Servicing Equipment

(post by Jason) I spent most of today oiling, greasing and servicing nearly every piece of equipment on this farm that has an engine. This doesn’t sound epic and really it wasn’t that bad. However, it is quite a bit more involved that it might at first appear, thanks to the number of pieces of equipment to be serviced and the number and quantity of oils, filters and greases it requires.

The first thing on the agenda is to find a clipboard and some lined paper. When I’m walking around checking equipment I can make notes as to what filters and fluids I need as well as any other wear items that may need to be replaced. To give you some idea of how involved it is here is what’s required to service our Kubota ZD326 zero turn diesel lawnmower. 1 – oil filter, 2- fuel filters, 2-hydraulic drive filters, 4 quarts 15W40 motor oil (on hand) , 12 quarts hydraulic fluid (on hand) , 1 – outer air filter, 1- inner air filter, one new engine oil drain plug (bolt head stripped). The Kubota RTV900 had a similar list. So did the M4950 loader tractor, the small B7100 and the big Ford loader tractor. Once the list of required items has been compiled I head out the driveway to various farm equipment parts places to assemble the list. Again this isn’t hard,but thanks to multiple stops and a fifty mile round trip to get to each required stop it is time consuming. I don’t think I have ever come home with everything correct on my list in the first round of stops, not one time in all the years I have been farming. I left the farm at 9 am and it took until slightly before noon to assemble my list and make my way home. After a quick bite to eat I started to work on servicing equipment. Today was another hot and humit day which meant I was sweating before I even get started. The good part is that servicing stuff is pretty easy most of the time. I’ve done it long enough and often enough that there are few unpleasant surprises awaiting me. I already know that putting new in line fuel filters on the lawnmower is not going to be any fun, but today it got done with minimal cursing and much sweating. The stripped bolt head on the engine oil drain plug (ZD 326) was a proper bugger to get off. By the time I got it done I was covered in oil and it looked like I had rolled in dirt ( I promise I hadn’t). Most of the filters got replaced quickly and easily. As is always the case a few parts were incorrect, including the new oil drain plug (!), the outer air filter on the RTV 900 and the key I ordered for the B7100. Fortunately these are all Kubota parts, and since one of my neighbours is a Kubota mechanic at the dealer in question I just called him and asked if he could bring the messed up parts I needed home with him after work. He was kind enough to oblige me, and as of this evening all the orange stuff on the farm has been serviced, except for an oil change on the M4950DT. One more day of servicing equipment and if all goes well we should be in good shape heading into the fall and winter.

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Dawn, Cinnamon, Calimba and MyLight waiting for breakfast