rotary cutter question, please

[Chapel Hill Vann]

I have a new Land Pride RCR1248 rotary cutter that I have just used for the third time. It sits outside uncovered.

When disconnecting and putting it away, I noticed that the top of the gear box was covered in a whitish , milky looking liquid. Every time I have seen that in the past, it has been oil with water in it.

I checked the owner's manual and it says to check the oil level using the rear oil plug. the gearbox has a vented plug on top to add oil(80-90w EP gear lube). It also says to use a suction or siphon pump to drain the oil.

Several questions-
1-Is this water and how does water (if indeed that is the problem) get into a sealed gearbox ?
2- what can be done to stop the penetration
3-should I drain the gearbox and replace the oil?
4-any suggestions about a suction or siphon pump?

In the future, I will cover the gearbox with a bucket or pan to hopefully stop this issue.

Any help/advice is appreciated
thanks
Vann

 

[mcmxi]

I have a new Land Pride RCR1248 rotary cutter that I have just used for the third time. It sits outside uncovered.

When disconnecting and putting it away, I noticed that the top of the gear box was covered in a whitish , milky looking liquid. Every time I have seen that in the past, it has been oil with water in it.

I checked the owner's manual and it says to check the oil level using the rear oil plug. the gearbox has a vented plug on top to add oil(80-90w EP gear lube). It also says to use a suction or siphon pump to drain the oil.

Several questions-
1-Is this water and how does water (if indeed that is the problem) get into a sealed gearbox ?
2- what can be done to stop the penetration
3-should I drain the gearbox and replace the oil?
4-any suggestions about a suction or siphon pump?

In the future, I will cover the gearbox with a bucket or pan to hopefully stop this issue.

Any help/advice is appreciated
thanks
Vann

I have an RCR1884 and it lives outside without issue.

You state that the top of the gear box is covered in a "whitish, milky looking liquid" but you haven't checked the state of the oil in the gear box. Is that correct? It's possible/likely that oil from the gearbox is escaping/misting through the vent and then mixing with water. Perhaps the gearbox was overfilled at the dealer and pressure inside the gear box is sufficient to cause some amount to escape.

At the very least you should remove the oil plug and see if the oil inside the gear box looks good, assuming you haven't already done so.

As for suction pumps, there are numerous choices from very cheap to very expensive and everything in between. I have a really nice one from EWK ....

Oil & Fluid Extractors │ EWK

No longer have to lift up or crawl under the car to do fluid changing. Simply draining engine oil or transmission fluid directly through the dipstick tubes.

www.ewktool.com

... but you can find cheap gear lube type pumps designed to fit a 1 quart container that can be used in "reverse". Most automotive shops will have something suitable.

Mercury MerCruiser Gear Lube Oil Pump 91-8M0072133

This pump is perfect for convenient pumping of your Mercury Lower Unit Gear Oil.  It is intended for use with quart or liter bottles and will fit any outboard or stern drive with a 3/8"-16 drain plug.  This pump also comes with a metric adapter that will

partsvu.com

 

[wendol]

I have had good luck using this one from Harbor Freight........

https://www.harborfreight.com/multi-use-transfer-pump-63144.html

 

[Shotgun Merwin]

If it's newer, it could still have a coating of oil on top of it from the factory maybe, or they just spilled oil on it when filling it up at the dealer, and all you're seeing is just rainwater and that mixing with that residual oil. Or it could be that the vent was venting oil out, maybe because the oil is overfilled. Of course, one of the main reason why things get overfilled, especially with equipment that sits outside, is because water is getting inside the gearbox and raising the oil level. So you'll definitely want to check the state of the oil to see, just checking the fill plug will tell you if it's overfull. Most all of them will get some leakage out of the check plug, but if you get a whole stream of oil that comes out for several seconds, you know it's over filled.

 

[itsaz]

I have that extact same cutter and it was way overfilled when I got it. Don't know if the dealer did it or it came from the factory that way but it made a hell of a mess when I pulled the side plug to check.

Either way, it sounds like yours is overfilled and may have water in it. It's possible yours may have been underwater before you bought it. I'd drain the gearbox and refill to the proper level.

 

[SDT]

I have a new Land Pride RCR1248 rotary cutter that I have just used for the third time. It sits outside uncovered.

When disconnecting and putting it away, I noticed that the top of the gear box was covered in a whitish , milky looking liquid. Every time I have seen that in the past, it has been oil with water in it.

I checked the owner's manual and it says to check the oil level using the rear oil plug. the gearbox has a vented plug on top to add oil(80-90w EP gear lube). It also says to use a suction or siphon pump to drain the oil.

Several questions-
1-Is this water and how does water (if indeed that is the problem) get into a sealed gearbox ?
2- what can be done to stop the penetration
3-should I drain the gearbox and replace the oil?
4-any suggestions about a suction or siphon pump?

In the future, I will cover the gearbox with a bucket or pan to hopefully stop this issue.

Any help/advice is appreciated
thanks
Vann

The residue on top of the gearbox is water oil emulsion. The water is from condensation (in your case, rain) and the oil is manufacturing residue, spillage from filling, and/or breathing from the vented cap. Nothing to worry about.

Of course, the inside of the gearbox is similar and, perhaps, worse.

Water contamination due to condensation is one of the reasons that gearbox oil should be changed periodically. No need to worry, but follow the manufacturer's recommendation regarding change intervals.

Do not expect to keep the oil "spotless" unless you take change intervals to extremes.

 

[Chapel Hill Vann]

Thanks to everyone for their replies and advice.

I did take out the side plug and indeed the oil reservoir was WAY OVERFILLED. Creamy, beige oil/water streamed out for more than a minute.

I have ordered a pump and will remove all of the old oil/water mixture and add fresh gear oil. I will also cover the gear box with something.

Again, thanks-this is a great forum
Vann

 

[jaxs]

You didn't ask but the advice is free. Almost as important as changing gear lub is keeping underside and topside of deck clean and free of grass and caked dirt. Organic matter collects then holds moisture next to deck causing it to rust then eventually break through. Some go as far as spraying underside with oil to farther discourage rust.

 

[Smokeydog]

In my area cutters left outside have a short life.

 

[Chapel Hill Vann]

Thanks again to everyone that offered advice.



I think my water in the oil adventure is over. My wife and I “fixed” it tonight.



We took the top off of the gearbox-- 4 Bolts and a hammer tap and the interior of the box and gears were accessible. We got a cheapo pump (next day A, $6) and sucked out as much of the crappy oil/water mix as I could. There was still a thin layer left in the bottom. We used multiple paper towels to mop around and get the residue and it was pretty clean. The lower gear (that actually turns the blades) is sunken below the bottom of the gear box. There was still bad oil down there and I couldn’t tell how much. The pump tube wouldn’t fit in the space, so we added a couple ounces of new 80-90 gear oil . This diluted the crappy stuff and brought the oil level high enough to again pump it out. Then we started over with the paper towel thing and then add oil, then pump…. did it all again-4 times!



After 4 times of this routine, the added oil looked like oil and we figured that was enough. We hooked the tractor up and got the cutter level. We added new gear oil until it barely dripped out of the side hole. We buttoned everything up, put stuff away and called it a day.



Overall impressions- It would probably be smart to change the gear oil after the next use. The gear box was definitely way overfilled. I bought it new and don’t know if it was a dealer or manufacturing issue. I have no idea how the water got in-the top vented plug was tight and so were all 4 bolts holding the box cover. I don’t think this will happen again.



I have temporarily covered the gear box with a bucket. I will add a cover of some type to my ever bulging “to do” list.



Love our Kubota



Vann

 

[jyoutz]

I had the same issue with my Landpride 2072 cutter and it was milky in the gearbox. I drained and refilled it with fresh gear oil.