Changing hydraulic fluids - HUGE drain pans?

[Fixemall]

I get five gallon soap buckets from the dumpsters at restaurants, they are square and have good lids, I set four of them in a plastic childs swimming pool that I found on the side of the road. I pull the drain plug and rotate the whole thing as the buckets get full then, replace plug and pull the whole thing out from under the machine without a drip on the shop floor.

 

[rsewill]

I suppose you could put together a petcock system and have a fitting that will accept a hose. If you don't trust the petcock to hold up then just do a fast exchange with the drain plug. You could even have a petcock on the far end of the hose for easy swapping of buckets. If the hose is long enough (and clear for observation), you could stick it deep into the very last pail so it acts as a siphon. Or just use a small drain pan to catch the last of the oil.

I just changed out 25 gallons from my Deere 4100 which holds about three gallons. Well, I did multiple changes because it had a lot of water in the hydro, the fluid was still white after the second drain. I recently bought the machine so I don't know how it got so much water into it. Eight changes later the fluid looks good. Much cheaper and far easier to repeatedly flush the system than to split the machine. I used a five gallon pan with a spout sold as an antifreeze drain pan.

 

[Jay4200]

JFTR, I did finally change the transmission fluid on my L4200. I ended up using four 5 gal buckets that I cut down to ~3gals each. The tractor has 2 main drain plugs, and two little ones for the rear end, so I could double up on the main plugs.

I'm glad I didn't attempt the 'put the plug back in' system. First, putting it back in would've been close to impossible - I would've been covered up to the shoulder. Most importantly though, I dropped one of the big plugs into the drain bucket when it first started. If I was counting on that plug to stop the flow, I would've been screwed.

I only had to do the quick switcheroo for one of the drain buckets under the big plugs, which made a bit of a mess since I waited too long and let it fill a little high. Also, when you pop the little ones on the rear end, oil shoots sideways better than a foot, so it's a guessing game exactly where to put the bucket. That made another little puddle on the floor. All in all though, it was fairly effortless and took a grand total of about 5 minutes.

Interestingly, the drained fluid had no less than 900 hours on it that I knew of (possibly as much as 1600+ hours), and it looked exactly the same as the new fluid I put back in. AND it starts at 15F w/o glow plugs. My tractor is f'n awesome!

JayC

 

[Mace Canute]

Some of you guys like to make it a hard job. All you have to do is take a hose off and use the tractors own system to pump the oil out. With the amount of fluid circulating in the system during normal use, there won't be anything in the sump that hasn't already been pumped through the filter on your return line to the reservoir. You just have to watch carefully and when the stream of oil falters, shut the tractor off. Then if you want you can drain what little is left in the sump. After that, just reattach the hose, install a new filter and fill it up. Easy peasy...

 

[Baby Grand]

The Plant Manager generously donated one of her clothes storage bins. It's an almost clear plastic rectangular Rubbermaid type thing with a lid that snaps on top. Took my full 11 gallons with room to spare. I think it would hold 15 - 20 gal if you consider 1 gal to roughly equal a 6" cube. When I'm done with it, I snap the lid on it and up in the loft it goes for another 300 hrs. This keeps it clean, except for a little UDT, which helps giving the oil a visual look-see after draining. Also makes the "sniff test" a bit more definitive.

 

[Gordon Gould]

This is my method. Put a shower drain in a gavanized pan I had. 20 gal - no problem.

 

[rsewill]

This is my method. Put a shower drain in a gavanized pan I had. 20 gal - no problem.

Nice setup!!

 

[Soundguy]

13g of hydro oil in my NH 7610s.. sheesh.. talk about bucket brigade!


soundguy

 

[Redbug]

Used hydraulic and motor oils make great starter fluids for my wood stove. I use about a half gallon poured on the wood with some newspaper and have a good fire going in no time. No more fooling around trying to get the fire started anymore...

 

[WilliamBos]

Trans holds 31L. Cut the bottom 1/3 off a plastic barrel, slip it under tractor, and good to go.