depending upon the production date/ exact model may or may not have two drain plugs in the double sump oil pan. For the engines without the second drain plug there will always be old oil mixing with new oil (unless someone actually takes the oil pan off! Dont you just love it when dealers are wrong??

 

[PAPPASMURF]

Dumb question, but wouldnt it have been cheaper (and maybe easier to pour) to just buy three 2.5 gallon jugs at 20$ = 60$ instead of one jug of each size? interestingly the five gallon kubota pail is more as well 90$ vs. 40$. I also would not worry about it too much. I know of a very expensive automotive race engine that depending upon the production date/ exact model may or may not have two drain plugs in the double sump oil pan. For the engines without the second drain plug there will always be old oil mixing with new oil (unless someone actually takes the oil pan off! Dont you just love it when dealers are wrong??

Well....thats not a dumb question....actually I hadnt thought of that until you just mentioned it. I wasnt that great in math class, but that wasnt rocket science either! ha ha I just hate that dealers and even the manual that comes along with a new tractor dont explain things in great detail. I guess thats a way of getting you to bring your tractor back in for every service by confusing you to the extent that you get frustrated and scared of doing the work yourself, but It wont work on me...I'm one of those (like many on this site) that refuse to spend the tons of money for a dealer to do what you can do yourself. Plus there's a great deal of pride in servicing your tractor on your own and knowing everything you can about it. Never stop learning...thats what I always say!:thumbsup:

 

[LD1]

Dumb question, but wouldnt it have been cheaper (and maybe easier to pour) to just buy three 2.5 gallon jugs at 20$ = 60$ instead of one jug of each size? interestingly the five gallon kubota pail is more as well 90$ vs. 40$.

I was wondering the same thing???

Pappasmurff: I think you should just chalk this up to a lesson learned and dont worry about it. The 1.5-2 gallons you didnt drain.....it will be fine. And as to the filter....I have NOT found a suitable replacement. Kubota is the only way to go. They have that big magnet in their also.

A trick I do (wether it helps or not???) is take that old magnet, and stick around the bottom of the engine oil filter (outside). It fits like a glove.

 

[PAPPASMURF]

I was wondering the same thing???

Pappasmurff: I think you should just chalk this up to a lesson learned and dont worry about it. The 1.5-2 gallons you didnt drain.....it will be fine. And as to the filter....I have NOT found a suitable replacement. Kubota is the only way to go. They have that big magnet in their also.

A trick I do (wether it helps or not???) is take that old magnet, and stick around the bottom of the engine oil filter (outside). It fits like a glove.

LD1: Thanks for the advice. by the way....what exactly does using the old magnet on the outside of the engine oil filter do? I was thinking about popping the old magnet out just to play with it or something! :laughing:

 

[LD1]

If there are any metal particals (even fine metal dust) that comes from just normal engine wear (like rings), the magnet helps to keep it IN the filter instead of continuing to circulate around. At least that is the logic I am sticking to

 

[Jay4200]

This was basically what the manual said, however the dealer said that only one drain plug was on my tractor that I needed to drain, and also tried to say that only Kubota brand oil should be used, but that as long as it was UDT oil I might be o.k.

I don't get it - you read the manual, yet didn't do what it said? Surely the manual mentions the rear end drain bolts. What you don't know is that when you take those rear end bolts out, the UDT shoots a foot to the side, so positioning the drain buckets is a challenge. Your generic UDT will be fine. I use "Universal Tractor Transmission and Hydraulic Oil" from Sam's club in my L4200. It is listed as UDT-compatible. I haven't had any issues. As for mixing dirty with clean, I wouldn't worry about that either. My transmission oil had at least 1000 hours on it when I changed it - it looked identical to the new stuff I was putting in.

JayC

 

[PAPPASMURF]

I don't get it - you read the manual, yet didn't do what it said? Surely the manual mentions the rear end drain bolts. What you don't know is that when you take those rear end bolts out, the UDT shoots a foot to the side, so positioning the drain buckets is a challenge. Your generic UDT will be fine. I use "Universal Tractor Transmission and Hydraulic Oil" from Sam's club in my L4200. It is listed as UDT-compatible. I haven't had any issues. As for mixing dirty with clean, I wouldn't worry about that either. My transmission oil had at least 1000 hours on it when I changed it - it looked identical to the new stuff I was putting in.

JayC

Jay, Thats my point....the manual said one drain plug as well....never mentions the two others so basically the dealer and manual were both misleading on the hydraulic change. Dont know if its an error in this models owners manual or what, but I did exactly as the manual said and found out (on you-tube) that a proper oil relacement should include draining the rear end bolts too. I only asked the dealership to see if I was missing anything, and although they told me "no" the truth of the matter was YES...there are 3 plugs to deal with. Live and learn.....live and learn.