Oil & Fuel Changing the Fuel Filter

[JDeerekid]

Thanks for letting know how your fuel filter change went. I have been putting off mine for a while and am planning on changing it before winter. My dealer keeps telling me that it is easy but I am still worried and now you give me more reasons to be worried.
Oh well when I change mine I will find out and post how it went.

Did you fill the filter with fuel before putting it on? The manual says not to but this is how I have always done it on other deisel equipment and has worked out fine most of the time.

Anyway did you get your sickle mower yet and did you get a chance to use it? I would like to know how it is as I am still wanting a sickle bar mower to mow around my ponds and eventually maybe mow a little hay in the years to come. Pictures of it hooked up would be greatful also.

 

[WEJ]

Hey JDeereKid... I would say the filter change is NOT easy... and I have been around farm equipment all my life.... First due to its tight location and then all the chances of getting air locked. I did not fill the filter with fuel first... the manual said not to and I listened.. but if I had it to do over again I would have filled it first. My tractor had 275 hours on it and I think I could have gone a LOT longer... I will not try it again... too many things to go wrong with a fuel filter change. The bleed screw is slotted to let the fuel flow while loose... it is also very fragile. I tried to tighten it too much and it broke off VERY easily...

The Befco mower... Yes I have it!! I got the 7 foot model. It is a real mower. I have mowed the county road for a mile each way from my house... I have mowed about 2 acres of field... and trimmed about 2 miles of tree limbs on our farm roads with the mower set straight up.... I have cut limbs up to about an 1 inch or a little more with NO problem. I have also lost a nut here and there, so you need to inspect all nuts and bolts after mowing... It is a shaker, but the lift is GREAT... It can be positioned anywhere from 70 down to 90 up at the touch of a lever.... I am quite pleased with it. I will get some pictures up in a day or so.... It is raining here now....

 

[JDeerekid]

Hey JDeereKid... I would say the filter change is NOT easy... and I have been around farm equipment all my life.... First due to its tight location and then all the chances of getting air locked. I did not fill the filter with fuel first... the manual said not to and I listened.. but if I had it to do over again I would have filled it first. My tractor had 275 hours on it and I think I could have gone a LOT longer... I will not try it again... too many things to go wrong with a fuel filter change. The bleed screw is slotted to let the fuel flow while loose... it is also very fragile. I tried to tighten it too much and it broke off VERY easily...

The Befco mower... Yes I have it!! I got the 7 foot model. It is a real mower. I have mowed the county road for a mile each way from my house... I have mowed about 2 acres of field... and trimmed about 2 miles of tree limbs on our farm roads with the mower set straight up.... I have cut limbs up to about an 1 inch or a little more with NO problem. I have also lost a nut here and there, so you need to inspect all nuts and bolts after mowing... It is a shaker, but the lift is GREAT... It can be positioned anywhere from 70 down to 90 up at the touch of a lever.... I am quite pleased with it. I will get some pictures up in a day or so.... It is raining here now....

My tractor is reaching about 350 or so hours on it and the fuel filter has not been changed yet so i will do it before winter when I have probably close to 400 or so hours on it by then. I will be careful and follow what you said and hopefully it will turn out alright.

That is awesome that the mower can be used at 90 degrees. That would be great to keep all the brush cut back on the edges of my fields and road ways. Thanks for posting pictures when you get a chance. I am just imagining what it would be like on my tractor now.

It is raining here now also been off and on for the last few days. It was needed for the corn and the gardens but is putting a damper on my bush hogging side jobs.

 

[WEJ]

Hey JDeereKid,

Hey are some pictures of the mower... When I get a chance I will add some video to YouTube....

 

[JDeerekid]

Thanks for the pictures. Now I really want one. Would you mind telling me what you paid for it. I have between now and the begining of August before the Empire Farm Days in Seneca Fall, NY to save up some money. They usually have a big selection of Befco products so I might me able to get a deal on one if they have it setup like yours with the hydraulic lift.
Do you think our tractors would handle an 8ft model? I want as much reach around my ponds as possible.

 

[WEJ]

I ordered mine off the web.... Mowers
I also paid by check which got me 5% off so the total came to just over $4906.
The 8 ft model was several 100 more and I did not need the extra foot... as far as the tractor handling it... No problem. The ad says a tractor of 25hp will work and I am sure it would. I just did not want to pay the extra for the 8 ft. Like I said I am quite pleased with the mower.

 

[WEJ]

Update on the fuel filter change.... After getting the tractor back from the dealer after having the return lines replaced, I noticed that the tractor smoked more that it used to, and I could smell diesel smoke in the cab, which I never could before. The Dealer has been been back now twice for a total of 7 hours bleeding air from the filter, injector pump and injectors. I still have the smoke and rough running. Injectors 3 and 4 still are bubbling with air when they are loosened. 1 and 2 squirt diesel when loose but not 3 and 4. The Dealer's mechanic is baffled. Like I said he has bled everything we know of... and we are still getting air... Tomorrow the dealer is going to try a different mechanic.
I have mailed Bob Goltz of Montana and he wrote back that my dealer was working on the problem.... What I am looking for now is some cyber help... Does anyone out there have a subjection of something I am missing... The tractor ran great before the filter fiasco... no smoke to speak of...