Hydraulic system "gets tired" after period of use

[BillyP]

Re: Hydraulic system \"gets tired\" after period of use

Do you know what brand of hydraulic oil is in the tractor? It could be that the person that owned it before you put the wrong type of oil in it.

 

[techinNY]

Re: Hydraulic system \"gets tired\" after period of use

It almost sounds to me that you have an oil breather problem. Letting it sit for five minutes and to have it work again, it sounds like the breather that I think is next to the fill cap for the rear end/ trans / hyd resevior may be plugged. It is a silver colored, about 3/8" diameter part that is usually in the center on the rear of the three point hitch cover. Try running your tractor again to get it to act up, as soon as it does, pull the dipstick between your feet out, then put it right back in and see if everything works properly. If it does then the breather may be plugged.

 

[happycow]

Re: Hydraulic system \"gets tired\" after period of use

Good news bad news.

I think I fixed it /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I replaced the hydraulic filter (recall that the "old" filter had been recently replaced and the system flushed). There were several bits of dime-sized gasket material in the filter. I'd suspect these to be large enough to restrict flow to the point that it causes the system failure. However, they are light enough that they move around when the system is shut off. No symptoms with the new filter installed.

The bad news is that there was quite a bit of metal debris in the oil that came out of the filter /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif Not quite enough metal to make another tractor but....yikes. I got two filters and will probably change this one in 10-20 hours to see if the debris load is still high. And I have no idea where the gasket debris came from (no external leaks).

Maybe the metal is not that unusual. I'm the first owner to use the PTO on this tractor so there might be some previously unused gearing that is wearing in. Then again, I might be trying to make myself feel better.

This could be related to my other nuisance issue which is having the differential brakes (one of them) lock in place under certain conditions. The only way to get them unstuck is to rock back and forth but the tractor makes some spooky sounds when I do that. I'm gonna have the mechanic take a look at that.

Thanks again for the help. On to my next adventure.

 

[jinman]

Re: Hydraulic system \"gets tired\" after period of use

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( There were several bits of dime-sized gasket material in the filter. )</font>

Say what! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif That gasket material didn't just "materialize" inside your filter. It had to come from somewhere in the system. I don't think I feel too confident about what is going on or what happened previously with this tractor. I hope it's okay, but this seems to be suspect to me. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[AndyMA]

Re: Hydraulic system \"gets tired\" after period of use

Jim

The gasket material is one thing. Shouldn't be there but at least it probably won't hurt anything. The metal is quite another thing. I would want to know where that is coming from pronto. Are these wet brakes running in the hydraulic fluid. If so maybe they are coming apart.

Andy

 

[jinman]

Re: Hydraulic system \"gets tired\" after period of use

HappyCow: </font><font color="blue" class="small">( Maybe the metal is not that unusual. I'm the first owner to use the PTO on this tractor so there might be some previously unused gearing that is wearing in. Then again, I might be trying to make myself feel better.
)</font>

AndyMA: </font><font color="blue" class="small">( The gasket material is one thing. Shouldn't be there but at least it probably won't hurt anything. The metal is quite another thing. )</font>

I couldn't agree with you more, Andy. Both of those things indicate something is coming apart. Have you ever noticed either of those things on your tractor when you first got it? I sure didn't see anything like that on my tractor, not the first time I used it or the last time I changed fluids. I am just concerned that HappyCow has temporarily "fixed" the symptoms of something much worse happening slowly inside the innards of his tractor. Brakes that lock up and metal that shows up need further investigation. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[happycow]

Re: Hydraulic system \"gets tired\" after period of use

Mystery (and misery?) solved...I hope.

This tractor does indeed have wet brakes...er... had wet brakes. There are several metal plates that (are supposed to) have brake pads between them. The brakes were hitting metal to metal which should explains the metal and gasket debris in the oil. New brakes ($600 for the set) are on order. Took a look at the transmission and differential gearing and everything looked clean and intact...that was a relief.

Clearly the brakes shouldn't have been allowed to get to this state but I bought the tractor just a month ago and didn't have any sense for its quirks. In fact, there was no overt hint that the brakes were the culprit until we took off the covers and looked at them. All part of the warts and wonders of buying used.

I expect to dump some more oil and filters in the short term to get the system cleaned up.

FYI..a mechanic I spoke with said to test whether or not the metal in the oil is magnetic (it was). If not, he said to look at the hydraulic pump which has aluminum components. Might be useful information to some of you in the future.

Thanks again for all the interest and ideas

--James