Ok so here is the skinny on the leaks "their gone!" as of this mid afternoon. I swear I saw a few drips on the boom two days ago and the dipper after shut down and I left the hoe extended out so I could reach the Zerks. I added the Azul Diablo (seriously check bottom of the label)probably 5 days ago. I used/warmed the machine and hydraulic fluid per instructions and let the fluid circulate for a few hours on two separate occasions. Initially I was seeing a leak in a flow (cant remember what class leak from the manual offhand) from one of the boom cylinders as I folded it all back down until the PTO was shut off. That also occasionally spurted when I was first working last week. I worked the hoe today and I actually could hear the squeak of the seals occasionally like tight rubber over metal. I am hoping this is the reconditioning/swelling the tech I talked to explained product was ideal for use on unused but intact seals. Totally not hyping the product as its only been three uses but its tighter than a ducks areas of significant tightness. I'm impressed and hope the reconditioning works for the long haul as I refine my skills, nurse my sore backside and seriously consider the side affects of breathing in that diesel smoke all afternoon.
FLU Farm, I used the whole (1gal ish) bottle because that was to treat 20 gallons and the backhoe got 21 gallons after the oil to hydraulic change. It got two bottles shipped from autozone with coupon for around $75. If you get it cheaper than me then your doing well and I need to work on my connects. I heard about the "self heal" thing too but as I stared at the affected cylinders I kept thinking about how hot Texas is and how hot the Middle East is, or was in the 90's. It would make sense that any elasticity in rubber would be baked out by the sheer heat and being on seals near the top of the system perhaps the oil flowed down and away thereby intensifying the drying out. I dunno but I remember the desert as a kid and seeing plastic bottles that had only been out there a year or two in direct sunlight. They almost shattered like glass instead of crinkling like a petroleum based plastic does in New England if left outside. So in my mind based on the leaks I saw self heal didn't seem like a probable solution, also the tech said no issues in the rest of the system from this stuff so I rolled the dice. I am however going top leave the oil in the second MOG and see where that's at and what the difference is.
Also I do have to read the manuals again as I keep learning stuff and although I read the light stuff initially its back seat for now. temp gauges and pressure are what I'm mostly staring at in this break in or re brake in stage!
Peakbagger, I am confident you can do NO digging if on an incline facing down!! At best when I'm level I have to really put those stabilizers out and the best digging leverage is like a 90 degree digging using the bucket tilt and dipper arm. Any really heavy pulls with the hoe stretched out and i'm basically repositioning and digging stabilizer trenches on either side. It was easier to do the path I was talking about because the stabilizers could grab the tree roots and everything was flat. Trying to flatten out and area and dig stumps while positioned on loose soil I just dug is more demanding and time consuming. Still fun though and aside from winter planning for the MOGS and some lubing and fluid checks its project time in earnest soon enough.
MOG2 arrived today and I may call that one Lord Voldemort, seems OK so far but I have my suspicions! Anyhow cheers for now I actually have to work tomorrow and maybe the rest of the week. Trying to take days off sometime this Summer but I'm up against it,it would seem
![[thumbzup]](https://www.steelsoldiers.com/images/smilies/icon_smile_thumzup.gif "Thumbs Up [thumbzup]"){kind=icon}
). (Staples $165 wire bound) Just FYI the big manual came in three pieces but for all of them to be readily accessible by myself and diesel mechanic pal will be worth it, both for his initial tune up and my assisted wiring and anything else that needs tinkering adventure .
