Smell of heavy gear oil in the air

BarnyardEngineering

Well-known Member
Location
Rochester, NY
Yesterday evening I was out dragging the last corn fields and I started smelling gear oil. Well, my tractor does not have any gear oil in it so I thought it was pretty odd. It has engine oil and Hytran.

Then I got out of the cab and I could smell it EVERYWHERE. The field was half a mile from the house, and I could smell it there, and back at the house.

Hours later when I went to take the dog out, the smell was THICK. So much so the dog wouldn't come out of the house. Tractor was still there. No fire. No puddle. Oil levels still right up.

This morning the smell is gone.

Can anybody think of what it might have been? Any kind of spray that would smell like that?
 
Gear oil smell in our building smells a lot like a natural gas leak ? So maybe there is a natural gas leak ?
 
Prowl smells like moth balls, Eptam has a foul smell all its own, but I wouldn't describe it as gear oil smell. Can't think what it
might be.
 
Oil fields often smell exactly like that. A improperly controlled release of well head gas is one possibility. ANother is a refinery accident not
reported. Methane and HC smalls can be released from natural formations, but ? where are you located? Jim
 
I have smelled many a skunk, and this was like sticking your nose in the differential housing of an old Farmall M. Very distinctly like gear oil.

I just went outside and something is on fire to the South of me. Lots of black smoke. Wish I had a drone to send up a couple hundred feet in the air to see what's going on.
 
Were you using anything that had a hydraulic
remote? A very small leak in a hydraulic line under
pressure can spray a very fine mist of hot hydraulic
oil into the air . Could very well be a line on the
tractor itself. Do not, and I repeat Do Not run your
hand over a hydraulic line under pressure in search
for a leak as you might do with a water hose.
Hydraulic oil is under very high pressure and if the
leak is small enough the fine spray of oil can
puncture your skin. Receiving hydraulic oil
subcutaneously can cause serious problems.
Anything from mild swelling to the loss of your
hand.
 
Hytran doesn't smell like gear oil, though...

But, I haven't seen any new wetness anywhere. You'd think as pressure bleeds off it would turn into a wet spot on the hose, and the hoses are all dry as a bone.
 
(quoted from post at 07:52:25 05/21/21) I have smelled many a skunk, and this was like sticking your nose in the differential housing of an old Farmall M. Very distinctly like gear oil.

I just went outside and something is on fire to the South of me. Lots of black smoke. Wish I had a drone to send up a couple hundred feet in the air to see what's going on.

Smoldering asphalt shingles can create an odor something like hot gear oil.

Somebody's construction waste dump site on fire, perhaps?
 
A good way to check for pin hole leaks in high
pressure hydraulic lines is to hold a piece of paper
up beside the line, and follow along the length of
the line while it is under pressure. If there is a leak ,
the oil will show up on the paper.
 
Ive smelled some gear oil that has a sulfur smell to it. Its a long shot but could some neighbor be putting sulfur on a field??? Must be something big if you smelled it over a large area.
 

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