Lift quit

[Taylortractornut]

My 3000 lift quit working the other day. My tractor barn is under a powerline and it was damaged in a storm and the power company cant fix it right now. I had to leave the tractor out a few weeks and went to use it and the lift wouldnt work. . The pump didnt hum or sing like it was starved but i checked the oil and it was milky. Pulled the pressure line off the pump and it let a few drops of clear water then oil ran out. But when I cranked the engine over a few times wit hthe compression release out no oil would come out of the pump. I drained the oild and pulled the filter and it wasnt very dirty looked pretty good. Im gonna order a new filter this week from Hoye and a new can of 303. The last 10 years we had it we used Hytran in it. I hope the pump didnt freeze. I found that there was a crack in the boot on the shifter that let the water in the transmission. If its the pump bad I dread gettin the allen head bolt off the pump. This is the first trouble This tractor has had in 10 years.
has anyone here had this happen.

 

[Yanmar Chris]

I'm no tractor expert but I feel your pain Had my tractors delivered this past Monday. It was 5 degrees outside at the time. Got the tractor started the front end loader worked fine as the guy backed the tractor off his trailer. A few minutes later the bucket didn't move at all. Moved all levers and nothing moved.
I couldn't believe it. I thought the guy did something to it and I was ready to blame him I put the tractor in my heated garage and wasn't really sure where to look or what to check. I noticed a dipstick by the shifter. I unscrewed it and looked at the dipstick. It looked milky also. After overnight in the heated garage , I started it up and moved the levers and everything worked again. Not sure but I felt maybe there was water in the lines or something.
I'm curious what your remedies or what you've found out . Good luck

 

[clemsonfor]

chris, i would say yours was water related Milky = water and in minnosota or whereever that pic was i would so some was frozen on the pickup screen or in a line! Change that fluid and refill with John deere 303 fluid. go to tractor supply or nappa and ask for 303 tractor fluid. takes 4.5 gallons so get the 5 gallon bucket and a big funnel!

 

[MJPetersen]

I actually switched to Dextron ATF and I have found that it is better in the cold weather. Tractor Ernie (I believe) does this with his tractors. ATF is often used in hyd systems on construction equipment and handles heat very well. The pump picks it up more quickly than the 303.

Mike

 

[Yanmar Chris]

Thanks for the info