Been operating this machine for roughly 3 years. Just got it back from major winter maintenance; under carriage rebuild, pump seal replacements, etc. It been sitting some due to external work load. Finally got an afternoon to run it. Cutting great, A/C working (believe it or not), look back to see a plume of white smoke coming from the cowl. Immediately throttle down, dump the Hydraulic off the head. Basically an e-stop. Obviously concerned I'm on fire. Open the side doors & the turbine housing/ manifold is smoking. Is there anything hydraulic wise that could be spraying on that turbine. This isn't an issue I've seen with the machine before; even with several major hose failures during operation in the past years. Has anyone seen this before? Just dropped a pile into the machine in the off season. I need uptime to justify it.
What engine does it have in it?
Machine is a 2014 with the 99hp Kubota. After killing it & figuring out it wasn't burning it fired right back up & I ran it back to the house. Always try to test before heading out into the woods for the first time. Sight glass is reading low from the marked fill level. Makes me think it's a high pressure Hydraulic spray smoking off on a hot housing.
I have run that model quite a few times, and have not had a problem like that. That Kubota seems pretty bulletproof. Your analysis of the problem sounds like it could be correct. I think I would run it and keep a very close eye on all the fluid levels and see what happens. Hydraulic leaks are very common on those Rayco- built machines. They built some models for Fecon, and both the Fecon and Rayco machines gave me a lot of trouble with hydraulic leaks and hydraulic lines breaking. Good luck and let us know what happens.
Used to work for a company that had a rayco c100. It was a great machine as long as we weren’t using it. As soon as the operator turned the key I may as well go sit at the job site because it was going to break down in a matter of minutes
Looks like the line coming off the back of the primary filter is loose. Has a lot of wiggle in it. Backs right up to the exhaust manifold, lots of crud build up. As old fluid leaks like to do. I'd say that's the culprit. I'd complain, but the machine doesn't miss much aside from the constant hose issues. Old Asplundh machine, so no doubt it's seen quite a bit of abuse. It chews though not perfect, but metal is straight enough & it's rare that it won't go in the morning.
Mowingman, those aren't oil leaks, it's a built-in dust suppression come location indicator making easier for people to find you.
Ha ha ha!!