What part of the hydraulic system is this?

[Old Time Mountain Farmer]

Those bolts may be pretty tight. It may be easier to drop the loader and unbolt the frame to lower it so you can get a good socket on it.

If the pipe looks to be ok with no holes and is not more in danger of being snagged, I might would be tempted to get a longer hose to reconnect to the filter housing. Just a thought.

I may wind up having to go that route in the end to get the tractor into a limp mode.

I got the bolt off with an offset wrench, but the pipe seems to go through a hole in the frame of the tractor. Haven't figured out yet if it's even possible to feed the pipe through the hole and pull it out given the pipe's twists and turns.

 

[Old Time Mountain Farmer]

Well I got the return line *mostly* fixed and in an operational state. I bought an entire new pipe and then cut the old pipe and new pipe at the same place, then coupled them together with a 90 degree hydraulic return line elbow.

After the fix and a hydraulic refill I was able to drive the tractor 20ft so it's no longer on the side of our mountain.

Questions for part 2:
1. I had to guess how much hydraulic oil to refill because of the slope the tractor was on. I added 9 gallons. The manual calls for 10.04 gallons if it's entirely empty. I don't think it was totally empty. The tractor ran, but the bucket hydraulics were stuttering and slow. I imagine this is air in the hydraulic lines? How do I bleed them?

2. I believe when I guessed how much oil to add, I may have added too much. The viewing level below needs to be 1/3 full according to the manual. It looks to be entirely full. Does anyone have a picture of what theirs looks like? I believe I need to drain some fluid off.

 

[Old Time Mountain Farmer]

By the way, here is the piece that took the impact from the stump.

You can see how crushed it was.

 

[oldnslo]

Well I got the return line *mostly* fixed and in an operational state. I bought an entire new pipe and then cut the old pipe and new pipe at the same place, then coupled them together with a 90 degree hydraulic return line elbow.

After the fix and a hydraulic refill I was able to drive the tractor 20ft so it's no longer on the side of our mountain.

Questions for part 2:
1. I had to guess how much hydraulic oil to refill because of the slope the tractor was on. I added 9 gallons. The manual calls for 10.04 gallons if it's entirely empty. I don't think it was totally empty. The tractor ran, but the bucket hydraulics were stuttering and slow. I imagine this is air in the hydraulic lines? How do I bleed them?

Typically slow and stuttering would point towards pump drawing air or cavitating. Do you hear any unusual noises when operating the loader?
Normally air will self bleed from the system if pump is not cavitating.

2. I believe when I guessed how much oil to add, I may have added too much. The viewing level below needs to be 1/3 full according to the manual. It looks to be entirely full. Does anyone have a picture of what theirs looks like? I believe I need to drain some fluid off.

Way over full can cause oil to be pushed out vent when system warms up. Not sure on exact operating level but suspect if above window cold you are over full.

 

[Old Time Mountain Farmer]

Typically slow and stuttering would point towards pump drawing air or cavitating. Do you hear any unusual noises when operating the loader?

No unusual noises. One of the hose clamps does have a minor leak. A drip every 10 seconds or so. Could be drawing air through there. I'll see if I tighten it up if the stuttering goes away.

Normally air will self bleed from the system if pump is not cavitating.

Way over full can cause oil to be pushed out vent when system warms up. Not sure on exact operating level but suspect if above window cold you are over full.

Will try draining it

 

[ericm979]

Make sure you're on a deal level surface when checking the trans oil level. The transmission is basically a long narrow tank, and the sight glass is at one end. So if the front of the tractor is just a little higher than the rear the level will look much higher than it is.

I suspect that with the shape of the tank and the slow speed of the gears in it, overfilling a little would not be too much of a problem. The usual worry from oil level too high is that the gears are churning it up, generating heat and foaming up the oil. If you put the front an inch or two lower than the back and could see the level in the glass, it's probably ok. If you're operating on slopes, most of the time the oil is going to be high at one end of the tank or the other anyhow.

To remove the oil I think I'd use a suction device and a hose into the filler rather than trying to let just a little out via the drain plug. I always have a hard time threading something when there's liquid gushing out and I'm under pressure to get it started correctly.

 

[Old Time Mountain Farmer]

Make sure you're on a deal level surface when checking the trans oil level. The transmission is basically a long narrow tank, and the sight glass is at one end. So if the front of the tractor is just a little higher than the rear the level will look much higher than it is.

I suspect that with the shape of the tank and the slow speed of the gears in it, overfilling a little would not be too much of a problem. The usual worry from oil level too high is that the gears are churning it up, generating heat and foaming up the oil. If you put the front an inch or two lower than the back and could see the level in the glass, it's probably ok. If you're operating on slopes, most of the time the oil is going to be high at one end of the tank or the other anyhow.

To remove the oil I think I'd use a suction device and a hose into the filler rather than trying to let just a little out via the drain plug. I always have a hard time threading something when there's liquid gushing out and I'm under pressure to get it started correctly.

Well, I took a look at the sight glass again after I parked it for several minutes, and let it sit on a fairly level surface (as level as I can be on top of a 3600ft ridge) and it looks like the hydraulic oil is actually a tad bit below the 1/3 level prescribed by the manual. You can see the dark line at the very bottom of the glass.

I added the remaining gallon that I had and that helped with the stuttering. I'm thinking I may need to add another gallon or two.

 

[ptsg]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but you cut the new pipe for ease of installment and then used a rubber line to join both halves together, right? I wonder if the rubber hose is collapsing, causing the pump stuttering.

 

[Old Time Mountain Farmer]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but you cut the new pipe for ease of installment and then used a rubber line to join both halves together, right? I wonder if the rubber hose is collapsing, causing the pump stuttering.

Correct, there is a rubber 90 degree elbow joining them.

Now the elbow that I used is from Branson and is rated for hydraulic suction. It's actually the same exact part as the 90 degree elbow pictured here on the suction line. I just ordered another one to join the two halves.

 

[K5lwq]

I am glad you got it going. Fixing the leak and getting the level up should help with the shuddering and slow movement. As said before the system should self bleed but it helps if you will work the cylinders in full strokes both directions several times. It should smooth out as you do that.

Let us know how it works out.