BX1860 Hydraulic Leak Help

[damfarm]

Hello Team. Noticed a small puddle under my BX1860 while moving some wood yesterday. Put it in the garage to take a closer look and found a leak in what I presume is the hydraulic pump. All implements worked fine even though a quick check of the fluid level showed it was completely below the dipstick. I quickly shut it down; relieved all hydraulic pressure and then jumped on this OTT forum. I attempted to show photos of the leak location to improve my description of the issue; note the area circled in blue.

Thoughts? I've completed all of the routine maintenance on my machine but have not changed anything more demanding than filters and the front end control arms. Not sure if I should just bring this to a dealer or take a crack at this myself. Anyone tackled this issue and can describe the difficulty level? Any input is greatly appreciated.

I love this machine and have put it through its paces; probably above-and-beyond its abilities. I'm hoping to get many more years out of it.

Thanks for the help.

 

[NCL4701]

I’m not an expert, don’t pretend to be, and I don’t have that model. Despite all that I feel compelled to say that thing circled in blue looks a lot more like a valve than a pump.

Regardless, a review of the Work Shop Manual should provide much more helpful info than my ill informed blathering. Link to a free pdf in case you don’t have one already…

https://www.kubotabooks.com/AutoIndex/index.php?dir=Tractor%20Owners%20Manuals/&file=BX1860%20BX2360%20BX2660.pdf

 

[damfarm]

I’m not an expert, don’t pretend to be, and I don’t have that model. Despite all that I feel compelled to say that thing circled in blue looks a lot more like a valve than a pump.

Regardless, a review of the Work Shop Manual should provide much more helpful info than my ill informed blathering. Link to a free pdf in case you don’t have one already…

https://www.kubotabooks.com/AutoIndex/index.php?dir=Tractor%20Owners%20Manuals/&file=BX1860%20BX2360%20BX2660.pdf

Thanks for the manual; it was a huge help. Looks like my leak is at a relief valve off of the hydraulic pump? Still not sure, but any repair is likely above my pay grade. I'm looking into getting it into the dealer. I'll be sure to put the problem/solution in this thread once I'm done with this process.

 

[DustyRusty]

Easy fix, put a 6-point socket on it and give it a slight tightening. That is the part that you remove to adjust your hydraulic pressures. Most likely an O-ring seal that is leaking.

 

[PaulL]

If that doesn't work, also worth taking it off, cleaning and checking o-ring, maybe replacing o-ring, then refitting. I wouldn't go to a dealer for that without having a decent go myself. Main issue will be that hydraulic fluid will leak out when you remove it - so you may need to remove (drain) some hydraulic fluid first down below that level, then do the work on it, then tip the fluid back in.

 

[damfarm]

OK; giving the o-ring check in the valve a go this morning. I may take some photos of its condition and re-post them here. If this works it'll save me a bunch of time and $$. I'll provide an update once my work is done. The OTT forums are invaluable!

 

[damfarm]

OK; giving the o-ring check in the valve a go this morning. I may take some photos of its condition and re-post them here. If this works it'll save me a bunch of time and $$. I'll provide an update once my work is done. The OTT forums are invaluable!

Conclusion. Per the helpful advise provided above, I removed my ballast box so I could get a socket on the relief valve (a 22mm). To my surprise, the valve was loose to the point where I could actually hand tighten about a 1/4" of movement. I couldn't immediately find the torque spec for this particular fitting, so I gave it a modest tightening with my 1/2" socket wrench followed by a refill of the hydraulic fluid reservoir to the fill point. I started the tractor and allowed to warm-up to operating temperature (it was 16 degrees here this morning). I then put the FEL and the rear PTO through their motions and absolutely no leak from the valve. I moved the tractor to a clean surface, put some pressure on the FEL and allowed it to idle for 20 minutes; not a single drip. At this point I'm satisfied that the loose valve was the issue and I'm not going to replace the O ring unless the problem re-occurs.

How the valve became that loose is beyond me; I've never had a wrench on that part in the 18 years I've owned the machine; must have been just from general vibration over that time period. Lesson learned; eliminate the easy solutions first before jumping to the expensive options. Thanks to my friends here at OTT for their help. There should be a way to buy a beer for helpful folks through these forums as a "thanks".

 

[DustyRusty]

You might find that the operating pressures of your hydraulic system have increased and as a result of that, you will be able to do more work with less effort. Now that you know where the valve is located, all you will need is a hydraulic pressure gauge to determine your operating pressures and how to add a shim to increase the pressure. When I had my BX22 the operating pressure of the hydraulic system was 1475 and it it didn't dig very well. I had it into the dealership for some other repairs and they refused to increase the pressure saying that I might break something on the tractor. I sold the tractor shortly afterward and never adjusted it upwards, however, if I had kept it I would have increased it to a minimum of 1900 PSI.