Oil & Fuel Branson 3510i fluid newb with no owner's manual

[alhill]

Dear TBN gurus,

I'm back again with a few more questions that I can't find answers to by searching. I recently purchased a 3510i from a bank repo auction. It has ~150 hours on it and I don't think any maintenance was ever done (I'm cracking the original paint on each drain bolt that I loosen). It didn't come with the owner's manual, and I can't find anywhere to download one, but I'm finding pretty useful information by searching these forums. I'll list my questions and attach pictures below:

1. Can anybody tell me what the proper capacities are for the Engine oil (around 5 qt?), front axle (I've read anywhere from 7 qt to 2 gal?), and rear axle/hydraulic (8-10 gal?)?
2. A dealer told me to put the same hydraulic/tranny fluid in both the rear and the front axle, but when I drained the front it smelled more like gear oil and I'm assuming that was from the factory. Apparently there is some debate as to what to put in there... suggestions? I've picked up a couple of 5gal buckets of "303" hydraulic/transmission fluid for tractors from O'Reilly's, should I just put that in the back and buy some 80w-90 for the front axle?
3. I changed the Engine oil and put in 15w-40 oil for diesel engines, when filling, I noticed that there are two orange caps labeled "oil" on this little engine. I filled from the top cap, but what is the other one for closer to the front and on the right side of the engine? (see pictures)
4. When filling up the front axle, do I just add oil to both sides and the center will fill up from those? If not, where do I add oil for the center differential?
5. Air filter: whats the best way to get the air filter out of it's cylinder? Is there a trick, or should I loosen the hose clamp, take off the rubber bungee, and pull the whole thing out so I can get the filter out?
6. Fuel filter: this one seemed pretty straight forward and was an easy change, but I'm curious what the petcock is for? I assumed that it turned off the fuel and moved it up 180ｺ before I took off the filter bowl, then moved it back down after I got the new filter in.

I'm going to try to finish the job tomorrow evening by filling the front axle and changing the oil in the rear. Thanks in advance for any advice you can spare!

-Al

 

[Zork]

I used TSC universal hydro/gear oil in front and rear. The front was filled and drained from each outer area as you have done. I do not recall a drain in the center pot. I fill my oil from the top cap and I don't know what the lower cap is for. My air filter is on the other side and can be removed by opening up the clips; yours doesn't appear to have the clearance so it looks like you need to loosen the clamp and remove it as a whole unit (Make sure the water drain is on the bottom side when you reassemble). I would assume the filter petcock is so you don't leak additional fuel/ and siphon back to the tank when you service the filter. The hose barbs on mine appeared glued in and came loose after a few years, you might want to think about a different assembly.
As far as quantity of oil our engines should be the same (I have a 3520) but our fronts are different (mine has spacers) and possibly our rear assemblies are different. I'll try to remember to check quantity or you can just fill to your full marks.

 

[alhill]

Thanks again Zork! I was able to get all the fluids/filters changed and filled to proper capacities. I'll run for a day or two and check the levels again.