TC 26 HST Squeal When Cold

[Nick220]

I have a 2007 TC 26 with a little over 200 hours and when the outside temp gets below around 40F I get a squealing when moving forward or reverse. It goes away after I've been using the tractor for a while. Letting the tractor warm up by idling in neutral doesn't help.

The dealer said I need different hydraulic oil, but this didn't happen the first two winter's I've had it and this dealer likes to sell kubota oil. The dealer also suggested changing the HST filter and the hydraulic filter. I changed the HST filter, but not the hydraulic filter yet. And I changed both filters at 50 hours.

Since changing the HST filter didn't help, will changing the hydraulic filter do any good? Maybe I should just go ahead and change it, but don't want to waste a new filter if it won't help.

I think (guess) the squeal is coming from a pressure relief valve, but not sure.

Any help will be greatly appreciated as this drives me nuts when it's happening. And it's snowing hard today so I've got to move a lot of snow later.

Thanks, Nick

[wrenchguy]

While your tractor is a Class 1 frame size,this is familiar problem in the Class 2 tractors. It's usually remedied by greasing the front driveshaft tube. This may not be your solution but it's a quick,cheap check.

This info is based on the assumption that your tractor is 4x4.

[Nick220]

That was it wrenchguy.

That squeal was driving me crazy and I never would thought such a high pitched sound would come from the driveshaft. After I got down under there and looked I could see I'd never greased that fitting. I bought the tractor with 30 hours on it and the fitting was covered in grease and caked dirt, and I never saw it before. I always wipe the fittings clean after greasing, so I know I'd never greased it. Good thing you clued me in before something let go.

Thanks very much!

Nick