2-105 Hydraulic into Trans PTO Valve

I have a decent 2-105 that has started leaking trans oil out the around the left brake housing pretty bad, however it seems to be coming from above or the top of the actual housing. The oil that is leaking smells like gear lube however the hydro oil level goes down. So looking back on previous posts I saw discussions about leaking around the PTO seals. In an August 2017 post MinniMan had discussed disconnecting the PTO valve to check if that stopped the hydro to trans around the PTO leak.
1. If that is in fact the problem then would it be harmful to just loop connect the 2 lines for the PTO valve and leave it that way? I assume that oil isn't lubricating especially anything if the PTO isn't engaged so no long term damage?
2. If I wanted to do that would it be better to loop them or cap them so not a constant flow on the pump?
3. I see that it is mentioned that one of those lines is a 200 psi+ pressure line, could that be pressurizing the trans oil near the brake housings somewhat? Thinking that pressurized or even just the thinner hydro oil leaking around the PTO could be compounding what was previously a very minor couple drops on the floor external leak.
Don't have time to fix it before Spring and really don't want to spend the time and money on a PTO I never use unless necessary.

If the trans leak is coming from above the left brake housing the most likely place it would come from would be the trans filter that is right above the brake or if you have a later model with the trans pressure warning light it could be leaking from the sender or hose that is also located above the left brake. Another less likely place would be the gasket between the rear end housing and the hyd. housing. Have you checked the oil level in the rear end ? As far as the PTO lines are concerned you should plug the one going to the reservoir and cap off the pressure one. The PTO is lubricated by the rear end oil so it will be lubricated even with the lines unhooked.

pull the upper check plug on the PTO housing and see if the rear end IS over full.

Hi MinniMan here

My 2-105 was leaking just as you mention yours doing. Oil was dripping from the drain opening on the bottom of the brake housing. The hydraulic oil was continually disappearing. I cracked open the upper plug at the rear bottom of the differential housing and oil poured out. It was way over full.

Yes it smelled like transmission oil (stinky) but was noticeably thinner. I attempted to close off the pressure and return line from the PTO and topped up the hydraulic tank. It stayed constant so I knew where it was going. The PTO seals were the problem.

Now we wanted to use the PTO so I went ahead and overhauled it. It wasn't a cheap repair. Once I had it out of the tractor and disassembled I found not only did it need all the seals replaced but the hub which has the clutch disks inside of it and the brake pad attached to the back were worn to the point I had to replace the hub. When the PTO break lining fails it usually damages the hub and very little wear at this point causes the PTO pistons to move too far when it is engaged. This soon causes the piston seals to leak and let hydraulic fluid into the differential. That along with a seal kit were not cheap. I also replaced all the clutch disks and separator plates while I was at it.

If you check out my posts it shows the steps and process along with a rigged tool I made to compress the pressure spring to disassemble and re-assemble it. Be careful and build a device like I did as that spring has a lot of pressure but isn't compressed very much.

If you are not going to use the PTO and don't have the time or want to spend the money you could probably get away with capping the lines. This would prevent your hydraulic oil from leaking into the differential.

We wanted to use the tractor PTO and if you check out all my posts concerning the 2-105 you will see I did a lot of work on the engine itself, main clutch, PTO hub, over-under drive, power steering and PTO. Since I had put a lot of time and money into it I wanted it to be useful for haying, feeding up etc.

It has performed very well since and we have used it for baling, and running the bale shredder. A very handy maneuverable tractor and economical to run. We are careful not to actuate the PTO brake on equipment like the bale shredder or anything which continues to rotate for a time after the PTO is turned off. This causes undue wear on the PTO brake disk. Eventually it will fail. Once the PTO has stopped turning you can push the leaver to the brake position and the PTO won't turn.

Perhaps like others have said it might be a filter or pressure switch leaking but that would be external and easy to spot. Mine was leaking past the brake pinion seals because the rear end was way over full of a mixture of differential and hydraulic oil.

The PTO is largely lubricated with the rear end oil so probably won't cause any problems if you are not going to use it.

Just thought I would comment on your question and hopefully help you make up you mind on how you want to proceed. Best of luck.

Thanks for the responses guys. I will do some thinking on it but at least I know capping the lines is an option. Once again thanks.