706 hydraulic oil

I drained the hyd. oil, from the 2 plugs at the bottom of the rear end housing, and the single plug at the bottom of the reservoir under the tractor. I also pulled the filter and oil drained from there, naturally. That oil from the two rear plugs was good-no water whatsoever. I drained about 5 gallon. From the other 2 spots, it was full of water-mostly white. I was of the understanding that this was all the same- why would the water be absent in the rear? Thanks a lot in advance for your help-
Also, the PTO's are turning whether the lever is up or down... any idea if this could be related?

My guess is that on the 706/806 the axle housings are drained seperatley from the main transmission and rear end. Later tractors (56 series I believe) the axle housings drained with the main housing (Had hole put in them.) That is as best as I can remember from Bermuda Ken's Book. I know that I have to drain them seperatly on my 806. They fill when filling transmission.

on early 06 series, the 2 final drives are filled from the level plugs on the sides, and have their own drain plugs on the bottom. i believe later 06, and certainly 56 and up, have holes drilled in the castings so they all fill from the transmission.

Thanks guys.

You may want to check the rock shaft housing under the seat. There is a plate with a number of bolts. Be careful with the gasket. It will hold a gallon or two and you may find a layer of sludge in the bottom. It is where the return flows into. There is a tall drain pipe plug that holds the fluid level up towards the top.

All 06 and early 56 tractors were seperate contained axle housings. Most leaked from final drive into axle housings causing them to be over full, particularly if right wheel in furrow plowing. This was some what corrected in production by adding o-ring on bull pinion housing and seal on shaft. When many were worked on, the expansion plug on inside of axle brg was removed and some even drilled the hole between axle and main case so then oil circulated to all housings when filling main housing. You still have to drain axle seperatly to get all oil out. You can tell if they have been modified by filling main case and checking axle level plug to see if axle housing fills. If it does not you have to fill them seperatly. Another thing, the grease fitting was eleminated on outer axle bearing when housings were changed as the gun grease from axle bearing would find it's way into hydraulic filter and plug it. When IH changed to this housing, the first few tractors still had the grease fitting installed and they gave each customer a couple hydraulic filters, and five gallons of hy-tran with instructions to plug fitting and not grease outer bearings. We had just one tractor that came that way. If axle housings are seperate they only hold 6 quarts each and main housing holds 14 gallons, when interconnected total gallons is more like 21.