JD 300B backhoe hyd leak question

[oros35]

I picked up a JD 300B backhoe that developed a large hydraulic leak that appears to be coming from the bell housing.

Is there any common failures that would cause this? Hoping for a somewhat easy fix.

It's either going to the scrap yard/parts or I'm going to try and fix it. I don't want to get too far into it and be a mistake trying to fix it.

 

[Jim.ME]

You say it "appears to be coming from the bell housing". Can you pinpoint the source of the leak better? Is it coming directly from inside the bell housing or is it running down around the outside? Does the tractor have a reverser? A photo(s) of where you see it coming from might help someone ID a possible cause. If it is coming from inside the bell housing it is most likely you will need to split the tractor to repair it. If coming down around the outside you should be able to spot the source and it might be a simple repair.

 

[oros35]

Looks to be coming from inside the bell housing. I was told it had a big leak from the previous owner and there was a puddle on my trailer after bringing it home. Best I can tell it's coming from the hole in the bottom of the bell housing. It's not currently running. Winched it on the trailer. Previous owner drove it to where it was sitting moments after the leak started and sat for a couple years. Need to toss some batteries in it and see if I can get it running. Engine doesn't have many hours on it but Machine has seen some abuse in it's years.

I believe it does have a reverser but not positive.

I've never been into a machine like this one. Hoping someone would say 'those are known to leak xxx here' so I have a place to start looking.