Hello from Baton Rouge!!

[waltinbatonrouge]

Its a pleasure to join your forum. I'm newly retired from a 35 year technical sales job and am loving it...currently I am the volunteer maintenance chairman on our very nice 32 member subdivision. Did Avionics in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam war and have been twisting wrenches as a hobby on electromechanical things for about 45 years.. Lately Yamaha Grizzlys, Scag mowers, Stihl chainsaws and our newest addition.. An S130 Bobcat skidsteer..generally very lightly used with 1920 hrs on it... One of our homeowners is a general contractor and used it on jobs until it was replaced with a tracked bobcat. He lets us keep it for general work around our property. I taught myself how to run it via the internet and try to be very gentle on it. I love to learn and am a fairly quick study, so I'd like to offer some brief background and pose a question. When I got it last year I checked all of the fluids per the owners manual. all ok... We let it sit for about 4 months during the hottest part of this year but started it and moved it weekly. Last time I tried to move it I heard an unusual growl when I released the brake and pushed the sticks forward and found the hydro fluid off the end of the dipstick. I put a jug of BobCat hydro oil in it (that stuff is pricey!) ...still not showing on the dipstick. I let it run a bit, it moved back and forth, the growl disappeared so I shut it off and started looking for leaks. Standing and looking at the front of the bobcat, there is a steady drip of hydro oil coming from the bottom edge of the right side footwell hole.... I appreciate any links, tips, advice, or thoughts as well as any keys to keep this little beast running well into its golden years...Its a great little machine... thanks very much waltinbatonrouge

 

[Tazza]

Welcome to the site.
As for the leak, it can be hard to locate. You really need to take it outside and give it a good clean and let it dry to locate where it's coming from.
Does it seem to be leaking the same amount of fluid that you are putting in?
The oil can leak into the chain case, so you don't actually see where it's going. You can check this my putting the machine on flat ground and removing the plug at the front of the chain case. The correct level is flat to the base of the threads.

 

[waltinbatonrouge]

Welcome to the site.
As for the leak, it can be hard to locate. You really need to take it outside and give it a good clean and let it dry to locate where it's coming from.
Does it seem to be leaking the same amount of fluid that you are putting in?
The oil can leak into the chain case, so you don't actually see where it's going. You can check this my putting the machine on flat ground and removing the plug at the front of the chain case. The correct level is flat to the base of the threads.

thanks Tazza! I filled it till I could see it on the dipstick, and it will drip 2 gallons in about 6 days sitting on level ground parked and off.. I gave it a bath and lifted the cab out of the way......and downloaded an operators manual...(its from a European Rental Company, and their S130 has different gauges, am hoping it has some basic info, but thinking not much besides "here's how to read a dipstick")... so i'll look closely at the leak area with a strong light in the am.. I'll look more closely to see exactly where the chain case plug is and what size socket I need to loosen it... If indeed it is leaking into the chain case, is there a hydraulic schematic semi-easily available to tell the source of that leak ? ooooor is it more about buggin' you guys? BTW I'm also a longtime member on Grizzlycentral.com (Yamaha Grizzly ATV's) and get a bit irritated when guys ask the same questions that have been asked many times before and /or are already posted. But I've done a fair amount of searching on your forum as well as on the internet and haven't turned up much help... take care walt