350 Utility Hydraulic Filter

I bought this 350 a couple of years ago. I got it pretty cheap because it needed fixing. I am a Cat guy, never owned a wheel tractor before. It was supposed to run but the wheels were locked up. The gas tank was half full of water but the previous owner had run it on a gallon can. I have been working on it in fits and starts over the last 2 years. I find it pretty hard to work on. As I suspected the brakes were locked up. I took them apart and sure enough. Then I found out the steering box was messed up. I had to do some serious dismantaling to get to it. I found a tooth broken of the gear in there. I fixed it by building up with 7018 rod and grinding. I am putting it back together and I think it might work. I can't get much power assist out of it. I am thinking the screen may be plugged. There is a blown hose on the 2 point so I cant use that to test the hydraulics. When I work the valve oil leaks out but it doesn't really squirt out under pressure. I ran a hose from the test port on the high pressure line back to the tank and get mostly foam and milky oil. I could see it had water in it way back and drained it and filled it with new oil and it turned milky right away so I guess it still has water in it. I recall reading a while back that the filter screen is in the tank in the case under the seat. The seat has been collecting nuts and bolts and bits and pieces for a while. I finally got the seat off today and it looks like quite a job to pull the cover off the tank. It looks like the valve bank has to come off with it, I am not sure how many hard lines I will have to disconnect. Am I on the right track here? I hate to start another job that is going to take a year to get done.

Tom

With the top off the screen (and troublesome) is mounted to the front where the suction line goes out. It is a cylinder of mesh screen with some (inadequate) supports inside. It is below the fluid level. I would make a new one with some brass screen wire and silver solder (IH wants mega money for them) caseih.com search for parts. put in international and scroll to 350 utility JimN

I guess I have my work cut out for me.

Tom

Tom,
I've changed two of these and without a hoist or hydraulic engine lift it is damn near impossible. Unless you have a couple strong buddies.
Reinstalling the resevoir cover is the tricky part because it is very easy to smash the new or repaired screen.
Have Fun,
Dell

That is just what I wanted to hear. I would sure like to get it going but I may let procrastination set in again.

Tom

I really would have liked to get in there and clean everything out and check that screen. After reading your replies I decided to add some oil and bring it up to the full mark and try it again. The steering seems to work with the front wheels raised off the ground with the bucket so I am going to go ahead and put it together and see how it works. The next step with the hydraulics will be to fix the blown hose on the fast hitch if I can find out which one it is and where it hooks up. The confounded thing is so hard to work on. I'd rather work on my D8.

Tom