I bought a New Holland 617 new in 07, used it for 4 hay seasons (no hay last summer due to drought). I just serviced it this weekend and noticed the blades on the first two drums were nicking each other when they pass by each other in the front. The first two drums both spin clock wise, as such they already come close to hitting, but I don't think they've hit before.
So, I removed the first drum and noticed that it has been scrapping against the module on the sides. It's not seriously damaged, but that has to be a symptom of a problem. I pulled off some of the other drums and noticed that another one has been scraping as well.
What I ASSUME has happened is the bearings might be going out, but I don't really notice excess play in those drums when compared to other ones that haven't been scraping against the rim of the module.
Another thing I noticed when changing the oil was the gear box and the module drive box were both dry. I filled both up and oil starting draining out of the breather screw, so I went ahead and replaced both breather screws. Oil still came out of the gear box breather but not nearly as much. 2 oz's probably came out of the gearbox after a couple hours of operation, that's manageable. Is that normal operation? I flushed both gear boxes twice, the main gear box oil looked fine but both times I flushed the module drive box the oil came out looking like muddy water or chocolate milk.
So, any thoughts?
Edit: FYI, I haven't been the one using it, it's been on the parents ranch and whoever they have that's been using it has also been servicing it, just not doing a good job.
So, I removed the first drum and noticed that it has been scrapping against the module on the sides. It's not seriously damaged, but that has to be a symptom of a problem. I pulled off some of the other drums and noticed that another one has been scraping as well.
What I ASSUME has happened is the bearings might be going out, but I don't really notice excess play in those drums when compared to other ones that haven't been scraping against the rim of the module.
Another thing I noticed when changing the oil was the gear box and the module drive box were both dry. I filled both up and oil starting draining out of the breather screw, so I went ahead and replaced both breather screws. Oil still came out of the gear box breather but not nearly as much. 2 oz's probably came out of the gearbox after a couple hours of operation, that's manageable. Is that normal operation? I flushed both gear boxes twice, the main gear box oil looked fine but both times I flushed the module drive box the oil came out looking like muddy water or chocolate milk.
So, any thoughts?
Edit: FYI, I haven't been the one using it, it's been on the parents ranch and whoever they have that's been using it has also been servicing it, just not doing a good job.