Advice needed on leak

[MA1920]

I've been trying to find the source of this leak, but I think it's time to reach out to the brains of TBN. Since a picture is better than words, here are a few .


I tried tightening the bolts that hold the castings together, but they're tight. The sides of the castings are dry, the drip is only on the bottom. I hope I made this clear. Any guidance appreciated.


Bob

 

[flyerdan]

If there are no migration trails, it could be that the seep is coming from the casting itself, seeing that it is right on a seam. Sometimes cast material can be a little porous; it probably that there was some slag or sand between the two halves of the mold that didn't get cleaned out good enough. And if they had to machine on the other side it could have made it just thin enough there that a seep developed where it ordinarily wouldn't.

 

[MA1920]

flyerdan, is there any remedy or is it just live with it?

 

[flyerdan]

First, I would make certain that that was where it was coming from, clean the area again and observe; if it's a casting seep it will remain the same whether the machine is running or not, and seep at a constant rate.
To prep the area, which is somewhat hard to get at, I'd use a Dynafile (small air powered belt sander that's wicked-cool at getting into tight spaces) and dress the casting ridge and surrounding area for a fiberglass patch. Since gravity will be working against you on this, I'd do the patch by laying out a block of wood, like a 8-10" chunk of 2x4, a piece of inner tube or other compressible material which will allow the glass cloth to conform to the casting. Some cling film or a plastic bag so the rubber won't stick to the patch, then the glass cloth patch and resin.
Do a final clean with acetone on the casting just before applying the resin and patch to remove the last traces of hydraulic oil, place the wooden block with the patch over the area and secure with a bottle jack. Depending on how hot you mix the resin, it shouldn't have to sit for more than a day. Usually the cup and brush you use to mix and apply are used as a control sample to tell when it has cured as it's practically impossible to clean these for reuse.
Once it's cured, remove the jack, the cling film should have acted like a release agent and kept everything else from sticking to the patch.

 

[MA1920]

First, I would make certain that that was where it was coming from, clean the area again and observe; if it's a casting seep it will remain the same whether the machine is running or not, and seep at a constant rate.
To prep the area, which is somewhat hard to get at, I'd use a Dynafile (small air powered belt sander that's wicked-cool at getting into tight spaces) and dress the casting ridge and surrounding area for a fiberglass patch. Since gravity will be working against you on this, I'd do the patch by laying out a block of wood, like a 8-10" chunk of 2x4, a piece of inner tube or other compressible material which will allow the glass cloth to conform to the casting. Some cling film or a plastic bag so the rubber won't stick to the patch, then the glass cloth patch and resin.
Do a final clean with acetone on the casting just before applying the resin and patch to remove the last traces of hydraulic oil, place the wooden block with the patch over the area and secure with a bottle jack. Depending on how hot you mix the resin, it shouldn't have to sit for more than a day. Usually the cup and brush you use to mix and apply are used as a control sample to tell when it has cured as it's practically impossible to clean these for reuse.
Once it's cured, remove the jack, the cling film should have acted like a release agent and kept everything else from sticking to the patch.

I won't be around this weekend. Next weekend I'll give it a good cleaning and try to definitively find the source. I'll look into the Dynafile...any excuse for a new tool. On a side note, I like your "wicked-cool" description. Did you ever live in New England? I'll keep you updated, it might be the weekend after Labor Day. Thanks for the advice.

 

[flyerdan]

The Dynafile is a spendy bit of kit, think I paid something like $260 for a used one on ebay. Harbor has a vastly inferior version; I mention the belt sander because it looks like there is only about three inches of space there, not enough for a regular 2" angle grinder.
Based on the shadow, the round housing looks like it might be open on top where it joins the gearcase, is it possible that the leak might be coming from there and you're seeing cast-up? That should cause more mess though if that was the case.
Never lived outside the Pacific time zone, I have read a lot of Stephen King though, suppose some of the lexicon could have worked in.

 

[thepumpguysc]

This may sound silly but u could get a bottle of baby powder & "puff" the area of the leak, to narrow down the origin..??

 

[MA1920]

After we got home from a relaxing camping trip over the weekend, it was time to take another look at the tractor. My sons and I removed the seat, the panels under the seat. We also removed the floor mats and the covers over the transmission. We gave it a quick cleaning to take off grime and dirt. The best we can determine at this time is the leak seems to be originate from one of the lower external buckle up bolts (that's what they're called in the Ford service manual...I never heard the term) Hopefully in the next few days I'll have time to take some pics. Is it possible for the bolts that hold the tractor halves together to loosen?

 

[jwstewar]

Is the tractor a hydrostat? When my hydrostatic pump started leaking, it started coming through the casting like that. Then it started getting really bad and overflowed what could leak our there and started coming out of the hole where the front drive shaft comes out and goes to the front axle.

 

[3Ts]

I'm not familiar with blue tractors, but I would think you have a breather tube. check that to see if it's been plugged. I ended up with a leak similar to this and all that it needed is to unplug the tube - mud daubers had built a nest in it.