Well, after years of wanting something to help me not end up in the hospital from ranch work, I bought a 2012 Kubota SVL90. I think it fits the bill very well. The good - Pre emissions, new sprockets, very strong, new CAT bucket, pins are in great shape The bad - Hydraulic oil filter says it hasn't been replaced in a very long time , cab version but none of the glass is there, The plan is to replace all the fluids and filters. Is there a easy way to pull a return line to get a majority of the used hyd oil out? Besides for a complete fluid change, the machine is great. 3600 hours but i doubt it sees over 200 a year at the ranch. Anyone know any details about this era of machine? I have searched everywhere and don't see much about them. Also, do people replace all fluids with Kubota branded stuff? Or are there other options? Looking forward to not having to do everything by hand.
I have oils and coolant samples done through the CAT dealer (they utilize a CAT lab in their dealer network) in our area. For about $15, a person can learn quite a bit about the fluid.
Thanks for the input. I may do that. Based on the samples, can preventative maintenance be done, or would it just tell you that something is already bad?
The folks who manage these oil sample programs will prefer these samples are taken regularly for trending. Two tales: When I first got my sample bottles and the vac pump and the labels, I was in the midst of purchasing a 4WD skip loader. It was Sunday afternoon, the phone was still....too late to start anything, too early to get dinner.....so I decided what the hek, just sample all the 'compartments'. Took 'em all and then dropped 'em off next am at the CAT dealer. Next day, stopped at my office and there was this fax with a big URGENT on the paper....took a bit to digest the numbers - but not that long - the front axle (w the ring pinion and diff $$$) had greatly exceeded the Particle Count. The rental yard refused to address the repair, deal was terminated, deposit refunded promptly & the manager had 'em pick it up and send it off the Auction. On another event, I had the radiator rebuilt on the Intl DT466 dump truck, put in the new green coolant and sent a sample off for 'baseline analysis'. Results came back - needs corrosion inhibitor. Being perplexed as to how in the hay could New coolant have none, I called the lab: they splained how the new surface likely grabbed the chemical - duh.
Good info, thanks For that little of cost I will plan on doing that.
I have a SVL-90 with 1000 easy hours and well maintained. There are numerous hydraulic filters. There is a very fine screen in the tank that gets overlooked. It is a great machine, stupid simple but parts are damn expensive. I would change all the fluids and filters to be safe. You don't want to shell a pump or drive. Don't forget the finals. I use only Kubota ISO 46 in the hydraulics. I have always used OEM filters but some of the last Kubota filters say "made in China". They didn't pass any savings on to me for the cheap slave labor. Some of the SVL-90'shad a recall on hydraulic hoses and a hydraulic suction tube. You might check on that with a competent dealer. Let me know if I can help. I'm probably not far from you.
I maintain one for a customer. Its been a good machine. For a compact machine they are not bad to work on. There are 4 if I remember correctly bolts that you take out then the rad pulls away from the engine and then lays down at an angle making for better engine bay access. I have the manuals for it if you need them.
This is great info. Thank you, i got it home today and started changing all filters and fluids. Everything is being replaced, down to the coolant. I agree the parts have been expensive, I may switch away from using Kubota parts and filters on the next go around but for the first time I'll go OEM. The biggest pain today was the hydraulic filter, the one outside the tank, the two in the tank were easy. I'm north of San Antonio. Went and picked it up from Dallas this morning.
I got the rad to lay down. That does really help with getting to the oil and fuel filter. The manuals would be great to have if you don't mind. Thanks!
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Got everything changed today, excluding the antifreeze. Couldn't find the drain plug, but probably easier to pull the lower hose anyways. It made light work of the things i needed to do. It will be a great addition to have on the ranch. Unfortunately i spent a couple hours pressure washing it just to have a fuel hose pop off and spray diesel everywhere. Will have to get some better hose clamps
Well, not off to a good start. To begin, as said before, the fuel line popped of the pressure side of the primer pump. I put the hose back on. After the line popped off it had some infrequent stuttering like it was starving for fuel. The frequency increased and finally the fuel pump died. I replaced the fuel pump. However, the stuttering is still happening. Thought 1 is that the pickup from the tank is such that it is sucking air, as it only happened after draining the tank down from full to about half. I am going to try filling up the tank to see if that helps. Any other thoughts? I'm thinking I'll try blowing out the lines. Can't think of what else it would be. Fuel filter was just changed.
If it's like my SVL75 and SVL75-2, there is a screen fuel separator on the driver's side boom tower. The 90° inlet elbow gets easily plugged. Mark where hoses go. Remove assembly (after loosening the lock ring). Pass wire, air, anything though the inlet elbow and clear out that passage. Searching "3972" on this site will find you pics and stories. That's the inline screen that I add prior to that separator. This one has the best pics. SVL75-2 Motor revs up and down, bogging Hi, I'm having an issue with my SVL75-2. Here's a link to a video showing the revs issue - this was at 90% throttle, it just bogs down, feels like it's about to stall, then picks back up again for a short time and then bogs down again. Because of this issue I got the air and fuel filters... HeavyEquipmentForums
Are you referring to the water fuel separator bowl (the screen inside this)? This is actually bypassed right now as the bowl cracked for previous owner, i have a new one on order
Thanks for the alt thread. I like your theory, and I will be adding your inline filter. I'll probably do it right at the fuel tank outlet (under cab). But for the problem at hand, the fuel water sep is bypassed already.
If the separator is already bypassed, I'd be inspecting the connection where it used to be (hose splice?) and the next inlet, which, I suppose is the electric pump.
Well. Closing the loop. Turned out it was a DOA fuel pump. Replaced with yet another new fuel pump and it works like a charm. Added the inline filter to protect the pump as well.
I have a 2015 SVL 90-2 with about 600 hours on it; has been a great ranch machine with plenty of power for everything I have asked it to do. I found Coleman Equipment in Kansas to be the most reasonable source for OEM filters I use Rotella 15W40 motor oil, as it is the recommended weight and I run it in most of the engines on the ranch
It really is amazing what these machines can do. I'm happy to pay for $3.50 diesel with the amount of work this can accomplish. I have seen Coleman Equipment. I will probably move to cross referenced filters on the next change anyways. And ya I keep several 5 gallon buckets of Rotella around for the truck, tractor, skidsteer, generator etc etc. It goes in everything.
There is a access panel on the front of the machine and a hose to drain the hydraulic tank. Anything else you want to know just ask, they are really good machines. They have a 90 HP rating and have the V3800 engine in them.
Most OEM filters be it CAT, Bobcat, Kubota or CNH are usually made by Donaldson. That being said some companies like Bobcat have deals with Donaldson where you can only buy the fuel filters through a Bobcat dealer. All Kubota construction equipment runs a AW 46 Hydraulic fluid. All though not stated from Kubota but it recommended is that if you have a Tier IV machine run a ULS ( Ultra Low Sulfar) oil. The sulfur is regular 15w 40 can clogg up the DPF over time and make your machine want to regen more. Also the fuel lift pump on SVL 90's - SVL 97's have a screen filter that needs to be cleaned out every so often. As far a parts price goes because almost all CAT compact construction equipment runs Kubota engines some things are cheaper at the CAT dealer. Case in point is fuel injectors we needed some at the shop and our price as a Kubota dealer was $1,000 a piece from Kubota the local CAT dealer they were $300 out the door.
This is for a SVL 75 and SVL 95 but this fuel update kit will fit the SVL 90. It is far superior to the old style but I believe it is about $1,000 for the kit. It does sound like a lot but the injectors are $1,000 each and the common rail is about $1,300 and the high pressure fuel pump is over $4,000.
Thanks for the insight. Definitely useful information.
Maybe it would be best to start a new thread, but I'll start here. Should a tracked machine be able to spin the tracks when pushing against an immovable object? I don't necessarily want to be able to spin the tracks, just more wear. But currently it does not, and I'm curious if something is out of adjustment.
My SVL-90 will definitely spin the tracks with enough throttle which I try to not do. Also steers better before the hydraulic oil gets hot and thins out especially with a loaded bucket. I think that is common on hystat machines.
Thanks for the input. I have no issue steering hot or cold. It takes almost full throttle to rotate in place. But I assume that is normal. I'll have to look at the procedure to check pressure to the drive motors. I guess the hyd pump can be minorly adjusted. But if its been like this for 3800 hours then maybe it is best to leave it.