That is how I was originally bleeding the system. I would remove hose, start tractor, fluid would start to cough out in about 1 minute then turn to full flow. I would then shut tractor off, re attatch hose and fill fluid to correct level. It would work fine for 2-3 days. I do also see air bubbles on dipstick. I have 2 hydraulic filters side by side near transmission, are these the filters you are refering to or is there an internal filter/screen? I parked tractor over white board in my garage to look for drips overnight and found 1 drop from steering cylinder. Barely visible.