2305 hydraulic question

absrio · Jun 1, 2009

I picked up my 2305 last August and have the 62" deck and independent lift. I did the 50 hour service including changing out the hydraulic oil. The oil level is 1/2 to 3/4 in the sight glass. When I first start up the 2305 the independent lift will lift the deck at idle. After mowing for an hour it will no longer lift the deck and idle and requires more throttle. I never noticed this with the red fluid and seems to be happening when its over 80 degrees. I have yet to put the 200cx back on to see how it operates when the oil temp gets higher. I did check and my fan is running underneath. Any thoughts on this.

orlo · Jun 1, 2009

I didn't know either of the fluids were 'red'. But I run the low-vis in my 2305 and have occasionally run in the 90's and even hotter with no issues. I'm in VT/MA and in VT all they run is low-vis. I've only been running the hydraulic lift for a year and have had no issues with it but I've had the tractor with FEL over 3 years and never had a problem like you describe.

Is it foaming by chance when it's hot? The engine should have full pressure on the pump at any RPM, volume should change. Sounds like there is leakage. It would be interesting if you could try the FEL to see if it operates normally when hot, if so I'd suspect the lift cylinder. Does the rockshaft operate normally?

If I were a betting man I'd bet on the lift cylinder. They all have leakage and go down quickly. If not that then maybe the pump but I'm certainly no expert. I'm sure you'll get a lot of info here.

Gizmo2 · Jun 2, 2009

absrio said:
The oil level is 1/2 to 3/4 in the sight glass.

Tractor is not running and cooled down?

absrio · Jun 10, 2009

I have had no internet for the last week. Tractor is after its sitting and totally cooled down.

mred · Jun 10, 2009

I have a 2305 and have been told the "red" fluid is put in at the factory so the fluid is more easily seen. After a fluid change (50 hour) there is less red color in mine as the new fluid is not red. I have a 54" independent lift and have no problems lifting after running the tractor for any length of time. The deck does creep down after lifted but I expect that.

absrio · Jun 11, 2009

I am thinking that the fluid is getting hot and and just thinning out to much. Not very sure. I wish there was an easy way to put on a cooler to see if that helps.

jim2210 · Jun 11, 2009

If you used Lo-Vis fluid, you can add some regular viscosity Deere fluid to help with the fluid thinning to see if that helps. Here's a link I found that will answer some questions on mixing JD fluids and other JD related fluid questions:

https://jdparts.deere.com/partsmkt/document/english/featbene/DKD1801OilGuide.pdf

I found some pretty good information from this link, which is published by John Deere.