Strange tractor issue

[yoderjac]

I've got a real strange issue with my old Kioti DK45. It has had a small engine oil leak for a long time. The shop said that it would be a very expensive repair because of the location of the leak and it probably was not worth fixing and that I should just keep an eye on the oil level.

The tractor was working fine this fall when I stored it in the barn. I did not do any hunting at the farm after Muzzleloader season started. One of my partners texted me and said there was a huge oil like under my tractor. I was busy at the time and did not get a chance to get out there. While I was at the farm today to meet with the certified burner, I checked out the tractor. There was more oil on the floor than usual and it seemed like hydraulic oil. I assumed the engine oil leak would not get any worse with the tractor just sitting all winter and assumed some vermin chewed through a hydraulic hose or something.

When I checked the levels, the engine oil as slightly over full so I'm sure that is not the issue. But for the life of me, I could not find the hydraulic leak. The hydraulic level was low but still on the low mark on the stick. I started up the tractor and it started fine. I was able to lift the 3point (nothing on it) with no problem. When I got back under it I saw no additional oil leaking.

I did not have time to operate the tractor or diagnose it further. The good news is that I'm sure I'll be able to operate it enough to load it on the trailer and take it into the shop if necessary. Hopefully when I have time I'll be able to diagnose it myself.

Any other thoughts on likely causes or simple diagnostic steps would be welcome! I'll need to deal with it soon so I can disk for the upcoming controlled burn.

 

[Jerry-B-WI]

I think there's dye you could put in the hydraulic reservoir. Then use a black light to find your leak.

 

[yoderjac]

I think there's dye you could put in the hydraulic reservoir. Then use a black light to find your leak.

Good idea. One would think the leak with that much fluid on the floor would be obvious. If I can't find it, dye might be a good tool.

 

[buckdeer1]

You have to get the dye for which fluid you are looking for,maybe not each type of fluid but I believe oil VS Hydraulic.I would fill hydraulic up if on low side and move tractor a little bit or put cardboard down so you can see if thats whats leaking

 

[yoderjac]

Good to know about the dye. I was thinking the same thing about the cardboard. I can see a hydraulic drip from a large nut under the tractor, but you can see fluid is traveling from somewhere to that nut. There is some kind of shield plating and there is a lot of hydraulic around that so I'm sure the source is draining to that nut and dripping from there.

But the cardboard may still be a good idea in case there is more than one leak.

Just from looking at the fluid, I'm pretty convinced it is hydraulic. It is clearer than engine oil usually is, but I can't remember when I last changed the oil so the engine oil could be new. However, I'm seeing some yellowing of the oil in places on the floor.

I think you are right that if I fill the hydraulic, I'll probably see the leak get active. The tractor had been sitting for 3 months before I started it, so I'm guessing the hydraulic leaked down to a point of equilibrium.

 

[M. R. Byrd]

Leaks show up good on blue shop towels placed where you think there might be a leak.

 

[yoderjac]

Yep, but the problem with leaks is liquid will travel laterally as long as there is a little pitch. This is one of the reasons we put a full basement on our new retirement home. All the plumbing is on the first floor and goes laterally in the unfinished basement. So, when I get a leak, I will know where it is coming from. It is pretty obvious where the tractor was dripping from.

Maybe if I get under there and wipe everything down first and then put the blue paper towels or something up under parts of the frame before adding hydraulic fluid, I'll find it. I picked up a couple gallons of ISO 46 yesterday. It is supposed to warm up a bit tomorrow, so I'm planning on headed to the farm to work on it.

 

[yoderjac]

Well, I figured I'd report back although I don't have much more insight. I headed to the farm on Saturday. My plan was to hook up the fire disk and test it out to stress the tractor and see if I could find the leak. I added hydraulic to bring the level up to the mid-point between the lines on the stick. I hooked up the disk and headed out of the barn to fuel up the tractor. I immediately noticed the front right tire was not only flat, it had lost the bead!

I spent the next hour or so fighting it trying to get the bead to pop back in with no luck. I finally gave up and pulled the wheel and loaded it in the back of my car. A I was getting ready to leave, my neighbor stopped by and asked when we were going to help him fell a dead oak. I told him I was dead in the water for my plan today, so now was as good as anytime. When he heard what happened, he suggested a ratchet strap. We took the wheel to his place and sure enough the ratchet finally popped the bead back in place.

By now, I was committed to help him with the oak. I put some pressure on it with the excavator while he cut it. He did not cut it evenly enough and it spun and fell about 90 degrees from our intended path. It made it most of the way down but got stuck in the V of another oak. I spent the afternoon lift the tree from both sides high enough for him to cut firewood sized logs. I then used the excavator to load the kioti bucket with wood. With 3 to 4 logs per trip, it took quite a while to get all the wood to him, but it worked out for me because this put enough stress on the tractor hydraulics that if they were going to leak significantly I would know it.

When I put the tractor up I put cardboard under it again. There were no immediate drips. So, I'll keep an eye on it, but for now, I'm assuming it has a very slow hydraulic leak and the large amount of hydraulic on the barn floor was simply from the amount of time it sat during the winter.