Stuck in field - IH 340 out of Hydraulic Oil?

[SunnyKay]

I just purchased a new-to-me 1960 IH 340 tractor with an IH 2000 loader on it. Hydraulics seemed to be working great when it got here, loader worked fine and hitch worked fine, however there are some minor leaks; I figured that we could top off the hydraulic fluid as needed until proper repair can be made.

Well I guess I didn't top off soon enough because tonight I went out to test the brush hog; when I got up onto our hill the loader AND bush hog both went down (slowly) and both the loader levers and the control for the rear hitch to the right of the drivers seat stopped doing ANYTHING. Also the power steering stopped having power. Am assuming I am out of hydraulic oil. I shut down in the field because I can barely steer and I didn't want to destroy the hydraulic pump. Tractor is sitting sideways on our hill, on a somewhat slight but definite slope, maybe 10-15 degrees, with the clutch side uphill. I have ZERO idea how much hydraulic oil is in there, nor what kind of hydraulic oil is is (yes I know it is supposed to be Hy Trans but I don't know what the previous owner used.) I read on here that the hole for full is under the clutch platform which means that with the tractor being uphill, so I am afraid that it might get overfull if I fill it until oil comes out that hole.

So my questions are this:
** Does anyone have any idea how much (guestimate) hydraulic oil I should add, or should I fill it to the hole under the clutch platform and take a chance on it being over full? If I do that, will too much oil blow out the pump, seals, etc.??
** I know you are supposed to use Hy Trans in this tractor, but are there any oils at Tractor Supply that might be OK to get me out of the field at least? Nearest Case IH dealer is over 50 miles from me, which means a day off work -- if it is a choice of going 50 miles for the Hy Trans or destroying the tractor I will go get it if I have to, but if there is something from TSC (6 miles away) that could at least get me out of the field it would sure help. I was looking at TSC hydraulic oils but am not sure which, if any, would be even close to Hy Trans.
** This may be dumb, but if I am too low on hydraulic oil, which is also the transmission oil for this tractor, can the transmission get out of first gear or anything like that and cause me to have a runaway down the hill from this field? The hill is pretty steep going down.

Here is another question a bit less urgent, but concerning --
** The IH 340 Operators Manual says to turn on the Power Take Off you should press down "lightly" on the large lever to the right of the driver, push in the button, and pull up. But on my tractor this is anything BUT "light" because I actually had to stand with all my weight on this lever and try to hold the tractor with clutch only which is obviously not a great idea. It was still hard to pull. Does anyone have any idea what's wrong that could make the PTO lever almost impossible to move? I mean it does move, and the PTO works, but whoa is it hard to turn on and off!

I have driven another brand of tractor since I was a kid, but this is my first International. So thank you all in advance for your help!

 

[WESnIL]

I would first check the transmission oil level. The oil level check plug is on the clutch side of the transmission housing behind the clutch linkage. If low add until it starts to run out the hole. The filler hole is on top of the transmission case on the clutch side of the shift lever. Your choice of oil quality but a quality oil from your local supplier should suffice. When convenient and back on level ground I would open the drain plug and assess the oil quality. Milky or foamy indicates water contamination. Most likely you will find that it needs to be drained, flushed, and filled with Hy-Tran. Hope this helps.

 

[MN Mike]

same thing happened to me and my 340. yep - fluid is low. I think total in the reservoir is around 10 gallons. 3-5 should get you back off the field to a level place where you can check the level properly. if you do run overfull just long enough to get to a level spot it won't cause any problems.

any hy-tran that says it is compliant with Case-IH specs will work just fine.

the 340 has real gearing and a standard clutch. low fluid won't cause them to run away down the hill. the motor is tight to the rear end when you have it in gear and the clutch out.

PTO lever - yeah. the operators must have been stronger back then. sounds like more resistance than you should have. a little oil on the joints may help loosen things up for you.

Mike

 

[IH fan]

(quoted from post at 07:16:21 04/29/15)
the 340 has real gearing and a standard clutch. low fluid won't cause them to run away down the hill. the motor is tight to the rear end when you have it in gear and the clutch out.

Mike

Exception to what MN Mike says is, it won't run away down hill unless your tractor has Torque Amplifier and the lever is pulled back to low range. the older TAs like this will "freewheel" in low TA. This actually has nothing to do with the low fluid issue, but be aware that it can get away from you.

 

[MN Mike]

right! forgot the low TA. thanks for adding that.

 

[Catskill Pete]

By all means check the fluid level and filters first. Thats the most likely problem, however there is another possibility. If your 340 has the engine mounted hydraulic pump its a none issue. You can tell which pump it's equipped with by looking under the distributor assembly. If it's an engine pump then it's visible, if it has a blank plate under it it's transmission pump. If it has the hydraulic pump in he transmission there is a gear that drives the pump and pto shaft that the retainer bolt backs out of the shaft and allows the gear to slide off the shaft splines. If the hydraulic fluid does not fix the problem check that the pto operates. If it does not the gear is a likely problem. The tractor does NOT need to be split to repair this. My e-mail is open if you need me to steer you through the repair, however I will be out of town for a few days.

 

[Catskill Pete]

oops I forgot to open my e-mail address.

 

[SunnyKay]

I added TSC oil and got the tractor out of the field... thank you all. Now I have question about sticking shift lever; will make another post. Thanks again!