Changing hydraulic fluid

[jcummins]

Bought a tractor recently...and the hydraulic oil is a little milky, so obviously changing it.

Is there an trick to getting ALL the old fluid out, other than just draining it? Got to be oil in the lines, cylinders, etc.

 

[Utopia Texas]

About the best you can do at home is to lower any implements and force as much fluid back into the sump. If the old fluid is really contaminated you might want to change out, run the tractor for a season, then change fluid again ahead of any schedule. All depends on age and worth of tractor and how **** one might be about maintenance.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

We found with the old 310B JD backhoe it was very hard if not impossible to get it ALL out. We learned we could crack the drain plug and get mostly clear water over and over after a fluid change. After several blown lines then a blown o-ring where we lost so much it quite pulling (effective three fluid change outs it is not so milking a couple years later.

We did add 1/2 gallon of Sea Foam twice (22 gallon of UTF) that did help remove some water but I would only do it if I was going to be running it for 4-5 hours non stop because it requires heat to drive off the water.

We went to Renew from Warren that is covered in the link below since it is to deal with water better.

RENEW Universal Tractor Fluid