jcaron2
Silver Member
I ordered and installed a Kubota's remote hydraulic kit for my MX-5000 a while back. Everything is built very well and is very sturdy on it except for the return pipe. Granted, the oil returning to the tractor's resevoir is no longer pressurized, but it's flowing at around 13gpm, so there's still going to be some pressure built trying to push that much fluid through a small tube with maybe a 3/8" or 1/2" I.D. What's amazing to me is that Kubota uses a chunk of cheap, flexible, clear vinyl tubing for this purpose. The kit simply provides a pair of O-rings to go around either end of the tube, and then you're supposed to fit it snuggly into corresponding holes in the valve body and the tractor body. Nothing holds it in place except the friction of the O-rings against the outside of the tube and the inside of the holes, and the rigidity of the tubing (which is almost zero - this stuff is way more flexible than, say, a piece of garden hose).
The first time I used the remote valve was for drill-seeding a pasture. At first, it worked great and I was glad to see (literally since it's clear plastic) that oil flowed prolifically through the return pipe whenever I raised or lowered the drill. However, after an hour or so of use the warm oil had softened the return pipe to the point that it popped out of the valve and sent hydraulic fluid spraying everywhere. After much swearing and fumbling, I was able to get it back into the hole, but within a few minutes it had come back out and sprayed my tractor and me with a second shower of hydraulic fluid. I ended up having to manually hold the tube against the valve body whenever I raised or lowered the implement, and even then, it still leaked plenty of oil.
I mentioned this problem to my dealer, and he checked other kits he had for L-series tractors, and they all seem to have the same cheap return pipe. He gave me a new one to try (which is an $18 part if I remember correctly - for about 6 cents worth of tubing at Home Depot or Lowes). I installed it, but won't have a chance to try it out until the next time I rent a sod drill or another hydraulic implement. I'm skeptical to say the least.
Clearly I'm not the only person with remotes on my Kubota. I did a cursory search on this forum, and didn't really find anything on this topic. Has anybody else had a similar issue? Any advice?
Thanks.
Josh
Btw, the part in question is labeled 100 in this diagram.
The first time I used the remote valve was for drill-seeding a pasture. At first, it worked great and I was glad to see (literally since it's clear plastic) that oil flowed prolifically through the return pipe whenever I raised or lowered the drill. However, after an hour or so of use the warm oil had softened the return pipe to the point that it popped out of the valve and sent hydraulic fluid spraying everywhere. After much swearing and fumbling, I was able to get it back into the hole, but within a few minutes it had come back out and sprayed my tractor and me with a second shower of hydraulic fluid. I ended up having to manually hold the tube against the valve body whenever I raised or lowered the implement, and even then, it still leaked plenty of oil.
I mentioned this problem to my dealer, and he checked other kits he had for L-series tractors, and they all seem to have the same cheap return pipe. He gave me a new one to try (which is an $18 part if I remember correctly - for about 6 cents worth of tubing at Home Depot or Lowes). I installed it, but won't have a chance to try it out until the next time I rent a sod drill or another hydraulic implement. I'm skeptical to say the least.
Clearly I'm not the only person with remotes on my Kubota. I did a cursory search on this forum, and didn't really find anything on this topic. Has anybody else had a similar issue? Any advice?
Thanks.
Josh
Btw, the part in question is labeled 100 in this diagram.
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