50 Hour Service Vacuum to Hydraulic Fill Port Adapters.

[AlexPeel159]

I created a 3d printable adapter that you can use for the 50 hour service. There are various sizes available for different Tractors and different vacuum connections. These are all free to download and available on https://www.printables.com/model/1504545-kubota-tractor-vac-hose-to-hydraulic-fill-port-ada.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Excellent job
Now include a recommendation for a good 3D printer!

 

[AlexPeel159]

Excellent job
Now include a recommendation for a good 3D printer!

I think any of the Bambu printers are the current goto recommendation. Work right out of the box and give you great prints. They have a bunch of models, from low end to high with the main differences being max print volume (bigger is always better), enclosure (more controlled prints and higher heat for some platic types), and multicolor support (not necessary for functional prints but nice to have). Depends on what you want to spend and what you want to do.

I personally prefer the Prusa brand but its a bit more hobbiest and not quite as feature rich for the price point. I think these are more robust long term and the company is more ethical.

You just missed black friday/cyber monday where there are a ton of sales of printers from all manufacturers. Although there are probably a bunch still on sale, including Bambu.

I would only recommend getting a printer if you think you are going to make things. You can always get 3d printed products from other sources , for example Messicks sells 3d printed adapters for a reasonable price. There are also printing services that will print any model you have and mail it to you for a price.

 

[Shawn T. W]

I believe there are different types of plastics, even though I know almost nothing about this stuff . . .

What type of plastic would work best for this application?

 

[AlexPeel159]

I believe there are different types of plastics, even though I know almost nothing about this stuff . . .

What type of plastic would work best for this application?

The great thing about FDM (filament printing) is that the default cheapest filament is PLA and it works really well for most prints. Very rigid, pretty strong, and is theoretically bio degradable. Downsides is its not great for outdoors (UV sensitive) and will degrade if submersed or gets wet all the time. PLA most likely will work fine but wouldn't last more than a few usages. Maybe only once for hydraulic fluid if fully bathed in it. Not quite sure but probably don't need this to last past one use, and if you want it again you can always print another one.

PETG is another common filament, not very costly, and will hold up better to hydraulic fluid. This is what I have printed for mine but I wont be using it for a few more weeks. I will report back with the results.

ABS would be good but thats trickier to print. Nylon would be good but thats trickier and usually more costly.

There are a ton of newer plastics some of which are super strong or would hold up extremely well vs hydraulic oil but they can get quite pricy and some of them you need a higher end printer which can handle high heat.

I suspect both PLA and PETG will work completely fine and that the funnel would last through multiple usages (do we even need that?) because its only minimally contacting the hydraulic fluid.

 

[McMXi]

I think any of the Bambu printers are the current goto recommendation.

I have a Bambu X1E at the house.

I notice that you have an adapter for the MX listed, but it's not needed for that tractor when removing the hydraulic filter or transmission filter. I did the 50 hour and 200 hour services a ways back and you don't lose any oil in the process.

 

[AlexPeel159]

I have a Bambu X1E at the house.

I notice that you have an adapter for the MX listed, but it's not needed for that tractor when removing the hydraulic filter or transmission filter. I did the 50 hour and 200 hour services a ways back and you don't lose any oil in the process.

I am not certain of how much utility the vacuum trick is as I have not done my first service myself. I just see it recommended in most of the videos where they are doing the service. I was already making one for my L3560 and it was no extra work for any of the other sizes so I put them up. I think the MX and the L models are supposed to share a size.

 

[McMXi]

I am not certain of how much utility the vacuum trick is as I have not done my first service myself. I just see it recommended in most of the videos where they are doing the service. I was already making one for my L3560 and it was no extra work for any of the other sizes so I put them up. I think the MX and the L models are supposed to share a size.

@whitetiger can confirm which models benefit from applying vacuum to the fill port and which ones don't. I just know from experience that the MX was easy with no significant loss of hydraulic fluid, and that I had to work quickly when swapping filters when I had the BX.