Hydraulics almost empty

[HewlettJohn]

I have an offgrid hunting property and have a 1995 Bobcat 773 skid steer that stays there year round. It runs great. I use it from May until end of November. I close up camp after the season and I come back in May and 60% of the hydraulics is on the ground. I fill it and look for leaks and I see nothing. This is the second season this has happened. This past year I would park it on plywood from May until November to see if it leaks and it doesn’t. Any idea what might cause this? The remaining fluid looks good. Not milky. Thanks in advance.

 

[mrbb]

best advice is, clean it best you can, and then maybe add some dye to the fluid, and run it a bit and then check where its leaking

sounds to me like you have a small leak, that drains over time,, and until you find it, its going to keep happening

starting off with a clean area, will make finding the leak easier!

off grid will not be as easy as in town to clean, but if you buy some good degreaser,
and get yourself a say a 4 gallon back pack sprayer(fill it with as warm of water as you can get)
and them rinse off degreaser, as many times as needed, should get you a pretty clean area to look for leak! even off grid!

 

[HewlettJohn]

I will do that over the next couple weeks. Even off grid I have some good creature comforts including hot water. I have a pressure washer I run out of a shallow well too. I will follow up when I know more. Thanks again.

 

[KyMadMan]

Check your vent cap on top of the chain case cover for signs of fluid. Good chance you have water in your chain case and it is displacing your hydraulic fluid

 

[MX727]

Swing by Harbor Freight or Napa and get some of this:

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NTE784759

https://www.harborfreight.com/1-oz-oil-based-dye-72991.html

Also pick up a UV flashlight:

https://www.harborfreight.com/uv-leak-detector-led-flashlight-73071.html