Hello all. I have a L4630 which got some bailing twin wrapped around the rear right axel. I got it cleared out and it didnt leak for about a year. But now I'm getting some fluid coming out of the seal. My question is could I save the hydraulic SUPER UDT2 fluid and reuse it? I could use a suction container and pull it out instead of draining it. Thats 11.4 gallons that would go wasted 3-400 dollars in hydraulic fluid. I'm still new to all the tractor stuff so any help would greatly be appreciated.
Save Super UDT2 fluid question
- Thread starter Fezzik
- Start date
How long til your next transmission service?
You can save fluid by draining it too, just clean the drain plug area and the drain pan first.
You can save fluid by draining it too, just clean the drain plug area and the drain pan first.
For what the fluid costs, I would purchase a new pan and make sure that nothing under the machine drops into it. It might be worthwhile to pressure wash the underneath of the tractor to make sure that it is clean. You can filter the oil before putting it back, but if you are super careful you won't have to.
So is that 40 hours ago or 400 hours ago? If near the next HST fluid replacement interval, you might just replace it. If it’s hundred of hours away, being clean about draining it, maybe filter it and reusing the liquid gold sounds reasonable.
I've reused relatively clean fluid before. I used a couple coffee filters in the funnel to strain the fluid as it goes back in. Makes refilling slow, but then you know it's relatively clean and didn't pick up contaminants from the pan or dust in the air.
If there's glitter in the oil I wouldn't reuse it though.
If there's glitter in the oil I wouldn't reuse it though.
I certainly wouldn't replace perfectly good fluid, be it hydraulic, engine oil or coolant just because I have to drain it to perform some service. If it was good for another 500 hours, 5,000 miles, whatever it's still good for that even if you have to move it temporarily. I also wouldn't bother to filter with anything fine like a coffee filter unless you are really careless when draining and contaminate it. There are suction screens and filters already in place designed to handle anything that would be in the oil, just keep it clean while it's out.
When I recently drained the UDT from my L2500, it was cloudy, milky in appearance. I think that's what it looks like when water gets into it. It was also brownish in color with stuff that, when you swirl it, looked like suspended fines - dirt or moss? Not metal, though.
It's going through the waste oil burner.
Is your tractor stored outside? Always a chance that rainwater could seep in. Or, just a lot of condensation.
-Paul
It's going through the waste oil burner.
Is your tractor stored outside? Always a chance that rainwater could seep in. Or, just a lot of condensation.
-Paul
My tractor is stored inside a barn. I'll drain it and see how it looks. If it looks good then I keep it. If milky or has the "sparkle" then i'll discard.
je1279
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LX2610 w/ 60" MMM, LP 72" Snow Plow, EA Wicked 55" Grapple, and Woods 60" BB
I agree that if you are nearing your next service interval, just replace it. However, if it is relatively new and doesn't look like any water got into it, I would just run it through some coffee filters to remove any foreign debris and reuse it.
kubotafreak
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GRAND l6060, L3560, B6100, gr2100, tg 1860, g1800, g1900, g2160
Automotive paint strainers work/flow well compared to coffee filters. Any fluid will pass through filtration before the pump sees it in this situation. As long as its a clean container to reclaim, and you filter it should be little to no risk. Biggest risk is using a dirty container. You are only trying to remove any possible hair, bugs, or trash from disassembly. Any metal glittering in the fluid was too small to be filtered by the pump filter, so no factor.
People introduce more trash in the sump from checking, filling in the field. Not wiping off the cap before removal, or grass/bugs blowing in the opening. Look at pictures of filters from first service magnets, or rear remote quick connects, before forming a empirical opinion on this application. After the first service, hydraulic fluids only real detriment is heat, and water emulsion. Tractors use a suction filter, unlike say an engine. Trash is captured before reaching the pump or any close tolerance part. The HST has its own feed fine particle filter separate from the sump. The only trash a hst will see is from a filter change, engine hyd pump failure, or it grenade itself. The machine is literally built to deal with trash.
People introduce more trash in the sump from checking, filling in the field. Not wiping off the cap before removal, or grass/bugs blowing in the opening. Look at pictures of filters from first service magnets, or rear remote quick connects, before forming a empirical opinion on this application. After the first service, hydraulic fluids only real detriment is heat, and water emulsion. Tractors use a suction filter, unlike say an engine. Trash is captured before reaching the pump or any close tolerance part. The HST has its own feed fine particle filter separate from the sump. The only trash a hst will see is from a filter change, engine hyd pump failure, or it grenade itself. The machine is literally built to deal with trash.
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If the leak were very minor, I'd just run it to the service interval. If I was to pull it out to re use it, then I would definitely use a paint strainer when I filled it back up. I'd use new clean 5 gal buckets or whatever to collect the oil.