Once we got reman engine in the vette shop and the old filter was so tight on it, I twisted off the filter metal housing - not sure if they used air to get it on or what
years ago, i bought a 1965 chevy truck, 6cyl engine, an i ran into the same problem: ripped the whole filter off the motor, an finally took a chiesel an hammer to the edge of what was left an got it off: luckily with the 6cyl motor, i had plenty of room to get to the filter mount.
heehaw
Had my mechanic change the oil and filter in my 89 Nissan.
About a weak after getting the truck back the oil light came on .
Checked it an the tip of the dipstick just barely showed it had oil on it.
Called him and he came to my place to check it out.
He found the oil filter was leaking in spite of the fact that it wasn't leaking when he installed it.
When he removed the filter the gasket was all wadded up.
Evidently the gasket was defective but that didn't show up until about a weak of driving the pickup.
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2 things I learned
1*Check oil level often after changing.
2* Park over a piece of cardboard for a while in search of new or unusual leaks,
It seam weird that you were able to drive the tractor with no problems then the next time you went to use it the filter was half off. Maybe it loosened up the last time you used it but you would think you would have noticed then. It's not like just sitting the filter would work itself half off. Are you sure nobody messed with it?
I always put oil on the gasket before putting the filter on and use a wench to give it a little extra. BTW I hate Fram filters that have that black stuff on the bottom. It makes those "filter sockets" not fit worth a **** and near impossible to get off the filter. Maybe I'm a little to protective of the engine but if you loose your filter you best be very quick or you will loose your engine as well.
Fortunately one of my car filter wrenches also fits the Kubota filter perfectly. BTW, I have used a leather belt (the kind used to hold up your trousers) for filter removal in tight spaces...works well, but trashes the belt.
had a car once that kept blowing out the oil filter seals: turned out it was a defective pressure relief valve in the oil pump. Fixed the pump and the problem with the filters leaking went away.