I love my Kubota, but I also hate it

[Kingcreek]

Sacrificial wrenches, hydro fluid dripping off my elbows, bashed knuckles.
This is so much fun!
Jeez I had another hydraulic line go bad and started leaking a lot under pressure and some when sitting. Short of removing the loader frame I have no room for things like wrenches or hands. I am about to loosen and hopefully not fully remove the 3rd function valve assembly and the main spooler hoping I can get a chopped off wrench where I need it, in time to get a new line made before everything is closed tomorrow.
I would have liked to position it near all my tools and lights and warmth but with the way it is leaking I’m outside the barn and trekking back and forth every time I need more rags or tools.
1999 grand L3010
It will be the only tractor I’ll ever need if I can just keep it in service.

[Boomhauer]

Crowsfeet is what I used the hell out of to get at hydraulic lines

And sometimes you just have to take off what you have to take off.

[Kingcreek]

And just because you can clearly see the problem,
Doesn’t mean you can put hands on the problem.
One end is a quick coupling off in 5 seconds.
The other end is going on 90 minutes and still counting…

[Kingcreek]

I eventually got it off and a new one made for $84
Back in service with no leakys
I’ve got the grapple on to move some firewood logs but I also need to be ready to plow snow when it gets here. I did complete service a couple weeks ago. Everything but front axle fluid. The hydraulic filter is almost a hundred bucks.

[K Frame]

If I ever get a place where I need a device like that, I'm going to make sure that I choose one that at least gives some opportunity for servicing it myself with a relatively basic set of tools.

None of this having to drop the rear axle to get the headlight bezel screw out bullshit.

Engineers who design stuff like that (I'M LOOKING YOU, FORD MOTOR COMPANY!) deserve to have red hot tie rods shoved up their backsides.

[dogmush]

You sweet summer child.  You think that piece of equipment exists.

FWIW, Fords are actually some of the better cars to work on vis a vis disassembling the whole damn thing to fix one part.  Never take apart that Foreser if you think an F150 is bad.

[Kingcreek]

It took me 2 days to change a fuel pump on a Daimler built Chrysler crossfire.

[K Frame]

"You sweet summer child.  You think that piece of equipment exists."

Oh, those pieces of equipment most certainly exist.

I NEVER said anything about buying new now did I?


As for Ford, read up on some of the *expletive deleted*it you have to do to service the suspension on a Transit. It's insane. Literally a *expletive deleted*ing Chinese puzzle.

[dogmush]

Yes.  70 year old tractors with no parts available and special tools that need to be fabbed is just the ticket for easy maintenance.  A craftsman wrench set and gumption is all you need!! I mean, I'm just the guy that still knows how to tune up a 12V71 from the 60's, what do I know?

As for Ford, read up on some of the *expletive deleted*it you have to do to service the suspension on a Transit. It's insane. Literally a *expletive deleted*ing Chinese puzzle.
【/quote]

Let's not forget there's maintenance  tasks on the 6.0 Powerstrokes where step 1 is "Remove Cab from truck", or the 3 hours (each) i took lining up turbos so that two hard oil lines, two hard water lines and a gaskets exhaust flange were all in place at the same time on my Ecoboost.

I didn't say they were "good", I said they were better than most.

[cordex]

I own a 50ish year old tractor and while there are some things easy to get to and work on (filters, for instance) other things are not. Replacing the battery requires removing the whole cowl, which also means removing the crossbar for the loader, for instance.

If I ever have to replace the hydraulic pump I think I have to remove the engine.

[K Frame]

Having grown up where I did, I've done more than my fair share of work, both direct and assisting, on John Deere, Ferguson and Ford tractors.

70 years old?

Yes.

Unavailable parts?

There's pretty much no such thing as an unavailable part for anything other than some of the rarest of the John Deeres, and if you talk to the right people, you can have unobtainable parts made.

I learned to drive manual transmission on a John Deere Model B.

Steinertractor.com has 30+ pages of parts for the B alone. And they're far from the only resource.

Finding parts of many Deere tractors, from the little patch tractors (not much bigger than lawn tractor but more capable) all the way up is about as hard as finding parts for the 1911.

Granted, finding one of the utility tractors with an integrated backhoe is a bit harder because most of them have been worked to death, then used for parts by people who are maintaining the ones that they have, but they're available.

So yeah, if I ever have need for something like that, I'll be looking for a 70-year-old version.

[K Frame]

I own a 50ish year old tractor and while there are some things easy to get to and work on (filters, for instance) other things are not. Replacing the battery requires removing the whole cowl, which also means removing the crossbar for the loader, for instance.

If I ever have to replace the hydraulic pump I think I have to remove the engine.

There's no getting around somethings like that. That's just the very nature of design. But some of the stuff I've seen from both automobiles mid-sized equipment is just insane.

I know that most of it is designed that way for streamlining the manufacturing process as much as possible and that home maintenance, especially in today's age, is a minor consideration.

The added complexity of modern equipment (especially cars and trucks) that's forced in my emissions standards, safety standards, and so forth can be a big driver, as well, but not everything is... such as, having to remove the bumper and fender on a Hyundai Elantra to replace the headlight assembly.

That's kind of nuts.

[Kingcreek]

If I ever replace my 2014 jeep wrangler rubicon unlimited it will be something simple I can work on. A Jeep with the 4.0L straight six, an old bronco or IH Scout, or something similarly simple.
My 1974 F100 was ridiculously simple. My CJ7 renegade almost as simple.
No mysterious sensors or anything computer and with crank windows.
God bless me some simple.

[Tuco]

You sweet summer child.  You think that piece of equipment exists.

FWIW, Fords are actually some of the better cars to work on vis a vis disassembling the whole damn thing to fix one part.  Never take apart that Foreser if you think an F150 is bad.

Dogmush report to the Red Tool Chest!!
A 6.4L PSD would like it's fuel pump replaced

[K Frame]

"IH Scout,"

I LOVED working on my Dad's 72 Scout II. God it was simple!

I THINK it had the 232 I6 engine. Dead simple, and rugged.

I was able to get into the engine compartment, sit on the axle, and replace the water pump.

Everything was accessible.

[dogmush]

Dogmush report to the Red Tool Chest!!
A 6.4L PSD would like it's fuel pump replaced

Step one: remove cab. 

I've been working on Ships and Military equipment for 25 years.  There is literally nothing sold on the private market stupidest work on than some of the Military vehicles into the "A5" variants.

Although Tier 4 offroad diesels are getting there.

Easiest vehicle I ever owned to work on was a 95 F150 with a manual and 300 straight 6. Like K-Frame's Dad's Scout you could sit on the fender or in the engine bay and get to everything.

Adding hydraulics to anything almost ubiquitiously ups the "PITA to work on" by an order od magnitude.

[Ben]

Easiest vehicle I ever owned to work on was a 95 F150 with a manual and 300 straight 6. Like K-Frame's Dad's Scout you could sit on the fender or in the engine bay and get to everything.

My dad had an 82 F150 with the straight six. There was more spare room under that hood than there is in a Japanese business hotel cubicle.

I had one of the 6.4s. The "remove the cab" is actually a good design for a professional mechanic with a full shop, given all the crap under the hood. They can get that thing off in probably fifteen minutes and then have lots of free room. Different story for the average weekend mechanic in the driveway though.

On tractors, my little 2019 35HP LS is actually pretty easy to work on. Not too difficult to get to anything that I know how to do myself.

[Kingcreek]

I had to replace the glow plug controller module once on this tractor. It plugs into a receptacle on the operator side of the firewall.
I had to take the cowling, the column and instrument cluster loose to get to it. It was nothing to unplug the bad one and plug in a new one. It was 1.5 hours before I could get my fingers on it.
I have replaced all of the hydro hoses off the control valve assembly. It’s pretty obvious the assembly and hoses are all mounted preassembled at the factory and then the loader frame is added. That when you lose the ability to wrench on the fittings.
I should be good on this for awhile. The rest of the original lines and hoses are all in the open.

[K Frame]

"It’s pretty obvious the assembly and hoses are all mounted preassembled at the factory and then the loader frame is added. "

Exactly what I was talking about below -- "that most of it is designed that way for streamlining the manufacturing process as much as possible and that home maintenance, especially in today's age, is a minor consideration."

[K Frame]

Speaking of the Transit's engineering issues...

https://www.facebook.com/reel/901689561892880

[JTHunter]

Back in the late 80s and early 90s, there was a friend and neighbor that worked as a mechanic at a small private shop.  He was so good that he could frequently listen to an engine and give the owner a fair idea of what was going wrong.  He helped me weld up a cracked exhaust manifold on my Toyota 4WD longbed (22R engine), repair a cracked block and repair the oil pan & gasket.  Many times, he would opine that if some of these "designers" had to WORK on those engines, they would make wholesale changes to those designs.  It got particularly bad when the cars started coming out with those "transverse 6 cyl." engines.
He finally got so fed up, he quit.