New member, hydraulic issue

[BearCreek Majors]

Glad to hear you got her working again Craig.
we have the same issue here in Wisconsin, every spring I crawl under the tractor and crack the drains enough to drain the water out, when the oil starts looking to milky its time to drain and replace it. I normally leave the old oil set for a year in 5gal pails and then use the good oil off the top, generally I can reuse at least 3/4 of this oil.
When I was a kid my dad would dump some "Heat" fuel antifreeze in the rear end, I don't know if it actually helped or not but it didn't seem to hurt.

Pat

[Nick]

Hi everyone, this is an interesting thread! I was fitting a consumer unit the other day at work, and a little bag of silica gel fell out, which keeps moisture out of the box (obviously water and electric doesn't mix too well).

This gave me an idea, would a bag of silica somewhere in the backend solve some of this problem?

[oehrick]

Great news

I'm glad we don't see that level of cold here !

[AdrianNPMajor]

Well done, Craig. Look forward to seeing pics of your Major and the snow blower.
Best, Adrian.

[oehrick]

Silica Gel absorbs moisture until it gets saturated, it then needs baking to evict the water, becomes less effective each cycle - might be OK in a vent / breather cannister but you'd soon get fed up with hoiking the back end lid off every few weeks if you stick a bag in there , its also fairly slow reacting so for several reasons may not be the wonder cure we'd all like Nick

[Nick]

Ah I didn't realise it had to be baked to make it work again, I suppose you could hang it from the oil filler bung somehow to save taking the top off, another hair brained idea from me lol!

Guess the only way like has been said, is to heat it a bit!

[oehrick]

I've had my old girl running today Nick, (blowtorch around the injector unions job again but at +2C its the coldest I've got her to start at), but I forgot to take the oil transfering pipe over, next time I'll try to remember it and bring back a sample of back-end milkshake to pop in the microwave oven (I have a non kitchen unit for dirty work) and observe activity, I have a small vac pump somewhere under the bench which needs locating as I suspect that this may help IF the microwaves can liberate the water molecules from the emulsion better than heating the whole lot.

I can't see you getting enough Silica Gel in through the filler to do any good as there is a huge volume of airspace in the back end, fitting a schraeder valve in the filler to put some DRY air in and then spray some detergent / water around the lift pivot, gear / PTO levers, clutch, brake shafts, wheel seals etc. to see where air escapes from might be a useful exercise as where it comes out most easily is where the wet will follow it in as the pressure reduces and this would perhaps give some idea of how viable fitting a breather with dessicant canister might be, my suspicion is that more than a wipe of silicon grease or sealer would be needed

It'd be nice to find a way to reclaim wet oil 'cos it ain't getting any cheaper, also what difference engine vs EP emulsion might have.

[Kim]

If you go to the "Peatland Export Parts-Home", Leyland Nuffield BMC Tractor message board and search "Baby Burco", you will find a viable solution to the removal of water and re-use of the oil. I believe a gentleman named Rick came up with the idea.

[Bensdexta]

Kim, Thanks for the tip , here's the link: http://leyland.conforums.com/index.cgi? ... ay&start=0

The Leyland poster heats up his milky back-end oil to 115deg C to boil off the water in an old water boiler eg Burco, which holds 45litres; when all the water's gone, he puts it back in his tractor.

How hot can you heat oil before affecting its lubricating properties?

PS: Just read that 120degC is as hot as you want oil to get, so the Burco should be OK

[oehrick]

Thats brilliant Kim, well found (although a bit galling the Nuffield boys got there first ) within the working temp of the oil and obviously the element doesn't burn or damage the oil.

Now I suppose there will be phantom midnight raids on village and church halls all over the world and ladies of the WI wondering what they are going to make tea with

In the absence of a Burco, fitting an oil drum or can with an old kettle element would seem to be a substitute or will anyone go the whole hog and cut out the middle man, the first Major complete with kettle element and cord and a quick release cap to let the steam out ???

[Kim]

A Burco might be hard to find but a crock pot should do the same job, only a smaller quantity at a time. Also, they can be had pretty inexpensively at yard sales and flea markets. I'd rather spend a little time instead of cash!