New to the site, just got an old L175 need some advice

[goober]

Hey folks! Newbie here, first tractor I've owned as well, I've used plenty on our farm by our friends who were good enough to loan us tractors but when I found the little L175 for $1300 bucks I knew it was a good deal so I picked it up...

It's in pretty rough shape cosmetically, but runs great, starts easy (which I've found out must be rare), and so far I've been pleasantly surprised by it. This is by far the smallest tractor I've ever used but it was cheap and if I can find a belly mower for it, it'll have a permanent home here on the farm even after we get a bigger one...

enough talk, I've got some questions!

1. I don't know the year of manufacture, if someone could tell me how to figure that out I'd appreciate it!

2. The oil cap tells me 3 different weights of engine oil for it, can someone tell me what I'm supposed to be running, prefer more of a year round oil, but it'll certainly be run more in the heat than anything, I put 30 weight in it (as per the oil cap that's for over 25 degrees celsius).

3. Aside from the engine oil, how many types of fluids are in this thing and where are they changed at? Please include locations of screen-type filters and other things to check while changing.

4. Where in the world do the spark plugs go? The parts store sold me some NGK spark plugs, but I can't find where to put them.

5. That last one was a joke, I hope you have a good sense of humor!

6. what is the lift rated for? I tried to put my big old bush hog behind it and it wouldn't pick it up. There's water in the hydraulic fluid (milky) so I'll be changing that, but at the price of that stuff I'd like to only do it once, so anything I can check/fix while in there would be a help to do it now.

Thanks folks, I'd like to go through this thing pretty well since I'm sure it's been neglected for years. It's only got 1200 hours on it, but looking at the condition, I'm sure it's been left outside alot, and sat for many many months at a time unused. Any other things I need to tinker on while I've got it in the shop before I start working it like a rented mule? I'm very handy, so anything from an engine rebuild to differential work is not out of the question (provided I have a manual).

thanks again,
Goober

 

[goober]

forgot one thing... the lift arm speed adjuster under the seat seems to be frozen, the handle is gone as well (probably broken off because it was frozen), any ideas on how to get that freed up so I can slow down the drop on those arms? If I really take care I can lower them slowly, but there's no way I could do that while moving, it'll just DROP them...

 

[Profnohair]

One of the most important things to check is the steering gear box weep hole. If it is clogged, water will/did get in the gearbox and will freeze and crack the box wide open. And then you are looking at probably in the neighborhood of half of what you paid for it in repairs.

#1 clean out the weep hole

#2 check or change oil in the gear box (If it is the same as it's grey market brother then it has no drain plug so you will have to siphon the old oil out).

I keep a plastic bucket over my steering wheel when I have to leave it out of the shed.

This keeps the water from running down the shaft and into the gear box.

Hope this helps.

Profnohair

 

[goober]

thanks man! it's stuff like that that I need to find out.

 

[tcbro]

www.tractordata.com maybe able to help determine the year.

5 minutes later: I just checked the site. The best they can do is 1973-1976. Sometimes they have a model year breakdown by serial number. Not this time.

Owners manuals and parts manuals are plentiful on the web.

Stumpy just got an L175 and has been doing extensive work on it. He would be a great resource for you.

http://www.orangetractortalks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6192&highlight=L175+rebuild

 

[Gordon Jones]

If you have milky hydraulic fluid, you need to drain the fluid and change it. While you have the fluid out remove the suction screen, It's on the left side of the tractor opposit of the suction line. Remove and cleen the screen. I flushed out the transmission with solvent. Got lots of crap out of there. Lube all the zerk fittings. Change the oil and hydraulic filter. Have fun with your new/old tractor. G

 

[goober]

If you have milky hydraulic fluid, you need to drain the fluid and change it. While you have the fluid out remove the suction screen, It's on the left side of the tractor opposit of the suction line. Remove and cleen the screen. I flushed out the transmission with solvent. Got lots of crap out of there. Lube all the zerk fittings. Change the oil and hydraulic filter. Have fun with your new/old tractor. G

where is the hydraulic filter? the only thing I've done is clean the screen filter near the left foot rest.

thanks for the info so far guys!

 

[gurn]

where is the hydraulic filter? the only thing I've done is clean the screen filter near the left foot rest.

thanks for the info so far guys!

Thats it. You will find a ton of info on the L175 on here. Enjoy and lets see some pics.

 

[meanjean]

The following info is for a L185.
A little bit bigger but the info will be fine.

Tranny and hydraulics share the same fluid.
Standard hydraulic fluid is fine.

Engine oil for above 25 celcius, 77 fahrenheit
SAE 30

Rear axelcase
Gear oil SAE 90

Rear lift weight maxes out at 550 pounds, that's for a rotary tiller.
6 of the other implement specs call for a max of 500 pounds.

Let's see some pics!

 

[goober]

I'll see if I can still access my old photobucket account, i dont want them to have my cell phone number though and it seems like the last time I tried to access it I couldn't without giving the number up. If I can find a hosting site where I don't have to give them too much info I'll put some up!

The tractor is a little rough sheet metal wise and someone got turned loose with some rattle can paint on it :-( they could have done a decent job, but chose not to I guess. I didn't buy it for looks though, I bought it for work!

I drained out all the other fluid today, someone had put automatic transmission fluid in there so I got rid of that and started putting the proper gear oil in it, maybe that'll make the lift work a little better (it was leaking down some, and probably wasn't picking up 500lbs). I'll buy the rest of the gear oil tomorrow (dang that's expensive!) and top it off, then run it around a bit. I don't think anyone had cleaned that screen ever! it was absolutely full of stuff, gunk and metal shavings galore! I also put some magnets on the drain plugs to help pick up any left over metal shavings...

The good news is that I can re-use that stuff! I have always mixed used oils in my diesel fuels, end up buying more filters but seems to be worth it in the long run, maybe I'll add a cleanable filter inline before the screw on filter though.

One more question, there is a bolt near the clutch pedal that I'm thinking is the 'check' hole for the fluid... is that right? I remove that bolt and as long as fluid comes out while it's on a flat surface then it's good?

 

[MagKarl]

Welcome. There a numerous youtube videos on the main page that cover all the new owner type stuff. Walmart is a good bet for diesel motor oil, I like Rotella 15-40 in my diesels. They also sell big jugs of tractor fluid, which is what us with old tractors use. You might find thats more affordable than gear oil.

And you are correct on the trans full level plug.

 

[goober]

thanks again, great to have you folks as a resource! yes, i've watched alot of those, great service this site does for folks!

I'm fairly ignorant about hydraulics, I know the basics as far as bore size versus stroke and all that jazz, but would the higher viscosity of gear oil not make older hydraulics work better? That's why I'm using the gear oil is hopefully to rejuvenate the lift...

I don't know for sure, but I don't think my bush hog is over 500 pounds, hard to say for sure but that sounds like alot. It is a really heavy bush hog, the heaviest I've ever used. when I try to pick it up it'll just start to float the front tires, then the hydraulics start squealing like the relief valve is releasing. I didn't try it too many times ;-) but just wondering if the automatic transmission fluid in the case was causing that?

 

[gurn]

Just remembered there are two other drain plugs on the rear axle to get the rest of the gunk out. a lot of nasty stuff came out of mine when I drained them. If there is a Sams club near you then you can get there universal tractor hyd. fluid in a 5 gal bucket at a great price. I wouldn't use universal stuff in a hydrostatic system but these old tractors do just fine with it.

 

[goober]

Just remembered there are two other drain plugs on the rear axle to get the rest of the gunk out. a lot of nasty stuff came out of mine when I drained them. If there is a Sams club near you then you can get there universal tractor hyd. fluid in a 5 gal bucket at a great price. I wouldn't use universal stuff in a hydrostatic system but these old tractors do just fine with it.

thanks, I already knew about those at the bottoms of the axle housings... got a bunch of crud out of mine too...

 

[MagKarl]

Hydraulic oil is much lighter than gear oil. My backhoe manual says to use ATF, SAE 20 oil, or hydraulic fluid like JD303. My tractor manual says use UTF instead of gear oil if you have a loader. I can't think of a reason why thick oil would be better for hydraulic systems. What's easier to drink with a straw, a Coke or a milkshake? I think I'd go with UTF if I were you and see if that helps flush it out. Maybe check the screen again after you've run it a while to see if you've still got any gunk holding you back.

 

[Stumpy]

Hey goober, going through something similar with mine right now. As soon as I get the engine back together I've got a to see if the hydraulics still work. They were spotty when I bought the machine so while I'm hoping it's just a blocked pickup screen (that thing was naaaasty) I'm not betting much on it with the luck I've had. Let us know what the problem turns out to be, I'm certainly interested!

Straight hydraulic fluids range from approximately just below SAE0 to SAE30. 90 weight gear oil is roughly the same viscosity of SAE40 engine oil. The manual says to use a 75W-90 weight transmission or gear oil (no brass syncros for gear oil to corrode) if I remember correctly. UTF is a thicker hydraulic fluid (SAE30) with wear additives for transmission gears in it. It was designed with manual transmission sump hydraulics in mind and is perfectly suited for this application.

If the fronts are near floating that hog is way to heavy for this machine. You're probably right that sound was the relief valve but fluid is fluid. What's going through the hydraulic system has no effect on it's lifting capacity, a thicker fluid is only going to make the pump work a little harder and make your system a little slower. Not a big deal with a 3pt lift.

 

[goober]

I would figure a thicker fluid would seal better if your o-rings are getting a little worn out, kinda like that motor-honey crap you can put in a car to make it stop smoking...

anyhow, there's nothing really "wrong" with it, just not sure how heavy the bush hog is and if my hydraulics are up to snuff. I'm thinking that bush hog might be in excess of 500 lbs though, it's made with 1/16th inch steel and 1/4 inch x 3 inch structural steel, looks like a beast and while I'm no big man I'm certainly not weak. I can't budge the thing more than an inch or two with just my body.

anyhow, I put the 80w gear oil in it like the manual calls for (according to what I've found) and it seems like it's slightly better, but not much. I have had no problem picking up a large set of harrows (far too big for this tractor), a large solid spring tooth plow setup, box blades, and all my other 3 point stuff to move it into one area, so I'm guessing it's just that big ol' blue bush hog.

Thanks again for all the input folks! any tips or tricks about these things will be greatly appreciated!