L325 just purchased, needs an axle seal, and other ?s

[Dmpaul89]

Hello, new to the forum. I just purchased a NH L325 on Ebay, It has a newer 25hp Kohler Command. new 16.5 tires and wheels. and a smooth bucket. seller understated a leak, I thought I could get by for a while just topping off the tank... nope. the right rear wheel seal is shot, the fluid just pours out. If I top off the tank, everything works although the hydraulics seem real loud. All I did was drive it off the trailer it was delivered on, for fear of running out of fluid and hurting the pump. so now it sits in my gravel driveway.... i took off the wheel and found the axle has been broke at the hub and welded back on. Im assuming this melted the internal seals in the process. so what am I looking at to repair? how hard of a job is this? I farm and have worked on things all my life but skid loaders are new to me. the axle weld repair job looks pretty solid, should I just stick with the axle or order a new one? ($300). it held driving off the trailer! have found very little info on this particular model thanks in advance

 

[Tazza]

I'd have a go at fixing it before spending the money, if it's already broken, you can't make it worse can you?
It is possible the heat damaged it, but if it looks like a good repair, i'd like to think it was taken apart, welded, then new seals installed, but you never do know.