Hello all. Im new to this site. Great, rather essential find I must say. This next Saturday I will be the new owner of a Kubota L245DT (1984 im told). I have to drive about 4 hours one way to get it so Im looking for a bit of advice as far as an in-person inspection goes.
Im pretty mechanically inclined so I know to look for the obvious first, like leaking fluids, and of course the general condition. From the pics ive received it appears to look pretty decent. Im also going to look to see If I can tell whether or not the air filter has ever been cleaned, take a look at the hydraulic filter site. I figure if its been painted over I might be able to tell if it has not been taken out for cleaning. Gonna check the steering wheel for play. And of course ill have it started up and drive it a bit....hopefully on an incline, which other than shifting the gears would be the only way I can think of to check for clutch wear. I know ill be swapping out all the fluids and filters when I get it home anyway, but these would certainly be indicators of poor maintenance.
Im hoping some here with more experience than myself....which is everyone, would be able to shed some lite on anything that I should ABSOLUTELY look out for. Any deal breakers or red flags, that could even potentially save me a few bucks.
As far as the owner says he bought it from a neighbor, who got it from a dealer (he thinks the neighbor could be the orig owner). Also it has no loader, nor did it while the neighbor was using it. They got it with the rear blade and that was it. As you can see the hood is in good condition so it likely didn't have a loader on it at all. Im told they only use it for clearing and grading their lane-way.
I have a lane-way that is nearly 450 meters long, so my primary use will be the same as theirs. But, I also live smack dab in the middle of 53 acres that is virtually undeveloped, so ill be in the market for all kinds of implements in the future. That being said I need to make sure this little beast is going to hold up.
Anyway ive blabbed enough here. Any help is sincerely appreciated.
Thanks
Im pretty mechanically inclined so I know to look for the obvious first, like leaking fluids, and of course the general condition. From the pics ive received it appears to look pretty decent. Im also going to look to see If I can tell whether or not the air filter has ever been cleaned, take a look at the hydraulic filter site. I figure if its been painted over I might be able to tell if it has not been taken out for cleaning. Gonna check the steering wheel for play. And of course ill have it started up and drive it a bit....hopefully on an incline, which other than shifting the gears would be the only way I can think of to check for clutch wear. I know ill be swapping out all the fluids and filters when I get it home anyway, but these would certainly be indicators of poor maintenance.
Im hoping some here with more experience than myself....which is everyone, would be able to shed some lite on anything that I should ABSOLUTELY look out for. Any deal breakers or red flags, that could even potentially save me a few bucks.
As far as the owner says he bought it from a neighbor, who got it from a dealer (he thinks the neighbor could be the orig owner). Also it has no loader, nor did it while the neighbor was using it. They got it with the rear blade and that was it. As you can see the hood is in good condition so it likely didn't have a loader on it at all. Im told they only use it for clearing and grading their lane-way.
I have a lane-way that is nearly 450 meters long, so my primary use will be the same as theirs. But, I also live smack dab in the middle of 53 acres that is virtually undeveloped, so ill be in the market for all kinds of implements in the future. That being said I need to make sure this little beast is going to hold up.
Anyway ive blabbed enough here. Any help is sincerely appreciated.
Thanks
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