L3560 leaky knuckle

[Beebad]

I cleaned off the knuckle a couple days ago to get to the bottom of this oil leak on the left front axle.
Over night no oil was seen the next morning.
Today after i used the tractor i saw old faithful.

Here are the images….any ideas? TIA!

(BTW, those two drops fell within a couple minutes).

 

[TheOldHokie]

I cleaned off the knuckle a couple days ago to get to the bottom of this oil leak on the left front axle.
Over night no oil was seen the next morning.
Today after i used the tractor i saw old faithful.

Here are the images….any ideas? TIA!

I am an old man and grew up with the barn smelling of a mix of fresh mowed hay, dairy feed, grease, and tractor oil. I thought that after cc a hard days work all tractors leaked oil of multiple types. So a little drip doesn't get me overly excited even on my nice new Kubota. Thats my long winded way of saying if its just a little weep and you don't have to top it up more than once
a week why worry about it?

Dan

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

What type of oil you using?
Your manual probably says 80w-90 gear oil is acceptable. I would switch if you are using sudt or similar and would bet leak will stop.

 

[JasonW]

Could be 050 in the first diagram or 130 in the second.

 

[Beebad]

Could be 050 in the first diagram or 130 in the second.
View attachment 177298 View attachment 177299

Have you replace these seals before? 050, i would need my seal puller and my circlip pliers. tap in seals…

 

[Beebad]

I am an old man and grew up with the barn smelling of a mix of fresh mowed hay, dairy feed, grease, and tractor oil. I thought that after cc a hard days work all tractors leaked oil of multiple types. So a little drip doesn't get me overly excited even on my nice new Kubota. Thats my long winded way of saying if its just a little weep and you don't have to top it up more than once
a week why worry about it?

Dan

Well Dan, Welcome to the old guy club! Why worry? or What me worry? Because it didnt come this way from the factory and the right side is not leaking oil. AND, kicking the can down the road like the knucklehead entrusted to use this tractor, you come to find out how I added 2.5 qts of UDT, 3 days ago, on an axle that holds about 7 qts. Call me nit picky.

I think I will ask him if he can find in the manual where it says it is alright to operate the tractor’s front 4-wheel drive axle that is down 2.5 qts I will let him continue to use it. That’s just me, I come here to get help. Afterall we bought this tractor new.

 

[TheOldHokie]

Well Dan, Welcome to the old guy club! Why worry? or What me worry? Because it didnt come this way from the factory and the right side is not leaking oil. AND, kicking the can down the road like the knucklehead entrusted to use this tractor, you come to find out how I added 2.5 qts of UDT, 3 days ago, on an axle that holds about 7 qts. Call me nit picky.

I think I will ask him if he can find in the manual where it says it is alright to operate the tractor’s front 4-wheel drive axle that is down 2.5 qts I will let him continue to use it. That’s just me, I come here to get help. Afterall we bought this tractor new.

TheOldHokie said:

"Thats my long winded way of saying if its just a little weep and you don't have to top it up more than once
a week why worry about it?"

All I can say in response is 2.5 qts in 3 days is way more than a little weep.

Dan

 

[JasonW]

Have you replace these seals before? 050, i would need my seal puller and my circlip pliers. tap in seals…

I have not on that model but most are similar. There are plenty of videos online how to replace it.
Also if it wasn’t checked before the front axle fluid is known to be low new from the dealership.

 

[NCL4701]

I don’t know much of anything specific to your model so take or leave this as you see fit. If it’s not leaking, or just mildly weeping, when parked, yet putting out a good bit when running, might be worth locating the vent for the axle and making sure it’s working and not plugged. I don’t know where it is other than it should be somewhere above the oil level. If it’s plugged, the axle will build pressure when the oil gets hot.

 

[Beebad]

TheOldHokie said:

"Thats my long winded way of saying if its just a little weep and you don't have to top it up more than once
a week why worry about it?"

All I can say in response is 2.5 qts in 3 days is way more than a little weep.

Dan

Sorry, it has been leaking for months and months and few drops or so every night…The last he said to me was he would keep an eye on it. I looked at knuckle a few days ago and nothing has been done to it, so J cleaned it off clen, topped it off (2.5qts- which made me mad..over the period of time ), and today i noticed a few drops having just used the tractor. I am gojng down there to see how much it has leaked in a few hours.

 

[NCL4701]

I don’t know the details of someone else using your tractor, so not a criticism.

This is a typical difference between an owner/person paying the repair bill perspective v non-owner operator perspective. To the owner, “keeping an eye on it” definitely includes periodic oil level checks, topping up as needed, and arranging repairs as appropriate. To a non-owner operator, “keeping an eye on it” too often means continuing to watch it leak until something catastrophically fails to the point of rendering the machine unusable.

 

[Beebad]

I don’t know the details of someone else using your tractor, so not a criticism.

This is a typical difference between an owner/person paying the repair bill perspective v non-owner operator perspective. To the owner, “keeping an eye on it” definitely includes periodic oil level checks, topping up as needed, and arranging repairs as appropriate. To a non-owner operator, “keeping an eye on it” too often means continuing to watch it leak until something catastrophically fails to the point of rendering the machine unusable.

you said it. itsa difficult situation.

 

[Beebad]