1066 Hydro, Hydro oil excessive usage?

This may be the wierdest sounding message to ever be posted on this site! I have a 1066 Hydro built 04/1973. I have the original owners manual and from what I can tell, all the rear end & transmission & hydro system run together as far as fluid goes, the fill is just in front of the seat, I remove the dipstick and fill right there. My book says the system should hold 24 Gallons. I am not kidding when I say, in the last couple of years I have added at least 40 gallons to the system, I swear someone comes & steals fluid out when I am not home! I only put about 50 hours a year on it, if that, most of the time when I start it, it is low enough that the power steering will not work, so I will dump in 5 gallons, the stick will still usually show low, but the loader & steering & everything will work until the next time I use it & then I have to dump in another 5 gallons. This is not a joke! I did have the hydro filter changed a few years ago, I don't know if that is information that is needed or not, but it seems like that is about the time all of this started going on, not sure, I did not drain the oil at that time, only what was lost when the filter was changed, between 5 to 10 gallons. The oil does not smell burnt at all. Also I have looked under the tractor, of coarse no leaks, but even if I filled everthing up in the rear of the tractor including the rear tires...(joke!) The oil should be running out the top of the floor where I put my feet by this time! This does seem impossible to me! Does anyone have any idea what the heck could be going on? I have owned this tractor for about 12 years, not that that makes any difference. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thank you. DK.

Check the oil with the tractor hot and running. Is that loader leaking? It's going somewhere.....

Allan

The oil has got to be going somewhere- choices are leaking or burning. Can be leaking out or leaking into something else that holds fluid (radiator, crankcase or other lubrication oil) Or it can be leaking into the intake or some where else that eventually puts it in the fuel tank or cylinder, it gets burnt and exits the stack. If you're not seeing deposits or dribbles on the tractor there is the possibility it's leaking under enough pressure to spray away from the tractor.

There isn't anywhere on the tractor that 5 gallons of oil could go in a day's use and not cause an OBVIOUS problem.

If it's getting into the top end of the engine, it would smoke like a freight train ALL the time at the very least. If it's getting into the bottom end of the engine, it would be running out the breather in a stream. If it were somehow transferring into the cooling system, the coolant would be running down the side of the tractor.

The odds of any of that happening are astronomically small. There is no direct interface where the hydraulic fluid in the rear end could transfer UNDETECTED to the engine.

Two possiblities:

1. Someone *IS* stealing the oil.
2. The oil is leaking out only when the tractor is out in the field.

What do you do with the tractor when you are using it?

Thanks guys, you do make me feel better, it has got to get full sometime, I was thinking somehow the hydro system was burning it, I know that is impossible, even if the fluid did smell burn, which it does not, there is no way with those few of hours that it could be burning it. I have been around tractors and mechanics my entire life, it just has to get full sooner or later!

I only use it as a loader tractor and that is not much & also to get about 10 ditch bails in from our property frontage once a year.

I just did a major overhaul on the tractor 5 years ago, the overhaul has 200 hours on it. It is not going into the oil pan, I check that everytime I start it. It acually uses a teeny bit of engine oil.

I also check the Radiator each time, and it also is not going in there.

It does not smoke, and I guess even if it was going into the exhaust it would be running down the side, that also is not the case.

My only thought was that it was going into another case such as the rearend, but as I mentioned, according to the book, the hydros have the transmission, hydro system & rearend all in one unit holding 24 gallons. And there is no place I can see to the rear of the tractor where there could be another case filling up. I was half hoping someone would mention that!

There are no leaks, I have let it run many times and crawled all over underneith, also have had my wife use all the hydraulics while I look underneith in case of a pressure hose spraying outward. It always sits in the same place in my machine shed when not in use so I would see if it were leaking while sitting.

It really is strange, I was worried if another compartment was filling up, such as the rear end or transmission that I would get back contamination & ruin the hydro, but if all 3 run under the same fluid, I have no other choice but to not worry about it, it is always locked in my shed and besides it would be nearly impossible for someone to be stealing that kind of fluid out of the little entrence hole. Unless they were draining it out the bottom. It wouldnt be impossible for someone to get in the shed I guess! Maybe I"ll set up something that would show if someone is tampering with it that they would not notice.

I also have gas & fuel tanks in the same shed & they would certainly steal that before the hydro fluid unless someone is playing a prank on me, and after this long that would have to be getting old for someone to be doing also!

Hopefully it will get full soon, I have to assume it is just low and will sooner or later fill up, I guess I have know other choice!

Thanks for the replys, if anyone has any other suggestions feel free to chime in! This really is one of the strangest things I have ever come across! DK.