Hi there,
I am very interested in how RobertsMassie2310 made out with his problem. I too have developed a possibly related problem.
I am new to the forum. Glad to have it as a resource. I too have a 2007 MF 2310 TLB and love it. Bought it 3 months ago with a 177 hours and I was told the 150 hour service was done and hydraulic fluid was changed by the dealer. It now has 240 hours on it of hoeing on my completely flat property and it worked fine. Yesterday, for the first time I took it off my property and did some hoeing at a friends house. Tractor was running for about 6 hours... pretty well continuously. Probably 60% digging at 2100 rpm and 40% idling. worked fine for 5 hours. Then I started digging a trench and picked up a pretty big rock with the hoe. The tractor was positioned with front end lower than rear end but only by a small angle. I have lifted way heavier stuff with it in the past so thought nothing of it. However, when I picked up the rock it kept slipping out of bucket so I kind of pinched it between the bucket and dipper arm. I didn't hold the lever on too long so it shouldn't have stressed it too much. Lifted the rock out fine. Got off the tractor to dig in the trench by hand and I could smell hydraulic fluid when standing in the trench back near the rear of the tractor. Checked for leaks and didn't see any drips and thought it must be a normal smell I had not noticed before. Then I moved the tractor to another location, hyd drive fwd/rev seemed to work fine, this 2nd location was flat. The hoe would operate but the bucket curl function seemed WAY down on force. Also, retracting the dipper arm was down a bit on force too. The tractor would still lift the rear end of the tractor with boom down pressure and stabilizers seemed OK. After about 10 mins the force of the bucket and dipper seemed to improve a bit but not what it usually is. It got dark and I had to park it for the day.
Motor oil is now about 2mm below the full mark (like 80% of the way between low and full) and the last time I checked the hyd fluid I took the attached pic. It has been parked in the garage so I know there has not been any slow leaks, no drops on the ground.
I mention the angle of front end being slightly lower than rear end when moving the rock because in this link (
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...ll-hydraulic-function-except.html#post1794359) apparently Kubotas should not be operated with the front lower than the rear for an extended period. I was in that position for probably 20-25 minutes maximum, probably 10 of it idling. Is this a problem for MF2310 just like Kubotas? The MF 2310 hoe manual states you should operate on a flat surface in the safety section but it says nothing about damaging the tractor. Would air get in the lines if operated on an angle? If air is in the lines, will it just cause sloppy hoe movement or could it cause a loss of force on just some cylinders?
The hyd picture confused me... there appears to be a fluid in it because the whole sight glass is yellowish color so I thought it might actually be overfilled... but the window also looks like there is a messy sealant "swirl" on the inside of the glass about the half way mark. Perhaps this whiteish swirl is the fluid? The tractor had been powered off and stationary for >10 hours before the pic was taken so any bubbles should have settled out and fluid gone flat. Anyone else see this in their sight glass?
Re adding hyd fluid, can I use any other type of fluid other than MF Permatran III? Is Permatran III a type of oil or just MFs name for it? I am wondering if I can go to Canadian tire and by regular hydraulic fluid and find a "meets MF permatran III specifications" statement on it....
Hopefully I will know more when I get back to it later today and check the fluid in the day light.
In summary: tractor worked great until yesterday when iI could smell hydraulic fluid. Then I moved the tractor to another location and the it lost force in the hoe bucket curl and dipper arm retraction. At this point I thought I must have had a leak. However, it seemed to get a bit better after about 10 mins which made me think there wasn't a leak. Wondering 1) if my sight glass photo looks normal, 2) if MF 2310 hoe cannot be operated even on a minor angle, 3) if it sounds a damaged hydraulic component.
Sorry for the long post... but I am hoping it will help someone else who may experience the loss... and then partial improvement of hoe force in the future.
