MF135 3pt hitch

What would be the issues if the 3pt hitch only lifts my snowblower up a few inches by itself but lifts it fully if I lift on it and then if I put downward pressure there is resistance at first but then it lets go and falls to the ground(slowly)? I assumed the raising was a issue with the filter(at least hoping) and also hoping the lowering could be from the orings on the stand pipe. I did pull the little cover off the stand pipe today and when the tractor fired up fluid shot up about 16", so I assume the pump is working properly. The fluid is quite milky too and will be replaced when I get the filter. Also are the orings on the standpipe just standard size orings or are they a special size?
Thanks for the help.

I am not familiar with a "standpipe" but your symptoms are those of classic worn out lift cylinder packing. Re-packing requires removal of the top cover assy. but it is not that tough a job. Be sure that the lift is all the way down before you lift the cover off.

Before you disable it, do some more diagnostics.

Remove the side covers, start it up again, tell it to lift.

Look inside with a flashlight.

Oil raining down from the cylinder means a bad cylinder or seals.

Oil raining down from the top of the stand pipe or swirling up from the
pipe means blown orings.

Oil swirling down by the pump means a bypassing relief valve.

Any of these will cause what you are describing, best to know before you
go in. A slow and jerky lift means bad pump valves, very common on those.

Before removing the top cover, the linkage needs to be disconnected from
the pump lever inside the right cover. The top is very heavy and the
linkage extends all the way to the bottom. It is fragile and the top needs
to be lifted carefully and controlled so not to damage the linkage.

A shop manual in hand before tackling this would be a big advantage!

The milky oil is water. Changing the oil alone will not fix it, best wait until you're done to refill the oil or it will have to be saved and put back in later. Very common for those to collect water, it gets in
around bad shifter boots and the draft link boot under the seat. That boot
should be replaced while you have it apart, it can be a difficult job as
there is no way to hold the link rod to unscrew the clevis, you may have
to cut it with a Sawsall, then weld it back together. Reassembling it is a
detailed procedure you where will definitely need the shop manual.

I don t want to drain most of the fluid yet to have a peak through the inspection plate as we have some snow in the forecast and I don t want to put new fluid in without flushing all that old crap out first and having a new filter on hand. But I will do as you suggest once the snow starts melting up here.

In the mean time I drained about 2 liters of fluid to the point where the fluid is at the add mark on the dip stick two days ago after letting the tractor sit for a week to let the fluid settle. The fluid was very milky and and some actual water(maybe a couple teaspoons at the most) came out. The day after I drained it the 3pt worked proper, I could no longer push the 3pt down at all. I left it raised over night with the blower on and it only dropped 3/4" over a 24hr period. I cycled it again today 10 times or so and it seemed to work proper, i left it raised once again to see how much it drops over night. What are your thoughts on this now?