Old Hy-Hoe

[Alganon]

Hey guys. I've been posting over in the other Hy Hoe discussion https://www.heavyequipmentforums.co...inery-company-milwaukee-wi.52519/#post-997729, but looks like there's a bit more activity here so I'm moving over.

I've been working on getting a 680 out of the woods and have been fighting through hydraulic leaks from decades of corrosion on the tubing. I'm looking for recommendations to top off the hydraulic tank as it's about half full with the bucket and dipper fully retracted, the boom 3/4 retracted, and several sections of pipe drained. I don't know what was in there and I'd prefer just a quick fix to get it home where I'll pull it apart and do a proper flush of the systems and replace with good clean fluid.

Also, I think it was on this thread but I remember reading something about checking oil level on the drive gears for the hydraulic pumps (it has a Cotta PD-1429) by inspecting through the mushroom breather. It's hard to see down in the case, but it doesn't appear there is much or any oil at all. No signs of rust or anything inside and it looks oily, but I'm concerned about the oil level if there should be one. If I do add oil, what type of oil would be recommended and how do you check for proper fill? Or is it lubricated with the hydraulic oil?

There should be a sight glass on the cover plate of the gear drive about 1/4 up from the bottom . I think mine takes ~ 6 qts / ltrs , I put gear oil in mine but a friend who worked on the pipeline said they used to pour in a gallon of used engine oil every time they changed the oil on the 4-53 lol . Apparently theirs was a leaker . I had to re bearing mine in the middle of a field so now I check it regularly .
I installed an electric low pressure (5psi) feul pump on mine near the tank to help starting . I used to run the battery dead just trying to pump the fuel up to the pump at the top of the engine , now I turn on the electric pump and let it run for a bit and it starts right up .
Alg

 

[Ken Carlsen]

There should be a sight glass on the cover plate of the gear drive about 1/4 up from the bottom . I think mine takes ~ 6 qts / ltrs , I put gear oil in mine but a friend who worked on the pipeline said they used to pour in a gallon of used engine oil every time they changed the oil on the 4-53 lol . Apparently theirs was a leaker . I had to re bearing mine in the middle of a field so now I check it regularly .
I installed an electric low pressure (5psi) feul pump on mine near the tank to help starting . I used to run the battery dead just trying to pump the fuel up to the pump at the top of the engine , now I turn on the electric pump and let it run for a bit and it starts right up .
Alg

Thanks for the info. I'll check next time I'm out there and can get the rear cover off. Sounds like something is better than nothing back there!