Kubota L210 Headlights

70' to 72' L210 headlights take a bulb with an uncommon base design. The folks at the local auto parts store had never seen one like it. But if you need some, try looking up 6235Y or go here to pay $11.53, Here to pay $1.99, and here to pay 46 cents
It should also be the same bulb for the early model L175, L225, L225DT, L260 and maybe some others.
I wouldn't be surprised if they switched to something more conventional in later years so pull out the old ones before you order. You have to do it from the back of the headlight. Unscrew the three nuts closest to the center of the headlight. Use a pair of needlenose to remove the wire clips holding the chrome ring in place. Be sure not to drop the glass lens. Holding the back of the fixture and the top of the bulb push in and turn.

If I saved you some money, Paypal me some of it.




HooHah!

Oil Change on the Kubota L210

Did an oil change on the tractor today. Most labor intensive oil change I've ever heard of. I have the L210 that uses a removable element filter rather than the spin-on type. The part number for that if you haven't been able to find it is: 70000-14621 and you can find it here. My auto parts store had one once I could knew what the number was.

Have a number of clean rags around and a bucket to clean parts in. You'll need some kerosene and I'd recommend some nitrile gloves to keep your hands clean.

Start with a warm engine, the oil will drain faster/more completely. Put your catch bucket under the engine. You remove the oil filter by backing out the long bolt that runs down the center of it. Don't lose the spring and tapered flange into the catch bucket. Set aside the filter housing, bolt, spring and flange. Then you take out the drain plug at the bottom of the crank case and open the filler cap at the top of the valve cover.

At this point, I pushed the throttle up to zero, pulled the compression release and cranked it over a few turns to push the oil out of the pump as much as possible. I don't think there was a noticeable effect.

Instead of having an oil pan that's removeable, this particular engine has an 8 bolt removable panel on the right side of the crankcase. You have to remove this access panel so you can get at the magnetic plug and the oil strainer. Remove the plug on the outside of the block from the strainer. Use an open end wrench on the end nearest the block to unthread the strainer. Rinse off the with mineral spirits or kerosene. Remove metal from magnet and clean the screen assembly and all of the filter parts with kerosene.

Replace drain plug. Rinse inside of crankcase with kerosene. Splash kerosene up on the bulkheads and scrub off the sludge with a rag or parts cleaning brush. I'm not making this up. The service manual really says to do this, --especially when changing brands of oil.

Once you get the sludge broken up, remove the drain plug let drain. Mop out any remaining kerosene so the crankcase is clean and free of kerosene puddles.

Thread the strainer back in and tighten. Replace the drain plug and the plug opposite the strainer. Check access panel gasket and make a new one if needed. Replace access panel. Assemble oil filter and thread it back into filter head. Spring action makes this a little edgy if you're like me and you live in fear of crossthreading something expensive.

Then fill up with about 5 and a half quarts of high quality diesel spec oil and engage the starter (compression released and zero fuel) until the oil pressure light goes out. It will take 15 or 20 seconds of cranking. Check for leaks,

Then heat the glow plugs, set the throttle, fire that baby up and do one last check for leaks.

How Do You Say "Duh" in Australian?

This article refers to a study of 25,000 Aussies that led researchers to the conclusion that "Money Doesn't Buy Happiness."

Duh... I could have saved them a lot of money. I can explain it in just a few paragraphs.

As explained here, Money is economic power and power is the ability to shape conditions, events and behaviors. Power is a degree of control over one's environment. Power is the ability to create or destroy something.

But happiness is an emotional state. An emotional state that is controlled out of the known and unknown, the public and private, the conscious and unconscious. It is a an appreciation of what you are, and what you do.

The idea that money will buy an emotional state is as silly as the idea that an emotional state will buy money.
Yet in reality, almost all advertising is geared toward the unconscious messages that "if you buy this product, you'll be happy." Even though we all know consciously that it isn't true.

Witness the car snob that thinks that his shiny new car will make him happy. The audiophile that feels compelled to have the 500 watt monoblock amplifiers. The kid that dreams and obsesses over a particular bicycle. These things may provide some temporary satisfaction or a boost in self esteem, but they will not result in real happiness per se. They depreciate and the state of "happiness" depreciates with them.

Happiness is a byproduct of productive action in the present. When we are satisfied with our efforts and our results is when we are happy. If those efforts and results happened to generate large bags of economic power, that's gravy. Things that make us happy for a long time usually are the result of a passionate investment of effort. Happiness is rarely generated by what one has. Happiness is generated by what one does.

A hard working blue collar slob that loves his wife, pays his bills and plays with his kids is more likely to be happy than a self-indulgent millionaire playboy. It doesn't seem logical, but that's because it's counter-intuitive to the id.

Popularity: The Opiate of the Insignificant

Today, someone reminded me of how unpopular I am. Thank goodness! If I were popular it would mean I was admired for the most trivial of reasons. When someone tries to denigrate you based on popularity, you have an instant measurement of their depth.

John R. Boyd wasn't popular. He was hated. He was held in comtempt by his peers. He had a small circle of friends that understood him and his brilliance. By most accounts, he wasn't a very good family man, his personal relationships were disfunctional.

But he did more to transform the defense of the United States than anyone ever and changed the ways wars are fought more than any one in centuries, if not millenia. He is the father of the F-15, F-16, and A-10. He defined the OODA loop and the Energy-Maneuverability Theory. He helped design the US victory in Desert Storm.

He was arguably the best fighter pilot in the history of the US Air Force even though he never got a shot at an enemy jet. As an instructor at the USAF Fighter Weapons School, he had a standing bet that he could beat all comers in 40 seconds or less of aerial combat. He never lost.

John Boyd had a saying: You can be somebody or you can do something. He felt you had to choose between popularity and accomplishment. He felt that you couldn't really be a mover and shaker from within the system. He knew that if you try to change the world, you are going to be unpopular. His enemies made sure he retired a Colonel.

On the other hand you have Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and George Clooney, enormously popular but intellectual and philosophical midgets.

Popularity is an opiate. It makes the ignorant think they are smart. It makes the weak think they are powerful, it makes mortals think they are timeless. The silly followers of outward appearance and chic that put so much effort into being popular are just crack whores following the dealers, looking for the crumbs and cuttings from the players.

John R. Boyd died virtually unknown but his legacy is growing. As time goes by, his principles are applied across dimensions and disciplines unimagined just a few years ago. There will come a time when there will be a well worn path to his grave in Arlington Cemetery. Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and George Clooney? Everything except their screen images will be forgotten.

I cannot say but I hope that if I were to wake up popular one morning, I would seriously doubt myself.