Hydraulic motor help needed

[PTWannaHave]

Is a new motor not requiring a case drain an option...? I would price it out before committing to repairing and modifying the used one.

Seems like that motor was not original equipment for that used flail mower...

Ciao,

 

[ernemats]

The flail mower probably was one that was used on a farm tractor powered by a pto shaft. It was just modified to use on a power trac powered by a hydraulic motor. I don't know what specifications I should look for for a new motor, (size, rpm's, etc.) I talked to Terry at Power Trac last evening and he is to get back to me about hooking up a case drain.

 

[J_J]

A case drain is nothing more than a return to tank.

My PTO flail mower has a case drain hose and plugs in to a 1/4 in QD and all my wheel motors case drain connect to a manifold, and then go to radiator to tank.

My tram pump also has a case drain.

 

[ponytug]

Sorry to hear that you are experiencing a little more than you thought you were getting in for.

By way of background, case drains allow the motor to weep oil internally, and so give the motor a little more cooling, and can help sweep debris out of the motor. A case drain also enables internal seals not to be as rigid. I am not sure what it does for motor efficiency, but it does help motor longevity, tolerance to debris in the oil, and tolerance to shock.
1)

• You do need to hook up the case drain.
• It is pretty simple: just a small (1/4") low flow return line to the tank.
• Optimally, the return line is separate from the motor return line. i.e. not the PTO hydraulic line. (No back pressure on the motor.)

My 1445 has a separate return to tank line; I don't know about yours. (perhaps just diesel PTs?) Assuming not, my bet is that there is a manifold on your front wall that aggregates the returns from your lift arms and the curl cylinder that you could "Tee" into to feed the case drain into.

Congratulations on the flail mower though! Keep us informed on what you decide to do.

All the best,

Peter

 

[ernemats]

I talked to Terry at Power trac and talked to their engineer. Terry said to drill a 1/8 inch hole in the return line hose end and put a 1/8 npt fitting in, then run a 1/4 inch hose from the case drain to the drilled hole in the return line. He showed me that is what they do on their small boom mowers with case drain.

 

[KentT]

What KentT said, x2.

Absent external trauma, e.g. physical intrusion, (stick, nail, etc.), this is great advice.

The bearings, and rotors, keep the axle tightly aligned. So, if you are seeing wear on the outside, there are probably major issues on the inside.

There is not much upside (none?) to delaying a rebuild. If the motor starts shed metal particles, you don't want those circulating to other pumps/motors.

All the best,

Peter

Just a follow-up. The first wheelmotor I had rebuilt was caused by the spring clip that holds the outer shaft roller bearing breaking (into 5 pieces), allowing the bearing to move and pressure to get to the dust seal. When they opened it up, the individual bearings fell out. Replaced bearing and retaining clip, and all the seals. I already had and provided the seal kit. The new bearing, retaining clip, and labor was $85.

Just swapped it on to the PT, and did some mowing yesterday. All is good. Now, I'm going to take the second failed one and have it rebuilt the same way, to have a spare on hand. (I have a seal kit for it also.) The dust seal on it was pushed out so far that I can see the broken retaining clip inside....