Grasshopper 614/Eaton 771 hydro spin-on hydrostatic filter conversion?

[dieselfuelonly]

I just purchased a Grasshopper 614 that has the separate little oil reservoirs and filter gaskets on each hydro unit.

Seems the filter gaskets are basically obsolete as a Grasshopper part, although Messicks and a few other online sources list them for sale, although who knows if they are actually in stock.

Below is the current configuration -

I was looking through the Eaton parts manual for these hydro units and saw that there are different plates available (see page 6 on the PDF below).

https://www.eaton.com/ecm/groups/public/@pub/@eaton/@hyd/documents/content/pll_1623.pdf

I've found what appear to be the "L" filter bases available and the spin-on filters would be easy to source.

Looking at the parts assembly for a 1998 618, here's what the setup looks like for them with a spin-on filter -

Looks like that setup uses an external reservoir that feeds both hydros, with the #2 hydro flowing through into the filter base of the #1 hydro, which then exits the #1 hydro case and returns to the reservoir.

Since locating the port plate for the #2 hydro that feeds over to the #1 hydro seems difficult, perhaps purchasing two of the filter bases would be idea, and would probably just set up a small individual reservoir for each reservoir with a line to and from.

Anyone ever tried anything like this? I know I can probably source the filter gaskets from somewhere, but they're expensive and seem flimsy compared to a nice spin-on filter and is probably what increased the hydro fluid interval from 500h to 1000h on the newer machines.

 

[Tinhack]

Looks simple enough if you can get the rest of the fittings and a tank. I wouldn't count on the filter alone to supply enough oil.

 

[dieselfuelonly]

After some more researching this, it looks as though the setup on the 618 uses either the port plate for a remote filter on the #2 hydro, and/or the charge pump located on the #1 hydro to provide some kind of circulation through the single filter to the reservoir and back. Since the port plate is near impossible to find, and my 614s hydros don't have the charge pump, putting a separate filter base on each seems to be the only way to get filtration through both units. It looks like the bottom port on each hydrostat has a plug that can be removed and a fitting installed to run to an expansion tank. Might have to cut a little on the mount to make room for the filters since the 618 appears to have a notched panel to allow for it. Will post pictures if I can make all this work.