I hear you, i just rebuilt my loader cylinders and used Kubota seals because they were so close in price to aftermarket seals. And yet seals for this tiny steering cylinder seem really expensive. Someone should write a book on how parts are priced.
Kubota L3710 Steering Seal Fix?
- Thread starter Suburban Plowboy
- Start date
OP
Suburban Plowboy
Gold Member
Well, Kubota and the dealer are not getting any more of my money than I absolutely have to give them. I found a hydraulic shop with great reviews, so I hope to take the cylinder out myself and give it to them on Tuesday.
OP
Suburban Plowboy
Gold Member
I am at the point where I can get the cylinder out. I will post what I did in case anyone else has this problem.
Leave the loader in place. You have to remove the left side panel and bottom panel. Turn the wheels all the way to the left. Remove the grille, battery, and battery tray. Far as I can tell, nothing else has to come off.
I had problems with the battery tray because Kubota put welded nuts on the wrong part. The tray attaches by nuts welded to the upper surface, and the bolts are not stainless or in any way protected, so they rust and become one with the nuts. You can probably get three of them loose with a wrench, but Kubota put the bumper/loader stuff in the way of the forward bolt head on the left side, so you won't be able to get a real tool on it and may have to drill it out. I would recommend welding a nut on the underside of the part the tray sits on so you can get a proper tool on the bolt from above. Either that or just use ordinary nuts and bolts. They can't be any worse than Kubota's system.
With the battery tray off, you have open access to the rod end shaft stopper mounting screw. You can reach the Pitman arm cap screws by reaching in through the left side of the tractor.
My tractor has two hose connections under the cylinder, so if yours is like mine, you can remove the hoses from below the tractor with no obstructions.
Look at page 7-522 for help from the workshop manual, but don't expect too much!
My battery tray is corroded, probably from the previous owner, so I am going to get all the rust off and either repair it and cover it with Herculiner or buy a new tray. I'm sure somebody offers a plastic tray to sit on the metal tray in case anything leaks out, but Kubota did't include one, so I will look around and see if I can find one. If not, I'll bend up a stainless box and stick it in there.
Leave the loader in place. You have to remove the left side panel and bottom panel. Turn the wheels all the way to the left. Remove the grille, battery, and battery tray. Far as I can tell, nothing else has to come off.
I had problems with the battery tray because Kubota put welded nuts on the wrong part. The tray attaches by nuts welded to the upper surface, and the bolts are not stainless or in any way protected, so they rust and become one with the nuts. You can probably get three of them loose with a wrench, but Kubota put the bumper/loader stuff in the way of the forward bolt head on the left side, so you won't be able to get a real tool on it and may have to drill it out. I would recommend welding a nut on the underside of the part the tray sits on so you can get a proper tool on the bolt from above. Either that or just use ordinary nuts and bolts. They can't be any worse than Kubota's system.
With the battery tray off, you have open access to the rod end shaft stopper mounting screw. You can reach the Pitman arm cap screws by reaching in through the left side of the tractor.
My tractor has two hose connections under the cylinder, so if yours is like mine, you can remove the hoses from below the tractor with no obstructions.
Look at page 7-522 for help from the workshop manual, but don't expect too much!
My battery tray is corroded, probably from the previous owner, so I am going to get all the rust off and either repair it and cover it with Herculiner or buy a new tray. I'm sure somebody offers a plastic tray to sit on the metal tray in case anything leaks out, but Kubota did't include one, so I will look around and see if I can find one. If not, I'll bend up a stainless box and stick it in there.
ROUSTABOUT
Elite Member
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2008
- Messages
- 3,186
- Location
- Luther Willis Hill, AR
- Tractor
- Pettibone, Ford, Massey Ferguson, International, JD, David Bradley, home mades
Your little Johnny Deere comes out the end. Hay baler cylinders look like they're welded too, but they come apart.
OP
Suburban Plowboy
Gold Member
Here's a photo of a JD 430 cylinder. Both ends look the same. How do you unscrew that?
I am no hydraulics expert, but I held that cylinder in my hands and examined it closely, and I saw no means of getting into it. There was no purchase for a pin spanner or any type of wrench, including a strap wrench. The web is full of forum messages from people saying they can't be rebuilt or that they paid machinists to modify theirs so they could be serviced, so I would be surprised to learn they could be rebuilt from the factory.
Deere doesn't list or sell any component parts. Just the cylinder. You can't buy the seals or O-rings from Deere.
I am no hydraulics expert, but I held that cylinder in my hands and examined it closely, and I saw no means of getting into it. There was no purchase for a pin spanner or any type of wrench, including a strap wrench. The web is full of forum messages from people saying they can't be rebuilt or that they paid machinists to modify theirs so they could be serviced, so I would be surprised to learn they could be rebuilt from the factory.
Deere doesn't list or sell any component parts. Just the cylinder. You can't buy the seals or O-rings from Deere.
agburnsky
New member
Good move on taking it to the a shop. I rebuilt the steering cylinder about 2 years ago on my L3710. The WSM useless, I did take out the radiator,, it was clogged with dirt, it needed to come out to get a good cleaning. I fiddled with for 3-4 weeks, missed one part I needed and getting the large nut off was a challenge, finally ordered a impact socket and used my impact wrench with the other end of rod in my vise. Now i have a bad hydraulic leak where the front wheel drive shaft comes out of the engine. It is always something.
Anthony
Anthony
OP
Suburban Plowboy
Gold Member
RE draining the radiator, I noticed the drain plug on my tractor while I was working, and it's on the REAR of the radiator. I hope there is an explanation for putting it in such a strange place.
If Kubota published the explanations for why things are the way they are, the book would be bigger than the shop manual.
OP
Suburban Plowboy
Gold Member
"Radiator flush instructions. 1. Remove engine."
RancherGuy
Gold Member
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2010
- Messages
- 301
- Location
- Rosenberg, TX
- Tractor
- Kubota L3710; JD 5425, 6105R, 7130-P; IH 1086
The answer is no - don't have to honor Kubota with your wallet. If you are adventurous enough to do a cylinder rebuild yourself and don't want to pay the high prices, I noted that Abom79 discusses how he dealt with that by measuring and ordering from Hercules:
Glad to know you got the cylinder apart. I had to do that with one of my JDs at month ago.