What did you do to or on your Kubota today?

[NCL4701]

Yesterday, snowing with temps in low 20’s or high teens, yeah a cab would have been preferable.

We made a snow man, went to town for lunch for no particularly good reason, then plowed the three driveways and road. Much more pleasant with sunny skies and temps around 30. Not regretting the open station today.

 

[nerwin]

Well I completely forgot to post this after the 20 inches of snow fell in my area last Monday.

Nothing like waking up the neighborhood with the Kubota at 5:30am

I had to go to work

Man I love this tractor.

 

[Huckster79]

I washed it in the snow! lol. Yup, scrub brush, bucket of of hot soapy water and a hose... Have a lost my mind? Am I just an overly excited new tractor owner?

Both may be true... BUT it just arrived to me last week, and spent 7 hours on a trailer between Central Wisconsin and Central Michigan, she had salt spray on her and it was keeping me awake at night... It's been too brutal to even attempt it, but Sunday it got temperate enough I got the mower off, got it washed and put back in the garage with a heater to dry off . She looks much better now...

 

[Hugo Habicht]

I washed it in the snow! lol. Yup, scrub brush, bucket of of hot soapy water and a hose... Have a lost my mind? Am I just an overly excited new tractor owner?

You did the right thing getting the salt spray off

Congratulations to your new tractor !

 

[Blue2Orange]

Bit of wimpy snowfall year. Again. Season total through Jan. 31st was 205(cm, not inches). It's nice today at a balmy 18F and just a light breeze. Too cold over the last couple weeks and no Clippers or Lake Effect dumps. Just slow accumulating snowfall of trace to 5" per day. Forecast for today was for light snowfall ending by morning. So I plugged in the block heater and walked down to the mailbox with the snow scoop to dig out the plowed in mail box. It started snowing heavier and is still snowing. Maybe snow blow this afternoon if it stops snowing. Or wait until tomorrow.

So for now. What did I do. Plugged in the block heater.

 

[Huckster79]

You did the right thing getting the salt spray off

Congratulations to your new tractor !

Thanks! I'm excited. I've been a country type guy who's lived in town my whole life, feels good to have a few acres to myself and a tractor to take care of it with. . I very much, at least intend for this to be the only one I ever buy unless I need an additional ever down the road... So I am a bit of a maintenance freak. Rust does not add longevity to mechanical things that you want to keep for decades...

I've owned airplanes for 10 years, I'm getting out of direct airplane ownership and going back to a club which is like a time share, but those years of airplane ownership made me absurdly anal with maintenance. I mean folks can call it overkill what I do sometimes, but I look at the airplanes I've owned, the newest one is the one I'm selling right now, it is a 1968, I've owned a 1950 and a 1947. None of them were janky from their age, maintained they simply don't wear out... and what does gets replaced. These things last for decades because we maintain them to an absurd level, the factories originally estimated their service life to be 17 years if I recall right.... So if we can do that with lightweight aluminum boasting air-cooled engines that we hope to get 2000hrs or so out of between overhauls, there is no reason the same can't be done with cast and diesels, and to an even greater degree really...

I intend to do the same style of maintenance with the Kubota. I bought it with 780hrs on it, the dealer did the 800hr service. From here on out it has a log book for maintenance just like the birds. Every oil change, every significant repair or preventative maintenance gets logged. If I end up keeping it in cold storage I will have a a block heater, battery warmer, battery tender, oil sump pad heater and hydro fluid pad heater... Once weather breaks the mower and blower will get a meticulous service and repainting where necessary to keep rust at bay. . or a wipe down of boiled linseed oil where repainting may be pointless. I already found one grease zirk missed at the 800 hour so I will be going through all that as well- I love maintaining things! lol.

Everything done with the idea of longevity, longevity, longevity... Even if I'm told it's absurd. My figure is there isn't one single secret, its 1000 little things added up usually...

 

[Hugo Habicht]

Hmmm... how did the dealer do the 800 hour service with a grease zerk missing?

I "inherited" an old lawn tractor that had been neglected in the past few years. One missing grease zerk on the front axle let to major repairs and basically every bearing or pivot on this machine was damaged or worn out. Details of the repairs you can see here (if you have too much time ): Link G1900 repairs

And yes, I agree, any machine can run for a very long time if maintained and repaired properly. My every day car is 42 years old and I have no intention of replacing it any time soon.

I too keep service records of everything, just hand written notes. No way I could remember the date or mileage of every vehicle when I changed the oil or air filter for example.

 

[Hugo Habicht]

By the way: when doing repairs on my friends 6 year old Kubota tractor I noticed that a lot of brackets were bolted to the frame as bare metal and then everything was spray painted. There was rust under each part I took off. Although I understand the reasons for this approach I did not like that at all. Also rust starting on a lot of sharp edges with inherent low paint coverage.

I hope you really flushed the salt out with loads of water, otherwise the salt is still in the gaps and being hygroscopic will increase corrosion dramatically.

Maybe you can repeat that on a hot summer day, let everything dry out in the sun and then apply a creeping type corrosion protection wax or oil.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

If I end up keeping it in cold storage I will have a a block heater, battery warmer, battery tender, oil sump pad heater and hydro fluid pad heater...

Block heaters are not designed for 24/7 use, you will burn it out in a quick hurry.
Battery warmer is a waste if your not planning on cranking it.
Battery tender (get a good one) is a smart choice.
Oil sump and hydro heaters are both a waste and will cause you more issues than they are worth.

Keep the fuel tank full and treated with a biocide and the battery charged and you'll be doing great on cold storage.

 

[Huckster79]

Hmmm... how did the dealer do the 800 hour service with a grease zerk missing?

I "inherited" an old lawn tractor that had been neglected in the past few years. One missing grease zerk on the front axle let to major repairs and basically every bearing or pivot on this machine was damaged or worn out. Details of the repairs you can see here (if you have too much time ): Link G1900 repairs

And yes, I agree, any machine can run for a very long time if maintained and repaired properly. My every day car is 42 years old and I have no intention of replacing it any time soon.

I too keep service records of everything, just hand written notes. No way I could remember the date or mileage of every vehicle when I changed the oil or air filter for example.

I did rinse it very well, but I will do so again once weather breaks as the definition of "rinse well" on Feb 1 may be a far different definition than April 10th when its 60 out... I'll rewash in detail and rinse for an absurd time while poking around-not just standing back.

I may have misspoke on the Zerk, it was missed in terms of it didn't get fresh grease... The zerk is there, just didn't get hit... It was the pin on the SSQR. I have to drop the bucket to get into the garage and close the door. So I drop it just outside the door as I back in, so I can inch it forward when I start it to get the exaust outside while it warms up, and get the bucket back on while its warming up before heading out- so it doens't really slow me down to have to drop it each time. Best solution I can come up with for the time being- we just moved in and with the crazy winter were having its all about what works "as is" till weather breaks a bit But yea I went to put the bucket back on the first time and the pin wouldn't slide down, it was just old grease. Once cleaned up it was happy . So I will very soon go through and get them all myself just to make sure no others were missed... This is kind of why I hire almost nothing done- I'm never happy with anyone else's work, I'm just too anal and particular and hired guns just will never care like I will... We remodel homes, our own primarily, and we hire an insanely small amount done for this very reason...

 

[Huckster79]

Block heaters are not designed for 24/7 use, you will burn it out in a quick hurry.
Battery warmer is a waste if your not planning on cranking it.
Battery tender (get a good one) is a smart choice.
Oil sump and hydro heaters are both a waste and will cause you more issues than they are worth.

Keep the fuel tank full and treated with a biocide and the battery charged and you'll be doing great on cold storage.

I wouldn't run any all the time, you are correct it's not wise. I never did on the airplane either. Some folks would plug em in, in November and unplug them in April. That caused problems they never thought of, and made their engines more subject to corrosion. I always would stop on my way to work and plug it in if I was going that afternoon or on my way home if I was going the next day. We are going to "smart up" our entire home, so I'll have the "shore station" for the tractor smarted up, so the battery tender will be on 24/7. But the warmers only for a handful of hours before needed use that I'll be able to turn on via app..

Why do you say the sump and hydro will cause other issue? Curious, not challenging. Especially if I don't run them 24/7- which I would not... I just don't like the idea of cold soaked bearings starting up with thick oil.... My understanding is most wear is on start up. I also know most of my knowledge is based off air cooled gas engines so I may be incorrect to go for the same treatment. But I can't think any type of engine is getting great bearing lubrication at start up with ice cold oil. In the airplane engines folks had measured different bearing clearances and when cold soaked a crank bearing could be so tight that it would not allow oil film between, and that cold soaked bearing could be tighter than factory new specs...

If my engine maintenance question is pulling this towards thread drift, we can always open a new one I suppose, as I'd love some input on engine longevity discussion...

 

[chim]

Huckster, good idea washing it. I have a DeWalt 20V pressure washer for removing salt after making trips to town. It's small and can pump out of a 5 gallon bucket. Handy gadget kinda like a battery drill with a hose.

The 4240 did a little cleanup of some leftover snow on the driveway that didn't melt like it normally does. Also pushed the banks back and cleared a path at the sheds. Transferred 50 gallons of diesel form a storage drum to the drum it gets dispensed from.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I wouldn't run any all the time, you are correct it's not wise. I never did on the airplane either. Some folks would plug em in, in November and unplug them in April. That caused problems they never thought of, and made their engines more subject to corrosion. I always would stop on my way to work and plug it in if I was going that afternoon or on my way home if I was going the next day. We are going to "smart up" our entire home, so I'll have the "shore station" for the tractor smarted up, so the battery tender will be on 24/7. But the warmers only for a handful of hours before needed use that I'll be able to turn on via app..

Why do you say the sump and hydro will cause other issue? Curious, not challenging. Especially if I don't run them 24/7- which I would not... I just don't like the idea of cold soaked bearings starting up with thick oil.... My understanding is most wear is on start up. I also know most of my knowledge is based off air cooled gas engines so I may be incorrect to go for the same treatment. But I can't think any type of engine is getting great bearing lubrication at start up with ice cold oil. In the airplane engines folks had measured different bearing clearances and when cold soaked a crank bearing could be so tight that it would not allow oil film between, and that cold soaked bearing could be tighter than factory new specs...

If my engine maintenance question is pulling this towards thread drift, we can always open a new one I suppose, as I'd love some input on engine longevity discussion...

My point was for cold storage, keep it cold.
Yes heating them up before you need to use them is not going to hurt anything, and yes it might have some benefit in it's longevity.

The design of the kubota engine make an oil heater have a negligible heating effect on the rest of the engine.
Where a block heater will heat every part and component of the engine to a good temp for starting.

One down side to heating the hydro oil and engine oil, is in the event if you don't end up actually running the macince for any length of time is that it causes excessive condensation and leads to contamination of the oils.
The engine tend to "cook it off" pretty quickly, so that's the lower of the concerns, if not then it creates sludge.
But the transmission and the rest of the hydraulic system has too many spots for that condensation to settle, corrode surfaces/parts and contaminate the fluid.
Trying to get the moisture out of that system once it's in there is a bear to say the least.

 

[Huckster79]

My point was for cold storage, keep it cold.
Yes heating them up before you need to use them is not going to hurt anything, and yes it might have some benefit in it's longevity.

The design of the kubota engine make an oil heater have a negligible heating effect on the rest of the engine.
Where a block heater will heat every part and component of the engine to a good temp for starting.

One down side to heating the hydro oil and engine oil, is in the event if you don't end up actually running the macince for any length of time is that it causes excessive condensation and leads to contamination of the oils.
The engine tend to "cook it off" pretty quickly, so that's the lower of the concerns, if not then it creates sludge.
But the transmission and the rest of the hydraulic system has too many spots for that condensation to settle, corrode surfaces/parts and contaminate the fluid.
Trying to get the moisture out of that system once it's in there is a bear to say the least.

Wow! One of the few people that gets what happens in a preheated engine that doesn't get used! I mean that sincerely, so few get that. That is why my policy was with the bird if I plugged it in and had to scrub the flight, it stayed plugged in until it could be flown next as the heating and cooling without the running caused more issue. So even though leaving the sump on for a while wasn't ideal, it was more ideal than turning it off after it was on without running the engine.

So with the Kubota block heater, do some of those watts get to the oil sump or just more the head and coolant? I have to get my hands and head around this lil diesel so I'm not so ignorant as I go... Which I will, I like to make myself highly knowblegable on my stuff, and you folks sharing with me is part of that process for this new venture of tractor ownership. If it does warm the oil, then yes I would think that would be all I would need, if that leaves the oil cold but block warm, I may go my overly anal route and be strict about use must happen after preheat.

Guess I'm a bit confused on the hydro system, but again I've not got lots of experience yet, so I'm truly asking not challenging. Water gets in the regular oil sump as a byproduct of combustion. Where is the water getting in our hydraulic system? How would the preheater do this where warming it via use does not? Or just ambient humidity and the temp fluctuation drives parts through the dew point and condensates it if it doesn't get used after getting heated?

 

[g_man]

I washed it in the snow! lol. Yup, scrub brush, bucket of of hot soapy water and a hose... Have a lost my mind? Am I just an overly excited new tractor owner?

Both may be true... BUT it just arrived to me last week, and spent 7 hours on a trailer between Central Wisconsin and Central Michigan, she had salt spray on her and it was keeping me awake at night... It's been too brutal to even attempt it, but Sunday it got temperate enough I got the mower off, got it washed and put back in the garage with a heater to dry off . She looks much better now...


View attachment 169242 View attachment 169243

 

[mdhughes]

Yesterday I used the L3901DT and grapple to move a couple of logs to the splitting area. I had tried to move the bigger one the other day with the back-blade on the tractor, but there wasn't enough counterweight. I put my box-blade back on with the elevator weights back on the tractor and was able to move the log safely. It was 80" plus inches long, I'm thinking it was a Black Oak as heavy as it was. It's firewood now.

I hope we don't get anymore snow for a while. I have to take the quick-hitch off to put the back-blade on and it wasn't fun connecting up to the 3PT. I need to get someone to alter it so I can use it with the quick-hitch.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

....Everything done with the idea of longevity, longevity, longevity... Even if I'm told it's absurd. My figure is there isn't one single secret, its 1000 little things added up usually...

Not to talk for another member, but @McMXi has created an awesome tool for such things.

 

[McMXi]

Did a bit more work on the second driveway this afternoon and refueled the tractor. I like working on the new driveway when the ground is wet and muddy. Sure beats doing it when it's dusty, and it's easier to see when I've got through the decent dirt and am in to the light, crushed rock kind of stuff. Still hauling a lot of dirt out though. I was able to plow it in December when we actually were experiencing winter and had snow on the ground.

 

[JonM]

got my hay moved into the new barn and out of my arena.

 

[S-G-R]

Did a bit more work on the second driveway this afternoon and refueled the tractor. I like working on the new driveway when the ground is wet and muddy. Sure beats doing it when it's dusty, and it's easier to see when I've got through the decent dirt and am in to the light, crushed rock kind of stuff. Still hauling a lot of dirt out though. I was able to plow it in December when we actually were experiencing winter and had snow on the ground.

View attachment 169379

View attachment 169380

Nice looking weather there. Looks like a lot more fun than snow.