My Kubota is causing me pain!

[LD1]

Are you thinking water from condensate in a very underutilized transmission?

Not particularly water .... Bit the solid form of it.

A tractor not used much can indeed get condensation built up.

Tractor sits, and oil and water separate mostly.

Water freezes and even tiny pieces of ice can block passages, or cause a relief to hang open.

Now if the tractor was being used for several hours prior....everything should have been warm enough to not have ice.

Had it happen on my old backhoe once. Has a torque converter drive. And the steel hydraulic line came right off the bottom of the trans.

Backhoe started and everything worked....but no drive.

Wife's hair dryer on that steel line for about 10 min fixed it....and I drive it in the shop and changed the trans oil (which is separate from rear axle, and separate from loader/backhoe hydraulics)

 

[Trillium Farm]

It may be something minor like sensor or switch, dealer's knowledge is very important, but also one must recognize that underutilized tractors require maintenance twice as often as those that are working harder. If not working hard/long enough there is no way for contaminants to be burned off and so they stay within the system.

 

[Ford850]

With such low hours, and since it's kept in a heated building, this tractor has lived a good life. They must have missed something when they 'fixed' it the last time.

 

[crashz]

Almost Canadian - can you get the tractor in your heated barn? If you let it set for a while and restart it, will it move at all?

If it were mine, I would be thinking in line of LD1's comments. First thing I'd do is try to heat it up to get it inside. Then replace the HST filter. Cut the old one open when the tractor thaws. Any icy bits would concern me. Thaw and flush out the bad fluid if it is water/ice contaminated.

If a mechanical problem persisted, the filter may tell you something of the condition. If lots of steel or aluminum bits are found in the filter, you have some additional info for you, the dealer and Kubota.

 

[crazyal]

I assume (but could be wrong) that your HST pedal is electronic. Maybe it's different than the Grand L's. If it is then that or the wires going to it could be an issue. With low hours it makes for a great target for mice nests. One chewed wire can cause all sorts of problems. If it's mechanical I would get under it with a flashlight and inspection mirror while your wife pushes on the pedal and make sure everything is moving freely. Obviously don't do that while it's running and set the parking brake. Like others have said hydro's are very robust. Just look at how few threads here are about a bad HST.

 

[almost canadian]

Almost Canadian - can you get the tractor in your heated barn? If you let it set for a while and restart it, will it move at all?

If it were mine, I would be thinking in line of LD1's comments. First thing I'd do is try to heat it up to get it inside. Then replace the HST filter. Cut the old one open when the tractor thaws. Any icy bits would concern me. Thaw and flush out the bad fluid if it is water/ice contaminated.

If a mechanical problem persisted, the filter may tell you something of the condition. If lots of steel or aluminum bits are found in the filter, you have some additional info for you, the dealer and Kubota.

I assume (but could be wrong) that your HST pedal is electronic. Maybe it's different than the Grand L's. If it is then that or the wires going to it could be an issue. With low hours it makes for a great target for mice nests. One chewed wire can cause all sorts of problems. If it's mechanical I would get under it with a flashlight and inspection mirror while your wife pushes on the pedal and make sure everything is moving freely. Obviously don't do that while it's running and set the parking brake. Like others have said hydro's are very robust. Just look at how few threads here are about a bad HST.

I'll try both of these suggestions when I get home tonight and will let you know how it goes.

Many thanks to all that have offered suggestions.

 

[k0ua]

I was thinking that the L4600 was not electronic nor hydraulic assisted. I could be wrong, but I think on those models the swash plate is directly controlled by the pedal linkage. I know my old L3400 was. Again I could be wrong. One good look at the hydraulic circuit diagram from the service manual would tell the tale.

 

[almost canadian]

Update

On Tuesday the dealer informed me that the Kubota rep had stated that, until they knew what is wrong, they are not prepared to agree to be responsible for fixing it. The dealer said that the $250 tow away fee and the $150 an hour would need to be paid by us and that they believed that an hour would enable them to discover the issue. We agreed with that and they towed it away that evening.


We heard nothing until yesterday, when they called us again to say that they still didn't know what was wrong but that another 2 hours would enable them to do so. We agreed to that too, as what else can we do?


My plan is to enable them to do whatever they need to do to resolve the issue, as we need a working tractor, if only to sell it. If they, or Kubota, refuse to reimburse us, or give us a break in the amount they charge us, I will then simply sue them to recover the expenses I have incurred. We have obtained the work order from the 44 hours issue and I will compare that with the new work order to see if it is a new issue, or the same issue as before that they didn't resolve appropriately.


Time will tell.

 

[Ford850]

From the work order, what did they do to resolve the issue at 44 hours?

 

[almost canadian]

Here it is:

View attachment Work Order.pdf