L4350dt

[Bigk56]

Hello, I'm new to this forum as well as being a new Kubota owner. I just purchased an 1993 L4350dt with 1900 hours on it and was hoping yall could give me some general information about the tractor. The things I know I have to fix are a leaking seal around pto cover and a leaking seal on right front wheel (lower part of four wheel drive nuckle). I'm also going to change all the fluids just so I'll know when it was done. Any tips would be great as I don't have a service manual yet.
Thanks, Ken

 

[art]

Sometimes the service manuals are more indepth then need be. I'd make sure of having the owners manual and from there you should be safe except on the front hub leak which does require a bit more work.

 

[N80]

I would not do either without the shop manual and parts manual. As art says, the shop manuals do go into more detail than you'll probably need but they also give you step by step instructions and warnings about certain things. It will also let you know if special tools are needed. You'll probably never need half of what is in the shop manual but it might save you some trouble in the end.

I think the parts manual is necessary too since it gives better illustration of all the parts involved in any given procedure.

I bought both for my tractor recently. I may never do any serious work on it but I'm the type that likes to read the shop manual and study the parts drawings for fun.

 

[rbargeron]

Hello, I'm new to this forum as well as being a new Kubota owner. I just purchased an 1993 L4350dt with 1900 hours on it and was hoping yall could give me some general information about the tractor. The things I know I have to fix are a leaking seal around pto cover and a leaking seal on right front wheel (lower part of four wheel drive nuckle). I'm also going to change all the fluids just so I'll know when it was done. Any tips would be great as I don't have a service manual yet.
Thanks, Ken

Hi Ken - the L4350 is one of the models based on the Kubota L3 chassis. I have been posting here for years about these tractors - IMHO they are among the most rugged, long-serving, reliable, and trouble free machines Kubota has offered. The L3's are known for being extremely rugged - some say overbuilt. Models numbers were L3750, L4150, L4350, L4850 and L5450. At 1900 hours your L4350 should have a lot of life left. There's an owner's manual on eBay right now for $27 delivered - maybe a good place to start. Also, I've found that a parts manual useful to see how it all fits together. That one is $45. Both of these show up for less sometimes. I have the full workshop manual for the L4350 - maybe I can send you a .pdf to help with the axle seal job. The picture below is of the pto on my L5450 - is yours leaking around the shaft? or the housing?
Welcome to the LXX50 owner's group ! Take care, Dick B

 

[Bigk56]

Dick, I hope your right about a lot of life left being in my tractor. I sure am happy with it so far. I definitely would like any pdf files you think are applicable. I degreased the rear end of the tractor today so I could tell more about where the leak is coming from. Its not coming from around the shaft so its probably the housing. Is there anywhere to order parts online or do I have to go to a dealership?
Thanks, Ken

 

[NH_Dave]

Ken,
TractorSmart.com is your online source for Kubota online parts.
Ronnie Bowman is a wealth of knowledge if you are unsure about anything.
Dave

 

[rbargeron]

Dick, I hope your right about a lot of life left being in my tractor. I sure am happy with it so far. I definitely would like any pdf files you think are applicable. I degreased the rear end of the tractor today so I could tell more about where the leak is coming from. Its not coming from around the shaft so its probably the housing. Is there anywhere to order parts online or do I have to go to a dealership?
Thanks, Ken

Ken - There are some pictures of the pto gearbox in this thread that should give you an idea of what's there. The factory gasket and adhesive is very tough to remove completely. If the box comes loose easily after the bolts are out, that would indicate it's been off before - maybe the only problem is re-sealing the gearbox. Permatex silicone works fine if surfaces are clean.

On your front axle leak, there are seals and a cap at the bottom of the kingpin housing (need to take the wheel off to really inspect it). I'll try to scan some pages from my parts book and repair manual tomorrow.

 

[rbargeron]

Here are a couple .pdf files - one is pages from the workshop manual - the other is a parts page. The parts page has three columns of numbers for the L4350, L4850 or L5450. Some parts are different by model. The oil leak may be due to a worn or loose bottom bearing allowing too much side play - hard to guess without seeing it up close. Keep an eye on the oil level in the front axle - it is a separate oil volume from the main reservoir - if it leaks too much the gears could run dry (big $$$). Let us know what you find. Good luck, Dick B.

 

[Bigk56]

Thankyou both Dick and Dave for the useful info. I hope to tear into the tractor this weekend. I have a pdf parts file now and hope to have a service manual soon. The trans/hydro fluid looks good however it is low. I was planning on dumping it and installing a new filter but I'm not sure what I'm going to do now. I hate to dump fluid that looks this good. Anyway I have pics if I can figure out how to post.
Thanks, Ken

 

[Bigk56]

Drilled some holes today with the phd and figured out my rear leak. The fluid is coming out around the small shaft that goes into the top of the pto housing. This is the shaft at the top that rotates to engage the pto. Another thing I noticed is my pto works in high and low speed and stops completely in the center postion like its supposed to but, it won't stop spinning when I press the clutch pedal. If the tractor is idling it grinds going into either speed. Now you can disengage it easy enough but going the other way is rough. How is it supposed to work? By the way I decided to to off my trans fluid, it was 3 gallons low. My front axle was 1.5 quarts low.
Thanks, Ken

 

[N80]

What type of PTO does it have. My L4400 has a live independant PTO and the running clutch has no connection to the PTO. The PTO runs no matter what position the clutch is in.

 

[Bigk56]

George, I don't know what type of pto it has or what the correct operating procedure is. Any help is definitely appreciated.
Thanks, Ken

 

[rbargeron]

Ken,
Couple questions - is your shuttle hydraulic or is it mechanical? Do you have the "Ever Clutch"?
The L4350 was made with three different clutch setups depending on which transmission options were ordered.
1) tractors with mechanical shuttle have a two-stage dry plate clutch. Push clutch pedal part way to disengage drive wheels, push further to disengage pto.
2) tractors with hydraulic shuttle but dry clutch have a single stage clutch that disengages drive wheels and pto at the same time.
3) tractors with hydraulic shuttle and the wet type "ever clutch" had a dry plate clutch that just controls the pto. These have a lever beside the seat for engaging/disengaging the pto.
Which setup do you have? BTW, there would be decals on the hood for "hydraulic shuttle" and/or "EC" if it has them.

If its 2) or 3) the pto clutch linkage just needs adjusting so it fully disengages.

If it's 1) mech shuttle, then the problem may be that the travel clutch is worn. As the pedal linkage is adjusted to compensate for travel clutch wear, the pto clutch doesn't get pushed far enough to fully disengage. Eventually you'll have to engage the pto before starting the tractor. Common on two-stage clutches as they get older. The fix is a new travel clutch disk - but you can live with it quite a while.

 

[Bigk56]

Yes it is the mech shuttle with the dry clutch. Can this be adjusted? Also it is starting to sink in about something that was said about my kingpin leak. Does each kingpin have it's own fluid fill plug seperate from the front axle fill plug that has the dipstick on it. And last but not least, since my rear fluid leak is around the pto shift rod, will I have to remove the whole pto housing to replace the o-ring?
Thanks, Ken

 

[rbargeron]

Ken
I don't think there is a separate adjustment - there is a single release bearing that disengages the travel clutch, which in turn moves to push the pto clutch. The whole stack moves together.
There is a possibility that when the travel clutch was adjusted, it was moved a bit more than needed. To restore the release of the pto clutch, you could try adjusting the travel clutch so there is minimal free play in the pedal. Not so tight the throw-out bearing runs constantly, but so the wasted travel is minimized. Then when the pedal is pushed all the way down, it may disengage the pto clutch better. I had a L345DT that had this issue - I procrastinated for a few years - got to a point where I would shut the tractor off, engage the pto in low or high, and then start it back up. This is not that bad a situation, because with the pedal way down, the pto clutch doesn't really grab all that much - a spinning rotary cutter will not drive the tractor.
The front axle oil is all one volume - there are just two low point drains so it can all be changed.
I'm surprised that the oil seal on the pto shifter shaft can leak that much - the oil level in there is not very high - it must sling it toward the hole just right from the gears. I would not take the housing off for that. To get the oil seal out the manual probably says to take out the shaft from the inside. But it's a zero pressure situation - so I'd just put an o-ring or something around the outside. A tight wrap of several turns of string does a great job on a leak like this. No need to dive deep.

 

[Bigk56]

Dick I'll definitely try the exterior o-ring for the rear pto shaft. It's probably not leaking that much, but since this tractor is new to me and the nicest tractor I've ever had (I'm proud) I'd like to fix it. I'll try adjusting the clutch to see if I can get the pto to disengage. I found this article about a Jinma tractor (service ad 11), would it be posible to adjust the two stage clutch so both work good?

Jinma Service Bulletin 3


Thanks Dick for the quick informative response,
Ken

 

[rbargeron]

My memory is fuzzy on this - on my L345 there was no relative adjustment between the pto and travel clutch. On the L4350 there might be an access cover on the side of the bellhousing that allows wrench access. I was emailing someone about this and his loader frame covered the hole

 

[rbargeron]

Update - in the workshop manual on page Z.S.2-8, there is a small picture and a procedure for checking the clearance - it implies that its adjustable but then goes on about some measurements that can only be done if the tractor is split and the bell housing is open at the back. Best to get a manual so you can look at all the descriptive pages and see what's there. The arrangement is similar to the Jinma but the clearance is small - like .035" - the access cover is just forward of the clutch pedal.

 

[Bigk56]

Alright, I removed inspection cover from side of bellhousing and found the three bolts like in the Jinma link. After playing with the clutch pedal and watching it I made the adjustment for the pto clutch. Then I made it again. After several more times, I finally was happy with the way it was working. Then I jumped on the rear leak around pto shift shaft. I removed retaining fork and pulled the shaft out. It would come out just far enough for me to see half of the o-ring. I dug it out with tiny screwdriver.Matched it up to a new one, stretched it over the pawl and shaft. Kinda packed it back in groove with flat tip screwdriver and shazam, it seems ok. Needless to say I worked all evening on the tractor, but I believe I made some headway. My phd now stops turning when I mash the pedal all the way down. All that is left is the kingpin leak.

 

[rbargeron]

Ken - YOU DA MAN!!
You're on a roll now - that kingpin leak will soon be history too. Great job.
Take care,
Dick B