Ouch!

   / Ouch! #21  
Even if a "professional" mechanic does the job please check all levels when you get the tractor home.

Had the first oil change in a vehicle done at a place that specializes in oil changes. Drove it home and checked it the next day because we were leaving on a two week vacation. No oil in the engine. Double check everything yourself.

RSKY
 
   / Ouch! #22  
Even if a "professional" mechanic does the job please check all levels when you get the tractor home.

Had the first oil change in a vehicle done at a place that specializes in oil changes. Drove it home and checked it the next day because we were leaving on a two week vacation. No oil in the engine. Double check everything yourself.

RSKY

No secrets here. Buy the book and read it first. Oil and trans need warmed up first. Good time to do everything including anti freeze. Read and ask questions here if you have any. Been over 50 years ago that I started and remember the old Lefty loosey saying. And that is starting with no knowledge. Gravity can kill you so be careful. Makes for a beautiful father and son project. If no one on this site has a answer - [doubtful] then pay the expert.
 
   / Ouch! #23  
Besides breaking the filters loose the next difficult task is to identify the engine oil drain plugs(sometimes 2) and the transmission drain plugs, ( 4 on my L3130) and to be prepared to catch all the oil. Otherwise not really more difficult then doing an oil change on a car.

Doing the front axle it will take time to drain the bevel cases and when refilling the axle sometimes air bubbles will form and need to be worked out so check the front axe 5-10 hours after the change to see if the level drops.

David
 
   / Ouch! #25  
YouTube is your friend.
 
   / Ouch! #26  
As a Newby owner I had the 50 hr service doneby the dealer. I checked the oil and day later and found it had been OVER FILLED by about 750 ml!
I can only hope there was no damage done in the day before I caught it. Do it yourself as I now do and know it's done right.

Even if a "professional" mechanic does the job please check all levels when you get the tractor home.

Had the first oil change in a vehicle done at a place that specializes in oil changes. Drove it home and checked it the next day because we were leaving on a two week vacation. No oil in the engine. Double check everything yourself.

RSKY
If you go the full service route - Trust but verify. I've had mechanics routinely overfill my TDI, and then give a full line of BS before they finally sucked some out.

Any ideas on where to pick up a service manual for an L series....paper or ebook?
Messick's if they ship to Canada.

Changing belts may be the hardest. Fluid changes can be easy until you lose the drain plug in the grass, put the hydraulic oil in the engine, don't put the gasket back properly, or mess up in some other calamitous way. And getting filters off may require EFFORT, but for under $20 (US) you can find all sorts of oil filter wrenches if you don't want to just bash a screwdiver into it.
 
   / Ouch! #27  
You cant find a wsm on ebay for your tractor, Or the dealer..
 
   / Ouch! #28  
Unfortunately - lots of us have our own horror stories. 1975 - Anchorage, Ak - just purchased a brand new J20 Jeep pickup from the local dealer. About a month later I took it in for the 500 mile "break in" oil change. Got home, only to witness the final few ounces of engine oil drain down onto my concrete driveway. The wrong engine oil filter had been installed - pressure built - the filter ruptured - EEEEKKK. Top it all off - the dealership was aware of the problem and asked that I drive the pickup in to have it repaired. Unfortunately - only one Jeep(AMC) dealership in Anchorage at the time. Everything worked out but there were some tense moments.
 
   / Ouch! #29  
Fastball,

If I might suggest an alternative. Let me guess that you don't have alot of tools or drain pans or ????

While posters are well intended, they may have forgotten long ago what it felt like to approach the idea of a lengthy list of tasks you've never done before.

So my alternative is this. Start with finding out from your dad what things have been serviced in that 800 hours and at what point were they done.

Then, start with the easiest to do and work forward over time until you hit your limit.

Why this way? Because let's say the engine oil hasn't been changed in 700 of those 800 hours. If that was the case, you can change it once yourself and then put some engine flush in and change it again. Why this? Because if the oil is that old in years and in hours, one change isn't going to get it good. And you doing both changes keeps cost down but learning up and your engine oil is really clean.

Then you could do the air cleaner also and did your dad grease the unit regularly? If not you could grease the unit to find out if you have any Zerks that are jammed up.

My point is, I'm assuming you are limited in your equipment and in experience, so do a few things well and then see what else you might be capable of doing and learn slowly. THEN, there will be things to have the dealer service person do preferably on site. If you have him do everything, its too many things to remember in too fast a time. If you get the easy ones out of the way first. . . . you can cross them off the list and off the billing slip so the service guy doesn't do them.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not talking weeks of delay. I'm talking you maybe doing your items you want over a couple days after you've assembled the needed filters and oils that YOU WILL do.

The goal is not to stretch this out over weeks, but rather to reduce the list in length for the service guy to do that YOU CAN handle. For you to attempt to do everything on your 1st effort I believe is too daunting in size and lengthy in effort.

Let the service guy replace the belts and torque all the bolts etc.. Maybe if he does the hydro change, because once done you don't need to do it for 400 or 500 hours and hydro isn't as important as the engine oil getting thoroughly cleaned . . . Because the hydro fluid doesn't get contaminated like the engine oil does.

My point is, do some and have some done. That way you can use Tractorbynet as a source for suggestions on choice of engine oil or gearbox oil or grease or oil flyers etc. And let the service guy deal with the harder items and choices so you can SEE not just read and guess.

Again, I think it's important you get your hands dirty on a couple of things or a few things. And do them before the service guy comes so he can make sure you did them right before he starts doing other things.

With this idea, you're learning but not risking. . . . and you are also saving money.

One last thing. Find out from Tractorbynet posters what filters will work on your tractor for the items YOU WILL DO YOURSELF. You may find big savings on some compared to genuine dealer ones. Most of us are U. S. based so we don't know why products are available to you or at what prices.

Just my ideas for you to gravitate toward self reliance. But start with pumping your dad on anything he had done over the years (and when) . . . an important piece of your decision making starts with that.

just my thinking for some stress free learning.

P. S. Whatever you drain out, measure, so you know to put back at least that much. And save what you drain so you can show the service guy.. It does cost you for him to look at it but it could tell him alot (if you do my two times oil change I'm suggesting. . . . save each draining separately and preferably in clear plastic bottles (hint, he would look for shiny metal flaking in the oil).
 
Last edited:
   / Ouch!
  • Thread Starter
#30  
Fastball,

If I might suggest an alternative. Let me guess that you don't have alot of tools or drain pans or ????

While posters are well intended, they may have forgotten long ago what it felt like to approach the idea of a lengthy list of tasks you've never done before.

So my alternative is this. Start with finding out from your dad what things have been serviced in that 800 hours and at what point were they done.

Then, start with the easiest to do and work forward over time until you hit your limit.

Why this way? Because let's say the engine oil hasn't been changed in 700 of those 800 hours. If that was the case, you can change it once yourself and then put some engine flush in and change it again. Why this? Because if the oil is that old in years and in hours, one change isn't going to get it good. And you doing both changes keeps cost down but learning up and your engine oil is really clean.

Then you could do the air cleaner also and did your dad grease the unit regularly? If not you could grease the unit to find out if you have any Zerks that are jammed up.

My point is, I'm assuming you are limited in your equipment and in experience, so do a few things well and then see what else you might be capable of doing and learn slowly. THEN, there will be things to have the dealer service person do preferably on site. If you have him do everything, its too many things to remember in too fast a time. If you get the easy ones out of the way first. . . . you can cross them off the list and off the billing slip so the service guy doesn't do them.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not talking weeks of delay. I'm talking you maybe doing your items you want over a couple days after you've assembled the needed filters and oils that YOU WILL do.

The goal is not to stretch this out over weeks, but rather to reduce the list in length for the service guy to do that YOU CAN handle. For you to attempt to do everything on your 1st effort I believe is too daunting in size and lengthy in effort.

Let the service guy replace the belts and torque all the bolts etc.. Maybe if he does the hydro change, because once done you don't need to do it for 400 or 500 hours and hydro isn't as important as the engine oil getting thoroughly cleaned . . . Because the hydro fluid doesn't get contaminated like the engine oil does.

My point is, do some and have some done. That way you can use Tractorbynet as a source for suggestions on choice of engine oil or gearbox oil or grease or oil flyers etc. And let the service guy deal with the harder items and choices so you can SEE not just read and guess.

Again, I think it's important you get your hands dirty on a couple of things or a few things. And do them before the service guy comes so he can make sure you did them right before he starts doing other things.

With this idea, you're learning but not risking. . . . and you are also saving money.

One last thing. Find out from Tractorbynet posters what filters will work on your tractor for the items YOU WILL DO YOURSELF. You may find big savings on some compared to genuine dealer ones. Most of us are U. S. based so we don't know why products are available to you or at what prices.

Just my ideas for you to gravitate toward self reliance. But start with pumping your dad on anything he had done over the years (and when) . . . an important piece of your decision making starts with that.

just my thinking for some stress free learning.

P. S. Whatever you drain out, measure, so you know to put back at least that much. And save what you drain so you can show the service guy.. It does cost you for him to look at it but it could tell him alot (if you do my two times oil change I'm suggesting. . . . save each draining separately and preferably in clear plastic bottles (hint, he would look for shiny metal flaking in the oil).

AxelHub....thanks for the suggestions. I have a decent assortment of tools and have done my share of shadetree mechanical stuff on a collection of machinery over the years...but this is my first go-round with a tractor. I’m getting the impression that a lot of this stuff is perfectly do-able by a fairly savvy guy. I just wanted him (at some cost, as it turns out) to do the work and I would watch him like a hawk for future reference. The filters, etc, look like no problem...the theory is the same universally. My concern was for the stuff I’d never done before - hydro fluid, front transaxle, etc. Just finding a way to catch 40-odd liters of hydro fluid when all I have is a pail, for example. I figure once the hydro, etc is changed, I should be good for a couple years at least on that front.
Trust me, once I suss out oil changes, fuel filter replacements and the location of every zerk, I think I’m good to fly solo.
The greatest thing is, though...this site. Awesome and absolutely invaluable. Ever since he moved in last summer, my new neighbour has been looking enviously at the rest of us guys who own tractors of various sizes. He just pulled the trigger on a new Kioti Ck2510 and has been peppering us with questions. I’ve recommended this site wholeheartedly.
 

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