Does oil / hydraulic/ tranny fluid on underside of your tractor bother you?

pharmvet · May 8, 2010

Just got a new to me used tractor (less than 150 hours) . Its a NH TB110 4wd. Very clean. Giving her a good inspection I crawled underneath to look at greasing the 4wd drive shaft. Noticed that there is quite a bit of dust soaked fluid (oil / hydraulic fluid / tranny fluid ??) in the region of the transmission / rear differential. Actually had a drop forming on a bolt head. Is this "normal" ?? Does this bother you guys? the particular bolt in question was a wee tad loose and I tightened it about 1/4 turn. I was thinking of giving the underneath a good degreasing followed by a car wash tx tomorrow and try to isolate exactly where the lubricant is coming from. What are your thoughts on this.

CurlyDave · May 9, 2010

Probably a good idea, especially if you saw a drop of fluid.

I am old enough to remember when every car in the world had oil all over the underside due to various leaks from the engine. I think the Japanese were the first to realize it didn't have to be this way and more or less forced the rest of the world into cleaning up the many small leaks.

I don't have enough experience with tractors to know if that has carried over, but it may well have.

OTOH, there is a lot of heavy equipment which is well saturated in oil/grease/coolant and maybe even a little old sweat.

Bottom line is if you can't track down the leak, keep your fluid levels up and you will be OK, if you can track it down it is nice.

Gale Hawkins · May 9, 2010

Yes it does BUT what is one to do about it. The 265 MF owned by late FIL since 1976 until last year with 1275 actual hours has to factory weep holes under the bottom. They both weep.

On the other hand the old 1983 JD 310B backhoe does not have bottom side tractor leaks like the MF and the broken meter is showing 3x the hours and may have 6x the hours.

Dave is right on with advice to keep fluids within the running range and keep an eye on any leak.

jimmysisson · May 11, 2010

Also you may be seeing what remains of a spill someone had while filling after a fluid change. Park it so you can put a pan under to guage the extent of the leak, and you'll know more.
Jim

Dead Horse · May 19, 2010

Neither of my tractors are house broken. My theory is if one is worried about oil or grease on a tractor, one is not actually using it as a tool it was designed for. My 89 Hesston has 2400 hours and my 3710 has 1800+ hours on it. The both weep oil, and it is worse in the winter when they are cold.

The rockshaft on the big guy weeps and changing out the seals is a big PIA, so he gets a litter box instead. The K gets a bit of kitty litter to keep him civil.

Sawdust gets changed out of the barn floor once a year, weather it needs it or not...........:laughing:

Dusty1 · May 21, 2010

My tractor has been known to loose some fluid, but it's just marking it's territory

. Seriously though, leaking fluid in small amounts isn't bad as long as you keep them topped off, think of it as a constant oil change. Also, the fluid will lubricate the bottom and is a rust preventitive. I would clean it off though and check to see where it's coming from though. Leaks don't ever get better, only worse, but with that in mind keep an eye on it. If it's a simple hydrolic hose or fitting repair just get it over with. If it's coming from the pump or somewhere else nasty just leave it. I kept my pump leaking for a while until it was aparent it wouldn't wait, it was pouring out and spraying all over. It sucked, but was a cheap fix, some high temp tephlon and a bit of locktite. Just remember it will wait to do this until you really need it for somthing, murphy's law.