Well, a little update on the lift problem with our TO35. Today we drained out the tractor/trans multi viscosity fluid from the tractor. It came out looking pretty brownish, but not milky. There was maybe 1/3 cup of water in it. Little history here, when we got it a year ago, the rubber boot for the shift lever was dry rotted so it allowed water to leak in. The seller left it sitting outside, so when we got it, it had a fair amount of water inside the trans, hyd, and rear end housings. We drained & flushed best we could, and got most of it out. Maybe that little bit of water was from condensation? Anyway, the fluid that we had in there was pretty thin. There was some sludge in it, but not too much of that either.
After letting it drain for an hour, we put the (correct) fluid back in, 90wt mineral based GL1 that we got at TSC. This is a thicker fluid so taking advice from John in UK (great guy to give helpful advice btw), we poured in 2 gals. at a time and let it sit a few minutes between each pouring, giving the fluid time to settle in. We finally got the 8 gals in and it was right at the top of the fill mark on the dipstick. Now for the test. Cranked it up and started working the lift with no attachment hooked up. At first it was a bit balky but then it started working ok with no implement. Maybe it had a bit of air in the system? Hooked up the 500lb bush hog and it seemed to lift it pretty easily and consistently. So far, it seems to be doing much better than it was before with the old fluid in it. I still think there is a problem of some sort with the hydraulic system because it pulsates at a rapid rate when it lifts an attachment and holds it up. It should be a smooth steady lift without the pulsation.
We also changed out the engine oil and filter today so it's ready to go. We are going to run it for the next few weeks to do all of the bushhogging at our club, as well as disking & seeding to put in our food plots and grading some of the roads that have washed out with all the rain we've had lately. We will also have my tractor there and probably one or two others to help out with all the work. We're talking about 650 acres at our main tract, and several smaller tracts at our other leases so it's a big effort to get it all done in a short timeframe.
If the TO35 continues to have problems with the lift, we will see if we can "limp" it through the work we need to get done the next several weeks. Then, get down there one day and drain out 2-3 gal's of fluid, pull off one (or both) of the inspection port covers, and see if we can tell what's going on. Thanks for everyone's replies!!
