Be Careful of Overfilling your Hydraulic Fluid 

Neil, sending a big thank you to your parts department. Very courteous, patient, and knowledgable. Received the exact part and installed in an hour with the tractor up and going. This is one reason I order from Messick's instead of my nearest Kubota dealer.

Does Kubota offer any dye to be able to see the level easier, especially for us with older eyes?

I have to agree with the other comments, I bought a very old Cub Cadet SC-2400 tractor and they God bless them had the upper hood that I couldn't find any where else shipped to San Antonio Tx. and got it in one piece. thanks guys for the great service.

Surely there's a drain plug where you could drain a little of it, Neil. Sticking and wiping the dipstick will take forever to get the level back to specs. (grinz)

Love my BX-22, that tractor is a beast! Hate where the hydraulic oil fill plug is, hard to get back on without kid size hands.

Great info Neil. I can’t stand the hydraulic sight bulb that Kubota used on some of the l series tractors. It’s hard to tell when it needs fluid.

When I get a dipstick that's hard to read I'll line the end up with a paper towel and touch it to the towel. You should be able to see how tall the wet spot is, not perfect but it will get you close

Always enjoyed three minute Thursdays. Thanks Neil.

I saw somewhere that there is a red dye for hydraulic fluid for just that reason. Maybe it was "Tractor Time with Tim".

Thank you, finally subscribed 😊

Overfilled can be just as bad as not enough, overfilling can cause cavitation in the system

Yes, that is exacerbating, but not necessarily exasperating!

my tractor has a glass. easy to spot the level with a hand pump and watching it (and watching and watching and watching....) the problem is every attachment and even the 3 point at different heights changes the level - buckets, backhoes, grapples, height of 3pt implement, etc. if filled to "right" height it is unhappy when working and needs more fluid but change configuration and it is unhappy it has too much - ugh

I'm not sure which other Kubota models employee the sight glass, but my l2501 combined with clear udt can be some fun😉

Nice One Neil Thanks again

Exasperated some of the leaking? Perhaps exacerbated? :)

Is there something that can be put in the oil to make it easier to see? ?

Nice reminder.

we had that problem Niel with a sightglass, why don't Kubota put a dye in it.

Kubota should have a better dip stick, something painted a flat black with hatch marks. I have 2 Kubotas that use the same hydraulic oil and is very hard to see the stick especially when you are older.

Deere offers a dye to make their hydraulic fluid colored.. I'm sure others have dye that makes it easier to see that's compatible with Kubota fluids.

Is there some kind of dye you could safely add to the oil? My tractor's dipstick was dry when it was delivered. Not buying from them again...

Only tip I've been told that helps you see hydraulic oil level on Kubota's dip sticks is to take a hack saw and score "X's" or hash marks on the dip stick. This helps the oil stick and stay on the dip stick so it is easier to read. Still not easy, but easier... This should be a part upgrade on future Kubota's and is one of my biggest complaints I have with mine. I never feel comfortable that I know the exact level of one of the most important fluid lvls on my tractor...

Love what you do in these videos, but the word you were looking for was "exacerbated" in describing how the problem was made worse....

Get the JD hydraulic oil dye. MT3668. Only check hydraulic dye level with all implements at ground level and tractor turned off

Neil, is there a recommended due for hydraulic fluid to aid in seeing it? My tractor (non Kubota) has a sight glass instead of a dipstick and it is impossible to know if it's under or over filled.

Wonder if the breather was clogged up? Being that old of a machine its quite possible. Although for being a 20+ year old machine that tractor looks to be in really good shape, at least the paint isn't pink, so it must have been kept indoors. My aunt had a VW Beetle towed into the dealership where the customer had hydrolocked the engine. Turned out every time she would fill the car up with gas, she'd add a quart of oil to the engine....the crank case was filled completely to the oil fill cap of oil...several gallons of oil drained out late, and the car started and was fine LOL....overfilling things is often worse than being underfilled LOL.

Neal, several years ago I restored a Kubota L225. Even had paint color matched at PPG. I sold it to a buddy, but if you're interested I can share photos of the end product

I wish Kubota would put a colorant in the UDT2.

Can you add any type of dye to that to be able to see the oil where it's at on a dipstick ? I've heard of some companies actually having a the dipstick a different color to where they can be able to see the oil on the dipstick

Give yer stick a couple taps with a grinder wheel and you’ll be able to see it a bit better.

I heard that Kubota used a dye for their hydraulic oil.

Wouldn’t matt black solve the dip stick issue?

Outstanding, Neill! Not having owned any other brand besides Kubota, does anyone else colorize their fluid?

So I always use Kubota hyd. fluid, but you are right, it is next to impossible to accurately see the level on the dipstick. Do you have any suggestions on how to avoid this visibilty issue?

Should have talked about oil dye. In a tractor site glass you can't tell how much oil you have unless the line is actually in the window (which it often isn't, let's be honest. The world ain't flat). 1/2 tablespoon of dye and 12 gallons of oil is now a nice, very visible red.

when checking the fluid level of the tractor with say a loader attached or other hydraulics should the hydraulic cylinders be retracted or extended my understanding is that on hst models these share the same revivor and depending on the attachment extended or closed could be a significant difference in volume in the cylinders?

Yep, it’s hydraulic fluid, specifically designed to be incompressible, designed to “push”, so it’s going to do exactly that when it expands.

I miss your 3 min Thursdays.

Is it better to check the fluid when the fluid is hot or cold?

In the owners defense, it's not exactly easy to see the fluid line on the shiny silver dipsticks.

Wow, under 3 min, might be a first

Neil where is the shop that you work out of a live in Hartly Delaware and would like to stop by and check out your lineup of equipment. Thanks Matt

So most all kubota tractors and lawn mowers you check hydrostat fluid level with engine off?

Say it's just a hair over the hash marks on the dip stick on. 2021 BX2680? Is that horrible? Overfilled a little with the filter change, as it was pretty low. Thought I only put in a little, but it was enough to bring it to level and be just a little over. I don't really want to open the drain plug just to try letting a small amount out, I've tried a metal fluid suction device to little effect. Other tips?

Hope your employee with an injured foot has been healing.

All gearboxes should have breather tubes in some shape or fashion. If a gearbox cannot breath then it will find a seal somewhere to leak. I have to change the rear main seal on my 2001 MF1225. And probably the mid PTO seal. I paid stupid tax trying to rebuild my water pump last year. It held but recently found it was leaking again. I even wore gloves and NEVER touched the seal nor let oil get on it. Cost $200 to rebuild. Cost $400 to replace with new - always pay more to fix it right the second time 🤦