Tazza, i lapped the brass plates in the pumps and reassembled it and the machine is almost as noisy as ever. It is quiet going forward and backward, goes fast or slow with no trouble, it seems more hoppy when turning on hard dry surfaces than before. When I reassembled it I had it blocked up and drained all the oil from the motors then filled it up turned the wheels till they had oil in them again started it and set neutral. I did not take apart the replenishing valves or anything other than the pumps and port block. Could there be debris in these valves causing the noise? I have been running it just a few minutes a day for a couple of days now to give any air in the oil tank a chance to escape. The noise seemed to increase after using the backhoe I got this spring so before I use it again I will put a return filter on it just in case. Noise is worse under heavy load. How quiet were your machines after redoing the pumps? thanks, jerry