Distractions led me to falling way behind on these two chores and I had to relearn a lot of stuff.  So here’s a list of notes to aid my failing memory.

Oil change

Try a socket wrench on the drain plug – might be easier to get the leverage-pipe on it.

The tractor takes just over 2 gallons of oil, so a 2.5 gallon jug isn’t enough to do both the oil change and the hydraulic filter.  Three jugs will do both tractors and have a little to spare for topping up the hydraulic fluid reservoirs.  10W-40 or 15W-40 will work.  I’ve taken to using synthetic oil.  YMMV

Work out a gizmo to route the old oil out of the engine to the hole in the bottom of the tractor — it needs high walls around a fairly large catch basin that’s then routed to the exit via a wide path.  Goal is to avoid overflowing into the engine compartment.  Aluminum foil is going to be my material of choice for the next attempt.

Use the small funnel with the long flexible neck to snake into the filler — a single pour is a two-person job (one person holding the funnel, the other pouring).

Pay attention to where the handle on the dipstick winds up on the newer tractor — it has a curved rotating handle.  Make sure it’s rotated out of the path of the hood as it comes down.

Use grass-clippings/sand/gravel to clean up floor spills.

Hydraulic filter change

Use the breaker bar and pipe extender to break the filter loose — it’ll take about an eighth of a turn before it releases and it’s very hard to turn.  Thus it’s essential to know which way to rotate.  Figure out upside-down righty-tighty lefty-loosey in advance.

Prepare for a few ounces of oil spilling out as the seal breaks — relieving hydraulic pressure doesn’t seem to quite clear the pressure to the filter.  A couple rags per filter – one to catch the initial burst, another to clean and hold the outgoing and inbound filter.

Note that the path of the filter out and back in is a little twisty.  Down first, then out.

Use clean oil to fill the new filter.  Not quite all the way to the top, so’s to make it easier to navigate it into place and get the threads started without spilling.

Purge the air out of the system after installing the new filter using the longer one-ended hose so it can reach the reservoir under the driver’s seat.  Use short bursts of crank/run on the tractor where the deadman switch is disabled.