Oliver 550 gear oil leak

Rob Vocke · Mar 22, 2014

I have a 1958 oliver 550 leaking gear oil out of two bolt holes on each side of the tractor by the foot boards. Anybody ever heard of this?

jd1520 · Mar 23, 2014

can you post a picture to help us identify what your asking?

oliver90owner · Mar 23, 2014

I would have thought there should be bolts fitted in those holes!

Overfilling and excessive splashing, or wrong grade oil could be part of it. Maybe those bolts, if fitted, need suitable washers, tightening, or thread sealant?

I have heard of (increased) oil leakage/seepage from older tractors which have been run with thinner oils.

For instance, there is far too much oil lost from the fan shaft on one of my tractors but that may be due to increased porosity of the replacement bearings fitted some years ago, or the lighter grade (and detergent type) of oil used.

RAB

Rob Vocke · Mar 23, 2014

I changed the gear oil in the rear end last fall before I stored the tractor. Used 80w90. Only leaks when running and the rear end is not over filled. No oil running out of the pipe plug by the pto.

Rob Vocke · Mar 23, 2014

This is a farther out view. The bolt holes have paint in the threads so it doesn't look like there have ever been bolts in those holes. Thanks for the help.

J. W. Schwiebert · Mar 23, 2014

Thanks for the pictures! Inside that center section there are some oil seals that seal parts of the PTO clutch and the transmission. There is no oil in that section. However when leakage occurs you have what is shown there. Get a small drain pan and crawl underneath and remove the little square plate that gives you the opening to adjust the PTO clutch.(4 7/16 inch cap screws) Watch the junk fall out. Also how often do you grease the PTO and clutch throw out bearings? The key is how much and how hard do you use the PTO? You probably are getting oil on the PYO clutch disks. Not a bad job to repair but the "Z" split is necessary to repair it. Questions? J.

Rob Vocke · Mar 23, 2014

Thanks for the response. I figured that was what was going on. I just bought the tractor last summer. So not sure how often (or if ever) the pto was greased. I don't use the pto that hard just running a 6' bush hog on grass lanes. I haven't bought a shop manual on it yet I might not keep the tractor. I might start farming my 30 acre farm instead of cash renting it. I'm not sure if the little 550 will put up with what I'll put it through

J. W. Schwiebert · Mar 23, 2014

I think I would keep the 550 and maybe rent or hire the heavy work done. What crops do you plan on for the 30 acres? How much is cast rent?

Rob Vocke · Mar 24, 2014

I'm in west central ohio just planting corn and soybeans. Cash rent is 175. Per acre but this is where it gets tricky. We bought the land about 4 yrs ago because the previous land owner rented it to my dad for his nursery. He still has about 1/2 of it with trees and bushes on it. The main problem is it's broken up patches here and there. The guy I rent the ground to uses a commercial spray company that won't spray anything less than 90' wide. I have several areas that aren't but might be 700' x 80'. My wife has a cousin that farms and I could probably get him to plant and pick it each year for a small fee. The main reason for considering all of this is my taxes are almost 10x what they were when we bought the land because of changes in tax credits for farm ground. We just built a house on it last year and after they figure it in next year I see the taxes going up another 5x what they are now

mr.precision · Apr 15, 2014

I read this with interest. My 1955 Oliver Super 55 does not leak out of the holes you describe, HOWEVER when I changed the gear lube (which was mostly water) a serious leak developed where the brake shafts exit the gear case. I am going to need to split the tractor, as the PTO clutches are shot. Are there seals located on the inside where the brake shafts go through the case? If so, where can one buy them?
Thanks in advance.

Oliver 550 gear oil leak

Rob Vocke

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jd1520

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oliver90owner

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Rob Vocke

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Rob Vocke

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J. W. Schwiebert

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Rob Vocke

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