trans to rear oil leak

[1su9pm6aj4]

Hi all its been a few months since I was here and even more months since I have been able to do anything on my tractor. Worked two jobs this summer both almost full time. Was just laid off from my first job here in Oregon and have to leave for the state of Califonia for work and to help out my elderly mother. My machine will remain in Oregon under cover and is almost ready to fire up. Leaving it behind at this stage is a shame. It is finished except for the fenders, installing the injectors and injector pump, some wiring and lights, a front wheel bearing to replace, attaching the top cover and praying it works.
My question is this: The transmission is filled up with oil since the beginning of summer (maybe mid May), no oil in the rear end since I do not have the top cover on. earlier on this site, I read a thread about tranny oil leaking into the rear end through a faulty seal. I watched over time to see if anything came through. Well after about a month I saw a very small film of oil in a small lower section of the rear end casting close to the pinion gear, only enough to make the case shine a little, I looked again a few days ago which is about 5 months later and would say that maybe an ounce has leaked through. . So in your wise opinions, would you expect new seal leak at the same rate, or not at all? and will the small leak increase with operation of the tractor? If I have to replace the seal I will when I can but if the leak remains small can I leave it and just transfer oil every once in a while? If I need the seal can someone tell me where I can get one? Agriline does not have one but I have not yet checked on the New Holland Website.
Thanks Kerry

[Nick]

Hi kerry, i have the very same issue. Ive made a pipe up to go from the hydraulic valve chest to the gearbox, and i just pump it back over from time to time. I am eventually planning on replacing the seal along with a few other things!

Your leak does sound small, but it can only get worse, especially when the oil gets warm. If you can, i would do it.

[henk]

Mine was leaking a bit, but after I started to use the pto for hydraulics to plough the leak is gone.
So starting to leak when it sits waiting for rebuild is possible. After using it a while it could be gone.

[1su9pm6aj4]

Thanks for the input Nick and Henk,

I wonder Henk if the fact that your rear case is more pressurized when using the P T O that it pushes oil against the seal slows or stops the leak. I have also heard of using a return line like you did Nick. I guess I will break the tractor and replace the seal when I get back to Oregon at some point. If anyone knows where I can get that seal please let me know. Wow breaking the tractor apart again is going to be fun, well at least its all clean and the double clutch is already aligned and does not need removal, that helps a lot! Thanks Kerry

[AdrianNPMajor]

Hi Kerry
To save splitting the tractor between gearbox and rear transmission, which is what would be needed to do both seals (upper and lower), you might want to do just the lower seal first, which means dropping the PTO housing bolted to the underside of the gearbox (as you probably know, you'd need to extract the PTO shaft from the rear of the tractor first). You might just find that doing the lower one does the trick ie the upper one may not be leaking. Nothing to lose by adopting this approach.
Re the seal, I forgot to note down the specs of this when I did it. When you extract the old one, have a measure up and speak to your local seal supplier. They'll help you. You need a double-lipped seal, or two narrower single-lipped seals installed back-to-back will work, I believe.
Good luck.
Best, Adrian.
ps Any chance of photos? I wonder what your Major has been used for in Oregon.

[1su9pm6aj4]

That was a timely post Adrian,
I just came from looking at the leak tonight and was noticing most of the oil was pooling in the depression directly under the hydro pump where the drain plug is. There is a slight film but no pooling under the pinion gear. I looked at the manual and saw the large o ring seal that's attached to the P T O gearbox. I was surmising and hoping the leak may be coming from the PTO seal. First thing I did coming home was look at this website and saw your post which lowered my stress level. I remember installing the P T O gearbox and thinking about replacing the old seal but thought it looked O K. Well, at least I have a plan ,thanks for your post. I will unfortunately not be able to do the job until spring. Breaking the tractor hopefully will not be needed.
As far as Pictures, I have them but cannot figure out how to post them. If I have some time before moving out of state I will try. The tractor came from the west side of the mid Cascade Mountains from a town called Stayton Oregon. Just used for cutting weeds and dragging arenas, maybe some posthole work. Before him I don't know what it was used for. The Willamite Valley in Oregon is where the early pioneers came to farm, a rich valley floor, they grow all kinds of stuff there. On my side of the mountains they grow lots and lots of Timothy Hay..
I paid $800.00 U S for the tractor just for the price of the new rear tires he had just purchased. It had a blown head gasket. He tried pull starting it and luckily no damage to the tranny or engine that I found. I painted it Bengal red (powder coat color) and Hammered silver (Rustolium color, by hand) for kind of a parade look. It has all new parts except for tranny and rear end which were both in very good shape. I love the color combo but know its value is lessoned slightly for a dedicated enthusiast . Some sub assemblies went smoothly, and some seemed never ending like the double clutch, engine machine work ( The machinist had the block and new rotating mass in his shop for a year). I drug the sodium chloride filed tires up to the tire shop to have then removed so I could get the wheels sandblasted almost breaking my back only to find out the shop will not empty the liquid on their Shark. Had to take them back, unload, empty and take them back. I did all the wheels in both colors.The engine, tranny, rear end are the hammered silver except for some Bengal red on certain engine parts. ANyway I will get some pics up somehow.
Thank you all for your input.

Kerry

[AdrianNPMajor]

Hello Kerry
You've put a lot of effort into the tractor, which means she'll carry on doing great work. She'll see you and the rest of us out! I would put her back together again and use her, just to see how bad the gearbox to transmission leak is. It sounds like it's minimal. If it's more than a little, then you can drop the PTO housing as described.
The colour scheme sounds interesting! I'm a traditionalist and like the standard colours. Thing is though, the tractor is yours, and if you prefer another paint scheme, go for it. Paint preserves, that's the main thing. In years to come, when the tractor has a new owner, as all our tractors will have one day, then they can choose their own colour scheme, which may or may not be traditional.
I had a look at images of your part of the world. Looks amazing. I'm posting an image here. I can just imagine a Major working hard in such a beautiful landscape.
Best, Adrian.

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[1su9pm6aj4]

Thanks for the picture Adrian, and the sentiments, very true. I will have to get some pictures up on this site, I am going to the garage just now and the tractor happens to be in its most " together" State it has ever been in since it's complete tear down in ' 06. I'll snap some shots and work to load them then post them.
I definitely want it to be a working tractor but don't have any land for it to work. I will have to farm it out so to speak and let friends with Shark use it from time to time. I was so glad to track down a belt pully to add to its look and maybe let the logging museum use it next Father's Day when they get to crank up some of the old logging equipment, even a couple steam powered tractors. They had a shingle saw that was powered off a very long belt connected to an old steam power unit when I visited last May. They had trouble with the belt slipping off, I think the super would be a good alternative next time if they are willing.
Just for your own interest, the town you posted the picture of Stayton, is close to a hidden gem called Silver Falls state park, you might want to check it out on Google. The Super Major and I live about 1 1/2 hours east of Stayton in a town called Sisters named for the three mountains just west of us called Faith, Hope, And Charity named by an 1800's minister then changed to North, Middle, & South Sister by the county, guess they were ahead of the curve on political correctness.
Once again I have to say thanks to all the folks on this site that have helped me and you know who you are, your knowlage and willingness to spend your time answering ( sometimes simple questions) have been the reason I have kept going on this re build, I have wanted to give up many times but the info I needed always came at what seemed to be the right time.
Sure love the Fordson name and am lucky to have one even though I didn't know what I was buying back in '06
See ya all later. Kerry

[1su9pm6aj4]

Correction: meant to write....And let friends with land use it from time to time. Shark? No idea how that got there!