Broke a hose and lost my steering the other day. I was able to back out of where I was by using the hoe to reposition my rear tires as needed, maybe took 20 minutes to back out. I replaced the hose and now I'm trying to make sure I have the proper hydraulic fluid level. My hoe has a sight glass tube with markings to indicate the proper level range when cold. When I started, the fluid level showed about an inch from the bottom of the tube. It needs to come up at least two inches to be in range. I added 1.5 gallons, ran the backhoe to warm things up and check that everything works which it did. This morning the fluid level in the tube was unchanged. I added another 1.5 gallons and used the machine/front bucket for several hours today, everything worked fine. This evening, once it is cold again, I checked and again the fluid level is unchanged. I'm leery of adding too much, but the sight tube is the only way I have to check the level. Should I continuing adding?
Add oil until it is in the middle of the tube. Notice what page 2 what sez ! From the operators manual.
Thanks for the response. I'm just concerned that I've added 3 gallons and I haven't seen the level in the gage change. Do you know if I will see it change as I add fluid, or do I need to warm it up and let it cool down to see it change?
Yes , do that. Run it at operating temp and leter sit overnight. It will rise in the tube when you have enough in it. You can always drain some out if it shoots up in the tube unexpectedly for some reason.
Its usually not that critical. Mine is all over that range.
Just thought I'd give an update. It took about 5 1/2 gallons, but the fluid level came up the tube like Tinkerer said above. Thanks again.