What did you do to or on your Kubota today?
- Thread starter gurn
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Here's a picture of the Schwaben coolant vacuum fill tool. (A) is used if you want to generate a vacuum or suction using compressed air. The EWK has the same or similar part so it's redundant for me. (B) bungs fit in the radiator opening. (C) is a vacuum gauge with a 90 degree valve and quick coupler. (D) connects to the EWK container and (E) is the pick up for the coolant.
The process is simple enough. You create a vacuum in the cooling system after the old coolant has drained out. This is achieved by connecting (C) to a vacuum source such as the EWK and inserting one of the bungs (B) into the top of the radiator. Once a vacuum of around 600 mm/Hg has been created in the cooling system you close the 90 degree valve to maintain the vacuum and disconnect the fitting from the vacuum source. You then connect the pick up (E) to (C) and open the valve which will force coolant out of the container and into the radiator in order to fill the vacuum. The theory is that the entire cooling system will be at lower pressure compared to atmospheric pressure and so fluid will fill the entire system without creating voids, bubbles or pockets where air is trapped.
Here's the EWK container which can be used to suck out fluid using vacuum (both manually or using compressed air) or simply to draw a vacuum in order to draw fluid into a volume such as the cooling system. In the first photo it's being used to create a vacuum in the MX cooling system via the top of the radiator. In the second photo I'm using it to suck all of the oil out of the Yamaha outboard prior to doing an oil change. I want the oil to be hot and as much "stuff" in suspension in the oil so I pulled the boat up the ramp and immediately set about getting the break-in oil out.
By the way, this Schwaben tool could possibly be used to determine if the cooling system is free of leaks. If a vacuum of 600 mm/Hg is drawn, it should be maintained for x amount of hours if there are no leaks.
I been wanting to clean this area up and make it mowable again. Kinda getting tired of mowing around it and it contained a bit of ragweed which I'm a allergic to. Not a huge project but it definitely looks a lot nicer and opened the area up.
The L2501 made quick work of it even removing ripping out 2 inch saplings without hesitation. Had to all cleaned up in like 30 minutes. Man having a tractor is awesome!
The L2501 made quick work of it even removing ripping out 2 inch saplings without hesitation. Had to all cleaned up in like 30 minutes. Man having a tractor is awesome!
BT3101
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L3130 GST, FEL, TaylorWay BH W/Subfr Rotary Cutter, Pallet Forks, Grapple Bucket
I came out to a puddle of hydraulic fluid in the floor last week. The lower, inner quick connect on the FEL valve was leaking like a cut artery.
Got around to dis-assembly today. Had to remove outboard fitting to get to the inner. Man, they were tight. Had to use a little heat. Makes me think there was some thread locker, but I saw no signs of any.
Do I need to use sealer/ thread locker or thread tape when installing new fittings?
Got around to dis-assembly today. Had to remove outboard fitting to get to the inner. Man, they were tight. Had to use a little heat. Makes me think there was some thread locker, but I saw no signs of any.
Do I need to use sealer/ thread locker or thread tape when installing new fittings?
I use my vacuum tool to check for cooling systems leaks but I made up couplers to use it for regulated pressure (14 psi max) from my air compressor. Great for finding leaks as coolant will leak out the leak point making it easy to find.
ajschnitzelbank
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Russell King
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L185F, Modern Ag Competitor 4’ shredder, Rhino tiller, rear dirt scoop
The open port in the valve does not use any type of sealing tape or compound on the threads. There should be a steel washer and then a sealing washer underneath the nut. The nut should be threaded onto a parallel threaded portion of the fitting to the top of the threads. Then the sealing washer is installed on the threads. Then the fitting is threaded into the port threads as deep as possible and angled to the correct position then the nut is tightened to seal the fitting and lock it in position.
(I assumed that the missing fitting was also an angled fitting but a straight fitting is similar with a sealing washer but the hex is part of the fitting not a separate nut.)
I personally have never seen one very hard to remove (if you remember to loosen the nut first) but I am sure some people really can over tighten them.
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Russell King
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You might be able to crush a radiator by creating too much of a vacuum using a shop vacuum. Not sure but I wouldn’t be shoving the nozzle of a powerful vacuum into a radiator and turning it on. 14 pounds per square inch of atmospheric pressure over a large area can do some impressive damage.
BT3101
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L3130 GST, FEL, TaylorWay BH W/Subfr Rotary Cutter, Pallet Forks, Grapple Bucket
Thanks. Great description. I understand.
The fitting to the valve body wasn't really tight. I only removed it to make tool space so I could get to that inboard most coupler. It was the coupler to the angled fitting threads that needed the heat and large wrench.
How about the quick coupler to the angled fitting threads? Any sealer or tape there?
Help me out here because I'm new at this and trying to learn this also; here's my understanding from reading posts on OTT--please correct me where I'm incorrect or misunderstanding:
To me these look like 1/4" BSP fittings going into the hydraulic valve block, with
the yellow arrow pointing at the black "rubber" sealing washer, and
the green arrow pointing at the seat the "rubber" washer fits into.
The washer forms the seal and is held in place by the seat. Not much torque (firm but not "crank it down") is needed on the connector to maintain the seal as the rubber washer is held in place by the seat. The connector is easy to work with and reusable.
The orange arrow points at an NPT fitting, which requires high-pressure hydraulic thread sealant to fill the voids in the thread so hydraulic fluid cannot slowly leak past the threads as the threaded connector is tapered and more narrow at the start of the threads and gradually gets wider as a mating fitting is threaded on which forms a friction fit to make the seal, and likely goes into a quick-disconnect as seen on the left. A fair amount of torque is needed as it's a friction fit, so two opposing wrenches are needed to install/remove a fitting. Threads wear during install/removal so the number of reuses is limited based on the quality of each mating surface.
The red arrow points at at a JIC fitting which is self-sealing and likely goes into a hose or hard-line. The precisely machined angle forms a seal as long as both mating surfaces are clean and free of defects when installed. The fittings are reliably reusable, a moderate amount of torque with two wrenches is needed to install/remove the fittings, more than BSP and less than NPT.
Russell King
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See @WI_Hedgehog post above.
I would give him a 99.5 out of 100. The slight deduction is because:
1) the yellow arrow is pointing to NEARLY where the sealing washer sits on the valve but there is a steel washer over the sealing washer (I corrected my post above to add that there is a nut, a steel washer and then a sealing washer). The port details and sealing methods vary slightly from style to style and that valve seems to use a tapered section as the seat, others are flat.
2) WI_hedgehog also talked of “torque” with NPT threads but in actuality there is a certain number of turns past finger tight (finger tight is another NOT clearly defined term) to use for tapered threads. The torque is too variable in those tapered thread joints to be reliable as a “good enough gauge”.
See this document for good information on these joints and sealing methods and there is a table of the number of turns to use for tapered threads.
But in all other respects he is 100% correct. Notice that he stated high pressure sealant on the NPT threads! There are paste sealants and tape sealants for NPT threads. Most recommendations are to avoid tape in hydraulic systems since there is a chance a piece of the tape can dislodge and then clog a small passage in the system.
Used the brush cutter for the last time of this year. I gained floor space by standing it up for the winter. The excavator came in handy for this.
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BT3101
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L3130 GST, FEL, TaylorWay BH W/Subfr Rotary Cutter, Pallet Forks, Grapple Bucket
Thanks @Russell King and @WI_Hedgehog great explanations for hydraulics newbie like me. I got it.
I was pretty sure I needed some sealant on those NPT threads. I've seen thread tape on at least one of the attachments I bought from Titan, but I had also heard not to use the tape.
The nice thing about connectors that use a free-spinning nut is the connector angle can be easily positioned.
I found NPT threads are unreliable if reused, basically it depends on the quality of the threads, and that degrades quickly with use. The best I found are high-quality stainless threads, though they can gall if over-tightened and cold-weld themselves together. NPT seems "okay" for water or sewer pipe--better than packing joints with oakum, not as good as anything that came after it...not good for high-pressure connections like on tractor hydraulics. I have
Permatex 56521 for the reasons @Russell King mentions. When plumbing water I use tape and pipe dope, hydraulics just the Permatex.
It's been awhile since I made a longer video. I cleared out more of this brush that was annoying to mow around and had tons of ragweed. I plan on planting some blueberries and blackberries in its place. The soil is really rich there and I think it would look overall much better. I had a path in between to walk through and to drive an ATV through so I wanna keep that as I think it adds a neat feature to my backyard.
Tractor worked pretty well but I really need to get a grapple lol. But overall it was good practice for me trying to skim the first 2-3 inches off without getting to low. Dug out some saplings as well that when cut, grows back within months. Overall a nice way to spend the evening.
Tractor worked pretty well but I really need to get a grapple lol. But overall it was good practice for me trying to skim the first 2-3 inches off without getting to low. Dug out some saplings as well that when cut, grows back within months. Overall a nice way to spend the evening.
Wife and I went for a 18 mile jaunt in the RTV then I came up with a redneck solution to use my winch to straighten out a few of my transplants and stake them.
