Hydraulic's on a IH Model 300 Utility

I bought 1 1/2 acres of land to build on and when I signed the papers the guy told me that in the shed was a farm tractor that went with the property. A IH 300 Utility. The tires were flat and it hadn't been run for 10 to 15 years. A friend and I got it running and working pretty good. It has a front bucket on it which I use now. It seems to run slow to me as far as lifting and dumping. Not as fast as a regular front end loader. Could the screen in the Hyd. system cause this or is this how the Hyd. on a 300 works. I am painting it and trying to preserve it now and want to fix what ever is wrong. I am not a tractor guy, but I like fixing older things. Any help from the forum would be appreciated. This is my first time posting so I am not sure I am in the right place with this question.

Slick Ride :?

You have a very good and handy toy there!! Do not be sad but you do have a problem. Shove the seat all the way back and check your oil level. Dip stick unscrews and looks like a pipe plug. It will show you the oil level. Use Hi-tran oil.If you still have slow action you will need to FIX it!! Most of your trouble is the bronze screen that filters you hydraulic oil. It has a very fine mesh and is a total Bit*** to get to. The seat and the cast iron top need to be removed. VERY heavy and a bunch of bolts and guide pins too. The guys on here have covered this many times and can tell you how to do it. Chain hoist brass hammer screw drivers etc. Also an added alert!!!!!!!!! If you have power stearing on this tractor for hevens sake check the oil level in the stearing unit. On the left side of the tractor sqwat down and look just in front of the battery where your throttle linkage is. At the rear of the power unit you will see a 1/2 or 9/16 pipe plug. Pour a little 90 weight in there!!!! If no oil it chews up the steering rack. BBBIIIGGGG bucks. Lt us know! Jeffcat

Now wait just a cotton-picking minute here. Don't go off telling the man that the sky is falling before we know all the facts.

Fresh oil and a clean screen can't hurt anything, but there may be an unrealistic expectation here based on modern tractors with high-pressure, high-volume hydraulic systems and tiny loader cylinders.

A little compact tractor will whip the loader up and down at an idle. By comparison the loader on a 300 will move at a snail's pace.

The 300's hydraulic system is only rated for 12GPM at 1500PSI, with the tractor at full throttle, and the loader cylinders are relatively large to maintain lifting capacity. It may not be running at 100% due to age and wear, but there's not necessarily anything wrong with it.

Ideally you will want to check the pressure and have the system flow-rated. The problem is finding someone with the tools and know-how without having to truck the tractor to the nearest dealer... House calls aren't cheap either.

We should ask the question does your loader work off the tractors hydraulic. I bought a 300U with a loader and it had its own system that worked off a pump the mounted to the front of the tractor. I don't know if the tractor holds enough oil to work the bucket and the loader.

(reply to post at 06:00:22 10/13/14)

Click to expand...

Not sure how to reply or if you will get this, but here goes.

The 300 has power steering which is really easy, if you open the hyd. valve. (My first lesson). It runs off the tractors hyd. system which runs everthing else hydraulic on the tractor. No add on pump. I will have to check the fluid.
Sounds like the hyd. pump might be straining a little bit because of some noise from the system. Nothing screaming from it, but there is some noise. I have been using it to clear some brush and move a little dirt and push over some small trees. So the hydraulics are working. I might have thrown you off by saying it is slow. It lifts and dumps at a slower pace than I am use to. I worked construction and I see the front end loaders and this is no where near as fast.
The oil is dirty and I will change it and the filter next week. I have a Owners Manuel coming that should tell me what fluids go into the 300. I think I saw somewhere where the oil is SAE 30 and it take 6 quarts, again I will check with the manual. There is a little oil leak from the pan, but this might be due to a loose bolt and oil getting by the gasket. The 300 has been sitting idle for at least 10 years.
Hyd. on the plow in the back works and the take off has two speeds, 500 and 1000 rpm. I have been told.
That is about it for now. I uploaded some pictures, but I sure had heck don't know where they went. Hey, thanks for all the posts. You guys are a wealth of information. Any more things I should know, send me a post. (Hope this comes thru)

I have been out of town for a few days so that is why I am posting now. Thanks

Slick Ride