Best Way to Get Hydraulic Fluid into Tractor?

[5030]

As an example of what I'm talking about, let me bring up my dad's old sportfisherman, which had twin Detroit Diesels. These things throw oil all over the place, and I mean right from the factory, not just when they're badly maintained. Where does it end up? In the bilge. Where does bilge water go? Over the side through bilge pumps. There are many, many boats with similar diesels in the US alone. Fishing boats. Yachts. All sorts of small ships.

Big ships and locomotives as well. If a double Breasted Yamaha (Detroit diesel 2 stroke) isn't puking oil, it's broken. Last one I had, you never changed the oil, you just kept adding.

 

[jdmeth]

Does anybody know if a diesel fuel pump will pump hydraulic fluid okay, or will that hurt it? I'm asking for a friend

Pumps it just fine. I had to dump the oil out of my JD 510 backhoe to clean the sump strainer. It takes 15 gal. I have a difficult time lifting those 5 gal buckets onto the platform. I just stuck the suction hose into the bucket of oil and turned it on. I have a HF diesel pump.

 

[jeff3590]

I didn't read all of the replys, so, sorry If it's a repeat. They make an inexpensive pump you can run off of your drill. Needs two female hose fittings. I use mine for exactly what you're asking about and other little things like pumping the oil out of my brush hog gearbox, or oil out of my boat engine. Handy, cheap, reliable and don't take up too much space.

 

[Spike56]

My tractor is back from the dealership. Now I have to change the hydraulic oil. It's around 13 gallons, and 10 of those gallons are in 5-gallon pails, so not easy to pour from. Maybe I should have asked the dealer to do it, but based on what they charged for the repair, it probably would have cost me $250 in labor. Plus another hundred or so for imaginative fees.

How do most people put fluid in their tractors? The only opening I know of is a tiny threaded hole on the rear of the tractor, and it will not be easy pouring 5 gallons of oil into it using a funnel.

It is a pain... for me. I have a cab and the filler hole is tucked up and in towards the rear. It is VERY difficult to find a spout long enough, but I managed and just screw it to the 5 gal jugs. Thank goodness, they are only 5 gal because I have to hold it head high until empty. As far as a pump, guess that would work, but I do not change HYDRO oil that often... Tried and tried to find a funnel that would work.... bought a long flex neck, did not work because it wouldnt stay in place while I poured. Good Luck

 

[Eagle1]

I just make hard line out of PVC to get it were I want and then add a funnel to the end. Pump or pour what ever. Might have to to zip tie it to the tractor to keep it still. You then have it on hand when needed.

 

[beenthere]

My tractor is back from the dealership. Now I have to change the hydraulic oil. It's around 13 gallons, and 10 of those gallons are in 5-gallon pails, so not easy to pour from. Maybe I should have asked the dealer to do it, but based on what they charged for the repair, it probably would have cost me $250 in labor. Plus another hundred or so for imaginative fees.

How do most people put fluid in their tractors? The only opening I know of is a tiny threaded hole on the rear of the tractor, and it will not be easy pouring 5 gallons of oil into it using a funnel.

Break the 5 gal pails down into a manageable size that fits what you can handle, be it a 2-1/2 gallon, a one gallon, or 1 qt size. No reason to have to lift the 5 gal pail.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

Big ships and locomotives as well. If a double Breasted Yamaha (Detroit diesel 2 stroke) isn't puking oil, it's broken. Last one I had, you never changed the oil, you just kept adding.

My dad's engines generally required topping off every time we took the boat out, and the transmissions probably went through a gallon of 30-weight in a long day. Makes me wonder how much charter captains spend on oil.

We had aftermarket parts called Airseps. They went on the air cleaners, and the purpose was to prevent the engines from producing their usual fog of oil. The fact that these things were invented shows how bad the problem is.

But people today think a person who spills a quart of oil in his driveway has killed Smokey the Bear, Bambi, Woodsy Owl, and all the other cute forest creatures.

Here's something else that's weird. I can't put a partially used quart of paint in my county's dumpster, but if the paint spills on something and dries, it's legal to put whatever it spilled on in the dumpster. I can't put used oil in the dumpster, but if I clean a quart of oil up with paper towels, they can go, and I'm allowed to throw out used oil filters.

I should point out that where I live, the actual rule the county employees enforce is that as long as it's in a bag, you can throw anything out. They don't really care. I saw a guy putting a lawn tractor battery in the dumpster, and I told the attendant. He was not interested.

I accidentally threw out a fairly large piece of scrap steel on my last visit. I think it got caught on a bag while I was grabbing them out of the car. They have a special dumpster for metals, but my scrap didn't make it. Strange thing: you can throw out 50 steel cans in a bag, right in the regular trash, but a one-foot piece of rusty angle iron has to go in the special dumpster.

An awful lot of environmentalism is just theater.

 

[Williy]

The biggest thing is the blacktop roads and they worry
about you spilling some oil in your driveway

willy

 

[jjeff]

Made this awhile back with an old gate valve and hose. I used to run antifreeze thru boats to winterize. Easy to dump a five gallon pail into it when empty, plus it was nothing to make.

 

[mmranch]

For working underneath the tractor... I have four 4' pieces of railroad tie. Drive the rears up onto two ties (carefully... always with safety first!) and then raise the tractor front with the FEL and put ties under the front tires. Lower the FEL and block the wheels with chocks (emergency brake locked as well). Makes all the difference to have that 6-8" of clearance under the tractor.

For draining oil... I have one of those rolling oil drain pans (has a hand pump/hose for emptying). Holds 17 gallons. My tractor hydraulics hold 12 gallons. Works great for all the vehicles.

For filling hydraulic & gear oil... I have two of those 5 gal bucket hand pumps (one for hyd oil and one for gear oil). Has 6' of clear tubing with a metal end hooked. You can see the fluid going in and when done can see the oil draining back to the buckets. I just leave those pumps attached to the buckets and put some duct tape around the edges to keep out dust and debris.

All this stuff does require some storage space. I'm always needing a bigger shop!