Hydraulic oils

[J_J]

Has anyone research the motor oils that could be used as hydraulic oils enough to state what some of the better brands are and why. I remember reading somewhere, that someone had switched to Mobile one.
If you did, did you notice any difference in performance.
Has anyone ever had to clean out the hyd tank, and how did you do it?

J.J.

 

[J_J]

Surely someone has changed the fluid in the hyd tank. It dosen't last forever. If you did change the fluid, how did you get the sludge out, and evacuate the system. Thanks

J.J.

 

[pajoube]

I only have 55 hours on mine so far. Hope some others chime in as I would be interested in what they did also.
PJ

 

[Sedgewood]

<font color="red"> Surely someone has changed the fluid in the hyd tank. It dosen't last forever. If you did change the fluid, how did you get the sludge out, and evacuate the system. Thanks
</font>

When I rebuilt my 1845 I just took the cover off and wiped the interior down with a rag. Evacuating the system was not an issue - it got evacuated when I took all the hoses off. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif There was more gritty stuff in there than I might have imagined - apparently they never cleaned the tank after welding it up. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Sedgewood

 

[duane]

Sedgewood,

After you cleaned, refilled your tank, and hooked up all your hoses, anything special to prime your variable volume trans pump.

Duane

 

[J_J]

Did you say that you reached down inside of your tank. My tank only has a two inch opening, and a drain plug on the side. Did you flush out all the old fluid by putting the suction hose in a new bucket of oil, and running all the pumps and cylinders. I was thinking I could use a pressurized tank of say kerosene or other solvent and spray all inside the tank and then drain. My 1445 must be about ten years old. I don't know what the previous owner did or didn't do. did you go back to motor oil or to mobile-one, or something else.
Old oil in time, will lose its original properties. The only solution is new oil .

Just an experience I would like to share. While operating arould a slope with a creek at the bottom, one of my hyd wheel motor lines burst. Startiing rolling backwards towards the creek, No control, didn't know what happen. Only thing that stopped me from rolling into the creek was a tree. Shut everthing down, looked all around the machine, and found oil all over the front. The hole wasn't all that big, but at that pressure, you can spit out a lot of oil. Well anyway, in
Jacksonville, Fl there is about five hyd supply places within five miles, so I was back up and running in about an hour. With a machine this old, you can expect the hoses to become hard and brittle.


J.J.

 

[Sedgewood]

<font color="red">After you cleaned, refilled your tank, and hooked up all your hoses, anything special to prime your variable volume trans pump.</font>

Not really. I never removed the pump - just the hoses - so I don't think the pump was totally dry as it would be after a rebuild. I did fill the inlet hose before I hooked it to the filter. And filled the filter before I put it on. Then I did the usual filter change ritual of cranking the engine with the bleeder hose attached until the air was purged. Then I fired it up and all was fine. For that first startup I let it idle for quite a while, then slowly trammed back and forth with the wheels up on blocks so the system was unloaded. Then cycled all the cylinders unloaded as well.

Sedgewood

 

[Sedgewood]

<font color="red"> Did you say that you reached down inside of your tank. </font>

Yeah. remember this pic?

Sedgewood

 

[Sedgewood]

And here's one with the cover off, looking in at the three suction ports.

<font color="red"> did you go back to motor oil or to mobile-one, or something else. </font>

I went with Kubota AW ISO VG 46 hydraulic oil. It's what my supplier uses in most everything and what he had on hand. Also a quick search didn't turn up any where near the quantity of 10W40 I needed - apparenty it's not widely used around here any more.

<font color="red"> Only thing that stopped me from rolling into the creek was a tree. </font>

Phew! Your 1445 must not have a Brake Tender. Of course even that won't stop you if the brakes aren't tuned well enough to hold on a hill - and mine are not. Charlie, you were going to adjust your brakes some time back - how did that work out? Do they hold now?

Sedgewood

 

[Sedgewood]

<font color="red">Did you flush out all the old fluid by putting the suction hose in a new bucket of oil, and running all the pumps and cylinders. </font>

No. I replaced every hose that was in or went into the engine compartment (38 I think) so everything was pretty well drained. I decided to ignore the little that was in the cylinders and pumps.


<font color="red">I was thinking I could use a pressurized tank of say kerosene or other solvent and spray all inside the tank and then drain </font>

I don't think that would work if your fill cap is centrally located above the tunnel. The tunnel pretty well blocks access through the filler. Also, much of the stuff I removed was heavy, like welding slag. Plus there was a thin coating of grit, like very fine sand not metal filings, on ALL the interior surfaces, even some on the top! Go figure. This stuff must not have been circulating or the pumps would be history - it must have been in place at fabrication time and stayed put. I'm not sure what spraying that stuff would do but it in a way it might be better to let it be. Of course my tank may have missed a step in the fabrication process and it may be the only one with this stuff in it. Yeah, right. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Sedgewood

 

[J_J]

No, I have never seen this pic. Did your machine come with this set up, or did you do some custom work here? My 1445 seat is above the oil filler cap. Is that the filtered cap you installed? I think I will get one of those for mine. Is that a standard 1/4 turn cap?

J.J.

 

[Sedgewood]

<font color="red"> No, I have never seen this pic. Did your machine come with this set up, or did you do some custom work here? My 1445 seat is above the oil filler cap. Is that the filtered cap you installed? I think I will get one of those for mine. Is that a standard 1/4 turn cap?
</font>

My seat is above the cap too. The original cover has been modified to accept the new cap. The old fitting was machined off and holes drilled and tapped to mount the new cap.

See a catalog picture of the new filler here.

Sedgewood

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

<font color="red"> you were going to adjust your brakes some time back - how did that work out? Do they hold now?
</font>
I did a quick & dirty adjustment under some time pressure to get to a job. They hold much better, but need just a bit more. The manual tells how to adjust them, but doesn't say that you need to pump the pressure up pretty high for each individual wheel to make sure you get it adjusted with the clearance small enough. The tender bleeds down - which will be a problem for towing.

 

[Bob999]

<font color="red"> The manual tells how to adjust them, but doesn't say that you need to pump the pressure up pretty high for each individual wheel to make sure you get it adjusted with the clearance small enough </font>

Probably like a lot of things with PT documentation there are differences in what each of us received. My manual says to pump the pressure to 2000psi to adjust the brakes.

I installed a "service" switch that connects across the "out of seat sensor" on the tilt seat so that when I flip the switch to the closed position I can keep the tractor running when I am out of the seat.

While I haven't adjusted the brakes yet I think that if I start the tractor, activate the "service" switch I installed, and move the Brake tender to the operate position--then the pressure will be applied (and maintained) to the brakes so that they can be adjusted without manual pumping.

Again, I haven't actually done this process yet but I think it should work.

 

[J_J]

You guys nust have a different brake sysem than the one on the older 1445's. I think mine is only used as a parking brake. My brake sys has a rotor with holes around the outer edge, so a sliding metal cylinder slides in the hole to lock the brakes. I don't think it will operate if the wheels are moving.

I am thinking of some kind of disk brake, like on a go-cart.

J.J.

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

Bob: Having the engine running and the brake tender in "move" position certainly should hold the brakes open wide, so you can take the clearance down where it needs to be -- just don't bump the treadle. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

J.J. On the newer 1845s, there is a "Brake Tender", which appears to be a separate product that PT or an afiliated company markets to others. Disc brakes are spring loaded, but disengaged by hydraulic power when the control lever is moved. When the engine shuts down, the lever is centered, or hydraulic pressure is lost, the brakes engage. I really like the system, but it does require tight adjustment for it to hold on a steep hill.

 

[Bob999]

<font color="red"> just don't bump the treadle. </font>

To do the adjustment safely the tractor should be up on supports so that the wheels are not touching the ground.

I don't know about you but I find it very difficult to manually pump the brake tender up to 2000 PSI because of the location of the pump handle. I think that if I ever had to tow I would adjust (release) the brakes rather than pump up the brake tender.