Posthole Digger Post hole digger oil level

[twigpig]

I am going to put in a fence so I went to neighbor A to ask about borrowing his post hole auger/digger. He said sure but it actually belongs to neighbor B. Neighbor A has just had it for the last 5 years or so. Anyway I ask neighbor B to use his post hole digger. He says sure no problem. When I pick up the post hole digger I ask neighbor A when was the last time the oil was changed in it. He said he didn't know but it worked fine the last time he used it. I am guessing the phd is about 10 years old. It is a Rankin. I went to the Rankin website and it said it will take 1,2 or 3 quarts depending on which model it is. I can't find a model number on it. On the top of the gear housing there appears to be a fill hole. About half way up the side of the gear housing there is another plug like on a differential. Should I fill it up to the side hole since I don't know what model it is? I haven't tried getting the plugs out yet. I am not looking forward to it since there is rust around the threads. I was going to post this over in the lubrication forum but it looks like they mainly talk about lubing tractors over there.

 

[RancherSam]

on my phd I have a hole on top and a hole on the side. The side hole indicates the fill line, so fill from the top hole until you get oil coming out the side.

 

[Diamondpilot]

You got it right. I would use a 80/90 gear oil or better yet what it says on the web site. If I were doing it I would remove both plugs and drain, you may need to turn the gear box upside down. I would then pour in a quart or two of kerosene and slosh it around to clean it out and let it air dry or blow it out with compressed air. Then fill as you describe. Let is sit for a while then top off. The thick gear oils tend to get air bubbles in them and take a while to settle.

Chris

 

[Soundguy]

I agree with the others.. since it's been a while.. flush it, then refill to side hole with good gear oil.

soundguy

 

[twigpig]

Thanks guys. I don't have any kerosene. Will diesel fuel work?

 

[chuckhole]

My PHD is a Tractor Supply model and the instructions are the same as what everybody has said above. Use 80/90W Hypoid gear oil and fill 'er up till it drains out of the fill level plug.

Both deisel and kerosene will work but kerosene will evaporate faster without any residue. Do you have any Paint Thinner or Varsol? That would be good too.

 

[twigpig]

Thanks for the responses. I didn't clean it out with kerosene since I didn't have any and the gear oil that I drained out didn't look too bad. I put new 90 weight that I had left over from a front axle seal replacement. I greased the zerks and mounted it on the three point. Everything was going good until I tried to put the driveline yoke on the pto. The spring loaded pin was all rusted to snot. I managed to free it with some WD40 and hammer persuasion but the spring is all rusted out so nothing really holds the pin in place. I called the local Rankin dealer. They said there is a replacement kit for this. Has anybody every replaced the retaining pin and spring on one of these? How hard was it? I may have to start a new thread since the heading for this one is about oil level.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Try soaking the entire assembly overnight in a coffee can of some sort of solvent. I assume it has been stored outside or at least with the end of the shaft laying on the ground. I ran into this with my PHD when I bough it used. I soaked it overnight then worked the pin and it worked itself out. I probably went through a can of brake cleaner and WD40 on it.

Chris

 

[twigpig]

Chris
I got the pin worked loose. That's the problem. The spring that holds it closed is rusted out so the pin just slides out and allows the yoke to come off of the pto. Really all I have to do is replace the spring. Has anybody replaced the spring on one of these?

 

[Soundguy]

TSC has at least 1 type of pin / spring kit.. might look there..

Soundguy