I drained out about 10.5 gallons. I warmed up my machine, raised everything up, opened up the clamshell and shut it off. Then I strategically collapsed the machine, close clamshell, dump bucket, lower boom. Then curl backhoe bucket, drop dipperstick, drop boom. Before the bucket hit the ground, I asked my wife to hold boom swing control left and right as I pushed the boom all the way left and right. I had new filters of course but planned on washing and reinstalling the screen.
Just before I tackled this, I purchased the JD hydrostatic heating element. It replaces the drain plug. I also purchased a new strainer. I'm glad I did. There wasn't an alarming amount of debris in the sump or on the exterior of the strainer. However, there was debris inboard of the mesh. The strainer has an inner round perforated steel core with a pleated fine mesh exterior. The manufacture of the strainer is such that there is only perhaps one overlapping pleat. There is a gap! I suggest to anyone swapping out the strainer to identify this overlap and install strainer with that overlap end facing down at perhaps 4 or 8 o'clock.