Back in late October 2021 I connected my snowblower attachment to the 3-point hitch, and was able to raise it with the hydraulic lift. During the winter, the temperature dropped to zero and below here in Maine for nearly a straight 30 days, and when the first big snowstorm hit, I found that I could not move the shift lever into the engine start position. I was able to get the engine started by connecting an engine cranking switch across the starter terminals, but found that the hydraulic lift was inoperative. It seemed obvious that some amount of water had formed from condensation, mixed into the fluid, and had frozen, so I waited for the first day warm enough to melt the ice and drained all the fluid, replacing it with 6 gallons of fresh mineral oil. When I started opening the 3 drain plugs, water was the first thing to come out, and I would guess that there was about 2 quarts of water in all. After installing the fresh mineral oil, the lift still would not work, so it would seem that the freeze-up somehow damaged the hydraulic pump. The PTO shaft does engage and spin, but nothing else seems to be going on. Now that warmer weather has arrived, I of course want to repair the pump. I'm wondering who else on this forum may have run into the same issue, and what parts were needed for the repair, as I would want to be sure I have what is needed on hand before removing the pump. Thanks in advance for replies with suggestions.
This post was edited by Rickoff on 05/03/2022 at 09:07 am.
This post was edited by Rickoff on 05/03/2022 at 09:07 am.