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Normal for old gear oil?

C

CPACy

Member
Stupid question probably, but late last fall, I pulled the plug on the new to me Farmall H to get the gear oil out so I can look into why it is popping out of 5th.
I don't get to where the tractor is often so but I got out there today.
The 5 gallon buckets of the old stuff is still under the tractor and when I drained it, it came blasting out of there in a very thick liquid form. Temp was probably upper 50s. Today, the temp was mid 30s, but the buckets of "stuff" was more of a firm pudding consistency. I shook it, poked it, and even scooped some out with a tool to see if it had crusted over. It was very firm and certainly NOT liquid anymore.
I don't know what was in it prior and the new 85/140 that I have in jugs right next to it seemed to still be liquid so I didn't think it was frozen.
Is the pudding normal for old gear oil? Does it sort of evaporate? What do I do with it now?
I've never dealt with gear oil before
 
It's probably just cold from the cold morning.

If you have a lid, cover it, carry it back to town, and wait for a warm day, take it to the recycle tank at the auto supply.
 
Not a stupid question, my two tractors had the same goo plus a couple of gallons of stinking water in them. The 5th gear problem will probably be found in the pilot bearing on the front of the top shaft, gear and slider might be junk too. The nasty grease I took to the car dealer I used to work for and slipped it in to the used oil tank.
 
Could have some water that is partially frozen. This is what I drained from my Oliver. It was partially congealed and looked lumpy. On a colder day it wouldn't flow.
a150670.jpg

a150671.jpg
 
I had some tranny fluid, if that's what you wanted call it in a W6 that was more like frozen honey. I had to put heat lamps under the tranny to get it to flow. What you are describing is the result of mixing light grease with the oil. That is what you do if you have leaking seals on the tranny. Drain it, take the pto out and scoop out the rest. Clean as best you can. Now replace all the seals and refill with 85-90 or 140 gear lube.

OTJ
 
Jumping out of gear can be caused by a worn bushing on the gear. It can also be caused by a weak spring in the shifter.
 
If you examined how the transmission is lubricated on the H's & M's, you would know to use a lighter gear oil. The bull gears are supposed to throw gear oil up into a trough cast into the side of the case; the oil is supposed to run forward in the trough to lube the forward bearings. The heavy gear oil won't run in the trough; instead it spills out of the trough before it ever gets to the front bearings. We put lighter oil in the Farmall's and never had a transmission problem.
 
use this heavy oil on my plow moldboards to prevent rust. Keeps them rust free and scours off quickly when plowing.
 
My used oil is used to start brush fires.

The 80/90 gear lube I drain from my front and rear end on kawasaki mule every 100 hours has mostly metal flakes in it. I let it sit for the metal to settle, then I use the gear lube in chain saw.
 
Thanks for all the info. This page always amazes me on how many folks will chime on a topic.
 
I couldn't get the crud to drain from one of the antiques I bought. I think I finally kept dumping in a little fuel oil, and driving it around to mix it up, so I could get it to flow at all. Even then it took time for it to work its way out! Someone had apparently pumped so much grease in there it was more like grease than oil. I assume the effort was trying to cover up a noisy bearing. It was noisy, but operated just fine for me with gear oil in it. The same tractor (AC B or C), with a hydraulic system, should have 20 or 30 engine oil in the rear end-same as in the engine, depending on the season. Quite a leap from that to grease!
 
Most likely its extremely old and extremely heavy - instead of 90W back in 1957 someone may have put strait 140W (or even heavier) in it. Just be glad it wasn't half water. I would refill with 80/90W or possibly "303" that Orschlens is selling so cheap now. Pour the used oil in some jugs and return the same as motor oil or use it to burn some brush. Reclaimed oil is going to be re-refined and gear oil gets processed the same as motor oil - although for some reason places like Autozone claim there is a difference. I would think motor oil contaminated with antifreeze would be a much bigger issue than gear oil.
 
ld not be to fast on throwing that old oil away. If you only run the tractor in warm weather it will be OK. I had one H that I drained out that thick oil and put in the lighter oil and that transmission was so loud you could not stand to drive it. I drained the new oil out and put in the heavy oil and it was OK. Kept it another 10 years and sold it at my auction.

Bob
 
I have drained stuff that looked like that, but when I pulled the plug water came out first. LIke others said if no water came out, just add new oil. It's hard telling how long that oil has been in there. Stan
 
That's exactly what it was. The PTO needed work so I pulled the rear cover to inspect the gears. They were in very good condition and very little junk in the case or on the magnetic plugs. Lucky.
 
My first tractor was a Farmall Super A, or B or something line that.....4 cyl 20-25 hp, offset drive line for cultivator work, back in 1979. It had been sitting for many years unattended and all. Water intrusion had rusted lots of things in the engine and gearboxes. Really amazed at how smoothly things ran after getting the mess flushed out. Course low speeds of tractors helped make it happen.
 
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